What will an apology from the Prime Minister do? The Prime Minister made a curious remark on Saturday; he says he is prepared to apologize to Malaysians if he had made a mistake regarding his son Kamaluddin's influence in the oil and gas services company Scomi Group. His remarks were reported in the Sunday Star dated September 3. Last month, the Prime Minister had stated in a much-anticipated TV3 interview that his son and his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin did not benefit from government projects due to his position. It got me wondering why is the Prime Minister making such a statement? Is it because there is evidence to the contrary and that he did not want to be embarassed the second time after he mistakenly said in that TV3 interview that foreigners did not have control over strategic national assets? In that instance, the Prime Minister had to do an about-turn a week or so after that TV interview when it was discovered that it was actually true that Singapore-based Parkway Holding Ltd had control over Malaysia's biggest healthcare company Pantai Holdings. This oversight had since been rectified with Khazanah Nasional swooping into the fray and saving the blushes, albeit a little late. The healthcare sector by the way, had been earlier earmarked as a strategic asset by the government.

But what will an apology from the Prime Minister really do, if he had made a mistake about what he said about the Scomi Group? Will that improve the investing climate in the country? Or would it give rise to the impression that the Prime Minister is not really aware of going-ons in his Finance Ministry, of which he is the Minister? Could this give rise to questions of nepotism at the highest levels of government, at a time when the country clearly needs to present an investor-friendly face in order to attract much-needed foreign investments? An apology from the Prime Minister, if he makes one regarding Scomi Group, in my view, will not put matters to rest, but instead provide more political fodder for his opponents within UMNO and the Opposition to raise questions about the Prime Minister's leadership abilities.  ¶ 9:59 PM