Malaysia’s woes illustrate emerging market malaise

by Gillian Terzis

Australian Business Review

5 OCT, 2015

Markets around the world have endured a wild ride in recent times, as global events conspire to spook investors into rash decision-making. Nowhere is this phenomenon more pronounced than in emerging economies.

Take, for instance, Malaysia’s economic struggles. The Malaysian ringgit has been one of the poorest performing currencies in the world, shedding 26 per cent against the US dollar this year and plumbing to a 17-year low of 3.9 ringgit against the greenback. An analyst note from Merrill Lynch illustrates that in some respects, Malaysia appears in weaker shape than it was in 1997 at the time of the Asian financial crisis. For instance, household debt as a share of GDP is now at 86 per cent, compared with 46 per cent in 1997; public debt as a percentage of GDP has climbed from 31 per cent in 1997 to 54 per cent today.

The steep correction in commodity markets hasn’t helped the country either. The commodities upon which Malaysia is heavily reliant (palm oil, petroleum, and rubber) have endured precipitous declines, with little reprieve in sight. The probable downward trajectory of crude oil prices in the short to medium term is certain to inflict even more pressure on the beleaguered currency.

Moreover, the rhetoric and actions undertaken by Malaysia’s federal government are likely to disabuse one of any optimism, no matter how cautious, for the country’s economic outlook. It has been alleged by the Wall Street Journal that RM2.6 billion ($840 million) had been transferred into the personal accounts of Prime Minister Najib Razak from companies connected to 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a heavily indebted state-owned strategic development company. Razak has since shut down an investigation into his administration’s alleged graft and mismanagement of state funds.

Unsurprisingly, these revelations have weighed on investor sentiment, with foreign investors withdrawing some RM11.7bn out of equities markets to date. The country’s bond markets are also a source of vulnerability, with big moves recorded in the lead up to the maturation of RM8.2bn of government debt on October 15. (Commentators have expressed concerns about the country’s rapidly waning currency reserves.)

RHB Banking Group credit strategist Fakrizzaki Ghazali told Malaysian newspaper The Star that “the funds that were redeemed but not repatriated look likely to be reinvested, although current volatility means timing will be a major issue”.

Swings of nearly 1 per cent on Malaysian government bond yields in the past fortnight highlight the unpleasant reality that volatility is now the ‘new normal’ for all sorts of asset classes — commodities, equities, bonds — around the world.

But these struggles are not unique to Malaysia. Its neighbour (and South-east Asia’s largest economy) Indonesia has seen the value of its stockmarket decline by 21 per cent and the rupiah’s rout has been similarly relentless. It’s a similar story in other emerging-market economies like Thailand, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, which are highly exposed to global capital outflows and are burdened by a large share of US dollar-denominated debt. With the greenback poised to strengthen and the Fed on track to hike rates, these emerging market economies will be confronted with an increase in the value of these debts and their associated servicing costs.

As the Federal Reserve marches towards policy normalisation, many observers fear a redux of the events that followed the Fed’s ‘taper tantrum’ of 2013, which saw investors pull $US53.8bn out of emerging market equity and bond funds between May and September 2013 — a move that completely destabilised emerging markets. Today, investors are already scrambling for the exits and slashing their exposure to emerging market debt as the prospect of a Fed rate hike draws nearer. Meanwhile, within countries like Malaysia, there are those who view the confluence of these developments as portents of an event of worse magnitude: regional contagion on the scale of the Asian financial crisis.

These fears, however, may be overblown. Economist Nouriel Roubini wrote in an article published on the Project Syndicate website that “significant turbulence” as a result of the Fed’s actions in emerging markets will be inevitable, “but the risk of outright crises and distress is more limited” — primarily because the outbreak of the Asian financial crisis forced many countries to implement drastic fiscal and market reforms. He does note, however, that a Fed rate rise will be calamitous for countries with “macroeconomic and policy fragilities” and that are heavily dependent on external borrowing.

Still, even if Roubini’s assertion proves correct — that the Fed’s action will cause a temporary period of market volatility, rather than prolonged pain — there’s another elephant in the room. A slowdown in the Chinese economy could trouble the region, particularly for those countries that depend on commodity exports. Diversification of exports is, of course, one way to hedge against such a downturn and build economic resilience, but for countries like Malaysia and its peers, it may be a case of ‘too little, too late’.

The combination of an anaemic global trade environment and the impotence of monetary policy will heighten emerging-market vulnerability amid stiffening headwinds. With their weapons to boost growth somewhat depleted, emerging economies will find themselves in a bind — one that could present a setback for advanced economies.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 6 October 2015, 4:43 am and is filed under
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Najib is sounding the death knell for Global Movement of Moderates if he is not prepared to uphold moderation as represented by Bersih 4 and marginalize extremism as represented by Sept. 16 Red Shirts Rally

The cat is out of the bag –  the mission of  irresponsible, dishonest and insidious propagandists in the UMNO/BN camp out to twist facts, distort the truth and even tell outright lies and falsehoods to influence public perceptions and events.

This comes from the  admission by the UMNO Secretary-General Tengku Adnan yesterday blaming the UMNO-owned Utusan Malaysia for exacerbating the diplomatic flap involving the  Chinese ambassador to Malaysia Huang Huikang who, to quote Adnan,  went to Petaling Street with good intentions but Utusan Malaysia took Ronnie Liu and Teresa Kok’s blog and “twisted” them into the headlines, and it became a problem!

There would be no kid-glove treatment of Utusan Malaysia if it is  not a UMNO-owned publication or  the authorities would have descended on it like  a ton of bricks, even suspending or cancelling its publication licence for activities prejudicial to racial harmony and national interests.

This highlights the UMNO/BN administration’s  hypocrisy and double-standards especially as this  is not the first time that Utusan had been guilty of journalistic excesses, abuses and anti-national activities prejudicial to social peace, racial harmony and national unity.

But of equal concern should be  Adnan’s  inadvertent admission of a major operations in both the social and print media to instantly rewrite history, as for instance,  by misrepresenting the 34-hour Bersih 4 overnight rally as a Chinese-racist DAP-masterminded “show of force” against Malay political power when it was in fact  a peaceful non-racial Malaysian human rights carnival demanding good governance and free, fair and clean elections.

It is only by instantly  rewriting history and misrepresenting the 34-hour Bersih 4 rally as a Chinese-racist DAP-masterminded “show of force” against Malay political power that the Sept. 16 Red Shirts Malay rally could be justified – with all its racist slurs and  high-octane and provocative images of racial conflict and even a racial “bloodbath”.

The 34-hour Bersih 4 human rights carnival for good governance and free, fair, clean elections and the four-hour racially divisive and provocative Sept. 16 Red Shirts Kebangkitan Maruah Melayu rally represent an acid test as to Najib’s sincerity when he proposed at the United Nations General Assembly five years ago for a Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) – to marginalize extremists, reclaim the centre, and shape the agenda towards peace and pragmatism.

This is because the 34-hour Bersih rally represented moderation, tolerance, peace and harmony which  GMM  should promote while the four-hour Sept. 16 Red Shirts Rally stood for extremism, intolerance, hate and falsehoods – the very vices which GMM should marginalize to reclaim the centre.

This is also why the Cabinet should seriously consider my proposal that the GMM be commissioned to report on who were the extremists and who were the  moderates in the  events surrounding the 34-hour Bersih 4 rally and the 4-hour Sept. 16 Red Shirts Rally.

The DAP is not in any way involved and associated with the GMM established by Najib, but we believe that the truth will finally prevail and withstand public scrutiny unlike the chicanery and falslehoods of dishonest propagandists and we are prepared to place our trust in the GMM.

Don’t tell me that the Prime Minister who established the GMM has no trust and confidence in the GMM and dare not commission the GMM to report on who were the extremists and who were moderates in the events surrounding the Bersih 4 and Sept. 15 Red Shirt rallies?

Before Bersih 4 rally, I had suggested that  Najib should embrace and dialogue with the Bersih 4 organisers and stakeholders as it will be fully in keeping with his GMM initiative to promote moderation, tolerance, peace and harmony so as  to marginalise and eradicate all forms of extremism, intolerance and bigotry.

Najib is sounding the death knell for GMM  if he is not prepared to uphold moderation as represented by Bersih 4 and marginalize extremism as represented by Sept. 16 Red Shirts Rally.

It is most unfortunate that this critical juncture of the nation’s history, the other Barisan Nasional parties are not playing their role of speaking truth to power, i.e. to  the UMNO Big Brother, that the 34-hour Bersih 4 overnight rally had nothing to do with race or politics, but was a genuine grassroots demand by Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, age, gender or politics for good governance and clean, free, fair elections.

Even worse, there are MCA and Gerakan leaders who had instigated UMNO elements  to respond to the Bersih 4 Rally in a racist, chauvinist  and extremist manner by giving them cause to believe that DAP had hijacked and masterminded the 34-hour Bersih 4 rally to stage a Chinese “show-of-force” to challenge Malay political authority – when this was a completely baseless supposition.

These MCA and Gerakan leaders like Gerakan Secretary-General Datuk Liang Teck Meng and the MCA religious harmony bureau chairman Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker are not doing the nation or any community any service, although they are praised sky-high by the UMNO mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia.

Those who think that just  because some had rewritten Malaysia’s history of the past, they can also rewrite the history of contemporary events will learn that they cannot be more wrong or misguided.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 6 October 2015, 9:16 am and is filed under
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Questions Galore for the Cabinet meeting tomorrow

There are questions and issues galore for the Cabinet meeting tomorrow.

Firstly, will the Cabinet seek clarification from the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak whether he is being probed by the United States Department of Justice under its Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative 2010; why despite his special relations with President Obama even playing golf with the American President, he has not been able to get a clear-cut “yes” or “no” from the United States authorities and whether the Prime Minister has sent an unmistakable  signal to Obama  that  it is an intolerable stain on the good name of Malaysia for the Malaysian Prime Minister to be investigated as a kleptocrat by the US DOJ.

Secondly, will the Cabinet ask the Prime Minister why he has not yet instituted legal proceedings against Wall Street Journal for its report on July 2, 2015  about the RM2.6 billion “donation” in his personal banking accounts in AmBank in March 2013, although the Wall Street Journal report had been published for more than three months?

Thirdly, will the Cabinet ask the Prime Minister why, in contrast, he had been so gung-ho threatening the former MCA President, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik with defamation proceedings within seven days if he had not retracted his allegations yesterday, when he could allow more than three months to elapse without action against  the Wall  Street Journal?

Fourthly, will the Cabinet ask the Prime Minister whether he would institute legal action against  the following  four media organisations, whether for defamation against him or his administration: (i) Al Jazeera for its 101 East current affairs programme on Sept. 11  on “Murder in Malaysia” on the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu ;  (ii) the New York Times for its report of 21st Sept  that a US federal grand jury is examining allegations of corruption and money laundering involving Najib and people close to him under the Department of Justice’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative; (iii) the Economist for its article “Race in Malaysia: Playing with fire” on Sept. 24, 2015 on how “A floundering government risks igniting ethnic tensions”; and (iv)  Channel News Asia for its “A Fractured Nation” documentary on 24th Sept portraying a bad image of Malaysia.

Fifthly, whether the Cabinet would ask the Prime Minister to come clean on the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal by answering  all the questions and doubts of Ministers and the Malaysian public as well as asking the Prime Minister to present a White Paper to Parliament when it reconvenes on  Oct. 19 giving a full, truthful, conclusive and unvarnished account of the 1MDB scandal.

Sixthly, whether the Cabinet would ask the Prime Minister to explain why he approved and subsequently endorsed the Sept. 16 Red Shirts Malay rally despite the  racist slurs and  high-octane and provocative images of racial conflict and even a racial “bloodbath” in the publicity material leading up to the rally.

Seventhly, whether the Cabinet would ask the Prime Minister to take action against the Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister, Datuk Tajudin Abdul Rahman for his divisive, insulting and provocative utterances directed against the Malaysian Chinese in the country.

Eighthly, whether the Cabinet would ask the Prime Minister to make a clear stand whether  the Global Movement of Moderates is still an important policy plank of the Najib administration, and if so, why the Prime Minister failed to uphold moderation by embracing the 34-hour Bersih 4 rally and instead supported the Sept. 16 Red Shirts rally, a manifestation of extremism, intolerance and bigotry which should have been marginalised?

Ninthly, whether the Cabinet would ask the Prime Minister the real reason for the sacking of Tan Sri Gani Patail as Attorney General some two months ago, and whether there was any basis in the account by the former deputy director of Special Branch, Abdul Hamid Bador linking it to 1MDB investigations and action that Gani was going to take as Attorney-General?

Tenthly, would any Cabinet Minister raise the haze catastrophe in the country, why Malaysia  failed to upgrade Malaysia’s Air Pollutant Index (API) stations to match Singapore’s capability, whether the government would make claims to Indonesia of economic losses resulting from the haze and compensate Malaysians for economic losses they suffer as a result of the haze.

There is a very long list of questions and issues which  Malaysians would want the Ministers to  put on the Cabinet agenda tomorrow, but I shall stop here with these ten questions and issues.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 6 October 2015, 4:29 pm and is filed under
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Young Chinese in Malaysia ‘delusional’ to think Malay domination can change, says top Singapore diplomat

Malay Mail Online

October 6, 2015

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 — Malaysia’s ethnic Chinese youth are “delusional” if they believe that Malay dominance in politics can be replaced by a change in the system, Singapore’s ambassador-at-large Bilahari Kausikan has said.

Instead, the top Singaporean diplomat said this dominance will be defended by any means, including a possible political alliance between Malay nationalist ruling party Umno and opposition Islamist party PAS.

“It is my impression that many young Malaysian Chinese have forgotten the lessons of May 13, 1969. They naively believe that the system built around the principle of Malay dominance can be changed.

“That may be why they abandoned MCA for the DAP. They are delusional. Malay dominance will be defended by any means,” Bilahari wrote in an opinion piece published in The Straits Times (ST) today.

Amid the current political upheaval in Malaysia, Bilahari cautioned that any new system that emerges will not only still have Malay dominance at its centre, but its enforcement will be even more rigorous with less space for the non-Muslims.

Singapore’s former permanent secretary for foreign affairs said that as Umno relies even more on religion for legitimacy, it will look to political rival PAS — which is now being led by conservative clerics after purging itself of their moderate leaders — for support.

“Umno and PAS may eventually form some sort of de facto if not de jure alliance that could be the core of a new ruling system,” said Bilahari.

“There may be token ornaments of other races, but the Malaysian system will then comprise an overwhelmingly dominant Malay government with a DAP-led Chinese opposition. This will be potentially explosive.”

According to Bilahari, the ongoing 1 Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal has quickened the pace towards the formation of such a system, foreshadowed by the recent Bersih 4 rally that he said was dominated by the ethnic Chinese.

Bilahari also urged Singapore to let Malaysia solve its own political woes, as any systemic change will have a profound change over the Causeway even when Singapore practises the separation of religion and state.

“Are we completely immune to contagion from Malaysia? After 50 years, does our collective Singapore identity now trump racial identities? Maybe under some circumstances. Optimistically, perhaps even most circumstances. But under all circumstances?

“I doubt it. Let us wish Malaysia well and hope that the worst does not occur,” said Bilahari.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) suggested that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s fight for political survival has not only created divisions in ruling Umno but recently, also sparked racial discord in multiracial Malaysia.

In the article, WSJ took stock of recent developments on Malaysia’s political front, particularly the 34-hour Bersih 4 rally and the #Merah169 counter-protest, two events it said had sparked this purported racial discord.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 6 October 2015, 9:07 pm and is filed under
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After roads and water, Impian Sarawak offers education, medical services

BY
SHERIDAN MAHAVERA

The Malaysian Insider

Published: 7 October 2015 9:00 AM

Children entertained by a lion dance during an educamp organised by Impian Sarawak in Kampung Pasir, Miri, on September 23. The project is part of DAP’s community service initiative in the Borneo states. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, October 7, 2015.

Ros Matius Mian has never seen her four children so impatient to go to school, with the youngest waking up even before the break of dawn to get ready for classes.

But that was the experience of many parents in the squatter colony of Kampung Pasir, 30 minutes from Miri. For about a week, their bleak surroundings were transformed into a riot of screaming kids and colourful pendants because of Impian Sarawak’s education camp.

The education camp, where volunteers give poor primary school kids a fun spin on science, maths and English lessons, is one of the
latest services Impian Sarawak
 is offering the poor and marginalised in the Bornean state.

This follows the success of the DAP’s two-year-old community service initiative that has built roads and water systems for remote villages in Sarawak and Sabah.

Besides education camps, it has also begun holding medical camps where volunteer doctors, nurses and dentists treat basic ailments, pull out rotten teeth and help patients deal with long-term problems, such as heart disease and diabetes.

“The education and medical camps were started to widen our services to rural and suburban areas which already have infrastructure but whose other needs are still not met,” said Kidurong assemblyman Chiew Ching Sing.

Communal effort

Kampung Pasir is a case in point. Ties between neighbours in the village’s ramshackle homes are weak because the colony exists in a grey area. The city council provides some services but it is not a formal neighbourhood, said Piasau assemblyman Alan Ling.

Bidin Jamilan sent both his primary schoolchildren and 14-year-old daughter to an education camp organised by Impian Sarawak. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, October 7, 2015.

The residents cannot afford tuition classes for their children and there is almost no communal space for the residents to get together.

This is why the education camp was as well received by parents as well as their children, said Bidin Jamilan, who sent both his primary schoolchildren and 14-year-old daughter to the programme.

“This brought us together because there are very few programmes that have been done here,” said Bidin, a lorry driver.

Parents gathered to cook meals for the children and the Impian volunteers who were the teachers. Volunteers stayed in the homes of villagers and teenagers, such as Bidin’s daughter, became teaching assistants who helped look after the smaller children.

The pupils themselves, under the guidance of their volunteer teachers, helped stack chairs, organise stationery and put away lesson materials for the camp’s small classroom which was a house donated by a resident.

Like Impian’s infrastructure projects, the camps have a strong emphasis on communal participation where everyone pitched in, so as to give every resident a sense of ownership in the project, said Ling.

“Every parent volunteered, even the adults who did not have kids came to help cook,” said Ros, 42.

The education camp in Kampung Pasir is the seventh for Impian Sarawak.

A longhouse resident from Sengok, Kuala Binyo, getting a check-up as part of Impian Sarawak’s medical camp on October 1. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, October 7, 2015.

Suffering in silence

Like the education camps, Impian’s medical services are basic but are welcome in communities where transport to the nearest government hospital is still difficult to obtain.

One medical camp The Malaysian Insider visited recently toured three longhouses along Sungai Kemena some three hours by boat from Bintulu.

Volunteer doctors, dentists and assistants would usually spend the night at the longhouse together with the families they would treat the next day.

The medical camps usually visit three locations in one tour of duty, said Chew.

Dr Tiew Soon Tat says poor dental health is common in remote communities in Sarawak with little access to dentists. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, October 7, 2015.

Naritapula Liban had charted a boat with other members of her longhouse, Rumah Inai, to visit the doctors and dentists of the camp set up at Kampung Sengok.

Although everyone visited the doctors, the dentists were the most sought after by the villagers as government ones were hard to come by in the interior.

“Government dentists only come once a year to the longhouses. It’s expensive to go all the way to Bintulu for treatment unless you are in real pain,” said the 52-year-old, adding that most times villagers try to ignore their toothache.

“This camp is good because they bring the services to us. I have never seen government mobile clinics coming to the longhouse.”

In the medical camp’s three-day tour, it treated 241 patients from three longhouses and extracted 221 teeth.

One of camp’s dentists, Dr Tiew Soon Tat, said poor dental health was common in remote communities with little access to dentists.

Although there were rural clinics in the interior, Chew said they were not well staffed and equipped. Good dentists were also rare in these facilities.

One of the camp’s doctors, Dr Ko Chung Sen said many of the rural folk he treated suffered in silence from conditions, such as high blood pressure and muscular pain because they could not get regular access to quality health care because of transport difficulties.

“So even if the government builds clinics in Sarawak’s interior, residents can’t make use of them because they don’t have roads to go to them.” – October 7, 2015.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 7 October 2015, 10:55 am and is filed under
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Parliament should set aside the first two days on Oct. 19 and 20 to debate the historic statement by the Conference of Rulers on 1MDB, rule of law and national unity

Parliament should set aside the first two days of its Budget session on Oct. 19 and 20 to debate the historic statement of the pre-council meeting of the 239th Conference of Rulers as it encapsulated  the three major concerns of all thinking and patriotic Malaysians – the RM50 billion 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, the parlous state of the rule of law and the frayed and fragile state of national unity in the country.

The Cabinet at its meeting today should agree to set aside the first two days when Parliament reconvenes on Oct. 19 for such a national debate on a motion which could be moved by the Prime Minister himself, another Minister or by the Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

The whole nation applauds the Conference of Malay Rulers’ statement asking the government to complete the 1MDB investigations as soon as possible and to take “the appropriate stern action” against all found to be implicated.

The Malay Rulers  stressed that all concerned should extend “real and sincere” cooperation so the investigation achieves its objectives.

They said: “The findings of the investigation must be reported comprehensively and in a transparent manner so that the people will be convinced of the sincerity of the Government which shall not at all conceal facts and the truth.

“The failure to give convincing clarification and answers is feared to have resulted in a crisis of confidence.

“As a consequence, the people believe, whether basing on reality or perception, that this is among the causes for the plunge in the value of the Malaysian Ringgit, impacting the country’s financial market and economic climate negatively and at the same time adversely affecting the world’s view of Malaysia.”

Do the Prime Minister and the Cabinet endorse this statement and share the worry of the  Malay Rulers and thinking and patriotic Malaysians that if the issue is not wisely handled and  allowed to drag on, it could jeopardise the country’s economy and the livelihood of the people as well as threaten public order and national security.

Can Malaysians expect a statement from the Cabinet on the Malay Ruler’s statement after the regular Wednesday meeting of the Ministers today?

Although the 1MDB scandal has mushroomed from a national into an international scandal, local investigations seemed to have run aground and  reached a dead end.

Nobody can now answer for sure who in the country is investigating the 1MDB scandal.

It will be Malaysia’s sovereign shame if we now have to depend on international investigations launched in various countries like United Kingdom, Switzerland, Hong Kong,  Singapore and now United States (even more shameful, allegedly under the US  Department of Justice’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative 2010)  to throw more light on the 1MDB scandal.

At one time, there were four separate investigations in the country into 1MDB – Bank Negara, Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Auditor-General and the Police.

Then  there was the multi-agency Special Task Force comprising Bank Negara, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency, the Royal Malaysian Police and the Attorney-General’s Chambers, headed by then Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail investigating  the 1MDB – which completely fizzled out when Gani was sacked as Attorney-General some two months before his compulsory retirement  on Oct. 6.

After Gani’s sacking, the multi-agency Special Task Force on the 1MDB was dissolved by the new Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali, the MACC announced that it was not investigating the 1MDB while the PAC investigation into the 1MDB was stopped even before it could begin by the simple stratagem  of elevating four members of the PAC to the Executive, one as Minister and three as deputy Ministers, and leaving their vacancies open until the next parliamentary meeting.

It is the height of irresponsibility to stop PAC on its tracks in investigating the 1MDB by at least three months, when time is of the essence –  a heinous act which would not be committed by anyone who wants  a full,  transparent and timely investigation of the 1MDB scandal.

New developments have added to national and international concerns about the 1MDB scandal especially the latest revelation by the former Special Branch deputy director, Abdul Hamid Bador relating his last meeting with Gani before he  was sacked as Attorney-General, when Gani said the 1MDB scandal was “crystal clear”.

In view of the Malay Rulers’ concern with 1MDB, which chimes in with the concern of thinking and patriotic Malaysian citizens, will the Prime Minister and the Cabinet announce a new action plan today to dispel all public doubts about government sincerity and answer questions whether the government is merely playing a game to “conceal facts and the truth” about 1MDB.

The Malay Rulers are also  fully justified in their concerns about the rule of law in Malaysia. The recent spate of malicious and selective prosecutions and investigations against government critics do not give cause for confidence – whether case of law professor Dr. Azmi Sharom under the Sedition Act 1948; the Selangor Exco, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad who is confronted with  “triple jeopardy” in being charged a third time under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 or the former Penang UMNO leader Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan who is being detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) for his global tour asking for investigations by foreign governments into 1MDB.

National unity has also never  been so frayed and fragile in the nation’s history, especially after Najib and UMNO leaders openly supported the Sept. 16 Red Shirt Rally which desecrated Malaysia Day and undermined racial peace, social harmony and national unity.

As a result, Najib’s credibility as a leader who initiated at the United Nations five years ago  the Global Movement of Moderates  for all religions and all countries  to marginalize extremists, reclaim the centre, and shape the agenda towards peace and pragmatism has come under national question and international doubt.

Malaysians will know soon enough whether the Prime Minister and the Cabinet are capable of addressing these three key national issues highlighted in the Malay Rulers’ statement yesterday.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 7 October 2015, 9:53 am and is filed under
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Political freedom and char kuey teow on a chilly London night

by Dyana Sofya

Malay Mail Online

October 7, 2015

OCTOBER 7 — The air was chilly but festive. Crowds of Londoners were streaming in, most of them in their work attire as it was a weekday evening.

Amid the hustle and bustle, a few people clad in Malaysian traditional costumes were giving out red hibiscus clips. I took one of myself and pinned it on my hair.

Our national flower as an adornment — what a neat way to commemorate our country on this evening celebrating Malaysia Night in London.

Spread out around Trafalgar Square were stalls selling a variety of Malaysian delicacies such as satay, roti canai, apam balik and much more. For many Malaysians living in London, it was a real treat, even if it was a bit of a luxury at GBP5 per meal (but then again, where else can you get roadside nasi lemak in London?).

As I sat on the steps of Trafalgar Square while waiting for the festivities to begin, a young Malaysian student beside me opened his container of hot, steaming char kuey teow from one of the stalls. I couldn’t help commenting how great it smelled and looked, and tried to recall when was the last time I had a plate of flat rice noodles cooked with seafood, chives, chilli paste and soy sauce. If there’s one thing Malaysians miss almost immediately after leaving home, it is our food!

And so the char kuey teow became an ice-beaker and I began to chat with the student and some of his friends. They all wanted to know about what was happening back home, from donations to 1MDB. The topic of Bersih 4.0 naturally came up, and one student shared with me her interest to participate in the rally, but did not because she and other JPA scholars had received a “love letter” warning them not to attend or risk their scholarships.

This is, of course, not the first time that such threats have been made. In 2011, JPA scholars in Australia received the same “friendly reminder” that the terms and conditions in their scholarship agreements stipulated that they were not allowed to participate in demonstrations or protests deemed by political or detrimental to Malaysia’s image.

Over chicken satay, our conversation steered towards the UKM4 incident and the amendment to Section 15(5) of the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (AUKU). In 2012, the Federal Court dismissed the appeal brought by the Government, the Higher Education Minister and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) against the landmark decision that deemed Section 15(5) of AUKU, which prohibited students from expressing sympathy or support to any political party whether in or outside Malaysia, as unconstitutional.

In the case of UKM4, the four students in question, Muhammad Hilman Idham, Woon King Chai, Azlin Shafina Mohamad Adza and Muhammad Ismail Aminuddin (who coincidentally was my neighbour growing up) were found to have breached Section 15(5)(a) of the Act for allegedly being present during the campaign period of the Hulu Selangor parliamentary by-election on 21 April 2010.

They were issued notices by the university to appear before a disciplinary tribunal to answer the charges. The students initiated judicial review, and although they lost in the High Court, the Court of Appeal overturned the decision in a 2-1 majority decision which also ruled that Section 15(5)(a) of the Act was unreasonable and violated the principle of freedom of speech that is guaranteed by the Federal Constitution.

Hence, the question now arises whether the prohibition on JPA scholars from participating in political demonstrations is constitutional.

According to Clause 5.5 of the Federal Scholarship Agreement, students are not allowed to participate in any seditious activity (as defined by the government) or any protest or demonstration.

While the provision of freedom of speech under Article 5 of the Federal Constitution is not absolute, it must be reasonable. Therefore, the question is whether it is reasonable for our scholars to lose their scholarships simply for participating in peaceful rallies?

Meanwhile, Clause 5.6 of the same agreement bans students and student groups from expressing sympathy or support for any political party. This clearly carries the same spirit with the now repealed Section 15(5)(a) of AUKU.

By right, this clause should no longer be in place, as the law itself was deemed unconstitutional. At the same time, this also raises the question about selective application of the law, because we never hear of students who join Kelab UMno in foreign countries being hauled up and threatened with the removal of their scholarships.

It is simply confounding that our government continues to perpetuate rules that deny the fundamental liberties of our students. What makes it worse is the apparent double standards applied.

In November 2011, Datuk Seri Najib Razak told Parliament that the amendment to Section 15 of AUKU was meant to allow political freedom for university students because “the government believes in the maturity and intelligence of our university students.” He further commented that “this decision is a result of the government’s concern and understanding of the people’s aspirations, and how we have listened to their wishes. This is not merely cheap rhetoric or tales from merchants of dreams… This is the result of political will and moral bravery.”

So the prime minister believes that Malaysian students have maturity and intelligence in expressing political sympathy, yet at the same time the same faith is not extended to our federal scholars overseas. I believe that our scholars should be given political freedom. What about you, Mr Prime Minister?

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 7 October 2015, 7:55 pm and is filed under
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With Hishammuddin clarification, the UMNO “Magnificent 7” who are currently  under investigation for disciplinary action cannot  be related to any “no confidence” motion against Najib in the forthcoming meeting of Parliament

UMNO Vice President and Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said yesterday that former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had not betrayed UMNO by calling on the Datuk Seri Najib Razak to step down as Prime Minister and  the voters of Pekan to vote out Najib in Pekan.

Hishammuddin said: “In terms of the party, it is not a betrayal. (But) it should not go on and should not be entertained as it could break the party apart.”

Hishammuddin said such attacks could damage the party but so far, no damage has been done.

With Hishammuddin clarification,  UMNO/BN MPs do not have to feel as if they are traitors to the nation or party if they are inclined to the position that  Najib should not continue as Prime Ministere and want to discuss with the Opposition the proposal of   no confidence motion against Najib as PM.

The Australian Parliament last month provided a  lesson on parliamentary democracy to Malaysian MPs when the Australian Government experienced a dramatic leadership change in a matter of hours, resulting in Malcolm Turnbull becoming Australia’s 29th Prime Minister replacing Tony Abbot.

During question time on Monday, 14th September 2015, Turnball paid a visit to Abbot requesting a leadership ballot on Tuesday morning, but Abbot decided on a leadership ballot the same night, which was won by Turnbull in a 54-44 vote among the Liberal Parliamentarians.

Although the political system in Malaysia is not the same as  the Australian one, the question is whether the 54 Liberal MPs who voted for a change of Australian Prime Minister could have been suspended or sacked from the ruling party by Abbot to forestall any majority win by Turnbull?

This was why two days ago, I posed the question whether any UMNO/BN leader and MP who support the  call by Mahathir (and now supported by Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik, former and  longest serving MCA President) for Najib to step down as Prime Minister, and expresses his or her stand in public, would be  liable to party discipline, whether suspension or expulsion?

From Hishammudin’s clarification, there is some maturity  in the UMNO leadership as to what is breach of party discipline and liability to disciplinary action as far as the views and position of UMNO/BN MPs on the question of no-confidence motion in Najib as Prime Minister.

I presume that it would be a breach of party discipline rendering one liable to disciplinary action, whether suspension or expulsion, for any UMNO/BN MP  to support any PR leader, for instance the Parliamentary Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizan Wan Ismail, as Prime Minister-candidate but not in the case of support of a no-confidence motion against Najib where the  successor-Prime Minister would be from UMNO.

Malaysian MPs, whether from BN or Pakatan Harapan, are in uncharted waters as far as no-confidence motion against the incumbent Prime Minister is concerned, and Hishammuddin’s clarification would be useful in guiding MPs in their response to any such no-confidence motion in the upcoming Parliamentary meeting.

There is then no need for UMNO/BN to scurry away from  Pakatan Harapan MPs for fear that they might be misconstrued as discussing the “taboo” subject of no-confidence motion against Najib with Pakatan Harapan MPs and be subject to party discipline or censure.

From Hishammuddin’s clarification, the UMNO “Magnificent 7” who are currently  in the  party “crosshair” and subject of investigation for disciplinary action, as revealed by the UMNO Secretary-General Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor two days ago, could not be related to any “no confidence” motion against Najib in the forthcoming meeting of Parliament.

Whether there should be a motion of no confidence against Najib as Prime Minister in the six-week Parliamentary meeting from Oct. 19 to Dec.3 should be discussed from all angles by the Pakatan Harapan parliamentary team, which should also come out with a common strategy on the historic statement by the Conference of Rulers yesterday placing the three issues of 1MDB, rule of law and national unity squarely at the centre of the national agenda.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 7 October 2015, 1:34 pm and is filed under
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Liong Sik has my grudging respect for standing his ground calling on Najib to resign and his readiness to  face Najib in court

Former MCA President Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik has my grudging respect for standing his ground calling on Datuk Seri Najib Razak to resign as Prime Minister and his readiness to face Najib in court.

It is a pity however that he has been abandoned by the MCA leadership.

As the MCA annual general meeting is being held this weekend,  the MCA delegates have an opportunity to decide whether  to hew to the line laid down by  the MCA leaders or to strike out with their heads high to give their former President their fullest support.

The important reason why MCA’s eminent position in the Barisan Nasional coalition government suffered when it was slashed from 31 MPs and 76 State Assembly representatives in 2004 GE to 7 MPs and 11 State Assembly representatives in the 2013 GE was because of the party’s  failure to take a courageous and principled stand on the  “Major Rights and Major Wrongs” in the country.

MCA would be repeating such a fatal mistake if it is not prepared to give full  backing to its former President to stand up on the current “Major Rights and Major Wrongs” in the country – in particular over the twin mega scandals of the RM50 billion 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal banking accounts just before the 13th General Election.

In fact, MCA delegates should show the way for all political parties in the country and ask the MCA President, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and all MCA office bearers and parliamentary candidates in the 13th General Elections to declare whether they had any pecuniary interest in the two mega scandals concerned, in particular whether they had received any funding from Najib’s RM2.6 billion banking accounts for 13th General Election campaigning.

Former Minister and Barisan Nasional Backbenchers’ Club (BNBBC) Chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Samad had admitted receiving RM1 million from Najib’s account with the RM2.6 billion “donation” from an Arabic donor for  13GE campaigning.

The three MCA Ministers, Liong Tiong Tai, Wee Ka Siong and Ong Ka Chuan, and all MCA parliamentary candidates (the remaining four who won and the 30 who lost) should declare before the MCA annual general meeting whether they had received funding from Najib’s account with the RM2.6 billion “donation” for their 13GE campaign, and if so, the amount of such funding.

Has the MCA annual general meeting no stand on the twin mega scandals which have even caused the Rulers to issue an unprecedented and historic statement on Tuesday, calling for a swift and transparent investigation as Najib’s  failure to resolve allegations of corruption had created a “crisis of confidence” in the country?

As the first political party in the country to hold  a national delegates’ conference after the Rulers’ historic statement,  the MCA annual general meeting this weekend should  rise up to the occasion and challenge to respond in a responsible and exemplary  manner to the Rulers’ concern about three issues confronting Malaysia – the 1MDB scandal, the parlous state of the rule of law and the frayed and fragile state of national unity in the country.

The MCA AGM delegates this weekend should not repeat the mistakes of the past in closing their eyes to the “Major Rights and Major Wrongs” in the country, and in this context, the MCA delegates cannot ignore the shocking accusation  that the Umno/Barisan Nasional government had deliberately turned the Bersih 4 protest into a racial issue to divert attention from the 1MDB imbroglio.

This is because this accusation is not made by the Opposition or by any ordinary politician but by the former Prime Minister of 22 years, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, who also accused the Najib administration of organising the Sept. 16 Red Shirts rally, with its provocative and racial slurs.

The MCA Ministers must explain how they can be a party to a government responsible for these two stains on nation-building, which caused the Rulers in their statement to “remind leaders of political parties and non-governmental organisations not to sensationalise racial and religious issues to garner support” and warn that “the harmony and solidarity of the people should be safeguarded at all times and never be sacrificed for shallow political aims”. ¬

Can the MCA general assembly this weekend measure up to this sudden and unexpected political challenge of the times?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 8 October 2015, 3:53 pm and is filed under
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Malaysian sultans ramp up pressure on Prime Minister Najib Razak

Lindsay Murdoch

Sydney Morning Herald

October 8, 2015

Bangkok:  Sultans of Malaysia’s nine states have joined influential figures in the country’s ruling party calling for a swift and transparent investigation into a political scandal involving prime minister Najib Razak.

In a rare intervention in politics, the sultans said Mr Najib’s failure to resolve allegations of corruption in a debt-ridden sovereign wealth fund he oversees has created a “crisis of confidence” in the country.

And turning up the pressure further on Mr Najib, former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin said there may “hidden hands” trying to cover up people implicated in allegations swirling around the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund, he was quoted by the Malaysiakini website as saying.

“It is though there are hidden hands that want to cover-up the wrongdoings of certain parties. This is unacceptable,” he said.

Mr Muhyiddin remains a powerful figure in the party  even though Mr Najib sacked him earlier this year in a purge of officials involved in investigations into the fund.

For weeks Mr Najib has resisted calls to step aside during investigations into his oversight of the fund that is billions of dollars in debt.

The prime minister has also refused to explain how US$700 million turned up in his private bank accounts ahead of elections in 2013, saying only that he has not taken money for personal gain.

Party supporters say they gave Mr Najib a “hero’s welcome” when he returned last weekend from a trip to London and New York, where he spoke at the UN General Assembly.

But analysts say his United Malays National Party (UMNO) remains beset by internal rivalries, jealousies and betrayals after operating for decades on a system of patronage and money politics.

Mr Najib is clinging to power with the support of a majority of UMNO divisions in the country’s Malay heartlands.

His supporters are also increasingly pushing the party’s Islamic credentials, even to the extent of inflaming racial tensions with Chinese and Indian non-Muslims, critics say.

Analysts say the intervention by the sultans, who have a largely ceremonial role, will shore up support for anti-corruption and central bank officials investigating the sovereign fund.

“The findings of the investigation must be reported comprehensively and in a transparent manner so that the people will be convinced of the sincerity of the government, which shall not at all conceal facts and the truth,”  the sultans said in a statement, adding the scandal had impacted a collapse in the value of the ringgit currency, financial markets and the economic climate.

Opposition parties and critics seized on the statement that was widely seen as indirect criticism of Mr Najib’s handling of the crisis.

Islamic opposition party member Mahfuz Omar told local Malaysian news media that the sultans’ comments should pressure Mr Najib to step down, saying the government is run like a “mafia” with those who oppose him “cut off” and “threatened.”

A. Kadir Jasin, a former editor of the UMNO-owned New Straits Times newspaper, wrote in his blog that Mr Najib will be seen as defying the sultans unless he initiates an immediate investigation into the fund.

“Unless Najib and his extremist supporters have lost their minds and are disloyal to (to the sultans) they would do as has been decreed,” he said.

Mr Jasin is an ally of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad who has been waging a relentless campaign for the removal of Mr Najib from office.

Asia Sentinel, a Hong Kong based on-line publication that reports extensively on Malaysia’s politics, says a long list of Malaysia’s most prominent and influential figures have asked Mr Najib to resign in recent weeks, including his three brothers and UMNO veterans Musa Hitam and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

The report quotes insiders as saying Mr Najib agreed to hear the appeals but that his influential wife Rosmah Mansor had insisted he remain in office.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 8 October 2015, 5:29 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia’s Najib Rebuffs Elite Pleas to Step Down

By John Berthelsen

Asia Sentinel

October 7, 2015

A long list of Malaysia’s most prominent and influential figures have reportedly gone to Prime Minister Najib Razak in recent weeks to appeal to him to step aside as his scandal-plagued administration brings serious harm to the economy and image of the country.

These include all three of Najib’s brothers, especially Nazir Razak, the chairman of the CIMB banking group. Others who have both publicly and privately appealed for him to at least step aside until investigations into the unexplained US$681 million in his AmBank personal account and the long-running 1MDB scandal are completed include Musa Hitam, the onetime deputy premier under Mahathir Mohamad; political veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah; and Mahathir himself, who has almost daily called Najib a thief and criminal.

Insiders say Najib has agreed to hear their appeals, which have included offers of immunity from prosecution, but that his influential wife, Rosmah Mansor, has insisted he remain in office. Those trying to fix the problem are hampered by their own rivalries and past jealousies, betrayals and maneuverings.

Stuck in place

The inability to move out an unpopular and seemingly corrupt premier has exposed fundamental flaws in Malaysia’s governance at a time when the country occupies a key place on the international stage with the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and a position as a key partner in the just-concluded Trans Pacific Partnership trade talks with Washington, which now must be ratified by the individual member states.

The prime minister returned over the weekend from a jaunt to London, New York for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly and Milan to show off Malaysian products and attend his wife’s Islamic fashion show. He was greeted on his return by a “hero’s welcome” that according to critics was manufactured with party funds.

He was also greeted by a statement on Tuesday, Oct. 6, by Malaysia’s nine powerful hereditary Sultans asking the government to complete the investigation into 1MDB as soon as possible, “take the appropriate stern action” against all found to be implicated and report the findings comprehensively and transparently. According to the statement, the Sultans worry that if the issue drags on, it could jeopardize the country’s economy and personal livelihoods.

It is unsure just how much effect that will have. The Sultans have considerable influence with the ethnic Malay community, which makes up more than 60 percent of the country, particularly in the kampungs, the rural villages that are the backbone of support for the United Malays National Organization. However, polls by the Merdeka Center in the past have shown that rural Malays have little understanding of the 1MDB scandal, in which the state-backed investment fund has RMB42 billion worth of liabilities, an unknown amount of that unfunded.

Defy the Sultans?

The rulers’ statement, while strong, only addressed 1MBD instead of naming the prime minister. A well-placed source told Asia Sentinel that a request had been relayed to the Sultans to ask them to demand that Najib step aside, but that an unknown number, led by the Sultan of Pahang, had balked, meaning they are divided over Najib’s fate. Sultans on Najib’s side, in addition to Pahang, are said to be Kedah and Terengganu. The result was the statement delivered Tuesday. The Council of Rulers convened today, Wednesday, Oct. 7, at the national palace, led by the Sultan of Perlis.

The former editor of the UMNO-owned New Straits Times group of newspapers, A. Kadir Jasin, a close confidant of Mahathir, said on his blog that Najib would be regarded as defying the Sultans if he doesn’t push forward an investigation of the matter immediately. Would the various bodies probing 1MDB rather defy the Sultans or the prime minister, who has fired and replaced the previous attorney general for allegedly preparing an indictment and has neutralized several other individuals, Kadir asked. “Unless Najib and his extremist supporters have ‘lost their minds’ and are disloyal to the [King], they would do as has been decreed,” Kadir said.

Dominic Puthucheary, a leading constitutional lawyer in Kuala Lumpur, called the Sultans’ statement “unprecedented” and said it can be expected to have a “material effect” on Najib’s tenure. “The rulers have the respect of the Malay community. The fact that they took it upon themselves to issue it has enhanced their own standing.”

However, asked if he thought it would bring down the prime minster, he said “I think he can be just a walking dead man. He is not yet a buried dead man.”

Still alive

The reason Najib yet breathes politically is illustrated by the fact that the crippled Parti Keadilan Rakyat, which leads the opposition, has virtually no chance of following through on its threat to introduce a vote of no confidence in the parliament. Wan Azizah, the wife of jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, and party president, has threatened to introduce the motion when parliament reopens on Oct. 19. But the opposition coalition controls only 88 of the 222 seats in parliament. And the House Speaker, Pandikar Amin Mulia, has said he would block such a move in any case, saying a no confidence vote would be a threat to democracy, an interpretation at odds with almost any country following the Westminster parliamentary model.

In any event, Najib, having poured millions of ringgit into jobs, sinecures and outright bribes, continues to enjoy the support of 192 UMNO cadres who see his continued tenure as their meal ticket. But as the crisis festers, Malaysia’s fiscal situation deteriorates. After the ringgit bottomed out on Sept. 28 at 4.4570, government intervention brought its value back to RM4.3200. Although GDP remains at a relatively healthy 4.9 percent fiscal revenues are going through the floor and inflation has risen from 0.1 percent in February to 3.3 percent in July and is expected to keep rising.

Later this month, Najib is faced with presenting a fiscal budget to the parliament. But analysts familiar with the country’s growing fiscal problems say it will be virtually impossible for him to present a spending plan that would meet obligations without borrowing. With international sources having lost confidence in the ringgit, borrowing costs are likely to skyrocket.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 8 October 2015, 6:15 am and is filed under
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Malaysia’s royals make unprecedented call for action on corruption

Guardian

Wednesday 7 October 2015

Malaysia’s royal rulers have called for a quick, transparent investigation into troubled state-fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), in rare comments from the monarchy that presents a new challenge to the prime minister, Najib Razak, as he fends off corruption allegations.

The fund, whose advisory board is chaired by the prime minister, has amassed debt of more than $11bn and is at the centre of a political storm after allegations of graft and mismanagement.

1MDB has denied wrongdoing. Investigations being conducted by Malaysia’s anti-graft agency and other organisations have dragged on with no conclusion in sight.

In a statement issued late Wednesday, the sultans of nine states and governors of the remaining four said the government’s failure to give convincing answers on 1MDB may have resulted in a “crisis of confidence”.

“The findings of the investigation must be reported comprehensively and in a transparent manner so that the people will be convinced of the sincerity of the government which shall not at all conceal facts and the truth,” the rulers said, according to Bernama state news agency.

The comments, which come ahead of a two-day gathering of the Conference of Rulers starting Wednesday, are unprecedented as the sultans assume a non-political role in Malaysia and rarely speak on the functioning of the state.

The remarks add to pressure on Najib, who is facing calls to step down over his alleged involvement in the 1MDB scandal from opposition parties and some establishment figures, including the former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.

In July, the Wall Street Journal reported that investigators looking into 1MDB had identified a payment of nearly $700m into a bank account under Najib’s name. Reuters has not independently verified the report.

Najib has denied taking any money for personal gain and the government has said the deposit was a private donation.

In the weeks that followed, the government replaced the attorney general, who had led investigations into 1MDB, and a parliamentary committee inquiry stalled. The royals said they were worried that if the matter dragged on it could jeopardise the economy.

The controversy has battered Malaysian markets with the ringgit losing a quarter of its value to become Asia’s worst-performing currency. Malaysian bonds are also down.

“To ensure that the government enjoys the people’s trust, that leaders are respected, that political stability is guaranteed and that the economy continues to grow, all leaders must constantly ensure that justice is meted out equitably and transparently based on the law,” the rulers said.

Reuters

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 8 October 2015, 5:58 am and is filed under
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State Rulers in Malaysia Press for Inquiry Into Premier, Najib Razak

by Thomas Fuller

New York Times

OCT. 7, 2015

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — In a rare and explicit intervention in politics, the sultans of nine of Malaysia’s states have called for a swift and transparent investigation into a political scandal involving Prime Minister Najib Razak, saying his failure to resolve allegations of corruption had created a “crisis of confidence” in the country.

Malaysia’s central bank and anticorruption officials are investigating whether millions of dollars transferred into Mr. Najib’s accounts came from companies linked to a government fund that Mr. Najib oversees.

The statement by the sultans, who have a largely ceremonial role, was their most direct intervention in politics in recent history. Analysts said it was likely to provide support for the embattled officials who are investigating the scandal and buttress the position of the growing ranks of Mr. Najib’s political opponents.

“The findings of the investigation must be reported comprehensively and in a transparent manner so that the people will be convinced of the sincerity of the government, which shall not at all conceal facts and the truth,” said the statement, which was released late Tuesday and circulated by Bernama, the national news agency.

The statement added that the scandal was “adversely affecting the world’s view of Malaysia” and was seen as “among the causes for the plunge in the value of the Malaysian ringgit, impacting the country’s financial market and economic climate.” The national currency, the ringgit, has fallen to its lowest value in more than a decade.

John Pang, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said Mr. Najib, who faces significant opposition in his party, now appears more isolated. “The statement adds to the sense that he has lost the confidence of the Malay rulers, along with other important sectors of society,” Mr. Pang said. The sultans, he said, “have never spoken so specifically on a matter of government.”

Their intervention “will embolden both the civil service and civil society groups that are dismayed by the scandal,” he said.

Even in a country where money politics have long been rife, the scale of the suspected graft in the scandal, which centers on the sovereign wealth fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB, has alarmed Malaysians. One set of transfers into Mr. Najib’s account, according to a statement by Malaysia’s anticorruption commission, was for nearly $700 million.

Mr. Najib has denied any wrongdoing, but he has not publicly explained the source or purpose of the money. Instead, his government has hobbled inquiries against him, raiding the homes of investigators, removing the attorney general, aggressively pursuing leaks and banning the publications of a leading news media group that was investigating the case.

Opposition politicians on Wednesday seized on the statement by the state leaders and urged them to do more. One member of Parliament for an Islamic opposition party, Mahfuz Omar, was quoted in the news media as saying that the rulers should pressure Mr. Najib to step down. The government is run like the “mafia,” Mr. Mahfuz said, and those who challenge Mr. Najib are “cut off” and “threatened.”

One case against Mr. Najib focuses on a transfer of 27 million ringgit, around $6 million, into his account last year. Documents produced by investigators indicate that the money originated with SRC International, which was set up as a subsidiary of the sovereign wealth fund and is now owned by the Ministry of Finance. The case is particularly contentious because SRC received financing from a state pension fund.

Rohaizad bin Yaakob, the communications director for the anticorruption commission, said that the case remained open but that investigators could not proceed without the cooperation of Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, a man they describe as the manager of Mr. Najib’s accounts.

Immigration records show that Mr. Nik Faisal left the country, but his whereabouts is unknown, Mr. Rohaizad said.

“We have documents, but who is going to talk?” Mr. Rohaizad asked.

The government crackdown has centered on the anticorruption commission, ostensibly to find the sources of leaked documents in the case. The homes of three investigators, as well as the commission’s main office, were raided in August.

A member of Mr. Najib’s party, Khairuddin Abu Hassan, who has turned against the prime minister and filed documents related to the graft scandal with financial authorities in Europe and Asia, was prevented from leaving the country in September and has remained in detention. Authorities in Switzerland, Hong Kong and the United States have opened investigations related to the scandal.

Mr. Najib has denied that he profited personally from any funds related to 1MDB, which has debts amounting to tens of billions of dollars. His allies say the nearly $700 million transferred into his account in 2013 was a donation from Middle Eastern royalty. The anticorruption commission says that it has documentation from the donor and that its officials met him in France.

Critics of Mr. Najib question whether the donor exists.

The Sarawak Report, a website based in Britain that has been investigating the scandal, reported this week that the documents provided to Mr. Najib’s Malaysian bank identified the donor as Saud Abdulaziz Majid al-Saud. A spokesman for the anticorruption commission did not answer a query on that report.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 8 October 2015, 5:47 am and is filed under
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Three new and important factors for UMNO/BN MPs to consider what stand they should take in any no-confidence motion against Najib as PM

The Ruler’s historic and unprecedented statement on 1MDB, the thunderous silence of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet to the Rulers’ Statement and

the clarification of the UMNO Vice President and Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein are three new  and important factors for UMNO/BN Members of Parliament to consider as to what stand they should take in any no-confidence motion against Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Prime Minister.

The Rulers’ statement before the 239th Conference of Rulers on Tuesday, 6th October 2015 is historic because it represented a valiant attempt to save Malaysia from “sleepwalking” towards a rogue state with  a breakdown of the rule of law and a failed state because of rampant corruption, abuses of power and collapse of good governance.

What the Rulers said were nothing new, but it had the effect of a thunderclap on the populace because simple truths had been forced underground, patriotic attempts to uphold democracy, justice, accountability, integrity and good governance had been distorted as treasonous efforts to  undermine parliamentary democracy and  sabotage the nation in cahoots with international conspirators; or simply, white has become black and black turned into white.

The Rulers’ statement is like a pail of cold water splashed on a populace which had been drugged either by power or the  threat of  the abuse of power and represents  a final warning of the urgent need for the country to wake up and  return to sanity to deal with three urgent problems plaguing Malaysia today – the 1MBD scandal, the parlous state of the rule of law and the frayed and fragile state of national unity in the country.

The Rulers’ statement is unprecedented both in import and content, which  makes the silence of the Prime Minister and Cabinet which met for its weekly Wednesday session yesterday, all the more phenomenal, thunderous and unforgivable.

The whole country, in fact the world which is concerned about developments in Malaysia, have woken up to the dangers in store for Malaysia if we continue are our present trajectory.

Could it be that the Prime Minister and the Cabinet are still “sleep-walking”?

Are  the Prime Minister and the Cabinet the only exception in the country who do not endorse the Rulers’ statement and share their worry that if the issues confronting the nation are not handled wisely and allowed to drag on,  not only Malaysia’s economy and the livelihood of the people could  be jeopardized, public order and national security could also be threatened?

If further evidence is needed that Najib is no more suitable to be Prime Minister of Malaysia, his  thunderous silence and that of his Cabinet  to the Rulers’ Statement after their meeting yesterday would fit the bill.

Into this political cauldron, Hishammuddin’s clarification is most timely – that former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had not betrayed UMNO by calling on Najib Razak to step down as Prime Minister and  the voters of Pekan to vote out Najib in Pekan.

This acknowledgement by the top UMNO leadership that it is no breach of party discipline for any UMNO/BN MP to support any no-confidence motion against Najib where the successor-Prime Minister is from UMNO is welcome and sign of greater maturity in understanding the workings of parliamentary democracy.

Malaysia is in unchartered waters as far as no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister in Parliament is concerned, and developments can suddenly become very  quick an dfast-paced.

Whatever is in store in the coming days, weeks and months, three factors which developed in the past 48 hours are new and important factors for UMNO/BN MPs to consider as to what stand they should take in any no-confidence motion against Najib as Prime Minister, viz:

•	The Rulers’ historic and unprecedented statement on 1MDB, the rule of law and national unity on 6th Oct. 2015;

•	The thunderous silence of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet to the Rulers’ statement; and

•	Hishammuddin’s clarification on Oct. 6  that support by any UMNO/BN MP or leader for no confidence motion against Najib as Prime Minister is no breach of party discipline.

In these circumstances, will there be a motion of no confidence against Najib in the forthcoming Parliament beginning on Oct. 19, what are the chances of success of such a motion; and who is likely to succeed Najib as the Prime Minister  of Malaysia?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 8 October 2015, 8:11 am and is filed under
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Great misfortune if instead of being a national wake-up call to Malaysians to  rise above personal and party interests and unite  to resolve the national confidence crisis, the historic Rulers’ Statement on Oct. 6 becomes a new source of national discord and division

It will be a great misfortune for Malaysia if instead of being a national wake-up call to all Malaysians to rise above personal and party interersts and to unite as Malaysians to resolve the national crisis of confidence, the historic Rulers’ Statement of Oct. 6 becomes a new source of national discord and division.

The government has taken more than 48 hours to craft an official response in the form of the statement by the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi, who said that the probe on 1MDB must follow due process, and should not be hastened or delayed.

He said that any decree by the Conference of Rulers was viewed positively and the government had taken proactive steps to address it.

Such a statement actually says nothing, as it is  the classic strategy of adopting a form of language which seems to  agree with the concerns expressed by the Rulers while continuing with the directions and approaches which had given rise to the Rulers’ concerns in the first place.

The danger of the Rulers’ statement becoming a subject of national discord and division could be seen from the response of the UMNO Vice President and Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein who said it was presumptuous to say the Malay Rulers have lost trust in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s leadership when they called  for transparency in investigations into 1MDB and for wrongdoers to be punished.

Hishammuddin said if the Conference of Malay Rulers believed the issue of trust should be raised, they would have said it outright instead of raising the 1MDB issue.

Hishammdudin said: “If they don’t believe in Najib’s leadership, they would have said it as it is.

“Certain parties are trying to interpret it themselves. That is speculation and assumption that is not necessary.

“You are trying to put words into the mouth of our sultans and raja-raja. That is unfair.”

I do not want to get involved in the debate whether the Rulers’ Statement was just expressing  concern about 1MDB scandal and not about confidence in Najib’s leadership, or whether Hishammuddin is right in his formulation of the Malay culture of communicating in indirect and polite fashion instead of direct and straight-to-the-point manner.

But what is indisputable is that this is the first time in the nation’s history of close to six decades under six Prime Ministers  that the Malay Rulers have come out with a statement expressing their concerns, and on  three issues – 1MDB, the rule of law and national unity in the country.

In his statement, the Deputy Prime Minister said  Putrajaya has heard the Malay Rulers’ concern.

This is the nub of the question – has the Najib government really heard  and understood the Rulers’ concerns about 1MDB, the rule of law and national unity in Malaysia?

Although Zahid only came out with the official response of the Federal Government more than 48 hours after the Rulers’ statement, the UMNO leadership had not been quiet or inactive after the Rulers’ unprecedented “shock” statement.

Its  first response had been quite instantaneous, when the online UMNO media virtually blacked out the Rulers’ Statement on Tuesday night, and on Wednesday, the mainstream media controlled by Umno played down the statement by the Malay rulers.

Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia  carried a report on the statement on Wednesday but did not give it due importance by publishing it on page 4 of the daily.

English daily New Straits Times (NST) virtually  dismissed the Rulers’ statement on page 13, with a five-paragraph extract from the Bernama report which did not include the part where the Rulers called for action to be taken against those responsible for the troubles and controversies in the Finance Ministry-owned firm, which is Najib’s brainchild.

New Straits Times must have realized that it had committed les majeste and tried to make amends the next day by publishing a fuller account of the Rulers’ Statement in its Thursday publication.

Imagine if the UMNO-controlled media can give such shabby treatment to the Rulers’ Statement, what couldn’t they do with the speeches and statements of ordinary souls – which was why DAP leaders had  long accepted that we do  not exist as far as the UMNO-controlled media are concerned, unless they want to demonise and defame us.

But the treatment of the UMNO-controlled media to the Rulers’ Statement was not the only UMNO  response in the first 48 hours.

The  responses before Zahid’s official statement, apart from the thunderous silence of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet after its weekly Wednesday meeting, include the  three-pronged reactions  yesterday on the 1MDB front, viz:

Firstly, the astounding statement from the Attorney-General’s Chambers that the multi-agency Special Task Force investigating 1MDB had never been dissolved or disbanded, despite a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) statement on August 5 that  MACC had been advised by the new Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali that the Special Task Force  which had been headed by Tan Sri Gani Patail had been  disbanded. This MACC statement was never denied or contradicted by the new Attorney-General, the Prime Minister or the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of integrity Datuk Paul Low.

Secondly, the arrest  yesterday of Matthias Chang, the lawyer for detained former Umno branch leader Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan, under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).

Chang, a former political aide to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, was detained under Section 124K and 124L of the Penal Code that deal with sabotage and attempting to sabotage the state respectively similar to Khairuddin’s detention, for whom Matthias was preparing habeas corpus application to challenge the government’s arrest  of Khairuddin under Sosma.

This is clearly Najib’s  response to the  statement by former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin when reacting to the Rulers’ Statement, in stressing that 1MDB is not above the law and that Khairuddin should be protected and not persecuted for lodging international complaints against 1MDB.

Muhyiddin even urged more concerned citizens to lodge reports to compel the authorities to investigate the 1MDB in a transparent and fair manner.

Will  all who lodge reports against 1MDB  end up in the police lock-ups under Sosma, a law enacted by Parliament to deal with terrorists and not whistleblowers  who want to keep the government on a straight, narrow and incorrupt path?

Thirdly, the 1MDB Statement  protesting Muhyiddin’s  characterisation of 1MDB as a “debt-laden company”, claiming that it is misleading. What the 1MDB CEO, Arul Kanda should realize  is that nothing could be more misleading in the 1MDB scandal than the conspiracy of silence by 1MDB and Putrajaya in not disclosing whether 1MDB’s debts have now shot up from RM42 billion in March 2014 to over RM50 billion, as mentioned by Muhyiddin in his last speech as Deputy Prime Minister at the Cheras UMNO Division meeting on July 26, 2015.

Has Putrajaya heard and understood the Malay Rulers on their concerns on 1MDB, the rule of law and national unity?

Malaysians, and Malay Rulers themselves, need to be convinced that this is so, as  the actions and statements of the UMNO/BN government in the 48 hours after the Malay Rulers’ Statement point to the contrary.

For a start, will Zahid as the Whip of Parliament agree that the first two days of Parliament when it reconvenes  on Oct. 19  be set aside to debate the statement of the Malay Rulers and the government’s action plan?

The parliamentary  debate on the Rulers’ Statement can be on a motion moved by the Prime Minister, Zahid or by the Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Will Zahid give proper importance to the Rulers’ Statement by agreeing to start off the Budget meeting of Parliament on Oct. 19 with a full debate on the Rulers’ concern about 1MDB, the rule of law and national unity?

                This entry was posted on Friday, 9 October 2015, 9:23 am and is filed under
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Malaysia Arrests Another Critic of Prime Minister

By JAMES HOOKWAY And  CELINE FERNANDEZ

Wall Street Journal

Oct. 8, 2015

KUALA LUMPUR—A prominent lawyer was arrested Thursday on charges of sabotage, his attorney said, after earlier planning to travel to the U.S. to help urge authorities there to investigate money transfers into Prime Minister Najib Razak’s alleged personal accounts.

The lawyer, Matthias Chang, was arrested after visiting a police lockup facility to see Khairuddin Abu Hassan, who was arrested and detained last month on the same charge. The two men had planned to fly together to the U.S., where Mr. Chang previously said Mr. Khairuddin aimed to try to persuade U.S. authorities to investigate transfers into Mr. Najib’s alleged accounts. Mr. Chang was acting as Mr. Khairuddin’s personal lawyer to make sure he complied with legal processes and laws oversees, Mr. Chang’s attorney Zainur Zakaria said.

Both men are being held under Malaysia’s sweeping Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act, which allows for them to be detained for 28 days, another lawyer acting for Mr. Chang said.

“Matthias and I visited Mr. Khairuddin this afternoon at 2 p.m. for about 30 minutes,” lawyer Mohd Akmal Afiq Mohd said by telephone. “When we came out, police informed Matthias he was being arrested.”

A Malaysian police representative couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Mr. Khairuddin, accompanied by Mr. Chang, who was a political aide to former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, spent weeks lodging formal requests with law enforcement agencies around the world, trying to persuade them to investigate the money transfers. Malaysian government investigators earlier this year traced almost $700 million that had moved into Mr. Najib’s alleged accounts through agencies, banks and companies linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd., known as 1MDB, The Wall Street Journal reported in July.

The government investigation hasn’t detailed what happened to funds that went into the prime minister’s alleged personal accounts, most of which were transferred ahead of national elections in 2013.

Mr. Najib has denied any wrongdoing, as well as taking money for personal gain.

The country’s anticorruption agency has said the money was a donation. But it didn’t specify the purpose of the contribution or identify the donor, who it said was based in the Middle East.

Criticism of the government’s handling of the controversy is mounting.

Earlier this week, nine of the country’s sultans called for a full investigation in a rare intervention in Malaysia’s political affairs. In a statement, the sultans, who are the largely ceremonial rulers of the country’s states, blamed the allegations surrounding 1MDB for tarnishing Malaysia’s reputation and contributing to an 18% decline in the value of Malaysia’s ringgit so far this year.

The office of Malaysia’s new attorney general, meanwhile, said Thursday that it had reviewed the central bank’s report into its investigation of the state investment fund and had concluded that it wouldn’t take any further action against fund officials.

Swiss authorities in August opened a criminal investigation into suspected money laundering allegedly involving 1MDB, while Singapore has also frozen accounts allegedly related to the transfers. A large portion of the money that entered Mr. Najib’s alleged accounts came from a British Virgin Islands-based company that held an account at a Singapore branch of a Swiss private bank, according to Malaysian investigation documents viewed by the Journal.

The 1MDB fund previously said it had not been contacted by overseas authorities but stood ready to cooperate.

U.S. investigators including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Justice Department’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, meanwhile, have begun looking into Mr. Najib’s assets, The Wall Street Journal reported last month.

Malaysian police have said they haven’t been notified by the FBI of any investigation into 1MDB or Mr. Najib.

1MDB was established shortly after Mr. Najib became prime minister in 2009 but is now struggling to repay some $11 billion in debts.

Mr. Najib removed his deputy prime minister in July after he criticized a lack of transparency over the transfers into the prime ministers alleged private accounts. He also fired Abdul Gani Patail as attorney general, while the government suspended the printing license of a local media group that had reported extensively on 1MDB. Malaysia’s High Court last month lifted a three-month suspension meted out to two publications owned by Edge Media Group, but the government is appealing.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 9 October 2015, 12:54 am and is filed under
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Zeti should be brutally honest on what ails Malaysia, says global financial mag

The Malaysian Insider

9 October 2015

Bank Negara Malaysia governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz should be brutally honest about the issues plaguing the country, said Euromoney in its October edition, as the ringgit continues its freefall and the economy begins to stutter.

The business and finance magazine said all this while, Zeti had been using words like “domestic factors” to describe the problems besetting the country, instead of saying that the predicament lies with debt-laden state owned firm 1Malaysia Development Fund (1MDB) and the RM2.6 billion donation in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal accounts.

“Zeti has demonstrated through 15 matchless years of service that she is not one to pull her punches under political pressure.

“Now is not the time for her to start doing so. It would effectively mean that the BNM she tirelessly champions has not advanced at all.

“Zeti could go harder on what really ails the country. As Malaysia’s most trusted public official, she possesses something that the political class are in dire supply of – respect and moral authority,” the magazine said.

Despite assurances from Putrajaya that Malaysia’s fundamentals are strong, concerns have been mounting over the economy as the ringgit, Asia’s worst performing currency in the past one year, went beyond the RM4 mark against the US dollar.

This had been attributed to worsening global outlook, China’s surprise devaluation of the yuan, plunging commodity prices and the current political scandal linked to Najib over the alleged donation from an unknown Middle Eastern donor while at the same time, his brainchild, 1MDB is facing multiple probes of its alleged financial irregularities.

However, Euromoney said Zeti, 68, who is due for retirement next April, had gone ahead with the probe into 1MDB even if other investigations had seemingly halted.

“Zeti isn’t a Najib naysayer yet, at least not publicly, but the sudden whispering campaign accusing her of corruption is ugly,” the magazine said.

It said if Najib sacked Zeti, he might have removed an “irritating domestic pebble” but the magazine warned of far reaching consequences, describing it as a “devastating blow for Malaysia’s credibility”.

“The market’s response to her ouster could make the ringgit’s dive so far this year look like the unremarkable first act of an operatic tragedy for the country, and bring neighbouring Asean down too.

“After all those years of stellar service, it would be sad if this was the background to Zeti’s departure,” it said.

But the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) yesterday cleared the firm of any offence related to false disclosures.

The AGC said it had considered the central bank’s appeal but decided no further action due to lack of new evidence.

Euromoney said it does not seem likely the ringgit freefall will end anytime soon, citing most of Malaysia’s key indicators which are going backwards.

It said Zeti did not do herself any favours by insisting that the ringgit is among 120 currencies that had fallen against the greenback and that the market had “unfairly” misread Malaysia’s evolved economy as still commodity-dependent, and not really about its dysfunctional, distracted and probably corrupt government.

“Markets can be irrational, but after 12-18 months of intensifying scandals surrounding Najib and at 1MDB, markets are neither blind, nor heedless,” the magazine added. – October 9, 2015.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 9 October 2015, 11:12 am and is filed under
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Call on Information Department to print a million copies of the Rulers’ Statement on Oct. 6 on their concerns about 1MDB, rule of law and national unity for mass distribution to the public throughout the country

This is the fourth day of the Malay Rulers’ Statement of Tuesday, Oct. 4 expressing their concerns about three national issues causing the crisis of confidence battering Malaysia for the past several months – the 1MDB scandal, the rule of law and national unity in the country.

The UMNO/BN Government’s response to the Malay Rulers’ Statement has gone through various combinations and permutations in the past four days, viz:

*from the initial one of shock and attempt to minimise the adverse impact of the Malay Rulers’ Statement by virtually blacking out the statement in the UMNO-controlled media, printed and electronic;

*the daze-and-haze of the Cabinet at its Wednesday meeting where the Malay Rulers’ Statement was not discussed and no reciprocal action plan produced;

*the belated realisation that the Malay Rulers’ Statement was too potent to be  ignored giving way to a campaign to defang its most biting and  adverse effects;

*the first official response of the government by way of a statement by the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi more than 48 hours after  the issue of the Malay Rulers’ Statement, stating  on the one hand that the government viewed “positively” the Malay Rulers’ Statement while on the other dismissing the Rulers’ Statement by declaring that the government  had already taken pro-active steps to address the issues raised by the Rulers;

*UMNO/BN cybertroopers using the social media to plant  various versions to “defang” the adverse effects of the Malay Rulers’ Statement such as the message that Malay Rulelrs’ Statement was not directed solely at the Government but concerned  all political parties and NGOs, to a revised strategy  to suggest that the Statement was aimed at the Opposition and finally, postings to question the mala fide of the Malay Rulers by alleging that the Statement was solely the work of the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal without consultation with the Malay Rulers and was the handiwork of people associated with former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir.

The Ministers who have commented on the Malay Rulers’ Statement have  also done themselves no favour.

Zahid, for instance, issued a statement that meant nothing at all, waffling through the minefields of the Malay Rulers’ Statement –  using a lorry of  words to say nothing!

UMNO Vice President and Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said it was presumptuous to say the Malay rulers have lost trust in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s leadership when they called for transparency in investigations into 1MDB jand for wrongdoers to be punished.

But this was promptly rebutted by the Minister for Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak who said that giving prominence to only the portion on 1MDB places the rulers in “political crossfire”, when the Rulers had discussed various issues, including a call to end racism.

He asked why the impression was being created that the Malay Rulers’ Statement is only concerned about “a single-issue”?

Good question. Can Zahid and Hishammuddin answer Salleh?

Meanwhile, the Minister for Urban Well-Being, Housing and Local Government, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, who is also the Barisan Nasional Strategic Communication director made a most unstrategic statement when he said the Malay Rulers’ Statement was “in line with what the government wants” and that there was no conflicts in what was wanted by the Malay Rulers and the government in the investigation of 1MDB.

If so, why did the UMNO-owned and controlled Utusan Malaysia dismissed the Malay Rulers’ Statement to page 4 without prominence whatsoever, while giving front-page treatment the same day to a report on PKR’s so-called troubles over the formation of Pakatan Harapan?

It is a terrible indictment on the education system of the country and the educational standards of our leaders  that the 36 Ministers in the Najib Cabinet cannot understand what is being said in the Malay Rulers’ Statement.

As the Ministers are experiencing great difficulty in understanding the true meaning, import and significance of the Malay Rulers’ Statement of Oct. 6, 2015, let me reduce the Malay Rulers’ Statement to 16 Points for the  Ministers to better understand it, viz;

1. Recognition of a crisis of confidence confronting Malaysia.

2. Recognition that a major cause of this crisis of confidence is the 1MDB scandal.

3. Realisation that “this is among the causes for the plunge in the value of the Malaysian ringgit, impacting the country’s financial market and economic climate negatively and at the same time, adversely affecting the world’s view of Malaysia”.

4. Awareness that “if the issue is not wisely handled, and allowed to drag on, it could jeopardise the country’s economy and the livelihood of the people” and threaten  public order and national security.

5. The need for 1MDB investigations to be completed “as soon as possible”.

6. Assurance that “appropriate stern action” would be taken against all found to be implicated.

7.The need for “real and sincere” co-operation by “all concerned” for the investigation to achieve its objectives.

8. The need for the “findings of the investigations” to be reported “comprehensively and in a transparent manner so that the people will be convinced of the sincerity of the government which shall not at all conceal facts and the truth”.

9. The need for all leaders to always adhere to the Rukunegara principles of upholding the Constitution and the Rule of Law.

10. To ensure that justice is meted out equitably and transparently based on the law to ensure that the government enjoys the people’s trust, leaders are respected, political stability is guaranteed and economy continues to grow.

11. Ensure enforcement agencies and regulatory institutions such as the Police, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Bank Negara, Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Judiciary, as well as related government bodies, are  worthy of God’s trust and the people’s faith and act with transparency, credibility and integrity.

12.  Give priority to factors of security, tranquility, peace and harmony and place national and the people’s concerns above the personal interests of the leaders.

13. To protect  race and religious relations,  leaders of political parties and non-governmental organisations  reminded not to sensationalise racial and religious issues to garner support from the people for their parties or for themselves.

14. Preservation of the the long-prevailing inter-racial and inter-religious harmony and solidarity which had been the main pillar for the stability of an independent, peaceful, progressive and prosperous Malaysia.

15. Safeguard the harmony and solidarity of the people  at all times and never to sacrifice  them for shallow political aims.

16. Ensure that peace and prosperity continue to prevail in the country in a stable political atmosphere with the people living in harmony.

Each of these 16 points can be elaborated to highlight great injustices and controversies which should be addressed by a responsible and responsive government.

The government and all Malaysians should support the Malay Rulers for their Statement of Oct. 6 which highlighted the three national issues which had haunted and hounded thinking and patriotic Malaysians who want to save Malaysia from hurtling down the slippery slope towards a rogue state where there is breakdown of rule of law and a failed state as a result of rampant corruption, abuses of power and collapse of good governance.

For a start,  to save Malaysia and support the Malay Rulers’ Statement, the Information Department should print a million copies of the Malay Rulers’ Statement on Oct. 6 on their concerns about 1MDB, rule of law and national unity for mass distribution to the public throughout the country.

Will Salleh as the Minister for Communications  do so?

(Media Conference Statement  at Johor Jaya DAP Community Service Centre, Johor Bahru on Saturday, 10th October 2015 at 1.30 pm)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 10 October 2015, 12:52 pm and is filed under
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