Daim’s widow Naimah recently appeared on the popular Keluar Sekejap podcast, and that particular episode seems to have gained a lot of traction on social media.
I think so because I keep seeing short clips or comments about that episode on Facebook and TikTok—far more than I’ve ever seen for any other episode of the podcast.
So what exactly did Naimah say that is generating so much reaction?
From the clips I’ve watched, some things were interesting—like how it was Daim who developed the Taman Maluri region in KL, and that “Maluri” stands for Makanan Luar Negeri. But beyond these trivia, what Naimah was fundamentally promoting on the podcast was the Daim-centric narrative we are already familiar with.
What is this Daim-centric narrative?
It is the narrative that Daim was already wealthy before entering politics; that he entered public life not to enrich himself but out of service; that he always had good intentions toward Anwar Ibrahim; that he had, in fact, helped Anwar on numerous occasions; yet Anwar still bore him an irrational ill will, viewing him as a master conspirator responsible for his downfall—though, according to this narrative, Daim had done no such thing.
Interwoven with this pro-Daim storyline are anti-Anwar jabs, including Naimah’s recounting of Daim’s criticism that Anwar “did not like to read.”
On another occasion, she recalls asking Mahathir why Alor Setar—hardly the most modern place—produced so many notable figures like him and Daim. Mahathir’s answer: because people from Alor Setar loved to read.
When paired with her point about Daim viewing Anwar as someone who doesn’t read, this becomes a passive-aggressive way of implying that Anwar simply does not measure up to Mahathir and Daim.
But why is there a need to propagate a pro-Daim narrative when Daim himself is no longer alive, and public perception should no longer matter to him?
The only answer that makes sense is that while Daim is gone, those who identified with him are very much still here—and they likely believe that Daim’s legacy, and by extension their own political capital and inheritance, must be defended. And one way to defend it is to push a narrative where Daim was the talented Malay entrepreneur with impeccable integrity who uplifted countless others, while Anwar is irrational, vindictive, and ungrateful.
This is precisely the spirit of the story being pushed in the Keluar Sekejap episode, and it echoes strongly with the account f that paints Daim as a loyal friend who went to extraordinary lengths to support Anwar, including reinstating his decades-old law license just to visit Anwar in prison.
According to that narrative, Daim visited the jailed Anwar multiple times, stood by him during his darkest moments, reconciled with him after the fall of BN, hosted him frequently, and was even told by Anwar: “When I become Prime Minister, don’t go anywhere—I want you as my economic advisor.”
Yet the story turns tragic in 2022, when Anwar’s administration launches relentless legal probes against Daim—probes that continued even after his death. In this narrative arc, Anwar becomes the betrayer, and Daim the loyal friend stabbed in the back.
But this is only one side of the conflict.
The counter-narrative, well-known among Malaysians, is that Daim’s vast wealth was siphoned from the nation’s coffers; that he was a paragon of cronyism and corruption; and that he played a central role in the conspiracy that brought down Anwar in the 1990s because Anwar objected to Daim’s methods of enriching himself.
If the pro-Daim narrative triumphs, Daim becomes a misunderstood patriot, a brilliant entrepreneur who sacrificed personal gain for public service.
If the anti-Daim narrative triumphs, Daim becomes a symbol of everything rotten about Malaysia’s political economy—cronyism, nepotism, hidden deals, and quiet accumulations of unimaginable wealth.
Which narrative is true?
To me personally, truth will not be the arbiter in the contest between the Daim and Anwar camps.
This is not a struggle between good and evil, where truth and justice determine the victor. In fact, I think Daim and Anwar are more similar than different in their virtues and convictions. So the question of who is more noble, pure, or righteous simply does not arise.
Instead, the determiner of which narrative triumphs will be who is winning and who is losing in the corridors of power.
When Daim was on the winning side, Anwar’s narrative lost and his reputation was destroyed.
Now that Anwar is the winner, it is inevitable that Daim’s narrative will suffer and his reputation will be dismantled.
If Daim’s camp does not want that outcome, then their recourse is not to talk about “truth” or “justice.” Their recourse is to seize political power.
There is a saying in the Bible: “Render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.”
The contest between Daim and Anwar belongs entirely in the realm of Caesar—the realm of power, not truth.
God, truth, and justice, I dare say, have no interest in this matter at all.
TheRealNehruism (nehru.sathiamoorthy@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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