Tycoon Robert Kuok saluted PM Mahathir and said: You saved the country
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[PUTRAJAYA] Malaysian tycoon Robert Kuok has congratulated Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad for winning the May 9 polls, saying the politician had "saved the country".
In a short video uploaded on Facebook by Kelab Chedet, Mr Kuok was heard saying, "...I salute. You saved the country. Of course with Daim's help", in reference to Tun Daim Zainuddin who leads the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP).
Tun's Mahathir merely replied, "But I need your help now".
Mr Kuok, Malaysia's richest man with estimated net worth of some US$14.8 billion (S$20 billion), is a member of the CEP which advises the new government on financial and economic matters.
The 94 year-old billionaire also gave an actual salute to Dr Mahathir, 92, when they met in the Prime Minister's Office in Putrajaya on Wednesday (May 23).
Mr Kuok, who resides in Hong Kong, attended his first meeting with the CEP on Tuesday (May 22).
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He was named as one of the five members in the CEP on May 12.
Photos of Mr Kuok holding hands and hugging Mr Daim when they met for the meeting have gone viral on social media and made the cover of local newspapers.
The CEP also includes former Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz, former Petronas CEO Hassan Marican and renowned economist Prof Jomo Kwame Sundaram.
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