KUALA LUMPUR – Former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin is on the receiving end of online backlash after defending his criticism against Israel-linked firm BlackRock Inc’s perceived role in Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd’s (MAHB) privatisation exercise.
Screenshots of a comment made by the expelled Umno man on his recent Instagram post have made rounds on social media, with netizens condemning the supposed “whataboutism” employed by the former lawmaker.
The post uploaded yesterday features a snippet of Khairy’s speech at a Sekretariat Solidariti Palestin forum on June 20, during which he claimed the government will be complicit in the Gaza genocide if it goes ahead with the deal involving BlackRock.
In response to a comment pointing out that the New York-based firm had already invested in Malaysian companies during Khairy’s tenure as a cabinet member, he replied: “Was there a genocide in Gaza then like how there is one now?”
“Continue your efforts to be a genocide enabler. Congratulations,” he added.
Khairy’s remark did not sit well with netizens, many of whom pointed out that Israeli aggression against Palestine should not be considered a recent incident as the roots of the conflict can be traced back decades ago.
The defence deployed by Khairy also appears to be in the same tune as the justification provided by former two-time prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who defended his London meeting with BlackRock representatives in 2018.
Speaking to the media today, Dr Mahathir said the meeting then was done under different circumstances as there was no large-scale genocide of the Palestinian people at that time.
Acknowledging that the oppression of the Palestinians by Israeli forces has existed for decades, Dr Mahathir said the meeting six years ago was merely to gauge whether the organisation had anything to contribute to Malaysia.
He added that no agreement was reached at that time.
Meanwhile, netizens also took the opportunity to question Khairy’s alleged involvement in other companies said to be associated with BlackRock, which owns shares in weapons companies supplying arms to Israel.
Khairy is understood to be an ambassador for carbonated soft drink brand Vida, produced by DyDo Drinco Malaysia Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Japan’s DyDo Group Holdings which is said to have had BlackRock as one of its shareholders.
The Japanese company later divested the subsidiary to Singapore-based Lingua Franca Holdings in 2020, citing a sales slump in Malaysia due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil, who is also the government spokesman, hinted at Khairy’s supposed hypocrisy earlier today, saying: “When checks are conducted on those who are suddenly very ‘anti-BlackRock’, we found that some of them are, for example, ambassadors in a carbonated drinks company where BlackRock also holds shares.”
In recent times, following the 2023 Israeli-Palestinian conflict, BlackRock, which also holds shares in weapons companies supplying arms to Israel, made headlines in Malaysia due to its upcoming acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).
On May 15, it was announced that sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd, via its wholly owned subsidiary UEM Group Bhd and the Employees Provident Fund, would lead a consortium called Gateway Development Alliance, which included GIP as one of its shareholders, in MAHB’s privatisation.
The consortium had announced a pre-conditional voluntary offer to acquire all the shares in MAHB not already owned at an offer price of RM11 per share.
Upon completion, GIP and another consortium shareholder, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, would own 30% of MAHB while Malaysia would own the remaining 70% as well as a golden share.
Yesterday, GIP’s head of transport, Philip Iley, said BlackRock would not be involved in transactions relating to MAHB’s privatisation.
He added that although BlackRock’s plan to acquire GIP is expected to be finalised by the third quarter of this year, GIP’s existing leadership team would retain full control and responsibility for the strategic direction and operation of the company. – June 22, 2024
