A POLITICAL economist, often critical of the federal government’s ever increasing control of big business, has endorsed Muhammed Abdul Khalid’s appointment as economic adviser to the prime minister, despite the latter being a brother-in-law of Daim Zainuddin.

Edmund Terence Gomez, a professor with Universiti Malaya’s faculty of economics, lauded Muhammed for his work, including his book, The Colour of Inequality, which drew attention to the plight of the poor. 

“Khalid is a man of utmost integrity. He’s a great defender of the poor. Let’s judge him on what he did, not on who his sister married,” Gomez told attendees at Ideas’ launch of the Malaysia GLC Monitor 2018 report at the university today.  

“I told him I have full faith in him to keep an eye on Dr Mahathir (Mohamad),” Gomez said, referring to the prime minister.

Muhammed’s appointment was announced last week and his job came into effect yesterday.

Dr Mahathir has also said that he will require the continued services of Daim, a former finance minister who had led the now disbanded Council of Eminent Persons.  

Muhammed had led the secretariat of the council, and has worked as chief economist of DM Analytics Malaysia.

He had also served as a director of research at Khazanah Research Institute, head of economics at the Securities Commission Malaysia, and a senior analyst at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies.

In his book, Muhammed had argued that the government should combat poverty by focusing on the distribution of wealth or assets, instead of income.  

“He knows the issues and he’s a man who’s concerned about the bottom 40%. In a way, it’s not bad having someone whose heart is with the poor sitting next to the prime minister, whose heart is with business,” said Gomez.   

“Never before have we seen a prime minister so enamoured by business. If he (Dr Mahathir) had gone into business instead politics, he would have been one of our great Malaysian tycoons.  

“It’s good that he has someone like Muhammed telling him, ‘pay attention to the rural poor. Pay attention to inequality.’”

Dr Mahathir told reporters yesterday that Muhammed would not be serving in any council and would report to him directly.  

“I need to have a constant analysis of what is happening in our country economically,” he said. – August 28, 2018.