I REFER to the article by columnist Paddy Bowie, “Sime Darby, the high-yielding tropical vine” (New Sunday Times, Dec 16).

I wish to state the facts which led to the Malaysianisation of Sime Darby Plc in the mid-1970s shortly after the advent of the New Economic Policy of 1971.

The late Tun Abdul Razak, the “Father of Development”, and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah had the vision and courage to invest in a colonial agency house like Sime Darby through Pernas Securities.

Pernas was the first Bumiputra investment arm set up for a specific purpose. Through the foresight of the two leaders, Malaysia had a superb corporate group to kick-start the New Economic Policy and, subsequently, it became the flagship company of Permodalan Nasional Berhad.

In October 1974, Tan Sri Taib Andak, the chairman of Malayan Banking Berhad, and I were appointed to the board as non-executive directors.

By November 1976, Pernas Securities and its allies were the largest shareholders in the company. Hence, the so-called “board battle” was aborted and a compromise reached to accommodate incumbent interests and new shareholders.

In 1977, Sime welcomed Tun Tan Siew Sin to the chairmanship of the board with the support of Tun Hussein Onn.

Through his leadership, Tan and his team repatriated the company home.

DR CHAN CHIN CHEUNG, Kuala Lumpur

Source: NST – December 19, 2007