Malaysia’s Defiant Prime Minister: The 1MDB Purge

By Dhirenn Nair

The Diplomat

August 09, 2016

Despite a deepening scandal, Najib Razak has strengthened his position by purging his party and government of critics.

July 20, 2016 was a dies horribilis for Najib Razak, the embattled prime minister of Malaysia. For over a year, he had been battling accusations of financial mismanagement of the state fund 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and embezzlement for personal gain. Exposés by the Wall Street Journal and the Sarawak Report, an investigative journalism site which is blocked in Malaysia to “maintain national security,” first showed alleged financial mismanagement in the fund. Then came allegations that Najib had over $680 million in 1MDB-related funds transferred into his own personal account. The response of the Malaysian authorities was to investigate the Sarawak Report for leaking confidential government information.

Najib, on the other hand, claimed that the funds found in his personal account were a donation from Saudi Arabia; a portion of that “donation” was used to finance his coalition’s 2013 re-election campaign and the rest was returned to the donor(s). His claim was later corroborated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the attorney general, Apandi Ali; Saudi Arabia also confirmed that a political donation had been made to Najib. Legally, the prime minister had not done anything unlawful, for there are no existing political financing laws in Malaysia. It appeared Najib has dodged a bullet — but then came the announcement by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) on July 20.

The Defrauding of 30 Million Malaysians

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On July 20, the DoJ announced that it had filed civil suits to seize assets linked to “more than $3.5 billion in funds… allegedly misappropriated by high-level officials of 1MDB and their associates.” In a press conference, the national deputy director of the FBI said that “the Malaysian people were defrauded on an enormous scale.”

The Justice Department’s Civil Forfeiture Complaints document makes repeated mentions of a “Malaysian Official 1,” who is said to have received $681 million in 1MDB related funds. In addition, “Malaysian Official 1” is also identified as a relative of Riza Aziz in the document. Riza Aziz is identified by name as one of the individuals involved in diverting more than $3 billion from 1MBD; he is also the step-son of Najib Razak. There is little doubt over the identity of “Malaysian Official 1″ — which Malaysian official is a relative of Riza Aziz and also had over $681 million deposited into his account?

The prime minister’s press secretary issued the following statement in response to the announcement from the DoJ:

“Malaysian authorities have led the way in investigations into 1MDB. The company has been the subject of multiple investigations within Malaysia, including by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Auditor General, and bi-partisan Public Accounts Committee. After comprehensive review, the Attorney General found that no crime was committed. 1MDB is still the subject of an investigation by the Royal Malaysia Police.

We note the United States Department of Justice’s civil lawsuits brought against various assets. As previously stated, the Malaysian Government will fully cooperate with any lawful investigation of Malaysian companies or citizens in accordance with international protocols.

As the Prime Minister has always maintained, if any wrongdoing is proven, the law will be enforced without exception.”

The statement made no mention of “Malaysian Official 1″ and that was expected since Najib was not named in the DoJ document.

Still, this revelation brings Najib’s claim about the donation he received and also the findings and conduct of the attorney general and the MACC into question. The DoJ document disputes their accounts of where the $681 million found in the prime minister’s account came from.

Najib has not acknowledged or denied that he is indeed “Malaysian Official 1″ — probably a politically wise move, considering that he is not named in the document and that the suit brought forward by the DoJ only involved the seizure of property and is not a criminal case. However, considering the level of public dissatisfaction over his handling of the scandal since it was first exposed over a year ago and the immense foreign pressure from multiple foreign investigations into 1MDB, could Najib’s position be a jeopardy?

The Purge, Malaysian Style

Since news broke of the corruption allegations implicating Najib in the embezzlement of 1MDB funds, the prime minister has been shoring up support within his party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), and also his Cabinet. In the immediate aftermath of the initial allegations in July 2015, Najib fired his deputy prime minister and four other ministers. His deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin, had emerged as an unlikely critic of Najib’s handling of the fiasco. In announcing the Cabinet reshuffle, the prime minister said:

“I can accept differences of opinion and criticism as part of the decision-making process. But as a Cabinet minister, differing views and opinions should not be aired in public forums that can negatively impact the perception of the government and nation. It is also contrary to the concept of collective responsibility….The decision to replace Tan Sri Muhyiddin was a difficult one, but I was forced to do so to ensure the Cabinet is a united team.”

On the party level, the purge continued with the expulsion of Muhyiddin Yassin and Mukhriz Mahathir, who before being expelled was ousted as the chief minister of a northern state. Mukhriz is also the son of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad, who has become Najib’s fiercest critic.

Najib also replaced the attorney general, Abdul Gani Patail, who had been heading a probe into alleged financial mismanagement at 1MDB. The official reason cited was Abdul Gani’s ill health, attributed to a kidney ailment, but there have been allegations that the attorney general was on the verge of bringing charges against the prime minister for siphoning off 27 million ringgit ($6.7 million) from a 1MDB linked company. The Sarawak Report reproduced the alleged draft charge sheet. The allegations were denied by the government and the new attorney general, Apandi Ali, who stated that the draft charge sheet was false and it was evidence of a plot to topple Najib.

As a result of the purge, Najib’s Cabinet is stacked with loyalists and he has a party of sycophants who have emboldened his resolve to weather this scandal. These sycophants have been rewarded with Cabinet positions (some promoted) and some have launched attacks on the DoJ’s actions, pledging full support to the prime minister and repeating the mantra that Najib has not been named and has done no wrong. At the recent World Islamic Economic Forum in Jakarta, the prime minister noted that Muslim states:

 ”…..have seen the devastating results of foreign intervention in the Muslim world, often based on incomplete, wrong or partisan information. We must make clear that we reject it. And reject those who, out of political motivation, call for foreign powers to intervene in their own country.”

Considering the timing of his statement railing against foreign meddling based on partisan information, it is difficult not to relate it to the recent DoJ announcement; indeed Najib’s supporters have alleged that the DoJ’s investigation has been based on false partisan information. Najib has ensured that his party is full of sycophants who will not question his authority.

A Fragmented Opposition

Najib has dealt with opposition politicians the same way he has dealt with critics from within: by silencing them. An opposition politician who divulged the contents of a Parliamentary Accounts Committee audit into the troubled fund was charged under the Official Secrets Act 1972 for exposing information without approval. However, political persecution is the least of the Federal Opposition’s worries. The coalition of opposition parties failed to galvanize public support against Najib when news first broke of the $681 million in his account. Ironically, as public anger against Najib grew, the Federal Opposition further disintegrated, continuing the process that began following the 2013 General Elections, which saw the Opposition win the popular vote but not a parliamentary majority due to a first-past-the-post system rife with gerrymandering.

The opposition coalition crumbled in June 2016 due to fundamental differences between the the Islamist PAS and the secular, Chinese-dominated, DAP, two of the three parties that made up the coalition. The Islamist party’s resolute position on introducing hudud, a part of Sharia law which deals with criminal matters, was the bone of contention. The collapse of the coalition has meant that despite the enormous pressures on Najib, the opposition is too weak themselves to oust the embattled prime minister. This was evident in the results of the recent state election in Sarawak and two subsequent parliamentary by-elections. The infighting between opposition parties led to multiple cornered fights which resulted in the splitting of opposition votes and victories for Najib’s coalition.

Strength Amid Scandal

The disunity among opposition parties has been a boon for Najib. Having already rid his own party of critics and facing an opposition in disarray, the prime minister is well positioned to survive this second phase of uproar over the 1MDB scandal. Barring a foreign intervention, Najib appears poised to lead his party and coalition into the next general elections, due before August 24, 2018 . At that time, the inability of opposition parties in devising a seat sharing agreement and a coherent common policy platform will likely lead to the reelection of “Malaysian Official 1.”

Dhirenn Nair is a graduate in International Relations from the University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 10 August 2016, 4:40 pm and is filed under
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Bar: Irresistible to conclude PM is MO1

Steven Thiru

President, Malaysian Bar

Malaysiakini

11th August 2011

COMMENT
 The Malaysian Bar is deeply disturbed by the grim disclosures contained in the complaint filed by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) “to forfeit assets involved in and traceable to an international conspiracy to launder money misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB)”.

The DOJ has made serious allegations of siphoning or diversion of funds, fraud, and the misuse of the banking system for illegal activities, by the individuals and entities named in the complaint.

Various persons have in the past weeks sought to interpret the DOJ’s 136-page complaint.

It is appalling that some have deliberately set out to distort the proceedings, and have attempted to create confusion, ostensibly to protect¬ wrongdoers.

In the interest of upholding the rule of law and the cause of justice, the thrust, purpose and ramifications of the DOJ proceedings must be appreciated.

The legal proceeding commenced by the DOJ seeking the forfeiture of assets — including rights to profits, moveable assets and real property — constitute a civil action.

These assets, located primarily, but not exclusively, in the United States, are alleged to be proceeds from criminal conduct.

The DOJ maintains that this is the largest single asset seizure action ever brought under its Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.

The DOJ’s court document states that the assets to be forfeited represent “a portion of the proceeds of over [US]$3.5 billion misappropriated from 1MDB.

It has been reported that the United States authorities intend “to recover more than US$1 billion that was laundered through the United States and traceable to the conspiracy.”

In this regard, it would appear from the court document that the United States authorities possess comprehensive knowledge of the movement of the alleged misappropriated funds, have sighted relevant documentary evidence, and even reviewed telephone conversations.

Claims cannot be ignored

The substance, depth and reach of the allegations are compelling, and should not be ignored.

The affected parties will have the opportunity to challenge the DOJ’s action in court, hence the process is transparent and adheres to the principles of natural justice.

The complaint made by the DOJ does not preclude criminal action, as the forfeiture is but a first step to prevent dissipation of the specified assets.

The act of money laundering, and involvement in a conspiracy to do so, are criminal offences.

Thus, upon forfeiture of the assets, it is likely that there would be criminal proceedings to prosecute those responsible for the alleged misappropriation of 1MDB funds and the laundering of those funds in the United States and elsewhere.

Not inteference of domestic affairs

Such proceedings in the United States should not surprise our law enforcement agencies or officers.

There are similar provisions in our law for the freezing or forfeiture of assets in Malaysia that are connected with money laundering activities or are the proceeds of crime, whether or not any individuals are prosecuted.

These have often subsequently led to the prosecution of individuals.

The laws in Malaysia also allow for criminal proceedings against individuals for alleged money laundering activities, even if those activities occur outside Malaysia.

It is noteworthy that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has issued a statement confirming that it cooperated with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation in the latter’s investigations.

In international efforts to stop money laundering and curb corruption, many countries — including Malaysia — have passed laws that allow for “universal jurisdiction” in respect of money laundering activities or corrupt practices.

Such legal actions cannot in any way be categorised as attempts to interfere in the domestic affairs of a sovereign state.

The principal aim of international crime prevention and anti-corruption treaties such as the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which Malaysia ratified in 2008, is to specifically provide for the prosecution of those involved in international or transnational criminal activities.

No country that is a signatory to such treaties or conventions should attempt to hide or shield such persons, or permit such persons to evade or avoid prosecution, or to block access to evidence or information.

Cannot say no evidence of misappropriation

It is untenable to hold that the DOJ document does not show that money has been misappropriated from 1MDB.

The allegations of financial improprieties concerning 1MDB funds — described as having been “stolen, laundered through American financial institutions and used to enrich a few officials and their associates” — are referred to in no fewer than 193 paragraphs in the document.

Further, it has been reported that 1MDB is being investigated for alleged financial irregularities and possible money laundering in at least nine countries: Australia, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States of America.

It is significant that immediately after the DOJ announced its action, Singaporean authorities declared that they have seized bank accounts and properties amounting to S$240 million in total, as a result of their own investigations into the flows of 1MDB-related funds through Singapore, which began in March 2015 and are still in progress.

There are also parties who dismiss the allegations detailed in the DOJ’s court document, stating that 1MDB has not suffered any losses but only “has debts”.

This is a perverse and unsustainable position, given that the PAC report named members of 1MDB’s senior management that it said should face a criminal investigation.

Five of the twelve members of the PAC have also reportedly stated that the PAC’s report shows that a total of US$7 billion have flowed out from 1MDB and were unaccounted for.

Irresistable to conclude PM is MO1

Several individuals have been specifically named in the DOJ’s court document, but not the prime minister.

However, this is not to say that he cannot be identified from the descriptive statements contained in the court document.

The conclusion — based on any clear reading of those descriptive statements — that the person named as ‘Malaysian Official 1’ in the court document is the prime minister appears irresistible.

The court document contains many other troubling disclosures.

It is alleged that in March 2013, US$681 million was transferred to a bank account belonging to ‘Malaysian Official 1’, and that this sum emanated from a 1MDB bond sale.

This allegation contradicts statements by our authorities that the funds were a “personal donation” to the Prime Minister from the Saudi royal family, given to him without any consideration.

In addition, the court document also alleges that USD20 million and a further USD30 million traceable to 1MDB funds, were transferred to the same personal bank account owned by “Malaysian Official 1” in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

It would appear that the transfer of these funds had not been previously uncovered or disclosed by any of our enforcement agencies.

These allegations therefore expose deficiencies and flaws in the investigations that have been conducted so far in Malaysia, and a lack of transparency regarding the findings that such investigations have yielded.

While the DOJ’s proceedings and any other possible related proceedings in the United States of America must be allowed to take their course and not be prejudged, a fresh and comprehensive investigation of all persons directly or indirectly implicated in the allegations made by the DOJ must be pursued.

These allegations must not be ignored or permitted to be swept under the carpet, as that would only fuel the already existing perception of a cover-up. In this regard, the recent statement by the PAC, in the wake of the DOJ proceedings, that any further investigation into 1MDB is unnecessary, is deeply disconcerting.

There is a palpable need for greater fervour, transparency and accountability in the investigation by our enforcement authorities, and for appropriate and concrete action to be taken against all wrongdoers, without delay.

The truth must be revealed and justice must be done.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 11 August 2016, 2:17 pm and is filed under
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Cabinet silence on DOJ lawsuits after its third meeting yesterday after DOJ filing three weeks ago has yet to prove  that it is a Cabinet of patriots and  not idiots or kleptocrats

Malaysians are disappointed by the eerie silence of the Cabinet on the US Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuits after its third meeting yesterday after the DOJ filing three weeks ago for forfeiture of over US$1 billion MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland from the US$3.5 billion stolen, misappropriated, embezzled or laundered from 1MDB and the people of Malaysia, as the Malaysian Cabinet has yet to prove that it is a Cabinet of patriots and not idiots or kleptocrats.

Barisan Nasional  Strategic Communications Director and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of EPU, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan, has said that there is no secret who is Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) mentioned in the US DOJ civil lawsuits as  everyone who has read the court documents or familiar with the issues would know who is the person being referred to,  as “only an idiot doesn’t know who that person was”.

Do all the Cabinet Ministers know who is “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1”, or are most of them “idiots” in Abdul Rahman’s parlance?

Or do all the Ministers agree with  what  the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak told Indonesian television last weekend, that the DOJ action does not involve him, the Malaysian government or 1MDB directly?

Are the Ministers not aware that under their watch, Malaysia has overnight been turned into a global kleptocracy, not only because the DOJ complaint is the single largest US and global kleptocracy action, but the shocking inability and impotence of the Malaysian Government to debunk and rebut the grave allegations of kleptocracy against the Malaysian government, especially the litany of “criminal conduct” as well as the embezzlement and money-laundering of billions of dollars stolen from 1MDB  meant for the country’s development?

The President of Malaysian Bar, Steven Thiru said today that it is irresistible to conclude that Prime Minister Najib is “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” and that the DOJ document contained many other “troubling disclosures”, including the allegation that in March 2013, US$681 million was transferred to a bank account belonging to ‘MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1′, and that this sum emanated from a 1MDB bond sale.

Steven rightly pointed out that this allegation contradicts statements by our authorities that the funds were a “personal donation” to the Prime Minister from the Saudi royal family, given to him without any consideration.

In addition, the court document also alleges that US$20 million and a further US$30 million traceable to 1MDB funds, were transferred to the same personal bank account owned by “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” in 2011 and 2012, respectively-  and that both tranfers had not been previously uncovered or disclosed by the Malaysian enforcement agencies.

Thiru pointed out the allegations of financial improprieties concerning 1MDB funds — described as having been “stolen, laundered through American financial institutions and used to enrich a few officials and their associates” — are referred to in no fewer than 193 paragraphs in the document.

In these circumstances, the call of the Malaysian Bar for “a fresh and comprehensive investigation of all persons directly or indirectly implicated in the allegations made by the DOJ” is the only honourable option for the Malaysian Cabinet and Government, which is why the refusal of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to re-open investigations into the 1MDB scandal has shocked patriotic Malaysians who want to uphold the good name and reputation of Malaysia and purged Malaysia of  any hint or  taint of kleptocracy.

Is Malaysian reaching a critical point, plunging down the slippery slope of a failed state, where all key national institutions, starting with the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, Parliament, the PAC,  the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Police, Bank Negara, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the Auditor-General, the mainstream mass media, are all acting in concert in a conspiracy so that Malaysia becomes  a nation in denial about the 1MDB scandal, virtually ignoring Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy arising from  the largest US and global action in the DOJ forfeiture of over US$1 billion 1MDB-linked  assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland as a result of  embezzlement, money-laundering and misappropriation of 1MDB funds?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 11 August 2016, 3:32 pm and is filed under
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If Anwar had become Prime Minister in 2013, Malaysia would have been spared the agony of the protracted 1MDB scandal, there would be no DOJ lawsuit derogatory of the nation’s international reputation and Malaysia would be spared the latest label as a global kleptocracy

We are here outside the Sungai Buloh Prison walls to honour and celebrate the 69th birthday of a  foremost Malaysian leader and  patriot, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

If the 2013 General Elections had been fair, democratic and reliable, the Prime Minister of Malaysia today would be Anwar and not Datuk Seri Najib Razak, and the country would have  been spared the agony of the protracted 1MDB scandal, there would have been no US Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuits for the forfeiture of over US$1 billion of 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland stolen, embezzled, misappropriated and money-laundered from some US$3.5 billion meant for 1MDB and  belonging to the people of Malaysia, the so-called mystery of “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” in the 136-page DOJ lawsuits.

Even more important, Malaysia would have been spared the infamy and ignominy of being labeled as a global kleptocracy – the contempt and  laughing stock of the international community.

Last Saturday, Najib asked who said Malaysia would become a failed state under him.

This question was answered by the former Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Musa Hitam, at the launching of his new book, “Frankly Speaking” in Kuala Lumpur today, who warned that Malaysia is going downhill and may end up like how the Philippines was once before.

Musa noted that since the government is faced with mega scandals, other matters, such as shootings in broad daylight, are not dealt with.

The people, he added, are getting used to the situation, and like in the Philippines of the past, are carrying weapons for self-defence.

Dubbing this as the “new normal”, Musa said: “I think the country is moving downhill. The speed is slow, but it could develop into a fast slide.”

Malaysia will not be set on this trajectory towards a failed state if there had been a change of government in Putrajaya in the 2013 General Election, with Anwar as Prime Minister instead of Najib as the first minority Prime Minister in the nation’s history.

We must continue to demand the release of Anwar, and persevere with his ideals and struggle to Save Malaysia from the rampant corruption, abuses of power, violation of human rights and political, economic and nation-building injustices in the country.

We must not only ensure the toppling of Najib in the 14th General Elections, but also complete reform of a system which had allowed corruption, abuses of power, human rights violations and the political, economic and nation-building injustices to thrive and build up under the Najib premiership.

(Speech at Anwar Ibrahim’;s 69th Birthday celebration at Sungai Buloh on Wednesday, 10th  August 2016 at 11 pm)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 11 August 2016, 3:09 am and is filed under
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To be fair to Idris Haron, Malaysians are flummoxed most of the time by the statements of UMNO Ministers and leaders as the Malacca  Chief Minister is the rule not the exception

Minister for Rural and Regional Development, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob came out with a gem of a statement yesterday when he said he did not know what was going on in Malacca Chief Minister, Datuk Idris Haron’s head when the latter claimed the United States was trying to topple Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and the Malays.

Idris had claimed last Sunday that the US was doing this through the Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuits related to 1MDB.

Sabri refused to  comment on the alleged conspiracy, and asked journalists to ask Idris instead.

Sabri is not the only one who was  bamboozled by Idris’ “conspiracy theory”, as nobody knew what Idris was blabbering about.

Which UMNO Minister or leader dare to specifically endorse Idris’ statement and  talk sense instead of nonsense?

But the tragedy of Malaysia today is that Idris is not the only UMNO leader who make statements which cause everybody to wonder what was going on in the person’s head!

To be fair to Idris Haron, Malaysians are flummoxed most of the time by the statements of UMNO Ministers and leaders – as Idris Haron is the rule not the exception.

The Minister for Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak recently suggested that the US DOJ lawsuits were an attempt by the West to colonise Malaysians by “mind-control”.

The Minister for Agriculture and Agro-based Industries, Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek said the US DOJ forfeiture action of over US$1 billion 1MDB-linked assets “is nothing out of the ordinary” as “what happened is a normal matter” as the country had been faced with a bigger situation like the Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) scandal – conveniently ignoring the fact that the RM55 billion 1MDB scandal is more than 20 times bigger than the RM2.5 billion BMF scandal in the 1980s.

Into this category of statements by UMNO Ministers and leaders making people wonder what is going in their heads are the following:

1.	Barisan Nasional  Strategic Communications Director and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of EPU, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan, saying that there is no secret who is Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) mentioned in the US DOJ civil lawsuits as  everyone who has read the court documents or familiar with the issues would know who is the person being referred to; and  “only an idiot doesn’t know who that person was”; and

2.	Statement  by PAC member, Abdul Aziz Sheikh Fadzir that the re-opening of PAC investigation on 1MDB would not bring any concrete solutions as the PAC had already done its duty – ignoring the fact that the 136-page DOJ lawsuits had made it imperative that the PAC should summon “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” to testify about the theft, embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of tens of billions of ringgit of 1MDB funds.  Or are the PAC Chairman and members “idiots” in the parlance of Abdul Rahman Dahlan on the ground that  they do not know the identity of “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1”?

One would have thought that the best response to the DOJ lawsuits, the single biggest money-laundering  forfeiture in the US and the world which stained and tarnished Malaysia’s image and reputation as a global kleptocracy is to vigorously and pro-actively debunk and rebut the grave allegations of kleptocracy against the Malaysian government, especially the litany of “criminal conduct” by “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” and others in Malaysia as well as the embezzlement and money-laundering of billions of dollars stolen from 1MDB  meant for the country’s development!

Such a vigorous and pro-active response will  put to rest all allegations of a conspiracy by foreign powers to topple the Malaysian Prime Minister or a to recolonize Malaysia via “mind-control” through the 1MDB scandal – as well as  establish that the Malaysian government is and can prove that it is not a global kleptocracy.

Why are the UMNO or Barisan Nasional  Ministers and leaders shying away from such a vigorous and pro-active response to the DOJ action?

Is it because they are incapable of such thinking and action but can only  pour out statements which cause even other UMNO Ministers and leaders to wonder the rationality if not the sanity of such statements.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 12 August 2016, 2:14 pm and is filed under
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One-to-one electoral contest is one of the two elements for an united Opposition to replace  UMNO/BN in 14 GE – the other more important is a minimum common electoral programme

Everyone agrees with National Human Rights Society (HAKAM) Chairperson Datuk Ambiga Sreenivasan  who said at the 69th birthday celebration for jailed Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim outside Sungai Buloh prison on Wednesday night that the best birthday present for Anwar would be a united opposition against UMNO/BN to face the 14th General Election.

A one-to-one electoral contest is one of the two elements for an united Opposition to replace  UMNO/BN in 14GE – the other more important  is a minimum common electoral programme.

Can we for instance replicate or improve on the Opposition’s performance of the 13th General Election on May 5, 2013 when the Opposition, then in the form and name of Pakatan Rakyat, won three state governments, polled 53% of the popular vote, and elected 89 Members of Parliament and 229 State Assembly men and women, excluding Sarawak?

As things stand today, assuming that the current political climate holds without any major changes, it would be naïve to assume that voters would simply revert back to their GE2013 voting habits if one-to-one fights can be guaranteed in the next general election.

Lets consider Selangor, using the results of the recent Sungai Besar by-election as a benchmark.

In this by-election, PAS received almost no non-Malay support after receiving more than 70% of the non-Malay vote in GE2013. AMANAH received approximately 65% of the Chinese vote, a drop of 10% compared to GE2013. Estimating the Indian vote is tricky because of the relatively small number of Indian voters in Sungai Besar but let’s assume that the opposition as a whole (PAS and AMANAH) received 5% less Indian votes compared to GE2013. The combined support for the opposition (PAS and AMANAH) did not change by much (remained at approx. 37%).

For argument’s sake, let’s assume that PKR, DAP and PAS were to recontest the same seats as GE2013 in the next election.

Let us also assume  based on the Sungai Besar by-election result, the following changes in support for DAP, PKR and PAS respectively by the Malay, Chinese, Indian and Other voters as shown in Table 1 below:

DAP’s support among the Malays is estimated to drop by 20% because of the breakdown of its relationship with PAS and its Chinese support by 10% because of lower turnout and disappointment with the opposition in general.

For PKR, the estimated drop in its Malay support is lower, at 2%, because of uncertainty surrounding its leadership and direction and its Chinese support is estimated to drop by 15% because of its uncertain position vis-à-vis PAS.

For PAS, its Malay support, for argument’s sake, is assumed to increase by 1% because of its seemingly uncompromising position vis-à-vis DAP and to a lesser extent, PKR, but this comes at a cost of losing an estimated 50% of its Chinese support (which may be an underestimate, based on the Sungai Besar results). PAS’ drop in Indian support is half the drop in the Chinese support at 25%.

Let’s assume that the  drop of support for the DAP and PKR among Indian and Other voters is at 5% which is lower than the drop in Chinese support because of the lower baseline compared to GE2013.

Table 1: Change in support for the DAP, PKR and PAS among the different communities in Selangor, GE14

Percentage change in support by race

Malay

Chinese

Indian

Others

DAP

-20%

-10%

-5%

-5%

PKR

-2%

-15%

-5%

-5%

PAS

1%

-50%

-25%

-5%

What will be the anticipated outcome? The results are summarized in Table 2 below.

Table 2: Estimated number of state seats won the opposition parties in Selangor, given the assumptions in Table 1

Number of seats by party

GE13

Projections

DAP

15

12

PKR

14

11

PAS

15

1

Total

56

56

Opposition

44

24

The biggest losers, based on the projections in Table 2, will be PAS. It will see its number of seats fall from 15 in GE13 to 1 in GE14. This is not surprising given that PAS won many of its seats in GE13 because of a massive increase in its support among non-Malay voters most of whom will not likely vote for PAS even in the event of a one-on-one fight against the BN (Many may choose to spoil their votes instead).

PKR will lose three seats going from 14 seats to 11 and DAP will also lose 3 seats going from 15 to 12. The opposition as a whole will only win 24  out of 56 State Assembly seats, which is 5 short of a majority to retain the state government.

The reality that PAS will be the biggest losers in Selangor is no great comfort to the DAP given the likelihood that the Selangor state government will fall back to the BN. This can and should be avoided. But it cannot be avoided merely by agreeing to have one-on-one fights against the BN in Selangor.

The formation of a new party BERSATU by former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir and former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, could be a game-changer if it could win a sizable portion of the UMNO votes in the 14GE. If BERSATU can win 40% of the popular vote in UMNO-contested constituencies, then BERSATU can win up to 23 State Assembly seats in Selangor, which will deny UMNO/BN the prize of recapturing the Selangor State Government in 14GE.

Similarly, for Johor and the states outside the northern belt of Peninsular Malaysia, BERSATU can play a catalytic and far-reaching impact in the outcome of the 14GE results.

However, the Opposition must present  a cohesive,  purpose  and visionary unity, not just confined to a one-to-one contest, but to win back the trust of the voters and to provide voters with a compelling reason for them to turn out to vote.

The Opposition needs a new agenda for change that builds on the Common Policy Framework and the many policy positions which Pakatan Rakyat took as a united coalition before it was dissolved.

But as long as mixed and conflicting messages are coming from the PAS leadership on a whole host of issues including the position of  the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib  Razak and the response to the global 1MDB scandal, it is almost impossible to imagine the creation of this new agenda which includes PAS.

On March 31 last year, I had said that if Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional could not save Malaysia and arrest the country from hurtling down the slippery slope of a failed, rogue and fractured state, then the time may have come for Malaysians to think the unthinkable of a new coalition which should be fully inclusive of all Malaysian races, religions and regions, in other words, a multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-regional new Malaysian coalition government comprising Muslims and non-Muslims, Malays and non-Malays, and Malaysians from Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah.

I had suggested at the time that the top priority of this new coalition, apart from defending  constitutionalism and the rule of law, should also focus what I had proposed at the time as:

Five fundamental principles of defending constitutionalism like Islam as the official religion and freedom of practice for other religions; constitutional monarchy; Bahasa Malaysia as official language and free use and study of other languages and upholding the guarantee and spirit of Federalism in the Malaysia Agreement 1963;

Ten-Point Programme for a High-Performance, Sustainable and Equitable Economy;

Nine-Point Agenda to restore the doctrine of separation of powers among the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary as well as the independence, professionalism and integrity of national institutions; and

Seven immediate tasks to promote national unity and understanding among the diverse races, religions and cultures in the country.

The time has come for a national debate on the full reform of Malaysia to escape the trap of a failed, rogue and fractured Malaysia.

[
Speech by DAP Parliamentary Leader and MP for Gelang Patah Lim Kit Siang at the Johore DAP Retreat in Batu Pahat on Saturday, August 13, 2016 at 12 noon
]

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 13 August 2016, 8:10 pm and is filed under
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It is not just UMNO but the whole Malaysian nation which had been hit by the 1MDB scandal like being blasted by an “atomic bomb”, with the crowning ignominy of being regarded worldwide as a “global kleptocracy”

I do not know whether the police will open an investigation paper under Section 506 of the Penal Code against the Shah Alam UMNO chief Zahari Shaari, who lamented this morning that the 1MDB scandal had hit UMNO like an “atomic bomb”.

This was  what the Police did the last time an “atomic bomb” reference made news two months ago during the Kuala Kangsar by-election when the PKR Secretary-General and MP for Pandan, Rafizi Ramli said that if the AMANAH candidate, nuclear physicist Ahmad Termizi Ramli, was elected in the by-election, Termizi would be asked to hurl an “atomic bomb” at Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Parliament.

Police reports were lodged against Rafizi and even an UMNO Minister admonished Rafizi for joking about an “atomic bomb”, although eventually  nothing came out of the hullabaloo over Rafizi’s “atomic bomb” joke.

But Rafizi was joking while Zahari was deadly serious in comparing the after-effects of the 1MDB scandal to that of an mushrooming “atomic bomb” explosion.

I find some solace that there are people in UMNO, even at the divisional level,  who have not yet  become mere  robots as a result of the “Cash is King” politics and have  not succumbed fully to the “mind control” of the UMNO strategists, but are still capable of exercising clarity and independence of thought.

In fact, during the  brouhaha over Rafizi’s “atomic bomb” joke at the Kuala Kangsar by-election, I had identified the 1MDB global scandal as  one of the five issues of “atomic bomb proportion” afflicitng Malaysia under Najib’s premiership.

It is not just UMNO but the whole Malaysian nation which had been hit by the 1MDB scandal like being blasted by an atomic bomb, with the crowning ignominy of being regarded worldwide as a “global kleptocracy” as a result the US Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuits to forfeit over US$1 billion assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland as a result of US$3.5 billion criminal embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of 1MDB  funds.

But the catastrophic after-effects of the 1MDB scandal have not ended with the DOJ action as evident from a greater  and further loss of national and international confidence in Malaysian governance, when there was no official proactive response to the DOS complaint despite the  mass of details about the criminal conduct and  grand larceny of 1MDB-linked funds and involving the highest authority in Malaysia, euphemistically referred to as “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” – as well as the latest DOJ  developments over the class action suit by Tun Mahathir’s former political secretary, Matthias Chang and former PAS leader Datuk Husam Musa in the United States against individuals linked to 1MDB.

Against such a backdrop, three  recent developments have made it clear that the storms from the “atomic bomb” explosion of the 1MDB scandal will not recede but  will continue to haunt and hound Malaysia in the coming months and even years, viz:

Firstly, the refusal of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to re-open investigations into 1MDB;

Secondly, the announcement by the Bank Negara Governor, Muhammad Ibrahim that there would be no  re-opening of investigtions against 1MDB despite the damning 136-page DOJ complaint; and

Thirdly, the statement by the new Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Chief Commissioner, Dzulkifli Ahmad that his main focus is to ensure a civil service which is clean of corruption, misappropriation and power abuse, completely avoiding what should be the greatest challenge of MACC – to purge and save Malaysia from the international ignominy of a global kleptocracy.

The time has come for every Malaysian to know the meaning of kleptocracy – defined as a rule by a thief or thieves.

Is this Malaysia’s new national destiny – to become a global kleptocracy?

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 14 August 2016, 4:13 pm and is filed under
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It is not just UMNO but the whole Malaysian nation which had been hit by the 1MDB scandal like being blasted by an “atomic bomb”, with the crowning ignominy of being regarded worldwide as a “global kleptocracy”

I do not know whether the police will open an investigation paper under Section 506 of the Penal Code against the Shah Alam UMNO chief Zahari Shaari, who lamented this morning that the 1MDB scandal had hit UMNO like an “atomic bomb”.

This was what the Police did the last time an “atomic bomb” reference made news two months ago during the Kuala Kangsar by-election when the PKR Secretary-General and MP for Pandan, Rafizi Ramli said that if the AMANAH candidate, nuclear physicist Ahmad Termizi Ramli, was elected in the by-election, Termizi would be asked to hurl an “atomic bomb” at Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Parliament.

Police reports were lodged against Rafizi and even an UMNO Minister admonished Rafizi for joking about an “atomic bomb”, although eventually nothing came out of the hullabaloo over Rafizi’s “atomic bomb” joke.

But Rafizi was joking while Zahari was deadly serious in comparing the after-effects of the 1MDB scandal to that of an mushrooming “atomic bomb” explosion.

I find some solace that there are people in UMNO, even at the divisional level, who have not yet become mere robots as a result of the “Cash is King” politics and have not succumbed fully to the “mind control” of the UMNO strategists, but are still capable of exercising clarity and independence of thought.

In fact, during the brouhaha over Rafizi’s “atomic bomb” joke at the Kuala Kangsar by-election, I had identified the 1MDB global scandal as one of the five issues of “atomic bomb proportion” afflicitng Malaysia under Najib’s premiership.

It is not just UMNO but the whole Malaysian nation which had been hit by the 1MDB scandal like being blasted by an atomic bomb, with the crowning ignominy of being regarded worldwide as a “global kleptocracy” as a result the US Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuits to forfeit over US$1 billion assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland as a result of US$3.5 billion criminal embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of 1MDB funds.

But the catastrophic after-effects of the 1MDB scandal have not ended with the DOJ action as evident from a greater and further loss of national and international confidence in Malaysian governance, when there was no official proactive response to the DOS complaint despite the mass of details about the criminal conduct and grand larceny of 1MDB-linked funds and involving the highest authority in Malaysia, euphemistically referred to as “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” – as well as the latest DOJ developments over the class action suit by Tun Mahathir’s former political secretary, Matthias Chang and former PAS leader Datuk Husam Musa in the United States against individuals linked to 1MDB.

Against such a backdrop, three recent developments have made it clear that the storms from the “atomic bomb” explosion of the 1MDB scandal will not recede but will continue to haunt and hound Malaysia in the coming months and even years, viz:

Firstly, the refusal of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to re-open investigations into 1MDB;

Secondly, the announcement by the Bank Negara Governor, Muhammad Ibrahim that there would be no re-opening of investigtions against 1MDB despite the damning 136-page DOJ complaint; and

Thirdly, the statement by the new Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Chief Commissioner, Dzulkifli Ahmad that his main focus is to ensure a civil service which is clean of corruption, misappropriation and power abuse, completely avoiding what should be the greatest challenge of MACC – to purge and save Malaysia from the international ignominy of a global kleptocracy.

The time has come for every Malaysian to know the meaning of kleptocracy – defined as a rule by a thief or thieves.

Is this Malaysia’s new national destiny – to become a global kleptocracy?

                This entry was posted on Monday, 15 August 2016, 7:58 am and is filed under
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Najib should  explain his real relationship with Jho Low in the 1MDB global kleptocratic scandal instead of spreading canard  that DAP is anti-Malay and anti-Islam

Instead of spreading canards that DAP is anti-Malay and anti-Islam, it would be more useful and productive  for the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak  to explain his real relationship with the billionaire Jho Low in the 1MDB scandal which had overnight  catapulted Malaysia into the stratosphere of a global kleptocracy with the single largest US and global action by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to forfeit over US$1 billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland.

Or does Najib think that his expensive 1MDB caper was in the interests of upholding the rights, interests and glory of Malays and Islam in Malaysia?

In which case, let Najib state clearly who was making use of whom in the 1MDB scandal – Jho Low making use of Najib or Najib making use of Jho Low?

Who was taking who for a ride?

Was Jho Low the “mastermind” of the 1MDB global financial scandal, resulting in his named as one among the five persons, including Najib’s son-in-law, Hollywood film producer Riza Aziz, as defendants in the DOJ lawsuits to forfeit more than US$1 billion in assets, including about US$150 million of residential properties in New York and Los Angeles as well as several works of art, out of some US$3.5 billion stolen, embezzled, misappropriated and money-laundered from 1MDB funds, or was Najib the “mastermind” resulting in the reference to “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” 36 times in the 136-page DOJ complaint?

Can Najib disclaim responsibility and accountability for the 1MDB financial scandal when under Article 117 of the 1MDB Memorandum and Articles of Association (M&A), the Prime Minister is the ultimate authority who exercised final direct control of 1MDB, as Article 117 required all major decisions of the company involving financial commitment (including investment), restructuring and major appointments to have the written authorization from the Prime Minister.

Under Article 117, the Prime Minister has powers  exceeding those of the Advisory Board, the Board of Directors and the Top Management of 1MDB  all added together, being the final approving authority for all 1MDB decisions, deals, investments and transactions.

After causing Malaysia the “atomic bomb” explosion of the 1MDB scandal, haunting and  hounding the public life and  image of the country, whether nationally or internationally, for close to two years, the time has come for Malaysians to know the real relationship between Najib and Jho Low – a relationship which caused Malaysia’s new-found international infamy of a global kleptocracy!

One reason why the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Report on 1MDB is incomplete and unsatisfactory (and should have the patriotism to re-open investigations in view of the DOJ lawsuits on July 20) is because of their ignoring two elephants in the room – Najib and Jho Low, when they were central and strategic to every phase of the 1MDB scandal.

I believe that the various UMNO divisional leaders and members would be more interested to know about the real nature of the Najib-Jho Low relationship and the  1MDB global scandal, instead of Najib repeating canards accusing DAP of being anti-Malay and anti-Islam.

Who better to talk about the real and true Najib-Jho Low relationship, especially as it affects the 1MDB global scandal, than the Prime Minister himself?

Why is Najib so coy about revealing the real Najib-Jho Low relationship?

Let me remind Najib that as Prime Minister of Malaysia, he should not indulge in the divisive and destructive politics of race, religion, hatred and lies against political opponents.

He must not be reduced to the level of Red Shirt demonstrators who had cast hell-notes so that DAP would die.

As leaders, let us set a good and exemplary standard and conduct.

For instance, I had never said that I wanted UMNO to die.

DAP does not want UMNO to die, but through the electoral contest, to reform and renew itself which can only occur if it is defeated at least once in general elections to mark Malaysia becoming a normal democratic country.

I have said many a time that UMNO/BN must be voted out of Putrajaya at least once if Malaysia is to become a normal democratic country and break the present national trajectory trending down the slippery slope towards a fractured, failed and rogue state.

No country in the world can become a great nation if globally it is regarded as an increasingly corrupt and dictatorial regime while at home it tightens its grip on power controls to allow for rampant corruption and widespread abuses of power.

Nobody wants UMNO to be destroyed, and I do not believe that UMNO is so frail, fragile and faulty that if it is evicted from Putrajaya in a general election, UMNO will perish and die.

On the contrary, I believe UMNO will have the vitality and resilience to reform and renew itself when it is out in the political wilderness to transform itself from a party serving the interests of UMNO leaders and their cronies into a party genuinely dedicated to the welfare of the three million UMNO members, the Malays and Malaysians at large.

DAP had never been anti-Malay and anti-Islam, which is completely unthinkable  as we would then become anti-Malaysia, when  we are a party for all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region – evidenced from the fact that we have not only members and leaders but elected representatives from all racial groups and religions.

A true Malaysian patriot and nationalist cannot be anti any race or religion, whether anti-Malay, anti-Chinese, anti-Indian, anti-Kadazan, anti-Iban or anti-Islam, anti-Buddhism, anti-Christianity, anti-Hinduism, anti-Sikkhism or anti-Taoism.

This is because Malaysia is a plural society comprising diverse races and religions.

Malaysia’s challenge is to convince Malaysians, regardless race, religion and region, that what unite Malaysians are stronger and more important that what divide us.

As Prime Minister, Najib should set the lead and example to remind  Malaysians that what unite us is more important that what divide us.

It is a national tragedy if the Prime Minister is doing the exact opposite, constantly reminding Malaysians that what divide us is more powerful and important that what unite us!

                This entry was posted on Monday, 15 August 2016, 3:37 pm and is filed under
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Swiss probe ex-Abu Dhabi official over alleged Malaysia fund scam

Michael Peel and Simeon Kerr

Financial Times

15th August 2016

Swiss criminal authorities are probing a well-connected former top Abu Dhabi finance official over an alleged international conspiracy to embezzle money from Malaysia’s 1MDB wealth fund.

Investigators suspect Khadem al-Qubaisi, ex-head of the Emirati government’s International Petroleum Investment Company, of fraud, money laundering and corruption, according to a letter seen by the Financial Times.

Mr Qubaisi has long been regarded as close to Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, owner of Manchester City football club and brother of Sheikh Khalifa, ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of United Arab Emirates.

Details of the Swiss investigation, which also targets a subordinate of Mr Qubaisi and two former 1MDB officials, come just weeks after the US authorities produced a damning account of how billions of dollars were allegedly looted from the Malaysian fund. The Swiss probe also highlights the damaging fallout for oil-rich Abu Dhabi from its investment business dealings with Malaysia, which drew in leading politicians from both countries.

Mr Qubaisi could not be reached. His lawyer declined to comment.

Mr Qubaisi and the other three suspects are named in a letter sent last month from the Swiss attorney-general’s office to BSI bank, which has already been punished by authorities in Switzerland and Singapore for its role in handling 1MDB funds

The Swiss attorney-general’s office said in April that it had placed two unnamed former Emirati officials under criminal investigation, as part of a broader probe into the suspected misappropriation of $4bn of Malaysian state funds.

The Swiss attorney-general’s office and BSI both declined to comment.

Mohamed Badawy al-Husseiny, the former head of Ipic’s Aabar subsidiary, is also named as a suspect in the Swiss letter. Both he and Mr Qubaisi were named in a court case launched by US authorities last month concerning a plot to misappropriate more than $1bn of 1MDB funds, although neither man was named as a defendant. Mr Husseiny could not be reached for comment.

Mr Qubaisi abruptly left Ipic in April 2015 and his whereabouts and status since have been the subject of much speculation. He has been under investigation in Abu Dhabi for months, according to government insiders. Attempts by the FT to contact him have failed.

Mr Qubaisi comes from an influential family in the emirate said to be linked to the ruling al-Nahyan family by marriage. He emerged as one of Abu Dhabi’s most active investors over the past decade, as the oil-rich emirate went on a corporate buying spree. He led Ipic’s expansion from traditional conservative investments in foreign energy ventures into more exotic assets such as Virgin Galactic and Tesla Motors.

His other business interests included chairing Hakkasan Group, a leading nightclub and restaurant chain with branches in Las Vegas. He resigned from that post earlier this year.

Malaysia’s leaders are battling severe international pressure over alleged large-scale corruption at the country’s state development fund

Mr Qubaisi and Mr Husseiny have been under the spotlight since US authorities alleged last month that they conspired with some 1MDB officials to use a fake offshore company to siphon off part of the proceeds of a pair of 2012 bond issues by the Malaysian fund totalling about $3.5bn.

The Ipic-guaranteed bonds were part of a growing relationship between Abu Dhabi and Malaysia, cemented in a March 2013 bilateral “strategic partnership” that led to another contentious $3bn bond issue.

The 2012 and 2013 Ipic-guaranteed bond issues were arranged by Goldman Sachs, whose work on 1MDB is now being scrutinised by several US authorities. The bank has denied wrongdoing.

About $1.37bn of the bond proceeds was transferred by 1MDB officials to a Swiss bank account belonging to a British Virgin Islands-registered business named Aabar Investments PJS Limited, US authorities have claimed.

The offshore shell company was allegedly named to give the impression that it was associated with Aabar Investments PJS, a subsidiary of Ipic based in Abu Dhabi. Mr Qubaisi and Mr Husseiny were allegedly directors of the BVI business. Ipic has since stated that it has no link to the offshore company,

Mr Qubaisi received almost $473m of the diverted money into his accounts in 2012, the US court action claims. He allegedly used some of the funds to acquire US property worth about $100m, including a New York penthouse.

Ipic is now battling 1MDB over a 2015 financing agreement under which the Abu Dhabi fund gave its Malaysian counterpart $1bn in bailout loans in return for assets. Ipic announced in April that it was launching arbitration proceedings in London seeking $6.5bn over an alleged default by 1MDB and the Malaysian finance ministry, which cosigned the deal. 1MDB has denied any wrongdoing.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 15 August 2016, 1:07 pm and is filed under
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The dangers of Pokémon Go: Kids’ brains are vulnerable to virtual and augmented reality

NICHOLAS KARDARAS

Salon

AUG 12, 2016

Immersive and interactive games that are fine for adults can cause a blurring of reality in younger users

A few weeks back I was sent a link to an article about Pokémon Go—the latest craze that has been sweeping not only our native Manhattan, but seemingly the entire country. The person who had sent me the article thought I’d be interested in this latest tech development because of my work: I’m a psychologist and professor who specializes in treating addiction and working with adolescents; and I had just written a book called “Glow Kids,” which explores some of the uncomfortable clinical realities of too much screen time.

Two days later I was sent yet another link. This latest article from a major national newspaper waxed poetic about kids and the new Pokémon craze. According to that article, Pokémon Go is a parent’s dream, a video game holy grail: a game that actually got kids up off the couch and outside exploring and interacting with the real world—albeit while staring at a screen and pursuing an illusory augmented reality hologram.

That small detail aside, I had to ask myself: well, is this the game that finally proves the screen alarmists wrong? After all, kids are going outside to play the game and collaborating with others to find clues in their digital scavenger hunts. Aren’t those good things? In that same pro Pokémon Go article, a child and adolescent psychologist interviewed for the piece, was quoted saying “it gets kids out in the world and promotes socialization. It seems that kids are using it as a tool to connect to each other and the world around them.”

All that sounds perfectly reasonable, but my research and clinical work indicates otherwise. If you’re a child or pre-teen, there may be a price to pay. To be clear: If you’re an adult, have at it! Pokémon Go to your heart’s content; wander the streets looking for the little augmented reality buggers. Just be careful you don’t walk into oncoming traffic or light posts, but Pokémon your days away if you like.

But children have additional vulnerabilities when they interact with interactive and immersive screens; their brains and what psychologists call “reality testing”—the ability to discern what’s real and what isn’t—are not fully developed yet. That’s why researchers who study the effects of immersive and interactive video game experiences have coined the term “Game Transfer Phenomenon” (GTP)— a reality-blurring psychotic-like feature that young people who are chronic gamers experience.

Researchers Drs. Mark Griffiths and Angelica Ortiz de Gortari conducted three studies with over 1,600 video gamers in Great Britain. They found that many showed GTP effects: gamers hearing or seeing aspects of the game hours or days after they had stopped playing. Some reported hearing sound effects, music and characters voices; others heard explosions, sword swipes and screams. One gamer reported hearing someone from the game constantly whispering “death” for a few days after he had stopped playing while others reported seeing images from the game pop up in front of their eyes.

Indeed, many young children who are Minecraft devotees report seeing the real world in the cube shapes of the game or see the cubes in their dreams. In my own private clinical practice, I’ve had the incredible experience of working with young gamers who had blurred reality with that of their game; one teen had to be psychiatrically hospitalized for a month after he had fallen down the rabbit hole — or into the matrix, pick your metaphor — of World of Warcraft and suffered a version of what I term “Video Game Psychosis.”

To be sure, there are children and teens with underlying emotional or psychological issues that may make them more vulnerable to such unfortunate outcomes when they are exposed to reality-blurring game experiences. But that’s the point—we don’t always know who those particularly vulnerable children are when we expose them to “the Matrix” (the mind-bending illusory world in the Keanu Reeves trippy film).

Beyond the work of Drs. Griffiths and de Gortari, researchers at Tel Aviv University published documented cases of “Internet-related psychosis” indicating that immersive screens were generating “true psychotic phenomena” and that this spiraling psychopathology was “a new consequence of our times.” Dr. Joel Gold at NYU and his brother Ian at McGill University are investigating whether the reality-severing aspects of technology can lead to hallucinations, delusions and genuine psychosis.

Finally, my friend and colleague Commander Dr. Andrew Doan, a Johns Hopkins-educated M.D. and Ph.D. in neuroscience who is the Head of Addiction and Mental Health Research for the U.S. Navy/Pentagon, has researched video game effects and has documented case studies of young video-gaming soldiers who, when combined with sleep deprivation, had psychotic-like delusions and, in one instance, homicidal ideations. Yet when the homicidal gamer unplugged and got some sleep, the ideations went away.

What remains unclear, however, is whether or not these psychotic-like effects are more transitory in older players who have a better developed sense “reality testing” before they started gaming than children who do not yet have as clearly defined sense of what’s real and what’s not. Could the hallucinatory effects look more like permanent psychosis in younger gaming kids? While research on that is lacking, I have seen some evidence that that may be the case in my private clinical practice.

And let’s keep in mind that all these potential reality-blurring effects just mentioned were the byproducts of two-dimensional screens, which are not nearly as immersive—and thus as impactful on the psyche—as immersive Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality experiences. A book can be immersive; a video game, by virtue of its visual intensity and interactive nature are known to be even more immersive. VR and Augmented reality? They take reality-blurring to a whole new level.

We might heed a parable from the original Star Trek. In the “The Menagerie” (1965) a badly burned, wheel-chair bound Captain Pike—Captain Kirk’s predecessor—is given the opportunity to live out his life on a planet called Talos IV. The Talotians are able to manipulate reality and create very pleasing illusions—entire worlds of exciting and tempting Virtual Realities.

Yet this species that has the power to control illusions is also a dying species that has atrophied as a result of their illusion obsession. In the end, Captain Pike has a choice: live a miserable existence as quadriplegic burn victim who can’t speak—or be young again and live the life of his dreams.

Which would you choose?

Today, hundreds of thousands of people are embracing the idea of living in an illusion as Avatar-based “synthetic communities” like Second Life are exploding and new VR and Augmented realities are becoming all the rage.

The futuristic Hololens—a VR and Augmented Reality headset by Microsoft—was developed by Alex Kipman. The stringy-haired Microsoft designer who looks the part of hipster visionary, held a mind-blowing TED talk in February 2016 in Vancouver. Interestingly, he’s anti-screens because of their archaic two-dimensional limitations.

During his talk, Kipman criticizes the way we have become trapped by screens and describes a future world of interactive technology that is entirely immersive: “Today, we spend most of our time tapping and looking at screens.”

Seeking to create what sounds like a digital Ubermensch, Kipman discusses the “infinite possibilities” of a quantum universe and the “super powers” that computers can give human beings, as he decries the limitations of being stuck in a 2-dimensional screen world while we can now have “digital powers” to create reality within our own world. And then, with a wave of his hand, he creates a 3-dimensional ice cave, complete with hanging stalactites and growing stalagmites that seem to emerge directly out of the TED red dot on the stage.

“We are all beginning to build technology that will return us to the humanity that brought us to where we are today. Technology that will let us stop living inside this world of 2-D world of monitors and pixels and let us start remembering what it feels like to live in our 3-D world.”

It’s an odd vision; using technology to “remember” what if feels like to live in our 3-D world when we actually do live in a 3D world that doesn’t require Kipman’s Hololens to experience.

After watching Kipman talk, I am left wondering if I’ve just seen a visionary or a madman who will destroy the very essence of humanity with his VR crusade. I can’t help but think again of poor Captain Pike and the Talosians; is Kipman’s illusory world the one that we should all be aspiring to create and live in? Or, like the Talosians, is it the one that will decay and atrophy our species?

The answer remains to be seen. While we can argue the benefits of VR and Augmented Reality for consenting adults, as a psychologist who has researched and clinically worked with over a thousand kids over the past 15 years, what does seem clear is that such intensive and immersive reality-blurring is not age-appropriate for young children who are still developing their sense of what is real and what isn’t. We need to keep them out of the mind-bending Matrix for as long as possible.

Dr. Nicholas Kardaras is one of the country’s foremost addiction experts and Executive Director of the Dunes, one of the world’s top rehabs. He is also the founder and Executive Director of Hamptons Discovery, a progressive adolescent treatment program, and the creator of Seahab, the world’s first rehab-at-sea. His latest book, “Glow Kids: How Screen Addiction Is Hijacking Our Kids—and How to Break the Trance,” is out now from St. Martin’s Press.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 15 August 2016, 9:30 am and is filed under
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The future of Pokémon Go: more human interaction or advertisers’ top target?

Toby Barnes

Guardian

14 August 2016

The game has built its success on a largely single-player experience – but to really leave a mark on players, developers should focus on the interpersonal angle

A location game overlaying the city, with players able to hunt monsters, capture stations, battle each other, build guilds. A virtual imagined world connected to the physical one by a database of locations and human “check-ins”.

It’s not Pokémon Go. It’s Chromaroma, from the UK games company Mudlark. And it’s not from this year. It was released in 2010.

Augmented reality games have been in development for the last 15 years, and I ran Mudlark from 2005 to 2011. Our biggest success was Chromaroma, which overlaid London and connected with players’ Oyster cards, letting people battle with fantastical weapons and armor. It was part Risk, part Monopoly, part Foursquare. But we made games and experiences – we called them mixed reality and transmedia – that, honestly, we struggled to explain to people.

Fast forward and the global hit Pokémon Go hits the “transmedia” sweet spot perfectly: a license that combines 90s game nostalgia, Japanese color palettes, full spectrum imagination and friendly competitiveness.

I asked my young son why he thinks the game has struck such a chord and he replied that he considered it the manifestation of every Pokémon player’s dreams. Perhaps not realizing what he was saying also applied to the game designers, he added: “The game is basically letting us all do the things we have been imagining for years.”

The game focuses on some core mechanics often overlooked by western developers – collecting, sorting, cataloging – allowing players to learn complex rules and mechanics driven through the discovery of a brand new world. World-building, 18 races of Pokémon, multiple ways to evolve creatures, multiple in-game currencies and running in countries around the world.

But to keep Pokémon performing at solar levels, there are number of things the developers will need to focus on, including upping the person-to-person experience.

At the moment, Pokémon Go is a very single-player-focused experience. Collect, wander, leave Pokémon in gyms, look through inventory. Games really start to leave footprints on a soul once a person-to-person experience is felt.

Trading, sharing and battling Pokémon between players is going to be key to the next wave of success. Complementing the discovery of Pokémon will be in-the-moment trials and tribulations of connecting with people: in cafes, at the bar, at work, and – the game launched just in time for summer holidays and long walks – in the schoolyard.

These more in-person connections will demand in-game communication, such as chats, likes, pokes, seeing another person’s profile and person-to-person communication.

Once there’s interaction, then we’ll have clans, clubs, and teams, which will lead to leaderboards, competition and collaboration.

And as developers get better at layering objects, people and information on to the physical world, they need to build mechanics that are interesting and engaging.

It would be similar to what happened with Foursquare. Other companies tried to replicate the social network using similar check-in ideas and brand partnerships because they thought it was a singular phenomenon.

But it wasn’t about the specific check-in. It was that Dennis Crowley of Foursquare knew the value of location-based services. Messages that connect to you when it matters – recommending where to look, suggesting where to go.

Commercially, the scene looks ready to include some form of advertising, whether attached to Pokéstops or connected to points of interest. It is only a matter of time before we see McDonald’s Gyms or Pepsi Stadiums. Generation Z may ignore these – they’re already used to skipping ads and avoiding in-game promotions, and they are generally immune to display ads. But will the pausing of the Pokémon game to watch a mini-game push these players away, or drive advertisers into new spaces?

And what if Niantic Labs makes the physical world shine brighter in the game? Rather than focus on the virtual rewards and the virtual interactions, what if the company starts to drive players to discover new places? What if it is the kids who discover the routes we take home in the car, via the local Poké gym, instead of the adults using Waze or Google Maps?

Choosing a route could become less about the quickest way home, and instead about a local Lickitung nest. Will Pokémon fuel our imaginary worlds, or become another graveyard of advertising?

                This entry was posted on Monday, 15 August 2016, 9:13 am and is filed under
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The Pokémon Go influence on new tech

Dr. Roger Smith

Crunch Network

14.8.2016

Pokémon Go has changed the trajectory of the world on a scale just slightly smaller than Google Search and Facebook, but still to a magnitude that will be felt through all industries in the coming years. To many, it looks like a very simple game that incorporates a few unique and compelling features. But this game has taken technologies from niche research and gaming communities and thrust them into the world’s consciousness.

Suddenly everyone understands what “augmented reality” means and how an artificial digital world can be mapped onto the real physical world. Neither of these is new, but they garnered little attention until they appeared in a concrete, compelling and simple free game for every cell phone in the country.

Augmented reality is a technique for layering data from one or more virtual worlds onto the real physical world. It has been demonstrated and used in military situation awareness and aircraft maintenance applications for years. But it has barely escaped these kinds of niche communities.

Overlaying virtual and physical worlds seemed like a plaything for nerds until it was coupled with the ubiquitous cell phone. Then it became a way of enhancing how we interact with everything on the planet, from entertainment and emergency response to education and healthcare, to name but a few.

The mapping of virtual and physical worlds is exactly what Google Maps and all similar apps already do. But those limit themselves to layering information about objects, businesses and buildings, which actually have an almost identical physical presence. We are accustomed to the digital map knowing the route to our destination, the location of traffic jams and the operating hours of a company, as well as and providing customer experience reviews. Each of these comes directly from our older experience with paper maps, telephone directories and newspaper reviews. But creating entirely new and artificial information like PokéStops and PokéGyms is a revelation to most people. This begs the question: “What else can be mapped to the real world?” and “What value can be created by doing so?”

The game app displays Pokémon floating on your phone’s screen and overlaid on the real world immediately in front of you. This seems to be a very clever, though not difficult, trick to use in a game. It creates the simple perception that the digital and physical worlds are not really that separate. They may be just a thin veneer away from merging or interacting in some way. In this initial game foray, any interactions are illusory — but in the future, that might not be the case.

So little has been done that everything lies in the domain of the possible future.

Does any of this matter beyond entertaining mobile games? Can it be applied to fields that impact the way we are educated, protected, served and healed in the real world?

Obvious entertainment apps

A Disney version in which guests find virtual Disney characters while walking around a theme park is one obvious and compelling application. Guests will be enticed to explore new areas of the theme park, enter new restaurants and navigate the gift shops as they pursue a virtual Mickey, Minnie or Donald character appearing on their phone.

The entertainment giant can decide when and where these virtual characters appear, contributing to crowd control, restaurant business, gift purchases and a richer experience in the theme park. The daily parades may be augmented with character capture and even virtual performances that occur on the floats and in sync with the live characters.

Certain characters and assets may appear only at specific theme parks, motivating guests to purchase multi-park tickets so they can capture everything that is available. When coupled with the company’s wristband technology, certain characters, power-ups and valuable digital objects can be made to appear only for guests who are registered at one of the resorts. The ownership of a digital object might also convey a discount at a gift shop or enter the player into a drawing for a character dinner.

Theme parks currently organize wildly popular food and wine festivals. They could similarly organize dedicated Peter Pan days in which all of the characters from those stories appear, to be followed the next week by Pirates of the Caribbean or The Jungle Book. Because these are virtual, the cost to change them out is significantly decreased from physical venues.

There is really no question about whether some of these applications will be created.

Movies can extend their reach beyond the theater and television. Audiences can walk the streets of New York City or Chicago encountering an overlay of their favorite movie at the same location. They can play the mysteries of The da Vinci Code while visiting The Louvre. Augmented reality can display the buildings of Star Fleet Academy on the streets of San Francisco. Or view the rubble of the destroyed city of Chicago in the Divergent series while you walk the Miracle Mile. See virtual characters rappelling down the sides of real buildings, just as they did in the movie.

Video games can also be navigated via the real world. Build your Minecraft world directly on top of your real house, in your own backyard, or augment your school building with the characters of your own choosing. Imagine a quiet school hallway which, when viewed through your cellphone game, is actually teeming with dozens of crazy animals that were created and placed there by the students themselves.

Museum displays can come alive, showing the painter creating the work from the beginning right in front of you and overlaid with the location of the actual finished painting. Or view Italian sculpture as it appeared when it was new and standing in the original courtyard in which it was displayed.

The number of entertainment and education applications has almost no boundary. So little has been done that everything lies in the domain of the possible future.

Compelling healthcare apps

When a guest at a hotel, restaurant, mall or theme park collapses with a heart attack, can you find the nearest defibrillator device? They are everywhere in our society, but completely invisible in an emergency. Open your Emergency Services app and see a local map with the location of every AED, fire extinguisher, fire alarm and emergency phone clearly displayed. The app will guide you quickly to exactly what you need.

You are 80 years old and can’t remember where you left your prescription bottle. With a smart bottle and the Pokémon Go map technology, simply open your phone and it will guide you straight to the bottle. But, did you take your pills today? The same smart bottle places a floating poké-pill in your phone and you “capture it” by taking a pill out of the bottle and making the motions to ingest it. If you do not take your pills for several days, there are multiple poké-pills floating on the bottle’s location.

But the app is smart enough to know that the solution is not to take them all at once to catch up. Instead, it encourages you to take only 1.5 or 2 doses to catch up (or whatever is medically appropriate). Then the game servers keep track of your mistake and notify a care provider if there is a potential problem developing. Using a telemedicine app, a nurse practitioner can call you directly to discuss the situation.

If you have home care monitoring equipment, you can take your temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, weight and even blood chemistry. That data can be overlaid on the face-to-face video call so the healthcare provider can maintain direct contact with you while also viewing all your vital statistics.

A cell phone can become the most important piece of healthcare equipment in the world.

All of these possibilities have been unleashed by the reboot of a 20-year-old Japanese card game targeted at children. There is really no question about whether some of these applications will be created. The real question is how fast will they appear and how many it will take before this technology touches 100 percent of the population of the country.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 15 August 2016, 8:44 am and is filed under
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1MDB – Malaysia’s Enron and Watergate Combined

M. Bakri Musa

16th August 2016

The One Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption is business as usual in Malaysia. That is a great tragedy as well as a gross injustice. To Malaysia, 1MDB is “case closed.” That reflects the nation’s system of justice and quality of its institutions, as well as the caliber of those entrusted to run them.

            Like ugliness, injustice is obvious to all and transcends boundaries. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) first shone the light at the hideous pox on 1MDB’s face with the filing of the asset forfeiture lawsuit on July 20, 2016. That was only the beginning. Shortly thereafter, Singapore froze the assets of Jho Low, one of the culprits. Together with Switzerland, it also closed the bank involved.

            There is now a racketeering suit filed by Husam Musa and Matthias Chang, as private citizens, on August 11, 2016 in New York. That has yet to be certified as a class action suit. With the huge number of potential plaintiffs, it will have no difficulty meeting the numerosity criterion.

            1MDB will be Malaysia’s Watergate and Enron combined.

            The US Senate Watergate Hearings of the 1970s, triggered by the “third-rate burglary” at the Democratic Party Election Headquarters in Washington, DC, saw many jailed. More than a few prominent lawyers were disbarred, including a former Attorney General as well as the Counsel to the President. It forced President Nixon to resign in disgrace.

            The Enron debacle also saw many of its principals imprisoned. The main culprit had a fatal heart attack while being investigated. Enron’s principal advisor, the giant accounting firm Arthur Andersen, collapsed. Quite a collateral damage!

            The suit by Husam and Chang differs from the earlier DOJ’s in that the defendants are individuals and firms, not assets. They include the usual culprits Jho Low and Reza Aziz, plus his principal accountant Debra Johnson, Goldman Sachs’ bond salesman Timothy Leissner, and film producer Joey McFarland, together with their respective enterprises Metroplex Capital Advisors, Goldman Sachs, and Red Granite Pictures respectively.

            Lawsuits are complex and expensive, both to initiate and defend. As for costs, we are looking at high six figures or even millions. That’s US dollars, not devalued ringgit. I do not know about Chang, but I am certain that Husam does not have the kind of resources to engage the high-powered law firms of Louis F Burke PC of New York and Ajamie, LLP of Houston. I do not know their arrangements.

            America has the wonderful concept of contingency fees where plaintiffs’ lawyers would get paid only from the awards. Meaning, they have to prevail in order to get paid. That’s laudable public policy as it would ensure that the poor get access to good legal representation.

            It would be in the plaintiff lawyers’ interest to ensure that there is a good or at least winnable case, as well as a pot of gold at the end of the trail, or trial. To put it in the colloquial, their defendants must have deep pockets.

            Reza Aziz’s and Jho Low’s major assets are now tied up in the DOJ’s forfeiture lawsuit, while Low’s are also frozen in Singapore. Reza Aziz may have a super rich stepfather or donor somewhere. As for the other defendants, Goldman Sachs has the deepest pocket, tantalizing enough target by itself.

            While the other defendants and their enterprises may not have deep pockets on cursory examination, they may have generous liability and other insurances. It would be a hollow victory, not to mention a very expensive one, if in the end you could not collect your awards.

            In their lawsuit Husam and Chang seek awards of actual damages, restitution or disgorgement of wrongful profits obtained by the defendants, triple damages as provided for by the racketeering Act and other statutes cited, punitive damages, as well as costs and expenses. Tallying those will take a battalion of accountants. Insurances usually do not cover punitive damages or racketeering acts. The threat of both is motivation enough to make defendants settle early.

            Husam and Chang have already won a victory of sorts in securing the services of these two top law firms. Those lawyers would not risk their reputation and resources to see their case thrown out of court at the first hearing. They must have done their research and found the case not without merit.

            What’s in it for Husam and Chang? Certainly not the money. For even if they were to prevail and the awards be in the mega millions, their share after their lawyers’ cut would not be substantial. They must be doing it to ensure that justice prevails. They could not get that in Malaysia, so they come to America.

            The irony should not escape us. The pair could not find justice in an Islamic country but instead have to fly ten thousand miles away in the land of the kafir to seek it. The paradox must have struck Husam hard, being a former PAS Vice-President. That should impress upon him the essential difference between label and content.

            Lawyers however, have as much to do with justice as doctors to health. Lawsuits in particular have even less; they are but business decisions to law firms. Victory is settlement in their favor without having to go through an expensive and uncertain trial.

            For others, justice would be served if Jho Low and Reza Aziz were forced to disgorge their illicit gains, and then be punished. For Malaysians, that would not be enough. For them justice would come only with full exposure, as with a trial so all the ugly truth could be revealed. Then with that information they could make a better choice on whom to elect as their next leaders to ensure that such corruption and injustice would not recur.

            As President Johnson once noted, the vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man to fight injustice. We must erase this perversity among Malaysians, leaders and followers alike, that corrupt and illicit gains are but rewards and gifts from generous donors or a benevolent Allah. An open trail would be a great effort in that direction.

            The highest reach of injustice is to be deemed just when you are not, wrote Plato. Likewise, the most depraved act of corruption is to view it as otherwise. 1MDB is the most egregious corruption, and we have to expose it to Malaysians as such.

            To Husam Musa and Matthias Chang, thank you for your initiative in taking that brave first step. Yours is the finest form of patriotism. The corrupt, the perverts and the traitors would view your act as treason. That is the ultimate compliment! You do not want them to praise you. Reserve that for Najib.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 16 August 2016, 8:05 am and is filed under
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Who is the main beneficiary of the 1MDB scandal – Najib or Jho Low?

Yesterday, I asked about the real relationship between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Penang billionaire Jho Low, as to who was making use of whom in the 1MDB global scandal – Najib making use of Jho Low or Jho Low making use of Najib?

This is a question which is on the mind of every concerned Malaysian in the past two years, but despite the investigations by the various national enforcement and investigative agencies, including the high-powered Special Task Force on 1MDB (which was ignominously dissolved after the sacking of the then Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail who had chaired the Special Task Force and the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin), Police, Bank Negara, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the Auditor-General and the Public Accounts Committee, Malaysians are no nearer to a truthful and satisfactory answer.

Will Parliament when it meets in October be able to get an answer from Najib, at least in his 2017 Budget speech?

Nobody however is optimistic that Najib would be prepared to furnish any answer and it would be easier to squeeze water from a stone.

The unprecedented 136-page US Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuits to forfeit over US$1 billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland seems to indicate the Jho Low was the “mastermind” of the 1MDB global financial scandal, as  it would appear that Jho Low had a better bargain from the 1MDB scandal than Najib – which calls for a full explanation from Najib.

The US$1 billion assets which are the subject of the “civil action in rem” for forfeiture “represents a portion of over US$3.5 billion misappropriated from 1MDB” which “occurred in multiple phases over the course of several years”  and were  “involved in and traceable to an international conspiracy to launder money misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (“1MDB”), a strategic investment and development company wholly-owned by the government of Malaysia”.

Paragraph 33 of the DOJ complaint said:

“The misappropriated funds were then used to purchase the Defendant Asset, as well as to fund the co-conspirators’ lavish lifestyles, including purchase of artwork and jewellery, the acquisition of luxury real estate, the payment of gambling expenses, and the hiring of musicians and celebrities to attend parties. The use of the diverted 1MDB funds for the personal benefit of the co-conspirators and their associates was not consistent with the purposes for which 1MDB raised the funds, and neither 1MDB nor the government of Malaysia realised any returns on these purchases and expenditures.”

From the three phases of  1) the Good Star Phase  2) the Aabar/BVI Phase and 3) the Tanore Phase, the DOJ had accused “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” of embezzling US$731 million of Malaysian tax-payers’ money via 1MDB.

Against these items, DOJ enumerated the over US$1 billion from September 2009 to 2011 which were siphoned off from 1MDB to Good Star which belonged to Jho Low under the first “Good Star” phase; the second “Aabar/BVI phase” in 2012 where approximately US$1.367 billion in 1MDB funds raised in two separate bond offering were “misappropriated and fraudulently diverted” to bank accounts in Switzerland and Singapore controlled by Jho Low; and in the  third “Tanore phase” in 2013 where more than US$1.26 billion in 1MDB funds raised in a third bond offering were “misappropriated and fraudulently diverted” to bank accounts in Switzerland and Singapore controlled by Jho Low.

With US$731 million going to “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1”’s personal banking accounts, and even taking into consideration the US$238 million siphoned off to Red Granite Capital, an entity owned by Riza Shahriz, to purchase luxury real estate in the US and to fund his movie production company, Red Granite Pictures, more than two-thirds of the “misappropriated” US$3.5 billion 1MDB funds appeared to be at Jho Low’s disposal.

This raises the question as to who is the main beneficiary of the 1MDB scandal – Najib or Jho Low.

Until a satisfactory answer  is forthcoming, this will continue to be a question uppermost in minds of all concerned Malaysians.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 16 August 2016, 12:22 pm and is filed under
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