The John Soh saga, Part 1 — Lee Yew Meng
Last Wednesday, Datuk John Soh Chee Wen, 57, got his day in
the Singapore High Court to seek the return of his Malaysian passport. He was
eager to see his aged mother as well as to attend his son’s wedding.
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The Malay Mail Online
03 February 2016
Last Wednesday, Datuk John Soh Chee Wen, 57, got his day in the Singapore High Court to seek the return of his Malaysian passport. He was eager to see his aged mother as well as to attend his son’s wedding.
He had surrendered his passport voluntarily to the Commercial Affairs Department on April 2, 2014, to demonstrate his sincerity in assisting with the investigations of the “penny stock” crash in October 2013. They involved LionGold Corp, Blumont Group and Asiasons Capital (since renamed Attilan Group). His passport was subsequently impounded. It would have been 22 months since his “enforced” stay.
The crash caused a loss of some S$8 billion (RM23.27 billion) in market value in a mere few days.
The court dismissed John’s application for leave after the Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) pleaded investigations were nearing the end and charges could be brought by the end of the year. That’s another possible 11 months to go. And by that time, Soh's stay would have totalled 33 months.
What if some members of the DPP’s team were called away over some personal calamity in the interim — another two or three month’s extension? What if some witnesses are still unavailable — another three or four months? Is there a cut-off period? Meanwhile, John continues to be perceived as some kind of suspect.
Nobody likes to lose, including most prosecution teams. But nobody can escape losing either. If it had taken so long and yet there’s admittedly insufficient evidence to charge, could it plausibly be the other party is not in the wrong, however circumstantially it may appear the party is? Or was it the system that needed fixing?
After all, it has been over 30 interviews with more than 2,000 questions in the 800-page report.
I spoke to some of John’s childhood friends and close business associates.
Who is John Soh?
Soh was born in 1959 in Batu Pahat. His father was a shopkeeper who became a small-time businessman. They didn’t have much but were never in want. It was largely a happy childhood.
He was known as the ultimate over-achiever in Batu Pahat High School (also the alma mater of business tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan and opposition stalwart Lim Kit Siang). He was the president of the English and the Debating Societies, Economics Society secretary, school and class magazines editor, and captain of the softball and badminton teams.
He was a champion athlete in long distance runs, 800m, 3,000m and cross-country.
John was accepted to do economics in Universiti Malaya in 1979, but quit just after three days. I can only guess he wasn’t impressed with the course content, the lecturers he met, or the restrictions imposed. He has got a thing about undue conformance, quipped Datuk Philip Ho, a childhood friend.
Immediately, he ventured into the direct selling business. And he made his first million ringgit with his vehicle Wings at 21. By 1984, he lost everything following a credit crunch as precursor to the Pan-Electric Industries debacle (both the Singapore and KL stock exchanges closed Dec 2 to 4, 1985).
In 1985, he found his true calling — picking up distressed companies (for next to nothing) and doing game changers, instead of conventional deals. He was reputed to have control over listed counters Autoways, Promet, Kelana Mas, Uniphoenix and Kuantan Flour Mill during his hey days.
He wanted to help society and he famously said he had to be financially independent before taking up politics. He thought politics was just too serious to allow for easy distractions or temptations.
John joined MCA at 21 in 1980. By 22, he was the ceramah director in the Petaling Jaya (PJ) division. In 1987, he was elected the PJ division chief, the youngest ever elected. The division was big and unwieldy, later split into Utara and Selatan.
He started a mobile service team with an Isuzu Trooper painted in MCA colours; created proper hawker centres (now known as food courts) and established full-time service centres.
Soon, he caught the eye of then party president Datuk Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik. By 1995, John was appointed to the presidential council, the only member who neither held a government post, nor was a member of Parliament.
The party leadership was concerned Dr Ling and then-deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim didn’t have chemistry. And what made the situation critical was that Anwar was regarded as heir apparent to then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
John was assigned to engage with Anwar. He was the only one in Dr Ling’s inner circle who could discuss politics, arts, economics and anything else under the sun. By 1997, they became very good friends, and also by which time, Dr Mahathir’s uneasiness with Anwar was surfacing.
Anwar was sacked as DPM and Umno member on Sept 2, 1998. John insisted on marching alongside Anwar during the Sept 20 rally when it was obvious he had attained “pariah” status. Soon after Anwar was detained under the ISA and subsequently charged with corruption and homosexual acts.
John’s close friendship with Dr Ling also ended abruptly around this time, following which his problems with the securities commission also began.
Postscript
During the hearing, the DPP postulated John was the possible mastermind of false trading and market rigging, which led to the collapse of the penny stocks.
John, in a subsequent press conference, said: “I don’t know whether I ought to feel flattered or insulted. It is not humanly possible to plan all the things that happened.”