ONE can see it as a game of musical chairs when a government changes hands in Malaysia, even within the same ruling coalition.

Patrick Lim knew his time in the limelight was over after former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi did poorly in 2008 and was hanging on for dear life.

The man who developed the Equine Park project and organised the Monsoon Cup had to sell his controversial Penang Global City Centre project and other interests to Desmond Lim of Malton, a developer friendly with Najib Razak.

After Najib became the prime minister in April 2009, Desmond and his wife, Cindy Lim, became the power couple closest to Najib and his wife, Rosmah Mansor. His company Malton developed some of the best luxury condominiums in town, including Pavilion Residences in the upscale Bukit Bintang shopping district.

It was at the Pavilion Residences that police yesterday carted 72 bags stuffed with cash and jewellery and 284 luxury handbags from two units.

The bags, stored in the distinctive orange boxes of the Hermes luxury brand, were marked “Fr Cindy Lim”. Police had to corral a number of supermarket carts to get the boxes to the fleet of five police trucks.

It is understood that the units belonged to Desmond, a publicity shy tycoon with links to the ruling elite in Malaysia. In the Najib era, he leapt from being the main shareholder of the upmarket Pavilion mall to taking over WCT Holdings Bhd, which owned three other malls in the Klang Valley.

From public records, Desmond and Cindy own 37% of Pavilion Real Estate Investment Trust, with the crown jewel being the Pavilion Mall.

He also has a 12.85% stake in Hong Kong-listed Nan Hai, which has a unit making and selling Crabtree and Evelyn beauty-care products and with interests in a consumer-electronics maker and property development.

Nothing suggests that Desmond has done anything wrong or that the authorities are investigating him. In fact, police did not want to identify the owner of the condominium units, saying it was not relevant to the probe on 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

Still, this is Malaysia, and going by past experiences of regime change, those close to the outgoing leader often find themselves marginalised.

But given that the new Dr Mahathir government keeps talking about the rule of law, Desmond and those close to Najib and Rosmah must hope that close proximity to an outgoing leader is not a crime under this administration. – May 18, 2018.