Tribute to Tan Sri Ani Arope

Ani Arope, the Malaysian who stood up years ago

COMMENTARY BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
Published: 20 December 2014

Tan Sri Ani Arope released his long-awaited book 'Memoirs of Tan Sri Ani Arope' in October last year. – December 20, 2014.
Tan Sri Ani Arope released his long-awaited book 'Memoirs of Tan Sri Ani Arope' in October last year. – December 20, 2014.
If today we cheer Malaysians who stand up for what they believe to be true, please then remember the late Tan Sri Ani Arope who passed away today.

The 82-year-old stood up for what he believed in and against Malaysia's most powerful prime minister ever, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad way back in 1996.

Rather than sign off on generous power purchasing agreements with independent power producers in 1995, Ani quit as executive chairman of utility giant Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB).

He never looked back with an ounce of regret and a decade later, revealed the reasons that led to his departure from TNB – a utility that transformed from a government agency to a public-listed company during his tenure.
In an interview with The Star in June 2006, Ani gave details of the IPP deals that was arranged by the powerful Economic Planning Unit (EPU) in the Prime Minister's Department in 1996.

"There was no negotiation. Absolutely none. Instead of talking directly with the IPPs, TNB was sitting down with the EPU. And we were harassed, humiliated and talked down every time we went there. After that, my team was disappointed. The EPU just gave us the terms and asked us to agree. I said no way I would.

"It was all fixed up. They said, this is the price, this is the capacity charge and this is the number of years. They said you just take it and I refused to sign the contracts. And then, I was put out to pasture," he had said.

Ani, who studied in St Xavier's Institution in Penang and was the only Malay in class during that time, also described his feelings about the deals that led to the first-generation of IPPs in Malaysia.

"I felt sick. It was morally wrong and not fair. If it is legal and not fair, I will not do it. If it is fair and illegal, I still won’t do it. It has to be legal and fair.

"We work for the consumers, workers and shareholders. TNB is morally obligated to these three, but the consumers come first, otherwise we won’t be around. It is then the workers and the shareholders.

"When I said that, they (EPU) said ‘Dia ingat bapak dia-punya’ (He thinks this is his father’s company).

"This job is an amanah (trust). You are entrusted with this responsibility and you carry it out to the best of your ability. I do not want somebody to come and urinate on my grave. In the Malay culture, that is about the worst insult they can do to a man," said the man who was also Malaysia's first Fulbright Scholar in 1966.

Before leaving his mark in TNB, the trained agronomist had worked in the public sector in premier agencies, such as Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) and Rubber Research Institute Malaysia (RRI).

Prior to joining TNB in 1990, Ani was chairman of Bank Simpanan Nasional and group chief executive of then plantation giant Guthrie Bhd.

In a citation for his honorary doctorate of laws in Indianapolis University in 1995, the Indianapolis University-Purdue University Indianapolis School of Engineering and Technology dean Alfred R.Potvin said this of Ani, "He himself embodies the best result of a liberal education – a skilled generalist, a truly modern-day Renaissance man."

Malaysia has lost a towering Malaysian, a man who stood up for his beliefs and was willing to pay the price for it.

His remarkable achievements in and out of public service should be an inspiration to all Malaysians – that Malaysians can excel and be the best that they can be but also there are lines that cannot be crossed.

That honesty and integrity is more important than honours and positions. That we must stand up for what we believe to be right and true.

We had Ani doing that, and now the Group of 25. We must have more because our country needs us to be as principled as the late Tan Sri Ani Arope. – December 20, 2014.

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+12Fre2talkhismind's avatar - Go to profile
Fre2talkhismind136p · 4 hours ago
Peace be upon this great man.
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+18Kunta kinteh's avatar - Go to profile
Kunta kinteh95p · 4 hours ago
Gentlemen , my highest respect for you TSAA
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+45yeahseriously's avatar - Go to profile
yeahseriously135p · 6 hours ago
Tan Sri, your legacy will not be forgotten. We are grateful to have you. RIP
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+32drmorsi's avatar - Go to profile
drmorsi133p · 6 hours ago
To be remembered as a great Malaysian. He was fair to ALL wherever he was. No tinge of racism in him, he mingled with all races. He made ALL races work together as Malaysians. Even took the trouble to speak their languages. He was a man 'humour' in whatever situation he was in. A towering Malaysian he was. GOD BLESS HIS SOUL.
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+123roben66's avatar - Go to profile
roben66132p · 10 hours ago
You have been schooled in St. Xaviers Institution and you have learned well. You beieve in integrity and honesty which made you stand tall even with the most powerful man of the country at that time. You have earned many admirers because you never gave in however big or however small the gift maybe. THANK YOU. RIP.
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+23mmghani's avatar - Go to profile
mmghani114p · 6 hours ago
Tan Sri also believes that you must promote your subordinate and this in turn will also promote you higher. I will never forget this writing of his and it is very true.
A great towering Malaysian. The country needs more people like him.
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+53appane's avatar - Go to profile
appane142p · 7 hours ago
May God Bless you for what you have stood for. We need more of Ani Arope to save our beloved country Malaysia. May his soul rest among the salehs.
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+96Pekan Mari's avatar - Go to profile
Pekan Mari145p · 10 hours ago
Ani Arope not only stood up to the wrongs this government did but stood by his principles and resigned...

You want to talk about elite Malays...this guy was it...not the 25 fellows who achieved their pay scales..collected their titles and gratuity but never lifted a finger in service when they knew the country was being robbed and raped......

There is a difference between a gentleman. ..and louts....
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+97Jack_Allen_Hyde's avatar - Go to profile
Jack_Allen_Hyde-145p · 10 hours ago
Pekan Mari, do you actually know the contribution of any of those 25 to accord them such a disparaging remark? Just take one personality, Dr Y. Awang, the cardiac surgeon who pioneered cardiac surgery in M'sia, initiated the National Heart Institute, and trained dozens of cardiac surgeons who are currently busy saving lives in various locations in the nation. He did lift more than a finger for our beloved nation during his time in service. In fact, he gave his whole heart, while you merely lifted your little finger to disparage the likes of him and his group of 25. Go check ought on the others and learn about their contributions, and you will find out more!
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+37scarecrow2's avatar - Go to profile
scarecrow2148p · 8 hours ago
At a loss for words.

Hard to believe we had such a GREAT MAN in our midst!

Proud that we had.

God bless his soul.
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+67ubikayu3's avatar - Go to profile
ubikayu3140p · 8 hours ago
Based on what happened how come that Dr M still isn't hauled up for cheating the people of Malaysia??
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+36kahhoeng's avatar - Go to profile
kahhoeng107p · 8 hours ago
Sometimes, I wonder, if to the Malay elites, non-Malays are merely the herd confined by them.
To those 'more' liberal, like those 25, we are waiting to be milked to feed them. Raising concern about the rightful place of Islam in our nation, have they forgotten to question a similarly important issue, that its probably time to address wealth gap instead of racial gap?
To those 'non' liberal, like those shouting in UMNO gathering, we are waiting to be butchered to feed them. The question is not if its right, but when.
Have I gotten tired of being a Malaysian Chinese, I wonder...
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+35dingbatandgang's avatar - Go to profile
dingbatandgang146p · 8 hours ago
Al Fatihah
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+38nightmare9999's avatar - Go to profile
nightmare9999120p · 9 hours ago
Okay. Another distinguished and respectable moderate Malaysian (not only Malay muslim) has left this earth with a good legacy (hopefully no skeletons in his closet). The percentage of extremist malay muslims just went up that tiny bit...and it is not encouraging. no thanks to the local education system, people of Tan Sri Ani Arope's caliber are being dumbed down so they will never challenge the ruling elite. i still only see despair and no hope for Malaysia's future. (at least for the non muslim races).
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+71SpadeySay's avatar - Go to profile
SpadeySay132p · 9 hours ago
I must say that Ani Arope is a rare breed amongst the Malays. Now the GLCs are almost 100% chaired by Malays who do not have any idea what the GLCs they chair are doing. And I am quoting from a recent official report on this issue.
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+36Rakyat Malaysia's avatar - Go to profile
Rakyat Malaysia150p · 9 hours ago
That's what the era of the gomen at the time....enrich the cronies first !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO NEGOTIATION...
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+71fumakilla's avatar - Go to profile
fumakilla145p · 10 hours ago
Not enough is said about or heard from Malays like Ani Arope these days.

It seems like it is the quiet ones who are really the ones who are the defenders and builders of this beloved Malaysia of ours.
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+80M_Vivekananda's avatar - Go to profile
M_Vivekananda97p · 10 hours ago
An officer and a gentleman. A Malaysian who upheld good values, universal principles and served with integrity and distinction. It is no wonder he was our first Fulbright scholar. Let us salute the passing of a Malaysian who set the standard and benchmark for all. Al-Fatihah.
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+57ultimateprime's avatar - Go to profile
ultimateprime117p · 10 hours ago
We symphatize the lost of great man like Tan Sri Arope who work in favour of all Malaysian...not like the ruling party who can sacrifice anything at the expense of the people such like digging out what is available to favour them and their cronnies....Just check out who are the major shareholders of TNB after it was privatised...and the purchasing of power from third parties are two way profit with all their benefits squeeze from the users....This was a well planned tactics that works in favour of the players....After privatisation of TNB....the authority start to reduce the subsidies on fuel on the pretext of saving money for the country....thus the excuse to raise the price of electricity without consideration that users will be victimize....after this event,TNB has been making huge profits for their shareholder since and they are starting to acquire properties recently.....this is like money making machines and that's not all....As electricity hike,so are the cost of living....just figure out who are the one to trigger the surging cost of living that is making lifes difficult for Malaysians and we must decide their destiny come the next election.
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+71Bodoh101's avatar - Go to profile
Bodoh101148p · 10 hours ago
RIP, Tan Sri Ani Arope. May the nation honor and remember you and what you stood for.
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+54tksee88's avatar - Go to profile
tksee88146p · 10 hours ago
and the same ex-powerful person is still saying all ills by others and disunity made one race to beg ???.

if he can't govern fairly then ....with berat sebelah IPP...what else can be right?
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+42mfudzail's avatar - Go to profile
mfudzail0p · 10 hours ago
Legasi Ani Arope – Fudzail
Published: 20 December 2014

Pabila sebuah negara merdeka

dengan segala propaganda pemerintah

untuk kelihatan bermartabat tinggi

melahirkan pejuang tidak didendang

yang bukan politikus dan ahli korporat

selalunya penulis sejarah buku teks

gagal menterjemah kehebatan

lantas menidakkan perjuangan

sehingga hanya catatan nota kaki

setelah meriah merumuskan kejayaan

pihak yang menang dan kaya raya

dengan penindasan berterusan

terhadap rakyat yang menanggung beban

diatas nama penswastaan

menjulang pembangunan fizikal

dan kemajuan lahiriah negara

kepentingan sosial yang tidak seimbang

dengan nilai akhlak, moral dan agama.

Begitulah legasi Ani Arope

anak Malaysia yang unggul

pernah gagah bangkit melawan

biar kehilangan jawatan

sebagai pengorbanan demi generasi

yang terpaksa membayar harga tinggi

memenuhi kehendak politikus dan cukong

tamak bersetongkol membaham

apa sahaja untuk keuntungan

dan para pengkhianat itu terus dujulang

sebagai wira-wira nasional.

Penghormatan kami

bersama doa berpanjangan

anak-anak Malaysia yang bersolidariti

menentang rasuah dan korupsi

segala penyelewengan penguasa

buat seorang lelaki

bernama Ani Arope

yang sejarah akan terus menilai

perjuangannya terus menjadi

bahan rujukan untuk generasi

memahami dan menginsafi

setiap kita boleh bangkit

walau sekecil mana peranan

sebagai pemangkin dan peneraju

transformasi yang lebih luas

daripada retorik para politikus

berlakun di pentas politik kebencian

sambil terus bersetongkol dengan cukong

memperjuangkan survival masing-masing! – 20 Disember, 2014.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/rencana/article/legasi-ani-arope-fudzail#sthash.sxOuULi3.dpuf
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+114Malmotrendy's avatar - Go to profile
Malmotrendy150p · 10 hours ago
RIP Tan Sri Ani Arope. You have served your country and Malaysians with distinction. Indeed a towering Malaysian!

Malaysians like you are now an endangered breed on the verge of extinction.

God bless your soul.
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+103kun9999's avatar - Go to profile
kun9999139p · 10 hours ago
My salute to Tan Sri Ani Arope as these days not many have the backbone to do the right thing...
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