Assets may be evaluated in several ways. There is utility value, which arises when a commodity or right provides a useful benefit. The assessment of the utility value depends of its comparison against competing alternatives. The final stage is its reception when offered to the open market.

A residence, for example, has utility value because it provides shelter and security. It may be sold or rented for a consideration. The same is true of tools and commercial property, which have value because they are a means to generate income.

Assets also have a personal value, often based on sentiment, and may be valued far above any reasonable market price. Sometimes personal assets are not for sale at any price. For this reason there is no way to evaluate unique personal assets which have sentimental value for the seller. There is only the decision to buy or sell when an offer is made.

An ongoing business is an asset which has utility value based on its present and future earnings. It may have few or many debts; it may have few or many tangible assets such as buildings and equipment. The value of a business that is losing money is less than a business that is making money, and often it is difficult to sell such a business for more than the value of the unencumbered tangible assets. Even then it may be necessary to sell at a price somewhat below the replacement value of the assets.

A partnership in a business is an asset. The value of a partnership may be increased or decreased by personal factors, such as the skill and personality of the other partners. It is often difficult to sell a partnership because there is no ready market.

A public corporation, by contrast, has its assets divided into equal parts, and these shares are offered for sale every business day on the exchange. The value fluctuates according to the general mood regarding present and future earnings, which affect dividend prospects. The quality of management plays a large part. The ability to evaluate the operations of the business, and its financial condition, plays an important part in a decision to buy or sell.

In Malaysia there is a stock exchange. Shares in about 700 public companies are offered each trading day. The value of the shares fluctuates. At the moment the valuation tends to drift lower each day. This is the result of an imbalance between buyers and sellers. On occasion it appears there are only sellers, and the market falls steeply. When the selling stops the buying of a relatively few shares changes the mood. The market jumps to life.

The buyers are local savings and retirement funds whose investment activities are influenced by the minister of finance. He wears three hats. When he wears the finance minister's hat he controls the powerful public purse. When he wears the Umno treasurer's hat he is protecting the interests of the party in power. When he wears his own personal hat as a private businessman he is protecting his own interests.

It is difficult to determine which hat he is wearing at any given moment. In any modern country the situation would be forbidden for conflict of interest. Malaysia is not a modern country, and such behaviour is accepted as a matter of course, even when it appears that he is shoveling money from the public treasury into the Umno treasury or his own pocket.

In his personal affairs the finance minister has partners of many years standing. When he wears the finance minister's hat and directs that large sums be paid to one of his partners there is an appearance of impropriety. He recently paid (wearing the finance minister's hat) to one partner an enormous sum for a controlling interest in the national airline. The price is over twice what the open market is willing to pay. The excuse is that the airline is failing and needs to be rescued. He says the high price is necessary to wrest control from his partner, who was supervising the loss of over RM1 million per day.

The problem with this answer is that it fails the test of logic. A failing enterprise does not command a premium price. The Malaysian government already holds what is known as a golden share in the airline, giving it effective management control. The government can do as it likes without any consideration of the shares. The finance minister thus looks to be rescuing himself and his partner in a difficult and losing proposition. He is using his position of trust in order to enrich himself.

In another recent transaction the finance minister oversaw the transfer of money from a retirement fund under his influence to rescue a consortium of banks in the underwriting of an IPO. The direct recipient of the funds is another long time business partner. The finance minister pretends he is not a party to this transaction, but he cannot escape responsibility, as the explanation he offers is transparently false. The public was offered the shares, but when only 25 percent could be placed, the fund secretly accepted almost half of the shares, again at a grossly inflated price.

In Malaysia there is a pretense of probity. The pretense becomes more shabby by the hour, as even the government-controlled media now sees. The public only buys government mouthpiece newspapers for laughs, finding in them a form of comedy. The papers are seriously sold as truth, but the public knows shoddy goods, and the media is certainly peddling shoddy goods. The editors have publicly announced their helplessness to defy the heavy hand of the government. They plead for release from half-truth and falsehood in the effort to mend falling circulation. It is too late. The pretense of probity has destroyed all media credibility.

The number of deaths in a recent incident cannot be reported in the mainstream media without public suspicion. The public notes that the names of the dead are not announced. Rumours abound. The government reacts by threatening prosecution of anyone who questions the facts as presented by the police. The police have no credibility. Nothing could generate more public suspicion. The unwillingness to report even the most minor fact of daily life in Malaysia makes the media meaningless. If the trend continues much longer the major presses will be idle, not able to maintain a minimum press run for profitability.

The absence of a credible media is a hazard to public safety. Kuala Lumpur hospitals continue to admit dengue fever cases, but these are not reported for fear of losing tourist business. People are not alerted to take precaution by the press, which thus becomes a knowing contributor to endangering lives. The Malaysian press has not been allowed to acknowlege that the national airline endangered public safety through its imprudent fly-on-fumes practice for several years. The pilots complained from the first, but only the strong objections of London aviation authorities finally put a stop to this insanity. The passengers are blithely unaware. Only good weather prevented a tragedy. A free press would print the story.

Court cases every day reveal the policy of pretending all is according to law. The prosecution of the well publicised case of 29 Islamic martyrs has now rested, and it is clear that there is sufficient conflicting testimony to fatally damage the case. What is apparent to observers is the absence of crucial testimony from local witnesses. The allegations of a government-staged event have again been stifled by threats of criminal action. The many troubling questions surrounding the event remain unanswered, including the deaths of a young soldier and a veteran policeman.

A farmer held hostage on Bukit Jenalek was not released, but kept in police custody for ten days after the incident was over. He died mysteriously of stomach pains shortly after leaving the police station for a short visit home just after the lunch hour. The examining pathologist found no cause of death. None. There is suspicion of poisoning. The manner in which the news was controlled at the time arouses suspicion which only total candor can dispel. This candor is sadly lacking.

It is the investigating journalist who probes for the facts. Because the investigative journalist is treated as an enemy and a threat by the police and the Malaysian government, the feeling grows stronger each day that the entire woodpile is infested with rats. This is the allegation of Anwar Ibrahim, who has been silenced by incarceration in solitary confinement. The allegation is further strengthened by statements of Umno Supreme Council members who have awakened to the seriousness of the situation.

The foreign minister of Malaysia has spoken this week in Geneva of human rights violations in Malaysia. He says these rights must be abridged in order to maintain stability. The same argument has been made by every despot. The oppressive laws are not amended, at least until the new generation assumes political power. In the meantime, investigative journalists probe to penetrate the pretense at probity.

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