Malaysia Central Bank Sought Criminal Proceeding Against 1MDB

by Tom Wright

Wall Stret Journal

Oct. 9, 2015

Malaysia’s central bank said it recommended the attorney general begin criminal proceedings against a troubled state investment fund for allegedly breaking foreign-exchange rules, but that the attorney general had declined to act on the matter.

Bank Negara Malaysia, in a statement Friday, said the fund, 1Malaysia Development Bhd., had breached central bank rules that govern the movement of cash overseas for investment.

The 1MDB fund had given “inaccurate” information in seeking permission to invest a total of $1.83 billion abroad in three separate transactions, the statement said.

Bank Negara said it had granted permission based on the allegedly inaccurate information, but later had issued a direction to 1MDB to repatriate that amount. The bank said it had asked the attorney general in August to initiate criminal proceedings.

The central bank didn’t specify which 1MDB transactions allegedly broke Malaysian foreign-exchange laws.

The 1MDB fund was set up by Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2009 to spur growth in the Southeast Asian country but has rolled up over $11 billion in debt and is the focus of a series of global investigations.

The 1MDB fund, in its own statement late Friday, said the $1.83 billion cited by the central bank referred to money that 1MDB had invested between 2009 and 2011 in a joint-venture deal with a Saudi oil company.

The fund said it had informed the central bank that it had either already spent those funds or had committed them to help reduce its large debt burden.

The 1MDB fund said it respected Bank Negara’s decision to ask for the money to be repatriated and is working with the central bank on a resolution to the matter.

The fund didn’t comment on the central bank’s claims it had given inaccurate information on the transfers.

The 1MDB fund’s statement pointed out that the attorney general’s office earlier this week said it had reviewed the central bank’s report into 1MDB but had concluded that it wouldn’t take action against the fund as it saw no evidence of wrongdoing by 1MDB officials.

The 1MDB affair has embroiled Mr. Najib in Malaysia’s biggest political controversy in years. He fired Malaysia’s deputy prime minister, who questioned his handling of the case, and suspended a newspaper—a suspension which a court later lifted. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Kuala Lumpur in August and demanded his ouster. Critics have been detained under security laws on allegations of trying to sabotage the country.

Malaysian government investigators earlier this year traced $700 million into Mr. Najib’s alleged bank accounts through agencies, banks and companies linked to 1MDB, The Wall Street Journal reported in July.

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

Mr. Najib has denied any wrongdoing, or 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.

His government in July removed the previous attorney general, who was investigating the transfers, citing health reasons. Attempts to reach him haven’t been successful. The attorney general’s office, in a statement Thursday, said it was continuing to head a multiagency task force including the central bank, police and anticorruption agency that is investigating 1MDB.

This week, nine of the country’s sultans, who are titular heads of Malaysian states, waded into the issue, demanding a full investigation and blaming the scandal for hurting Malaysia’s international image.

Zeti Akhtar Aziz, the central bank governor, said recently the 1MDB issue was among reasons Malaysia’s ringgit currency is among the worst-performing in Asia this year, falling 17% since the start of 2015. Those comments led to a rebuke from 1MDB, which issued a statement saying other reasons, including a strong dollar and falling oil prices, are to blame for the weak currency.

Swiss authorities in August opened a criminal investigation into suspected money laundering allegedly involving 1MDB. Singapore has frozen two accounts that authorities there said were related to the transfers into Mr. Najib’s alleged accounts. The fund says it hasn’t been contacted by overseas investigators but stands ready to cooperate.

An Abu Dhabi sovereign-wealth fund that had a relationship with 1MDB is looking into over $2 billion in payments it was supposed to receive from the Malaysian fund, which had said it sent them, but which appear to be unaccounted for. The 1MDB fund has said it stands by its financial reports, which shows the money was sent to Abu Dhabi.

U.S. investigators including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Justice Department, meanwhile, have begun looking into Mr. Najib’s assets, The Wall Street Journal reported last month. Mr. Najib hasn’t commented on the investigations. Attempts to reach his office weren’t successful.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 10 October 2015, 5:51 am and is filed under
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Malaysia’s prime minister fights for his political life

Michael Peel, Bangkok regional correspondent

Financial Times

October 9, 2015

Najib Razak, Malaysia’s embattled prime minister, is fighting for his political life after open warfare broke out within the country’s state institutions over a corruption scandal that has engulfed him.

The central bank on Friday said it had urged the country’s attorney-general to begin criminal proceedings against the debt laden 1Malaysia Development Berhad investment fund, intensifying pressure on Mr Najib who chairs its advisory board.

The central bank’s intervention comes hard on the heels of an attack by a group of the country’s traditional rulers on the handling of the 1MDB case. The twin assaults will torpedo government efforts to crack down on the prime minister’s accusers, in a scandal that had already spawned investigations from the US to Hong Kong.

Mr Najib has been under intense pressure since it emerged in July that almost $700m allegedly linked to 1MDB was paid from overseas into a bank account in his name.

Both Mr Najib and 1MDB deny wrongdoing in an affair that is damaging confidence in an economy already weighed down by high consumer debt and the falling oil price. Mr Najib says the money paid to him came from an unnamed Middle Eastern donor.

The central bank said on Friday it had pressed for criminal prosecution of 1MDB, only to be rebuffed by the attorney-general. The fund had broken foreign exchange laws and won approvals for offshore investments based on inaccurate or incomplete information, the bank claimed.

The bank said it had now scrapped permission for 1MDB to make $1.83bn of foreign investments and had ordered the fund to repatriate the money. The order came a day after the attorney-general said he had concluded 1MDB had not done anything wrong, despite the claims the central bank had outlined in a confidential report.

1MDB, which is trying to cut a debt pile of more than $11bn, said the $1.83bn under the bank order, together with a profit of more than $500m, had already been redeemed and the proceeds “substantially utilised”. The fund said it had “painstakingly provided multiple detailed written and verbal explanations of these facts” to the central bank.

The fund is under scrutiny over billions of dollars of dealings in locations ranging from the Gulf to the Cayman Islands.

Pressure on Mr Najib has soared this week after the sultans of nine of Malaysia’s states urged proper investigation of a scandal that was “adversely affecting the world’s view of Malaysia”. They echoed the central bank in blaming the 1MDB affair for the plunge in the value of the country’s currency, the ringgit, by more than a quarter in barely 12 months.

Police widened their crackdown on critics of the prime minister on Thursday, arresting Matthias Chang, a lawyer who has been touring the world lobbying foreign countries to launch probes into 1MDB. Mr Chang is a former adviser to Mahathir Mohamad, the influential former prime minister and one-time patron of Mr Najib, who is now campaigning for his successor to resign.

Mr Najib’s government has moved people investigating the 1MDB affair from their positions and slapped travel bans on opposition politicians and a prominent media owner. An administration spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 10 October 2015, 5:37 am and is filed under
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Three reasons  launch of Pakatan Harapan Johor a memorable and historic milestone in struggle for democracy in Malaysia

There are three reasons to make tonight’s launch of Pakatan Harapan Johor a memorable and historic milestone in the struggle  for democracy in Malaysia.

First, the choice of Johor as the first state to launch Pakatan Harapan together with PKR President and Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and the President of  Parti AMANAH Negara, Mohamad Sabu underlines the importance of Johor in the ongoing battle for political change in Malaysia in the run-up to the 14th General Election.

Until the 13th General Election two years ago in May 2013, Johor was a political backyard in the quest for political and democratic change, as the frontline states in the political battleground were in the north, Penang, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan.

The launching of Pakatan Harapan in Johor tonight is a clear signal that Johor is no more a political backwater but a front-line state for political change, especially in the 14th General Election which must be held by 2018.

In the 14th GE, all eyes will be focussed on Johor (as well as Sabah and Sarawak) as the “kingmaker states”, as whether Pakatan Harapan can succeed in replacing UMNO/BN in Putrajaya will depend to a large extent on the success of Pakatan Harapan in Johor.

As late as  the 12th General Election in 2008,  UMNO/Barisan Nasional leaders were still boasting about their  objective to make Johor a zero-opposition state, highlighting the great political changes wrought by the 13th General Election.

This is because no UMNO/BN leader would now be so arrogant or foolhardy as to  repeat such a boast  or claim that Johor is an invincible UMNO/BN fortress or “fixed deposit” state as everyone knows that UMNO/BN  will be fighting a life-and-death struggle  if they want to continue to be the Johor State Government in the 14GE.

The Pakatan Harapan parties of DAP, PKR and AMANAH will stand as one solid unit to ensure that Pakatan Harapan’s victory in Johor will be the forerunner of Pakatan Harapan’s victory in Putrajaya and that the path to victory in Putrajaya will be paved by our victory in Nusajaya.

Pakatan Rakyat stands for the fulfilment of the Malaysian Dream – that although we are separately Chinese, Malays, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans, we are also united as Malaysians.

The last few months have seen  some irresponsible political leaders and parties unscrupulously playing the race and religious cards, the classic British colonial strategy of “divide and rule”, as they see this as the only way to perpetuate their political power.

We in Pakatan Harapan reject such irresponsible politics, for we do not want  Malaysians to be more fragmented along racial and religious lines, but to be more  united and inclusive despite their racial and religious differences, to make Malaysia a great and successful story for all Malaysians – in politics, economic development, good governance and nation-building.

Secondly, the launch of Pakatan Harapan in Johor tonight is significant because three days ago on Oct. 6, the Malay Rulers issued a historic and unprecedented statement expressing their concern about three national  issues which had also haunted thinking and patriotic Malaysians – the 1MDB scandal, the rule of law and national unity in the country.

This is proof that ordinary Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or politics are one with the Malay Rulers – for they are all concerned and worried about the future of Malaysia which had been battered by a long-running and ever-worsening national crisis of confidence in the government of the day.

Was the  Malay Rulers’ Statement which was issued on the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 6 on the agenda of the the Cabinet  the next day, as Ministers meet  every Wednesday for their Cabinet meeting?

If the  Cabinet had taken the Malay Rulers’ Statement seriously, as was their duty, why was there no Cabinet   statement after the meeting of the Ministers on Wednesday about the Cabinet response?

The first official response was only made more than 48 hours after the Malay Rulers’ Statement was issued, a statement issued in the name of the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi, which is clearly unsatisfactory and unacceptable.

I suspect the Cabinet had been quite irresponsible and had failed to discuss the Malay Rulers’ Statement when it met on 7th Oct.

However, I am prepared to stand corrected, and either the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib   Razak or the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi should clarify whether the Malay Rulers’ Statement and their concerns about 1MDB, the rule of law and national unity was on the agenda of the Cabinet on 7th Oct – and if  so, the outcome of the Cabinet deliberations on the Malay Rulers’ Statement.

The third significance of tonight’s launch of Pakatan Harapan Johor is the international news just now that the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to four civil society organisations in Tunisia, the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, for their decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy and guiding Tunisia  through a political  transition more peaceful than transitions in the  other Arab Spring countries like Libya,  Egypt and Yemen.

It was  an award to honour the quest for democracy in the nation that gave birth to the Arab Spring (when Tunisian  street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi immolated himself on Dec. 17, 2010, to protest official repression and corruption), and to urge Tunisians to soldier on for a progressive, pluralist and inclusive democracy when these goals are increasingly under threat.

The quartet of groups, including a labor union with about one million members, has worked to advance democracy in Tunisia, which still struggles with unrest but has made relative strides toward reforms even as other Arab Spring nations face greater violence, instability and the reemergence of dictatorships.

What the Tunisians are going through in their struggle  to build, a progressive, pluralist and inclusive democracy is what Pakatan Harapan parties, DAP, PKR and Parti AMANAH Negara, are striving to build in Malaysia out of our diversity of races, religions, languages and cultures.

Malaysians are interested in  the Tunisian struggle for democracy, for it has produced the first Islamist political movement in the world which firmly stands for a progressive, pluralist and inclusive democracy.

This is  why together with some DAP MPs including Teresa Kok (Seputeh), Zairil Khir Johari (Bukit Bendera), Liew Chin Tong (Kluang), Sim Chee Keong (Bukit Mertajam)  and the Deputy President of Parti Amanah Negara, Salahuddin Ayub, I will be visiting Tunisia to learn from their experience.

The battle for justice, freedom and human dignity of Pakatan Harapan  is not just for Malaysia but is part of mankind’s battle for justice, freedom and human dignity world-wide and down the ages.

(Speech at the launching of Pakatan Harapan Johor in Kulai on Friday, 9th October 2015 at 10 pm)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 10 October 2015, 8:35 am and is filed under
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Call for those responsible for  the  case of  the missing seven Orang Asli children, with five dead, in Gua Musang to be suspended or even charged for their crime of negligence against the seven

Malaysians must hold their heads in shame at the shocking case of the seven Orang Asli children in Gua Musang, ranging from seven to eleven years, who had gone  missing from their school hostel hear SK Tohoi since August 23, with the discovery yesterday of two survivors out of the seven, Norieen Yakob, 10, and Miksudial Aluj, 11, who were just skin and bones when  found at a huge tree with a small hole on the ground just 1km from the school.

The other five had perished.

Malaysians must feel heart-sick that such callousness, inhumanity, negligence and gross incompetence can happen in modern-day Malaysia as to  cause a human disaster and tragedy  of such unbelievable magnitude.

That such a human disaster and tragedy can take place in Malaysia  when we are  just four years from wanting to join the rank of fully developed nations is to the eternal shame to Malaysia, and in particular the Umno/BN government of Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The Education Ministry today announced that “immediate action” on the SK Tohoi tragedy would be taken – a special committee to look into various aspects involving Orang Asli children who stayed in its hostels headed by the deputy director-general  of Education (Education Operations Sector) and would include various parties and agencies and would look at development, safety, welfare and health aspects of the hostels.

The committee is given  three months from mid-October 2015 “to prepare and submit recommendations” to the ministry.

The government  response to the SK Tohoi tragedy is grossly inadequate and even laughable.

In the past seven weeks that the seven Orang Asli kids were missing, how many times did the Cabinet discuss the case – in fact, did the Cabinet ever discussed the case at all?

If the seven missing kids had been Malays, Chinese or even Indians in Peninsular Malaysia, missing for seven weeks,  it would  have caused a nation-wide hue and cry with all resources devoted to find the missing seven, but this was not done in the case of the seven Orang Asli kids  in the past seven weeks  although they were in the 1km vicinity of the school.

Are the lives of Orang Asli kids less worthy of protection than Malay, Chinese or Indian kids that they do not deserve seriousd attention from the Cabinet Ministers?

At least the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, Datuk Zahid Hamidi had visited the families of the missing kids on Sept. 28, but what had the other Ministers whose Ministry are directly concerned with the case, like  the Minister for  Education, Datuk Mahdzir Khalid,  the Minister  for Rural and Regional Development Datuk Ismail Sabri Yakob whose portfolio includes the Orang Asli Affairs Department and the Minister for Women, Family and Community Development, Rohaini Abdul Karim personally done for  the rescue of the seven Orang Asli kids in the past seven weeks.

Had they been conspicuous by their indifference to the case of the seven missing Orang Asli kids for seven weeks?

The Prime Minister should demand a full explanation from these  Ministers as to  what they had done to save the missing Orang Asli kids, and if they failed to provide a satisfactory accounts which should be made available to the public, they should face the music.

Meanwhile, those responsible for causing the case of  the missing seven Orang Asli children, with five dead, in Gua Musang should be suspended or even charged for crime of negligence.

I am assigning DAP National Vice Chairman and MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok who, together with the DAP Parliamentary Spokesman for Education, Zairil Khir Johari,  the special responsibility to highlight this scandal   in Parliament when it reconvenes on Oct. 19 and to  ensure that such a tragedy can never happen again to school children in Malaysia, whether  Orang Asli kids or otherwise,  in the country.

(Speech at the DAP Pengkalan Rinting Anniversary Dinner in Johor Baru on Saturday, October 10, 2015 at 9 pm)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 11 October 2015, 9:38 am and is filed under
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It is Ugly Singaporeans like Bilahari Kausikan who suffer the delusion that they understand the dynamics of what is happening in Malaysia

In the past few days, a top Singapore diplomat had been making waves with his  delusion that he understands the dynamics of what is happening in Malaysia, causing him to pontificate on the do’s and don’ts for the Young Chinese in Malaysia.

Bilahari accused the “young Chinese in Malaysia” as being “delusional” if they believe that Malay dominance in politics can be replaced by a change in the system, claiming that this “dominance” will be defended “by any means”, including a possible political alliance between UMNO and PAS.

He said:  “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.”

It is smart-alecks and Ugly Singaporeans like Bilahari who think they understand what is happening in other countries and even have the impertinence to prescribe  how citizens in other countries should conduct themselves, such as expressing dismay that the young Chinese in Malaysia are abandoning MCA for the DAP, who are suffering from delusion.

Can these “delusionists” pretending to be realists state what are the “lessons of May 13, 1969” which he accused the young Malaysian Chinese of forgetting?

Those who follow closely the DAP’s political campaign will know that the DAP had never advocated a Chinese Malaysia but as  stressed in the Battle for Gelang Patah in the 13th General Election, the Malaysian Dream which envisions Malaysia as a plural society where all her citizens are united as one people, rising above their ethnic, religious, cultural, linguistic and regional differences as the common grounds binding them as one citizenship exceed the differences that divide them because of their ethnic, religious, linguistic, cultural and regional divisions.

As I had the occasion to say last week, whether Najib is ousted as Prime Minister or UMNO replaced as the leading political party in the government coalition, Malay political power is not threatened as a new Prime Minister will be a Malay and new coalition will be Malay-dominated reflecting Malaysia’s demography.

Malaysians accept the reality of a Malay-dominated political scenario but not the concept of Malay supremacy, which is  against the bedrock principles of the  Malaysian Constitution and  the Malaysian Dream.

As  rational and responsible Malay leaders in political, economic  and social spheres have rightly pointed out, how can Malays be under threat when the government is headed by a Malay, state governments headed by Malays with the exception of Penang, the civil service is mostly made up of Malays, the army and police  are mostly Malays and there are also the Malay rulers; and  furthermore, the country had been ruled by UMNO for 58 years with a panoply of policies to protect  and advance the Malays?

It is unfortunate that Ugly Singaporeans like Bilahari are giving grist to the mill of opponents who oppose Malaysia moving away from the politics of race to be replaced with the politics of issues, by continuing to spread the “delusion” that Malaysian politics is a battle between Malays and Chinese when it is increasingly about issues of freedom, justice, the rule of law and good governance.

[Speech (3) at the DAP Pengkalan Rinting Branch Anniversary Dinner in Johor Baru on Saturday, 10th October 2015 at 9 pm]

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 11 October 2015, 6:31 pm and is filed under
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Was Zahid afraid to ask FBI whether Najib is being investigated by the US Department of Justice under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative 2010 for fear of an affirmative answer?

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi had an interesting encounter in his current visit to the United States.

In a report from Washington earlier today, Bernama quoted Zahid as saying that the issue of 1MDB was not a major focus of a probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Ahmad Zahid, who is on a working visit to the administrative centre of the United States said 1MDB was not raised at all during his meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry and also in discussions with senior FBI officers.

He told Malaysian journalists in Washington:

“Nothing on 1MDB was raised by the FBI or John Kerry or any party that I met when I was in Washington.

“(1MDB) is not a big issue to them at all.

“”Maybe the issue is big as it is shouted about in the country (Malaysia) because in our country it is used as a political issue.”

Zahid had said nothing new, for he had not rebutted the New York Times report of Sept. 22 that a US federal grand jury is examining allegations of corruption involving Najib and people close to him under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative 2010.

Was Zahid afraid to ask FBI whether Najib is being investigated by the US Department of Justice under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative 2010 for fear of an affirmative answer?

Since Zahid had met with John Kerry as well as the deputy director of FBI, Mark F Giuliano and senior officials of FBI, it is neither satisfactory nor acceptable for Zahid to take the passive attitude so that he could say that “not even a word mentioned on 1MDB” after his meeting with US and FBI officials.

Zahid should explain why he did not ask point-blank whether the New York Times report on Sept. 22 that Najib was being investigated by the US Department of Justice under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative 2010, so that there could be a straightforward denial by the US Department that Najib was being investigated by the US authorities as to whether he is a kleptocrat.

[Speech (2) at the DAP Pengkalan Rinting Branch Anniversary Dinner in Johor Baru on Saturday, 10th October 2015 at 9 pm]

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 11 October 2015, 5:24 pm and is filed under
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Cabinet should decide whether to print at least one million copies of the Malay Rulers’ Oct. 6 Statement on 1MDB for mass dissemination to the public to end the confusion caused by conflicting statements by Ministers themselves and Malaysian leaders

Is the Oct. 6 Statement of the Malay Rulers so complex and complicated that it has spawned a thousand and one interpretations as to what it meant?

It has not escaped public notice that it has taken the UMNO/Barisan Nasional government more than 48 hours to craft its first official response, which was in the name of the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi, which tried to dilute the meaning and impact of the Oct. 6 Statement by both welcoming it but at the same time dismissing it as redundant on the ground that the government had already taken pro-active measures to address the problems highlighted by the Oct. 6 Statement.

There was a flurry of varied and even conflicting Ministerial statements, with the Defence Minister and UMNO Vice President, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein decrying the interpretation that the Oct. 6 Malay Rulers’ Statement was tantamount to the Rulers’ no confidence in the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, when the focus was on 1MDB and not on Najib; the Communications and Multimedia Minister, Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak suggesting that the Malay Rulers should not be placed in the “political crossfire” as if the Oct. 6 Malay Rulers Statement was a single-issue statement on the 1MDB when it also dealt with other issues like national unity, proposing an end to race politics; and the Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan who said that the Oct. 6 Malay Rulers’ Statement reflected the governent viewpoint all along!

Why are Ministers making a public fool of themselves coming out with varied and even conflicting interpretations of what the Oct. 6 Malay Rulers’ Statement meant?

Former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir, former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, former Rural and Regional Development Minister, Datuk Sdri Shafie Apdal, and further back, former Cabinet Ministers like Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz and Tan Sri Sanusi Junid are more in line with public opinion that the Oct. 6 Malay Rulers’ Statement represented three things:

Firstly
, the Malay Rulers’ dismay at the magnitude of the 1MDB scandal which is a major cause of the prolonged crisis of confidence in Malaysia and the prime reason for the recent plunge in the value of the Malaysian ringgit, the drop in the country’s international reserves, the flight of foreign capital and the loss of investor confidence in Malaysia.

Although the drop in the price of oil and commodities, the salubrious state of the world economy in particular the slowdown of China economy and the expected increase of interest rates in the United States had caused a gloomy picture for most economies, the prolonged leadership crisis of confidence in Malaysia said to be building up towards a “perfect storm” for the country are all of Malaysia’s own making.

Secondly
, the inability to resolve the 1MDB scandal efficiently, swiftly and even surgically but instead a “runaway” situation with the 1MDB becoming more and more intractable and even more scandalous over time with the revelation of one scandalous episode after another, leading to a multiplicity of political, economic, good governance and nation-building crisis and the building of a “perfect storm” for Malaysia.

Thirdly
, the Oct. 6 Malay Rulers’ Statement was meant to be a “wake up” call to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet as procrastination is fuelling the crisis of confidence confronting Malaysia and the Prime Minister and the Cabinet must bestir themselves from their stupor and slumber to resolve the 1MDB scandal in the shortest possible time.

I fully agree with former Rural and Regional Development Minister and UMNO Vice President, Datuk Shafie Apdal that to continue to assume, especially after the Malay Rulers’ Oct. 6 Statement, that “all is well” in 1MDB is an “insult” to the Malaysian people and the Malay Rulers.

As Apdal has rightly pointed out, all is not well with 1MDB as the state investment firm is unable to pay its debts.

Even though 1MDB is going through a debt rationalisation process, the nation is already paying the price through poor economic sentiments.

His call for legal action against those responsible for the 1MDB fallout is what Malaysians have been demanding in the past seven months and is now being taken up by the Malay Rulers’ in their Oct. 6 Statement.

As Shafie said, those responsible should be brought to book and must apologise to the rakyat and both these actions cannot wait until 1MDB has undergone a successful “debt rationalisation” programme.

There is an urgent need for an Oct. 6 Movement to ensure that the 30 million Malaysians fully understand the true content and import of the Malay Rulers’ Statement of that date.

One important step of the Oct. 6 Movement is for the government to print a million copies of the Malay Rulers Statement for mass dissemination to Malaysians, whether in urban or rural areas, so that the people can understand what the Malay Rulers actually said and meant in their Oct. 6 Statement.

If the government is not prepared to support this Oct. 6 Movement so that Malaysians can understand the content and import of the Malay Rulers’ Statement, then the civil socidety should step in to play this role.

The leadership of Pakatan Harapan Johor, represented by DAP Johor Chairman and Kluang MP Liew Ching Tong, PKR Johor State Chairman, Hassan Karim and the Parti AMANAH negara Johor Deputy Chairman Haji Dzulkifli, agreed to support an Oct. 6 Movement and to print and distribute the Malay Rulers’ Oct. 6 Statement all over the Johor State.

I still hope that Putrajaya will provide the lead in the Oct. 6 Movement and that the Cabinet on Wednesday will decide to print at least one million copies of the Malay Rulers’ Oct. 6 Statement on 1MDB for mass dissemination to the public to end the confusion caused by conflicting statements by Ministers themselves and Malaysian leaders.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 12 October 2015, 12:48 pm and is filed under
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Post SK Tohoi tragedy – the need for revamp of the education programe for Orang Asli students

Based on information from the Orang Asli and Orang Asli activists familiar with the issues facing the education of Orang Asli children, it appears that the tragic incident of the 7 Temiar schoolchildren who went missing on 23 August 2015 has its roots in the sad situation some Orang Asli schools and hostels (asramas) are in, and in the caliber and character of the people assigned to run them.

The school in Pos Tohoi in Gua Musang, where the 7 children were being schooled and boarded, was in a lamentable condition, sometimes with no water in the hostels, forcing the children to use the river. Broken and unmaintained fences allow easy access out the hostel grounds.

No Orang Asli teachers

There was no headmaster assigned to the school at the time of the incident. A new headmaster was posted there just the day before the visit of the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi on 28 September. The eight teachers are all male and none of them are Orang Asli. There are four wardens, only one of whom is a female. But the majority of the students are female.

School enrolment down

The school enrolment as at 23 August 2015 was 170 students, with 70 students staying in the hostel. Today, after  the incident, there are 103 students enrolled, with only 12 staying in the hostel. The drastic drop on the enrolment and number of hostelites says a lot about the trust the Orang Asli parents have in the ability of the school to provide their children with a safe and conducive environment.

MoE new effort

The Ministry of Education has said Friday that it will immediately establish a special committee to look into various aspects involving Orang Asli children who stayed in hostels. It would also organize training sessions on the culture and way of life of the Orang Asli in stages to teachers in Orang Asli schools. This includes the appropriate “engagement methods to win over their thinking towards developments in education”.

It is most tragic that such a proactive approach of the Education Ministry had not come earlier  before the Pos Tohoi tragedy. Such a basic requirement as ‘organizing training sessions on the culture and way of life of the Orang Asli  to teachers’ should have been in the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) in the past five decades for all teachers who are assigned to Orang Asli schools.

However, there is something wrong with language about  “engagement methods to win over their thinking towards developments in education” which sounds like we are going back to the Emergency years.

Community Learning Centres

The DAP has sponsored 8 units of toilets and baths for a community learning centre in Kampung Ulu Tual in Pos Sinderut, Pahang in what is perhaps a model for what collaborative education for Orang Asli children should be all about.

Called the Pusat Didikan Komuniti Cenwaey Penaney (Smart Start Community Learning Centre): in their own area, with community involvement and management, with their own teachers, and with a curriculum that takes into account both mainstream and community/traditional needs.

Locally-based lower primary schools

Failing this, the Ministry of Education should consider going back to the earlier practice of siting lower Primary Schools (Std 1-3) within or close to village centers, which will not require very young children to be away from their families and villages for long stretches of time, just to get a basic education.

This system worked well in the past, and is now even more likely to have greater enrolment numbers in the early schooling years of the Orang Asli.

Inquiry

In order to fully understand what happened in SK Pos Tohoi that drove 7 young children to run away from school and stay away for long at the cost of lives lost, a fully independent inquiry must be conducted to know what really happened and to learn how we can learn from this tragic experience.

On a macro scale, the Ministry should undertake a more holistic Inquiry, with a wider scope than the committee it plans to establish. The Inquiry should  look into the issues the Pos Tohoi tragedy has exposed.

Amongst other things, the Inquiry should  look  the training of more Orang Asli teachers to teach in Orang Asli schools, developing appropriate curricula and modules for Orang Asli schools, more inclusive and participatory involvement of Orang Asli parents and leaders, and a general rethink of what the philosophical pedagogy should be for Orang Asli schools.

I hope the new Minister of Education, Datuk Mahdzir Khalid, his Deputy Education Ministers and top Education Ministry officials will set the example of taking personal interest in the upgrading of Orang Asli education in the country.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 12 October 2015, 12:43 pm and is filed under
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Tengku Razaleigh, Muhyiddin and Shafie should  sponsor a motion in Parliament to demand immediate release of Khairuddin and Chang as it  is gross abuse of power to use Sosma against them and they can be assured of 72 votes from Pakatan Harapan

I arrived in Tunis together with DAP MPs Teresa Kok (Siputeh), Zairil Khir Johari (Bukit Bendera) and Steven Sim Kee Cheong (Bukit Mertajam)  after a 14-hour flight from KLIA to news of more unprecedented developments in the country, as if to confirm that the country is approaching a “perfect storm” with a multitude of political, economic, good governance and nation-building crises coming to a head.

What is noteworthy in Kuala Lumpur today is not just the subject of the extraordinary and most unjustified use of Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) against Khairuddin Abu Hassan and his lawyer Matthias Chang, which must be condemned by all justice-loving Malaysians, but the gathering of former “big guns” of the ruling coalition led by former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir and his arch rival Tengku Raleigh Hamzah, former Deputy Prime Minister and current UMNO Deputy President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, former Rural and Regional Development Minister and current UMNO National Vice President Datuk Shafie Apdal, former Cabinet Minister and former UMNO Secretary-General Tan Sri Sanusi Junid and two ex-MCA Presidents Tun Ling Liong Sik (although not personally present) and Datuk Seri Ong Tee Kiat.

As Tengku Razaleigh, Muhyiddin and Shafie are currently Members of Parliament,  I suggest the trio should sponsor a motion in Parliament for debate and voting by the end of the month (as only two-weeks notice is required for any motion to be tabled in Parliament), to demand the immediate release of Khairuddin and Chang as it is gross abuse of power to use Sosma against  them for asking foreign governments  to investigate the 1MDB scandal in their respective countries.

I fully agree with Mahathir and the former  UMNO/BN government “big guns” that it was “shameful” for someone accused of a wrongdoing not to defend himself but to persecute others instead.

Razaleigh, Muhyiddin and Shafie should sponsor a motion calling for the immediate release of Khairuddin and Chang, as Parliament and Cabinet had been assured that Sosma legislation would only be used to deal with terrorism.

Shafie confirmed today that this guarantee  that it would not be used for political reasons was given to the Cabinet  in 2012 and all Members of Parliament in 2012 can confirm that such a guarantee was given to Parliament when the Sosma legislation was debated in Parliament.

Although Pakatan Harapan Leadership Council had not met on this issue, I dare say that Razaleigh, Muhyiddin and Shafie can be assured of 72 votes from Pakatan Harapan Members of Parliament from DAP, PKR and Parti Amanah Negara – and the trio should work on securing a simple majorityl for such a motion, especially from UMNO MPs as well as Barisan Nasional MPs in Sabah and Sarawak.

Will any MPs from MCA, Gerakan and MIC support such a motion? It is for them to speak up.

Malaysians would like to know who, apart from Tengku Razaleigh, Muhyiddin and Shafie, would vote for a motion in Parliament to condemn the abuse of Sosma against Khairuddin and Chang and to demand their immediate release.

An absolute simple majority would mean 112 votes out of 222 Members of Parliament, I.e.getting 37 votes apart from the 72 votes from Pakatan Harapan and their three votes,  but in actual voting, there is no need  to get 112 votes, as what is needed is a simple majority  of the total MPs  in the House when the motion is voted on – which is unlikely to  be the “full house” of 222 votes.

The question is whether there are UMNO/BN Mps who dare to stand out to declare their support if Tengku Razaleigh, Muhyiddin and Shafie sponsor a motion to condemn the use of Sosma agaisnt Khairuddin and Chang and to demand their immediate release.

(Media Statement in Tunis on Monday, October 12, 2015)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 12 October 2015, 7:58 pm and is filed under
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Cabinet must grapple with many issues tomorrow but the most important issue of all is for Najib to table a motion of confidence in Parliament on Monday to re-establish moral and political authority and legitimacy  for him to continue as Prime Minister

The Cabinet must grapple with many issues tomorrow including:

*The Malay Rulers’ Statement of Oct. 6 expressing the Rulers’ concern about the state of the nation, with a multitude of national crises, whether politics, economics, good governance or nation-building as the Cabinet had failed to address Malay Rulers’ Oct. 6 Statement at its meeting last Wednesday;

*The  twin mega scandals of the RM50 billion 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal banking accounts with the  almost daily developments  and revelations  of these two mega scandals conspiring to  put Malaysia continuously in the  national and international spotlight as  the classic example of a nation with great promise to be  the showcase to the world of  a multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-lingual and multi-cultural nation which is also a great economic and political success but is now  stumbling and  on the verge of becoming a rogue and failed state.

*How to avert Malaysia from falling victim to a “Perfect Storm” with a conjunction of political, economic, good governance and nation-building crises, as evidenced on the economic front by the  quadruple sharp fall in the value of the ringgit , the stock market, the international reserves and the exit of foreign capital; on the political front, the spectacle of the government and  UMNO in serious fracture, fragmentation and disarray; on the good governance front with the Prime Minister backing out of officiating the 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) hosted by the government in Putrajaya for fear of “hard questions” by the 1,000 delegates from 130 countries on Najib’s anti-corruption record; and on the nation-building front, the rearing of the ugly heads of the extremist and provocative politics of race and religion like the racist  Sept. 16 Red Shirts rally in Kuala Lumpur.

*The New York Times report on Sept. 22 that the US Department of Justice is probing Najib under its Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative 2010 and the failure of  the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Zahid Hamidi who was in Washington to meet with FBI and other US officials to get a categorical denail that the US Government is investigating Najib as a “kleptocrat”.

*The shocking tragedy of the seven Orang Asli students of Sk Tohoi, Gua Musang ranging from seven to eleven years old,  missing for seven weeks with only two survived in “skin and bones” , although the missing Orang Asli kids were all the time within 1km of their school hostel – without the Education Minister Datuk Mahdzir Khalid showing any concern or saying a single word during the whole period.

The tragedy unveils a scandalous state of affairs in the Najib government, particularly the Education Ministry, the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development in charge of Orang Asli affairs and the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development to the challenge of  genuine upliftment of the  socio-economic position of Orang Asli in Malaysia. Will the Cabinet tomorrow commission a full-scale study of what the government had done since Merdeka to bring Orang Asli to the mainstream of national development – a study headed by Orang Asli about the future of Orang Asli in Malaysia?

*Trans-Pacific Partnership  Agreement (TPPA);  and

*Approval of  toll rate hikes for 15 highways across the country.

While these issues are important, pressing and the Cabinet cannot continue to procrastinate in dealing with them, the most important issue for the Ministers tomorrow is none other than for Najib to table a motion of confidence in Parliament on Monday to re- establish moral and political authority and legitimacy for him to continue as Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Never before in the six-decade history of the nation with six Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Mahathir, Tun Abdullah and Najib, has the Malaysian Prime Minister suffered such a devastating and prolonged loss of moral and political authority, confidence and legitimacy as Prime Minister as happened to Najib in the past few months.

The Wall Street Report on July 2 on the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal banking accounts; the New York Times Report  of Sept. 22 on Najib being probed by US Department of Justice under its Kleptocrat Asset Recovery Initiative 2010; the Malay Rulers’ Statement of Oct. 6 and the gathering of the former UMNO/BN Government “big guns” like former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir, his arch rival Tengku Raleigh Hamzah, former Deputy Prime Minister and current UMNO Deputy President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, former Rural and Regional Development Minister and current UMNO National Vice President Datuk Shafie Apdal, former Cabinet Minister and former UMNO Secretary-General Tan Sri Sanusi Junid and two ex-MCA Presidents Tun Ling Liong Sik and Datuk Seri Ong Tee Kiat  ganging up against Najib for the misuse of Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) against Khairuddin Abu Hassan and his lawyer Matthias Chang, are body blows to the moral and political authority and legitimacy of Najib as Prime Minister.

Of course, Najib can pretend that “all is well” and that his premiership had never been so admired in  the national and international arena.

But if he is  to be true to his claim as a “Bugis warrior”, he should not run away from a battle in the way he had backed off from the Nothing2hide Forum on 1MDB in early June or the 16th IACC Opening  Ceremony early last month.

Najib should take  the bull by the horn and take the battle of his premiership to Parliament on the very first day on Monday (Oct 19)  by moving a motion of confidence in him as Prime Minister of Malaysia.

This is what Hussein Onn did when he became Prime Minister in early 1976  and what Najib should do to continue as Prime Minister after the cavalcade of disasters befalling him as Prime Minister as well as the nation in the past few months.

Of course, Najib could bide his time and see whether there would be any motion of no confidence against him in the forthcoming Parliament, convinced that any motion of no confidence would be blocked and sabotaged by a Speaker who would do his bidding, but this would not be keeping with his boast of being a “true Bugis warrior”!

Najib moving a motion of confidence on Monday when Parliament reconvenes would be a smart political move, as at this moment of time, it appears unlikely that a majority could be organised to defeat Najib’s  confidence motion.

If Najib misses this chance, the possibility of a “no confidence motion” being moved and to get  majority support during the course of the 25-day budget parliamentary meeting until Dec. 3 would appear to better.

IDEAS executive director Wan Saiful Wan Jan has said that Muhyiddin or Tengku Razaleigh must openly challenge Prime Minister Najib  to bring about change, as otherwise nothing will ever happen in the country.

Wan Saiful said that unless Muhyiddin or Ku Li step up to say that they want to challenge Najib, even yesterday’s gathering of “big guns” would be a no starter.

Parti Amanah Negara Youth national chief Sany Hamzam has suggested that Pakatan Harapan extend conditional support to  Tun Mahathir and his team to save the nation from current political and economic turmoil.

May be Harapan Pakatan Youth should be formed immediately with its first item of business to  discuss Sany’s proposal and present it to the Harapan Pakatan Leadership Council.

In principle, there should be no problem with Pakatan Harapan parties and Members of Parliament co-operating with UMNO/BN elements, led to Mahathir, Tengku Razaleigh Hazah and Muhyiddin to “save the country” from the “perfect storm” of a multitude of economic, political, good governance and nation-building crises which would hurtle the country  down the slippery slope of a rogue and failed state.

This is why I had ventured to say that if Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Muhyiddin and Shafie are to sponsor a motion in Parliament at the end of the month to condemn the misuse of Sosma to persecute Khairuddin Abu Hassan and  his lawyer Matthias Chang for his  patriotic act in connection with the 1MDB scandal, the support of the 72 Members of Parliament of the Pakatan Harapan parties of DAP, PKR and AMANAH should not be a problem.

However, Pakatan Harapan are not just interested in the removal of Najib as Prime Minister, but we want to ensure that the breakdown of the rule of law, good governance and proper nation-building policies as happened under Najib could not be repeated in future, whoever becomes the Prime Minister.

This would mean changes in the system, the laws and the national institutions in the country.  These issues are even more important than the individual one of whether Najib should continue as Prime Minister.

(Media Statement in Tunis on Tuesday, 13th October 2015)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 13 October 2015, 3:50 pm and is filed under
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Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid should agree to an urgent debate in Parliament on Monday on the SK Pos Tohoi tragedy of the seven missing children for seven weeks, leaving only two survivors

It has been reported that the Deputy Education Minister P. Kamalanathan was ‘livid’ over the deplorable education conditions for Orang Asli children, especially in SK Pos Tohoi, the boarding school in Gua Musang where seven school children ranging from seven to eleven years were missing for seven weeks and with only two survivors.

Kamalanathan said he would investigate claims there were only male teachers in SK Pos Tohoi, as  this was not supposed to happen.

As I said yesterday, the majority of the students at SK Pos Tohoi are female, but there was not a single female teacher as all the eight teachers are male.  The hostel has four wardens and only one of them is a female.

What is the use of the Deputy Education Minister ‘livid’ over the deplorable education conditions for Orang Asli children when the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Education Minister Datuk Madhzir Khalid are totally indifferent and unconcerned, which was why they never breathed a word about the SK Pos Tohoi tragedy although five of the seven school children have clearly perished.

Even with the discovery the two missing children, Mirsudiar Aluj, 11, and Norieen Yakob, 10, in “skin and bones”, both Najib and Mahdzir had not shown any interest or concern?

Other Prime Ministers and Education Ministers would have already made site visits to SK Pos Tohoi in Gua Musang, but when will Najib and Mahdzhir break their seven-week silence on the SK Pos Tohoi tragedy to show their interest and concern?

Why was Kamalanathan only ‘livid’ over the lack of female teacher for the SK Pos Tohoi when the majority of students are female, but not over the scandal and tragedy of seven Orang Asli children ranging from seven to 11 years who had gone missing for seven weeks, leaving only two survirors?

Were Kamalathan, Mahdzir and Najib “livid” over the criminal negligence and neglect of the teachers and Education Department officials who did not  even inform the kids’ parents that their children were missing until several days later?

This was discovered by two DAP elected representatives, Kasthuri Patto, MP for Batu Kawan and Yeo Bee Ying, Selangor State Assemblywoman for Damansara Utama, when they visited Gua Musang recently.

Furthermore, why did it took four days before the authorities launched a search-and-rescue (SAR) operation?

It is most shocking that the parents of the missing kids and the Orang Asli communities were prevented by the authiorities from organising their own SAR and that the Pasukan Gerakan Am Senoi Praaq, an elite team under the police and consists mostly of Orang Asli men who are experts in jungle terrain, were only deployed on Sept 29 – more than a month after the children went missing.

Even more shocking, the missing Orang Asli kids were all the time within 1km of their school hostel – as if to underline the total breakdown of responsibility, professionalism and competence by all the relevant authorities responsible for the seven Orang Asli children gone missing and subsequent efforts to search and rescue them.

DAP MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok has given notice to adjourn Parliament on Monday on Oct 19 for an urgent debate on the SK Pos Tohoi tragedy and I hope that the Education Minister Datuk Mahdzir Khalid would not only agree to such an emergency debate, but would personally be in Parliament to give a report and accounting as to why the SK Pos Tohoi tragedy happened, what measures had been taken to ensure that there would be no repetition of the tragedy, and what punishments had been meted out to the teachers and education department officials who, by their negligence, indifference and callousness,  had disgraced their profession and the trust the kids and parents placed on them.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 14 October 2015, 10:39 am and is filed under
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Proper agenda for the first week of  2016 Budget Parliament beginning on Monday

Never before in Malaysia’s parliamentary democracy has so many issues compete and contend for attention in the first week of the forthcoming 2016 Budget Parliament  beginning on Monday, 19th October 2015, whether the Malay Rulers’ Statement of Oct. 6; the political, economic, good governance and nation building scandals shaping up to be a “perfect storm” to batter Malaysia; the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) or the approval of toll rate hikes for 15 highways across the country.

Members of Parliament have not received the Parliamentary Order Paper for the first week or the first day of the 25-day Parliamentary meeting which is to be held from Oct. 19 to Dec. 3, but the following should be the proper agenda for the first week of Parliament from Monday.

For the first week of Parliament from Monday to Thursday, I have given notice to pose oral Parliamentary questions on the hot topics of the day, viz:

1) To  ask the Prime Minister to state when and why the multi-agency Task Force on 1MDB was formed and dissolved, what it had achieved; and the reasons and scope of the new Task Force formed by new Attorney-General.

2) To  ask the Prime Minister to state who had donated the RM2.6 billion deposited into his personal accounts in AmBank in March 2013; which Ministers and MPs had benefited from it; what is the balance and where are the monies.

3) To  ask the Prime Minister to state why he backed off at the last-minute from the Opening Ceremony of 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference in Putrajaya and what Malaysia has gained from hosting 16th IACC.

4) To ask the Prime Minister whether Malaysia has a kleptocrat as Prime Minister and whether there is satisfactory explanation by US Government on investigation by US Department of Justice under its Kleptocracy Assets Recovery Initiative involving the Prime Minister.

Parliament on Monday should approve a requisition by the DAP MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok, invoking Standing Order 18, asking for an urgent debate on a definite subject of public importance, the scandal and   tragedy of the seven missing SK Pos Tohoi  children in Gua Musang, ranging from seven to 11 years, for seven weeks, leaving only two survivors in “skin and bones”.

If Teresa Kok’s SO 18 (1) motion is approved, Parliament will debate for an hour from 4.30 pm an  education scandal of the first magnitude,  which caused the death of five innocent children which would have caused the resignation of the Education Minister in countries where there is a greater sense of Ministerial responsibility and accountability.  But in Malaysia, we have an Education Minister who had not deigned the issue important enough to break his silence or to give his personal attention.

The first official parliamentary business after Question Time from 10 am to 11.30 a.m. should be to adopt two motions.

The first motion  is to  reconstitute the Parliamentary Selection Committee to appoint new members to replace Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, as he is no more Deputy Prime Minister; Datuk Seri Palanivel Govindasay as he is no more MIC Minister; and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as he has been disqualified as Member of Parliament and  is serving jail sentence in Sungai Buloh Prison.

The second motion is  to fill the three-month vacancy of the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) – created by the  strategem of elevating the PAC Chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan as  Deputy Home Minister and, together with the elevation of three other PAC members into the Executive as Minister or Deputy Ministers,  in effect  to  block PAC from  investigating the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal for at least three months.

There is talk that the Prime Minister may propose the UMNO MP for Ketereh and MARA Chairman, Tan Sri Annuar Musa as the new PAC Chairman.

There can be no more controversial and divisive nominee for the post of PAC Chairman than Annuar Musa, not only because he should have been sacked as MARA Chairman to take responsibility for MARA’s international corruption scandals in Australia which involved

the use of MARA funds to acquire real estate at higher than the market prices but for his role  in the racist Sept. 16 Red Shirts Rally and his outrageous  claim that he is allowed to be a racist by  Islam.

After these two motions, Parliament should set aside two or three days for a motion by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to seek the confidence of Parliament so as to re-establish moral and political authority and legitimacy for him to contine as Prime Minister.

Never before in the six-decade history of the nation with six Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Mahathir, Tun Abdullah and Najib, has the Malaysian Prime Minister suffered such a devastating and prolonged loss of moral and political authority, confidence and legitimacy as Prime Minister as in the case of Najib.

The Wall Street Report on July 2 on the RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal; the New York Times Report  of Sept. 22 on Najib being probed by US Department of Justice under its Kleptocrat Asset Recovery Initiative 2010;  the Malay Rulers’ Statement of Oct. 6 and the gathering of the former UMNO/BN Government “big guns” like former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir, his arch rival Tengku Raleigh Hamzah, former Deputy Prime Minister and current UMNO Deputy President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, former Rural and Regional Development Minister and current UMNO National Vice President Datuk Shafie Apdal, former Cabinet Minister and former UMNO Secretary-General Tan Sri Sanusi Junid and two ex-MCA Presidents Tun Ling Liong Sik  and Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat ganging up against Najib for the misuse of Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) against Khairuddin Abu Hassan and his lawyer Matthias Chang, are body blows to the moral and political authority and legitimacy of Najib as Prime Minster.

Of course, Najib can pretend that “all is well” and that his premiership had never been so admired in  the national and international arena.

But if he is  to be true to his claim as a “Bugis warrior”, he should not run away from a battle in the way he had backed off from the Nothing2hide Forum on 1MDB in early June or the 16th IACC Opening Ceremony early last month. On the contrary, Najib should take the battle of his premiership to Parliament on the very first day by moving a motion of confidence in him as Prime Minister of Malaysia.

This is what Hussein Onn did when he became Prime Minister in early 1976  and what Najib should do to continue as Prime Minister after the cavalcade of disasters befalling him as Prime Minister as well as the nation.

Of course, Najib could bide his time and see whether there would be any motion of no confidence against him in the forthcoming Parliament, convinced that any motion of no confidence would be blocked and sabotaged by a Speaker who would do his bidding, but this would not be keeping with his boast to a “true Bugis warrior”!

Najib moving a motion of confidence on Monday when Parliament reconvenes would be a smart political move, as at this moment of time, it appears unlikely that a majority could be organised to defeat Najib’s  confidence motion.

If Najib misses this chance, the possibility of a “no confidence motion” being moved and to get a majority support during the course of the 25-day budget parliamentary meeting until Dec. 3 would improve by the day.

IDEAS executive director Wan Saiful Wan Jan has said that Muhyiddin or Tengku  Razaleigh must openly challenge Prime Minister Najib  to bring about change, as otherwise nothing will ever happen in the country.

Wan Saiful said that unless Muhyiddin or Ku Li step up to say that they want to challenge Najib, Monday’s gathering of “big guns” would be a no starter.

In principle, there should be no problem with Pakatan Harapan parties and Members of Parliament co-operating with UMNO/BN elements, led to Mahathir, Tengku Razaleigh Hazah and Muhyiddin to “save the country” from the “perfect storm” of a multitude of economic, political, good governance and nation-building crises which would hurtle Malaysia  down the slippery slope of a rogue and failed state.

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Muhyiddin and Shafie should seriously consider sponsoring  a motion in Parliament at the end of the month to condemn the misuse of Sosma to persecute Khairuddin and Chang for their patriotic act in connection with the 1MDB scandal.

The support of the 72 Members of Parliament of the Pakatan Harapan parties of DAP, PKR and AMANAH for any such move to condemn the misuse of Sosma and to demand the immediate release of Khairuddin and Chang  should not be a problem at all.

However, Pakatan Harapan are not just interested in the removal of Najib as Prime Minister, but want to ensure that the breakdown of the rule of law, good governance and proper nation-building policies as happened under Najib could not be repeated in future, whoever becomes the Prime Minister.

On Friday, Oct. 23, Parliament is set for the presentation of the 2016 Budget by the Finance Minister.

If there is no motion whethen seeking confidence or of  “no confidence” in the first week of Parliament, will the voting on  the 2016 Budget during the end of  the policy debate in early November become a test-case whether Najib still commands the confidence of the majority of Members of Parliament?

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 14 October 2015, 1:27 pm and is filed under
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Can the government announce a New Deal for Orang Asli in Parliament  on Monday in the debate on Teresa Kok’s urgent motion on the scandal/tragedy of seven missing Orang Asli children of SK Tohoi  for seven weeks?

The announcement by the Minister for Rural and Regional Development, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob that the Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa) will provide transportation services for 16,905 Orang Asli pupils at 94 primary schools with hostels nationwide to enable them to return home every fortnight is most laughable and grossly inadequate as a proper government response to the scandal and tragedy of the SK Tohoi  seven missing Orang Asli children for seven weeks five of whom had perished.

What the country wants is not just a new transportation service to Orang Asli pupils in school hostels to go home once a fortnight but a complete review of the 58-year government programme to bring Orang Asli communities to the mainstream of national development (which is clearly an abysmal failure) and a total revamp of government services to uplift Orang Asli in all fields of human endeavour.

Why for instance, after 58 years of upliftment of Orang Asli in the country, there is not a single Orang Asli who is a Minister or even a Deputy Minister in the Federal Government, or members on State Excos in the various states with significant Orang Asli communities?

Let the Minister for Rural and Regional Development announce  in Parliament on Monday on behalf of the Najib Cabinet a “New Deal for Orang Asli” in the emergency debate requisitioned by  DAP MP for Sepueh Teresa Kok on the aftermath of the scandal and tragedy of the SK Tohoi seven missing Orang Asli children in Gua Musang.

For a start, Sabri should announce in Parliament a major revamp of Orang Asli services which would involve the appointment within 30 days of an Orang Asli to head JAKOA – for it is a crying shame and a terrible indictment of the government’s efforts to uplift Orang Asli community that after 58 years, the government is unable to appoint an Orang Asli to be head of JAKOA.

What is urgently needed in a “New Deal for Orang Asli” is not just the appointment of an Orang Asli to head JAKOA, but the revamp of the civil service with the appointment and promotion of Orang Asli public servants to important posts in the civil service, covering the entire public service not just areas concerning Orang Asli upliftment.

In this connection, it is time that Sabri explain why his ministry has ignored the Suhakam recommendations pertaining to Orang Asli.

Suhakam acting chairman Datuk Dr. Khaw Lake Tee in a statement yesterday said the  social and economic marginalisation of the Orang Asli is caused by the violation of their human rights.

Suhakam regrets that its many recommendations have not been acted upon and as a result, the community continue to face immense challenges, including marginalisation.

Is  Sabri capable of answering the Suhakam’s serious charges of government neglect and even negligence of the Orang Asli community in Parliament on Monday?

At least I must commend Sabri for finally visiting Gua Musang and the two surviving Orang Asli school children after more than 50 days of the SK scandal and tragedy, but where is the Education Minister Datuk Mahdzir Khalid?

Can Mahdzir explain to Parliament next week why he is so irresponsible, indifferent and unconcerned about the plight of the seven Orang Asli school children in Gua Musang despite the passage of 50 days?

Is Mahdzir behaving as a responsible Education Minister?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 15 October 2015, 12:20 pm and is filed under
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In just a week, the Malay Rulers’ concern about 1MDB has proved to be valid, legitimate and prescient, with all Najib Ministers competing in political “tai chi” and 1MDB CEO even claiming it is “no longer under investigation”

In just a week, the Malay Rulers’ concern about the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal has proved to be valid, legitimate and prescient, with the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Ministers competing in  political “tai chi” and the 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda even claiming that 1MDB  is “no longer under investigation”.

On Oct. 6, the Malay Rulers called on 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 1MDB  CEO has shown utter disrespect and even contempt for the Malay Rulers when 1MDB  came out with a statement yesterday saying that the Attorney-General’s explanation of why the firm was not charged emphasised the fact that it is no longer being investigated.

1MDB  added that Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali’s press conference absolving 1MDB of breaching exchange laws compounds that of another enforcement agency that said it was not scrutinising the state-owned investment firm.

“This confirmation by the AGC reinforces the statement by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on 22 September 2015 that 1MDB is not under investigation,” it said.

It added that Apandi’s summary demonstrated that 1MDB adhered to the pertinent financial laws and confirmed that “no offence had been committed” by the firm.

Never mind the  the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s immediate statement yesterday clarifying that  it had never issued any statement saying that 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) was not under investigation.

The fact is that the 1MDB  would not have issued such an outrageous statement and claim if the 1MBD CEO Arul Kanda had not been assured of full endorsement by Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak who is also the Chairman of the 1MDB Advisory Board, and all the current Najib  warriors “hulubalang”, including the Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali.

The Malaysian public are utterly tired and fed up by these wiles and  shadow plays by the powers-that-be while the country continues to bleed from a regime that refuses to accept the basic principles of accountability, transparency and good governance, even avoiding the question which I had repeated asked whether the 1MDB debts have ballooned from RM42 billion  in early 2014 to over RM50 billion as revealed by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in his last speech as Deputy Prime Minister to the Cheras UMNO Division on July 26, 2015.

This does not seem to have  very different from “Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burns”.

The time has come for the Prime Minister to present a White Paper on the 1MDB when Parliament meets on Monday as Malaysians are entitled to know whether the Malay Rulers had been misinformed and misguided about their statement of Oct. 6 on  1MDB investigations when the 1MDB is not even being investigated!

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 15 October 2015, 2:49 pm and is filed under
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One way to avoid three-cornered fights in 14 GE is for PAS to concentrate in Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Perlis while AMANAH focuses on all the other states, subject to adjustments to the arrangement  by two parties

The various combinations and permutations in the Malaysian political arena, not only in the ruling coalition of UMNO/BN parties but in the Opposition, seem to be the hot topic of the day.

Yesterday, there was the grand announcement of new political alignment and co-operation between PAS and Perkasa, but such a development would not forestall the holding of three-cornered fights in the 14th General Election which must be held in 2018.

May be one way to avoid three-cornered fights in 14th General Election  is for PAS to concentrate in Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Perlis while Parti AMANAH  Negara focuses on all the other states, subject to adjustments to the arrangement by two political  parties.

This may or may not be a workable proposition as I have not discussed it with any other political party or personality.

But it is an indication that Malaysia is in unchartered waters as far as political developments are concerned, as illustrated by the Monday gathering of former UMNO/BN government “big guns”, led by former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir, his arch rival Tengku Raleigh Hamzah, former Deputy Prime Minister and current UMNO Deputy President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, former Rural and Regional Development Minister and current UMNO National Vice President Datuk Shafie Apdal, former Cabinet Minister and former UMNO Secretary-General Tan Sri Sanusi Junid and two ex-MCA Presidents Tun Ling Liong Sik and Datuk Seri Ong Tee Kiat ganging up against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak  for the misuse of Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) against Khairuddin Abu Hassan and his lawyer Matthias Chang.

Is it possible that in the forthcoming Parliamentary meeting beginning on Monday, new political breakthroughs will take place where UMNO/BN Members of Parliament are prepared to rise above narrow individual and party considerations to take a common stand  with Pakatan Harapan Members of Parliament to save Malaysia?

What will be the position of PAS Members of Parliament in such al situation?

A new political approach is needed if Malaysia is to avert being hit by a “perfect storm” with a multitude of political, economic, good governance and nation building crises all happening at the same time.

Whether Malaysia can avert such a “perfect storm” will depend on the wisdom and maturity of the present batch of Members or Parliament, regardless of political party, race, religion or region.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 15 October 2015, 1:06 pm and is filed under
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Parliament should form an all-party Parliamentary Committee on tragedy of the seven missing Orang Asli children of SK Tohoi in Gua Musang if Government is not prepared to have high-powered commission of inquiry

Parliament should begin its 25-day budget session on Monday with a minute of silence in memory of the five of the seven Orang Asli children of SK Tohoi in Gua Musang who perished after missing from the school hostel 54 days ago on August 23.

The nation and government  failed the Orang Asli children when they should be cared and nurtured to be  future leaders of the nation, and the least Parliament can do is to start its new parliamentary meeting with a minute of silence for Members of Parliament, the government and the nation to remember the wasted lives of the five children ranging from seven to eleven years because of government failure, negligence and incompetence.

It is scandalous that the Ministers and ministries concerned for the socio-economic and educational  upliftment of the Orang Asli community to bring them into the mainstream of national development are not taking the SK Tohoi  scandal and tragedy in sufficient seriousness –  as up to now, the Education Minister Datuk Mahdzir Khalid has still to visit SK Tohoi or even to utter a single word of concern!

Would Madhzir be so indifferent, irresponsible and even callous if the five kids who perished and the two kids who were found as “bags of bones” were Malay kids?

Malaysia wants an Education Minister who would show equal care, concern and compassion for all school children, regardless of their race, religion or region.

Clearly, the degree of government and ministerial  concern would have been very different if those who died and suffered had been Malay, Chinese, Indian or even Kadazan or Iban kids.

Why should Orang Asli kids be any different and denied of equal concern and attention from the Education Minister?

Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, gender, age or politics, must be thoroughly ashamed that the UMNO/BN Government has still to take the plight of the Orang Asli community seriously.

Nobody in Malaysia has any high expectations for the internal investigation which the Ministry of Education has set up.

What is urgently needed is a high-powered Commission of Inquiry into the scandal and tragedy of SK Tohoi, and if the government is not prepared to set up such  a high-powered inquiry, then Parliament should set up an all-party Parliamentary Committee into the SK Tohoi scandal/tragedy, with the Parliamentary Committee holding the inquiry not in Parliament but  in Gua Musang to facilitate  the affected parents and Orang Asli representatives to give evidence to the Parliamentary Commtitee in an on-site investigation.

Such an impartial high-powered investigation is urgently needed as after some eight weeks after the first disappearance of the seven Orang Asli kids, there is still  conflicting versions as to what actually happened, why the seven kids went missing, and the failure to locate and rescue all of the seven Orang Asli kids.

For instance, did the seven run away because they were afraid of being punished for bathing in nearby river?

There is conflicting version.

For instance, the Kelantan Police Chief Mazlan Lazim had briefed  Rosmah Mansor, the Prime Minister’s wife, yesterday that the fear of being punished for bathing in a nearby river without permission was the causes of the disappearance of the seven Orang Asli children, which conflicts with the version that it was not the seven children but their siblings who had swam in the river, and that the seven were heading home after mistakenly believing that their older siblings had gone home to escape punishment.

Colin Nicholas, co-ordinator of the Centre for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC), blamed  the strong undercurrents of prejudice and discrimination in the attitudes of the authorities towards the Orang Asli community, resulting in a lack of trust between police and the Orang Asli community, as the major factor which  hampered the search for  the seven schoolchildren missing for seven weeks from SK Tohoi.

The police and parents were not working together, as the police believed that the parents were hiding the missing children.

As a result, the search process was not transparent or inclusive, excluding the parents, resulting in the failure fo the search operation.

COAC, on its Facebook post, said the seven children were actually the younger siblings of three girls who were “beaten with a stick” earlier for swimming without permission.

“When they found that their elder siblings were missing from school, they had assumed they had gone home, as they had apparently planned in the interim two days, and they too wanted to follow them.

“But the older ones later returned to the school on their own accord or were brought back in the afternoon.

“Only much later that day did the school authorities realise that the seven were missing,” said COAC.

The questions posed by a University of Malaya lecturer, Kamal Solhaimi Fadzil, should be among the terms of reference of a high-powered inquiry into the SK Tohoi tragedy, such as:

*What happened that drove seven kids to run away and die from starvation just three  kilometres away from their school?

*Why didn’t the seven kids simply return back to school?

*What  could have scared the seven Orang Asli kids at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Pos Tohoi  so much  that they  prefer to hide away, even watching as one by one of their friends died?

*What sort of environment existed in the schools and how were the teachers and headmaster running it?

Members of Parliament must demand answers to these harrowing questions.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 16 October 2015, 12:40 pm and is filed under
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Revelation of Najib’s involvement in 1MDB scandal “doesn’t rain, it pours” – false claim that it is “no longer under investigation” when it is most investigated company, both at home and internationally

Despite denials by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his cohort of Ministers and publicity minions, revelations about Najib’s involvement in the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal continues unabated.

In fact, it would be appropriate to say that as far as revelation about Najib’s involvement in the 1MDB scandal – it doesn’t rain, it pours.

Reuters have reported that it has been informed by a FBI spokesperson that the U.S. Government is reviewing Goldman Sachs’ business relationship with Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund as part of a broader, wide-ranging investigation into 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), an FBI spokesperson told Reuters yesterday.

Reuters reported that US law enforcement sources are “aware of Goldman’s possible involvement” in investments with 1MDB, but the bureau has “yet to determine if the matter will become the focus of any investigation into the 1MDB scandal.”

Reuters said the review into Goldman’s ties with 1MDB marks the latest development in a wide-ranging global investigation across three continents into possible corruption and money-laundering.

It reported that an FBI squad which specialises in “international kleptocracy” is leading the bureau’s inquiries.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on Wednesday on FBI’s review into Goldman Sachs and its connections to 1MDB has reported another instalment of its investigative journalism on Najib’s involvement with 1MDB, with its latest story headlined: “
Malaysia’s Najib Played Key Role at Troubled 1MDB Investment Fund
”.

Wall Street Journal reported that In early 2013 at the glitzy World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Najib approached Goldman Sachs  with an urgent assignment, to help 1MDB raise US$3 billion quickly and quietly.

The money was raised but 1MDB has become the centre of a political scandal that has engulfed Najib, his government and the nation and has accumulated debts exceeding RM50 billion – according to Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in his last speech as Deputy Prime Minister to the Cheras UMNO Division on July 26.

Furthermore, it has created dubious history for Malaysia, as 1MDB has become the subject of a raft of local and international investigations.

WSJ reported:

“Among other things, he (Najib) authorized several of its investments, according to documents that form part of Malaysia’s official investigation of the fund.

“He played a leading role in raising billions of dollars in financing for the fund, people familiar with the matter said, and Mr. Najib’s cabinet approved the $3 billion bond deal he enlisted Goldman to arrange in early 2013. That deal included a fee to the bank of nearly $300 million, said people close to the bank, far above the $1 million to several million typical if a bank doesn’t have to take on the risk involved in getting it done fast.

“Mr. Najib personally ordered the removal of the 1MDB fund’s auditors when they wouldn’t sign off on its books, the government investigation found. He authorized the fund to make investments of millions of dollars although some board members had raised concerns about them, documents in the auditor general report show.

“Malaysian investigators, the Journal reported in July, have traced deposits of almost $700 million into the prime minister’s alleged personal accounts via agencies, banks and companies linked to 1MDB. The original source of the funds was unclear, and the government investigation didn’t detail what happened to the money that allegedly went into Mr. Najib’s accounts.”

With this background of frequent revelations about Najib’s involvement in the 1MDB scandal, the statement by the 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda on Wednesday that 1MDB was “no longer under investigation” is a bare-faced lie when 1MDB is breaking records as the most investigated company in Malaysian history, both in the country and internationally.

What is shocking is 1MDB adopting this stance just before Parliament’s reconvening on Monday.

Is this indication that “stonewalling” is going to be the Prime Minister’s strategy in Parliament, claiming that 1MDB is “no longer under investigation” and that there is nothing for the Prime Minister to answer in Parliament?

                This entry was posted on Friday, 16 October 2015, 2:32 pm and is filed under
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A Case of Brazil Blight? Scandal-Hit Malaysia Risks Lost Decade

Shamim Adam

Bloomberg

October 16, 2015

Meet Malaysia, the new Brazil.

Nearly felled by the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, the Southeast Asian nation recovered to become a global commodities juggernaut, known for its stable government and investor-friendly policies. Now, with its premier enveloped by a multi million dollar funding scandal, Malaysia risks being infected with the kind of economic malaise that has struck its emerging market counterpart in South America.

Prime Minister Najib Razak, 62, has denied any wrongdoing. But as investigations continue and opponents like previous premier Mahathir Mohamad call for his resignation, the danger is the leadership stays in fire-fighting mode. The economy is already hit by a slowdown in prices for oil and natural gas, and Najib is expected to make bigger handouts to the poor in the budget on Oct. 23. Could Malaysia slide into a “lost decade”?

“Malaysia risks not just being left behind, but falling off the radar all together, especially with foreign investors,” said Jim Walker, managing director at Hong Kong-based Asianomics Ltd. and former chief economist at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets. “People are definitely shying away from Malaysia,” he said, and the politics of Malaysia is “by far the biggest threat”.

Foreign investors are noticing. They pulled $4.6 billion from stocks and bonds last quarter and sent the currency to a 17-year low. While the ringgit has since recovered alongside emerging market currencies it’s still down about 16 percent this year, the worst performer in the Asia Pacific region. Approved foreign direct investment fell about 42 percent in the first half of 2015 to 21.3 billion ringgit.

“The reforms are not taking place because Najib is preoccupied,” said Saifuddin Abdullah, a former deputy minister in Najib’s government and ex-member of his United Malays National Organisation supreme council, who has now joined an opposition party. “It’s maintenance mode” for companies as they wait for an end to political uncertainty, he said.

A decade-long commodities boom improved the budget position and the lives of many Malaysians, with per capita gross domestic product more than doubling and the poverty rate falling to 1 percent. But as that benefit wanes — growth has slowed from a peak of 7.4 percent in 2010 to about 5 percent now — the government is falling back on strategies like state-led spending as foreign companies hold back on new investments.

Half a world away, Brazil is an example of how that doesn’t always work. President Dilma Rousseff increased spending at the end of her first term as growth began to slow, a move that helped fuel inflation and contributed to swelling debt.

The emerging market that was the darling of international investors is now seeing its leader fight for her political survival amid a graft scandal engulfing state-run oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA. Latin America’s biggest economy is heading for its deepest recession in at least a quarter century.

For Najib, shoring up the economy and confidence is key as he also fends off criticism of his leadership amid a scandal over nearly $700 million that appeared in his bank accounts before the election in 2013, a ballot where his coalition lost the popular vote for the first time while keeping power. Najib acknowledged the money reached his accounts but said it was political donations from the Middle East rather than public funds, an initial conclusion reached too by the anti-corruption commission.

The government is also embroiled in claims of financial irregularities at state investment company 1Malaysia Development Bhd., whose advisory board is chaired by Najib and which nearly defaulted this year after amassing 42 billion ringgit of debt. 1MDB didn’t respond to an e-mail and calls seeking comment. It said this month the attorney-general hadn’t found evidence of wrongdoing.

Parliament Resumes

Political pressure on Najib may increase as parliament resumes Monday, with results of more 1MDB probes expected in the next three months. Mahathir has led calls for a parliamentary vote of no confidence in Najib, though the premier has the support of many of the ruling party’s divisional chiefs and the opposition remains fragmented after its alliance split this year.

“It’s the uncertainty with the investigation analogous to what we see in Brazil which adds to volatility,” said Edwin Gutierrez, who helps oversee $13 billion as the head of emerging-market sovereign debt at Aberdeen Asset Management Plc in London, comparing 1MDB to the probe at Petrobras.

Perched on the lower end of peninsular Southeast Asia, Malaysia straddles some of the world’s busiest waterways and is a conduit for trade between Europe and Asian economic powers like Japan and China. Bigger in area than all but four U.S. states, Malaysia is a net oil and gas exporter and the world’s second-largest producer of palm oil.

Ringgit Peg

The Malay-dominated party now headed by Najib has been in power since independence in 1957, the main actor in one of the longest-ruling coalitions in the world. Past premiers have steered it through a series of crises — including the pegging of the ringgit during the Mahathir era — and under Najib toward his oft-stated goal of turning Malaysia into a high-income nation by 2020.

There are differences with Brazil: Malaysia’s estimated budget deficit is a third of Brazil’s as a percentage of GDP, while inflation is forecast at 2 percent to 3 percent this year compared with the Latin American nation’s 9.5 percent. Standard & Poor’s ranks Malaysia at the fourth-lowest investment grade, while it cut Brazil to junk on Sept. 9.

Still, both leaders have become entangled in state companies. Rousseff chaired Petrobras’s board from 2003 to 2010 and has said she was unaware of corruption while at the company, while Najib has said he wouldn’t tolerate the misuse of 1MDB funds.

Political Distraction

Malaysia central bank Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz has acknowledged the impact of the scandals. “People are distracted now because our country rarely has political developments of this nature,” she said in an interview. Najib’s office didn’t respond to an e-mail and calls seeking comment.

Since 2013, when ethnic Chinese voters deserted his coalition, Najib has moved to shore up his Malay base via the retention of socio-economic privileges for the majority group. Such policies have led to concerns about the potential for racial tensions in the moderate Islamic state. He’s also ordered state investment funds to give stocks a 20 billion ringgit boost, and get government-linked companies to build more hospitals.

Malaysia Risks Lost Decade as Najib Faces Scandal

“Malaysia has run out of ideas,” said William Case, who teaches international political economy at City University of Hong Kong. “There are state interventions when they should be freeing up markets and embracing more openness and transparency. I don’t see any obvious drivers at this stage to lift it to the next stage of development.”

Sales Tax

The scandal has overshadowed Najib’s achievements. He fended off opposition to introduce an unpopular goods and services levy in April in an effort to widen the tax base and limit a reliance on oil revenue.  In 2010 he unveiled an economic transformation plan, and announced key areas he would focus on to help make Malaysia a high-income nation.

“Early in his tenure, I had great hopes with all the reforms that looked quite promising,” Case said. “But all of that has fallen by the way in the socio-political pressures.”

The government isn’t addressing longstanding concerns, according to the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers. The Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce & Industry said some recommendations it tabled as part of a five-year government strategy known as the 11th Malaysia Plan were similar to what it submitted in 2000.

‘Same Old’

“Same-old same-old worked when you have high commodity prices, if there are no overwhelming financial or political scandals waiting to bury you in a huge tsunami,” said Lim Guan Eng, chief minister of Penang state and an opposition Democratic Action Party lawmaker.

Addressing investors last month in New York, Najib said Malaysia remains a good place to do business.

Not everyone is convinced. The economy is “holed below the waterline,” said Andrew Harding, a law professor at the National University of Singapore. “The country needs deep-rooted reform,” he said. “We might be at the beginning of a lost decade.”

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 17 October 2015, 10:36 am and is filed under
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BNP Paribas Holds Nerve in Shorting Malaysia as Ringgit Surges

Lilian Karunungan

Bloomberg

October 16, 2015

A rebound in Malaysia’s ringgit will prove short-lived as the factors that made it Asia’s worst performer this year show few signs of going away, according to an investment arm of France’s largest bank.

“We’re in a situation where nothing’s changed, so therefore the only conclusion we have is that Malaysia remains a market to be short,” said Mark Capstick, a London-based fund manager at BNP Paribas Investment Partners, which oversees 532 billion euros ($605 billion). “We’re short right across the board,” he said, adding that assets being bet against include the ringgit as well as the nation’s local-currency and global bonds.

While the ringgit has appreciated more than 6 percent in October to rank among the top five in emerging markets, it’s been dogged by a persistent drop in oil prices, slowing Chinese growth and a probe of fund transfers into Prime Minister Najib Razak’s bank accounts. Malaysia’s currency is rebounding from a 17-year low reached in September as the receding prospect of a U.S. interest-rate increase in 2015 revives demand for higher-yielding assets worldwide.

Like BNP Paribas, Pacific Investment Management Co. is also sticking to its guns and maintaining bets that the ringgit’s slide will resume. Pimco, which oversees $1.52 trillion, reported Oct. 1 it had short positions on emerging-market currencies including the ringgit, Thai baht and South Korea’s won.

Global funds have pulled 41.5 billion ringgit ($10 billion) from Malaysian debt and equities this year amid a 15 percent slide in the ringgit. The halving in Brent crude prices from a 2014 peak is crimping government revenue for Asia’s only major oil exporter, just as growth slows in China, Malaysia’s second-biggest export market.

Najib Removal

Investor confidence has also soured because of rising debt at state investment company 1Malaysia Development Bhd., whose advisory board the prime minister chairs. Najib has drawn flack over 1MDB from lawmakers, including a call from former leader Mahathir Mohamad for him to step down. The company is in the course of selling assets to appease the criticism.

“My gut feeling is that people would like him to be removed but the chances of that happening are particularly slight,” said BNP’s Capstick. “The political problems will just be a constant.”

There are a couple of “bright lights,” said Capstick, citing the winding down of 1MDB, the currency-swap lines Malaysia has with China and the “sizable” pension funds that the nation could fall back on. The Employees Provident Fund had 667 billion ringgit of assets as of June 2015, according to the state-controlled entity’s website.

The drop in Malaysia’s foreign-exchange reserves completes the “whole risk,” Capstick said, noting that the central bank will be looking to accumulate dollars during periods of ringgit gains, said Capstick. The stockpile fell 20 percent this year to $93.3 billion in September, central bank data show.

“Malaysia remains a market to be short, although we have to accept that at times when the market takes a breather, you’re going to get these slight reversals,” he said.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 17 October 2015, 10:15 am and is filed under
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