Before news emerged of Khazanah’s failed RM80mil investment in online lingerie business Zivame, and the RM1.7bil loss in a not-that-clear deal with UBS investment bank, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad made a cryptic statement about Khazanah deviating from its “original focus” of helping bumiputras grow their ownership in companies.

Since then, I understand the board tried to meet with the PM. And then they decided to submit undated resignation letters. And then everybody in Khazanah was asked to update their CVs. It sounds like something that would happen in a failing company, not the 11th biggest sovereign wealth fund in the world dealing with non-commodity investments.