Nazir Razak Goes To Oxford University

That gonna make Mahathir looks real bad ... His botak son only been to Chicken College.

Nazir Razak Goes to Oxford as a Chevening Fellow
www.themalaysianinsider.com

Malaysia’s top banker Datuk Seri Nazir Razak will head to the prestigious Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies next month as a Chevening Fellow for 2010/2011 but declared he will continue to head the CIMB banking group.

The CIMB chief executive said the studies will allow him to further his knowledge in Islamic finance and network with prominent Muslims visiting the Oxford centre.

“These studies will allow me to network with Muslims personalities, learn more about Islamic finance and modernisation in Islamic societies,” said Nazir, who led the CIMB group to post a record RM1.7 billion in net profit for the first half of the current financial year.

Nazir, who is Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s younger brother, has been calling for the dismantling of affirmative action policies under the New Economic Policy (NEP), much to the dismay of Malay rights groups who want those policies kept.

His comments drew the ire of PERKASA and former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who argue that policies under the NEP are rights and still relevant for the Malays.

Nazir’s fellowship at Oxford will be welcomed by right wingers in UMNO and the Malay community as a retreat by someone with influence and eloquence to push the meritocracy agenda. But The Malaysian Insider understands that Nazir remains committed to this issue and will likely continue to speak out on the need for the Malaysian economy to be restructured.

He also stressed that he will remain in control of the Malaysia’s top dealmaker and second largest banking group by assets.

“The longest period I will be away is between two and three weeks but I shall continue to work and chair meetings in the CIMB London office,” Nazir said, stressing the studies were important for his development as a banker.

The Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies was established in 1985 under the patronage of The Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, for the scholarly studies of Islam and the Islamic world. It runs advanced research, the three biggest ones being The Atlas Project, Muslims in Britain and Islamic Finance.

The Atlas Project aims to publish the historical atlas of the Islamic world, concerned with the roots of the Islamic world and its social progression. The Muslims in Britain research is concerned with the history, needs and challenges of British Muslims. The third research focuses on the theory and practical application of Islamic finance all over the world.

The centre also hosts lectures by distinguished visiting lecturers, among whom were Prince Charles, Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan and former Malaysian prime ministers Dr Mahathir and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The centre is headed by Dr Farhan Ahmad Nizami, who is a Prince of Wales Fellow, Magdalen College, Oxford and Emeritus Fellow, St Cross College, while Dr Adeel Malik is a Globe Fellow in the Economies of Muslim Societies and Research Fellow, St Peter’s College, apart from being an Islamic Centre lecturer, International Development Centre in the University of Oxford.