Has Barisan Nasional consensus degenerated from the original meaning of agreement by all 13 BN component parties into a perverted and corrupt version of what is unilaterally and arbitrarily decided by UMNO even in the face of objection by the other 12 BN component parties?

An UMNO-owned mainstream media reported today that PAS President, Datuk Seri A Abdul Hadi Awang’s hudud-enabling private member’s bill would be tabled and debated in Parliament next week.

In the circumstances, the continued silence of the Presidents of MCA, Gerakan, MIC and Sabah and Sarawak component parties of Barisan Nasional on whether they have agreed on a Barisan Nasional  consensus for Hadi’s private member’s bill to be given priority over official business in the budget meeting of Parliament to be debated and voted upon is no more tenable.

The time has come for all the Barisan Nasional component parties to break their silence on Hadi’s private member’s bill.

Early this month, the UMNO and Barisan Nasional secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor  said that BN has arrived at a consensus regarding Hadi’s private member’s bill.

Low-level MCA and Gerakan underlings cast doubts that such a Barisan Nasional “consensus” on Hadi’s private member’s bill had been reached at the BN Supreme Council meeting three Fridays ago, but the Presidents of MCA, Gerakan, MIC and the Sabah and Sarawak Barisan Nasional parties maintained a studious and cowardly silence.

Even when Adnan subsequently made the nonsensical clarification that what he meant by the BN “consensus” was that whatever the decision the coalition made “must be on the basis of consensus of all parties”, the President of  MCA,  Gerakan, MIC and the other Sabah and Sarawak Barisan Nasional component parties  continued to keep their silence and dared not repeat the promises made by MCA and Gerakan in the recent Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections that the BN “consensus” will be restored!

It is still fresh in everyone’s mind that the Barisan Nasional “consensus” was violated and vitiated in the May meeting of Parliament when UMNO Ministers unilaterally and arbitrarily fast-tracked the PAS President’s private member’s bill in Parliament without consultation or reference to the other BN component parties – in reckless disregard of the 43-year BN stand and consensus that PAS’ hudud proposal was not appropriate for Malaysia’s plural society, and against the fundamental provisions of the 1957 Merdeka Constitution and 1963 Malaysia Agreement.

Is there now a new Barisan Nasional consensus to agree to the fast-tracking of Hadi’s private member’s bill in next week’s  Parliament, with MCA,  Gerakan, MIC and the Sabah and Sarawak Barisan Nasional component parties  even agreeing to it, or is this just the stand only of UMNO – one of the BN component parties?

If there is no new Barisan Nasional “consensus” among the all the  BN component parties to fast-track Hadi’s private member’s bill in the October/November Parliament, then Hadi’s private member’s bill can only be given priority if UMNO ride rough-shod over the objections of the other  BN component parties.

Did the other  BN component parties, including MCA,  Gerakan, MIC and the Sabah and Sarawak Barisan Nasional component parties make it clear to UMNO at the BN Supreme Council meeting three Fridays ago that the Barisan Nasional Federal government would collapse and disintegrate if UMNO unilaterally and arbitrarily goes ahead to fast-track Hadi’s private member’s bill in the budget  meeting of Parliament, when there is no BN “consensus” for such a parliamentary action by UMNO Ministers?

Or has Barisan Nasional consensus degenerated from the original meaning of agreement by all 13 BN component parties into a perverted and corrupt version of what is unilaterally and arbitrarily decided by UMNO even in the face of objection by the other 12 BN component parties?

Let us hear from the leaders of  all the 13 component BN parties!

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 12 October 2016, 2:59 pm and is filed under
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QuickTake Q&A: Malaysia’s 1MDB Fund Spawns Worldwide Probes

by Shamim Adam and Laurence Arnold

Bloomberg

October 11, 2016

Malaysia’s state-owned investment fund, 1MDB, was supposed to attract foreign investment. Instead, it has spurred criminal and regulatory investigations around the world that have cast an unflattering spotlight on financial deal-making, election spending and political patronage under Prime Minister Najib Razak. A Malaysian parliamentary committee identified at least $4.2 billion in irregular transactions. Singapore on Oct. 11 announced it will revoke the local license for a second bank for breaches of anti-money laundering rules in relation to its 1MDB probe.

1. What is 1MDB?

It’s a government investment company — full name, 1Malaysia Development Berhad — that took shape in 2009 under Najib, who went on to lead its advisory board. Its early initiatives included buying privately owned power plants and planning a new financial district in Kuala Lumpur. The fund proved better at borrowing — it accumulated $12 billion in debt — than at luring large-scale investment.

2. What’s the issue?

Investigators have been trying to trace whether money flowed through and around 1MDB and illegally into personal accounts. Some of the money is alleged to have ended up with Najib and his family. That includes $681 million that landed in the prime minister’s personal bank account, according to U.S. prosecutors. Malaysia’s attorney general, backed by Saudi authorities, said the $681 million was a donation from the Saudi Arabian royal family, much of which was returned. The U.S. Justice Department says the money instead came from, and was returned to, an offshore entity called Tanore Finance Corp. Another $700 million in 1MDB funds meant for a joint venture with a company known as PetroSaudi International was found to have landed in an unrelated offshore account. Najib has denied wrongdoing.

3. Who is investigating?

There are probes related to 1MDB in at least 10 countries, focused on possible embezzlement or money laundering. At home, investigations have been less pointed. The U.S. Justice Department is seeking to seize more than $1 billion in assets that it says were illegally acquired through money diverted from 1MDB, including real estate, art and proceeds from the film “The Wolf of Wall Street.” Singapore and Switzerland have imposed financial penalties on several banks for lapses in anti-money laundering controls related to funds allegedly from 1MDB.

4. Who is involved?

Though not all have been accused of doing anything wrong, financiers and financial companies have found themselves part of the 1MDB saga:

*Falcon Private Bank Ltd., a Zurich-based bank linked to $3.8 billion of 1MDB fund flows, was ordered to cease operations in Singapore while Switzerland threatened to withdraw its license if there were any further breaches of money-laundering regulations.

*Goldman Sachs made $593 million working on three bond sales that raised $6.5 billion for 1MDB in 2012 and 2013, dwarfing what banks typically make from government deals. It said last year that fees and commissions “reflected the underwriting risks” it had assumed. New York’s bank regulator has asked the firm for a summary of its 1MDB work.

*Low Taek Jho, a bon vivant who did consulting work for 1MDB, is portrayed by U.S. prosecutors as a central figure who set up shell companies to collect proceeds from the fund and arranged the withdrawal of tens of millions of dollars to pay Malaysian government officials and for his own lavish spending. Efforts to reach Low, who had previously denied wrongdoing, have been unsuccessful.

*Tim Leissner, Goldman Sachs’ Southeast Asia chairman, wrote an unauthorized reference letter for Low on the bank’s letterhead. He resigned in February and hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing.

BSI SA, a 143-year-old Swiss bank that worked with 1MDB, lost its license to do business in Singapore for breaches of money laundering rules. Singapore authorities charged in October two ex-BSI employees, accusing them of failing to disclose suspicious transactions involving Low.

*UBS Group AG and DBS Group Holdings Ltd. have also drawn penalties from the Singapore central bank for anti-money laundering lapses. UBS and DBS said they will strengthen controls and take actions against employees responsible for the lapses.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 13 October 2016, 11:37 am and is filed under
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Will there be a tectonic shift of the fundamental basis of the Merdeka Constitution 1957 and Malaysia Agreement 1963 next week in Parliament if Hadi’s private member’s bill is passed?

I visited Parliament to collect the Parliamentary Order Paper for the 25-day budget meeting of Parliament from Oct. 17 to 24th November, and I find the parliamentary business planned most surprising and even shocking.

Firstly, will there be a tectonic shift of the  fundamental basis of the Merdeka Constitution 1957 and Malaysia Agreement 1963 next week in Parliament if the PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s private member’s bill is passed?

Hadi’s private member’s is slated as the fourth item of parliamentary business after a motion by the Youth and Sports Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin to congratulate the Malaysian Olympians and Para-Olympians for their sterling performances in the two recent world sporting events; the Advocates (Sabah) (Amendment) Bill 2016 and a Treasury motion to convert a RM500 million loan to Small Medium Enterprise Development Bank Malaysia Berhad (SME Bank) to equity.

Under the circumstances, the possibility that Hadi’s private member’s bill motion will come up for debate and voting either on Tuesday, or even on Monday, cannot be ruled out.

In the circumstances, the continued silence of the Presidents of MCA, Gerakan, MIC and Sabah and Sarawak component parties of Barisan Nasional on whether they have agreed on a Barisan Nasional  consensus for Hadi’s private member’s bill is no more tenable.

The time has come for all the Barisan Nasional component parties to break their silence on Hadi’s private member’s bill.

Early this month, the UMNO and Barisan Nasional secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor  said that BN has arrived at a consensus regarding Hadi’s private member’s bill.

Low-level MCA and Gerakan underlings cast doubts that such a Barisan Nasional “consensus” on Hadi’s private member’s bill had been reached at the BN Supreme Council meeting three Fridays ago, but the Presidents of MCA, Gerakan, MIC and the Sabah and Sarawak Barisan Nasional parties maintained a studious and cowardly silence.

Even when Adnan subsequently made the nonsensical clarification that what he meant by the BN “consensus” was that whatever the decision the coalition made “must be on the basis of consensus of all parties”, the President of  MCA,  Gerakan, MIC and the other Sabah and Sarawak Barisan Nasional component parties  continued to keep their silence and dared not repeat the promises made by MCA and Gerakan in the recent Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections that the BN “consensus” will be restored!

It is still fresh in everyone’s mind that the Barisan Nasional “consensus” was violated and vitiated in the May meeting of Parliament when UMNO Ministers unilaterally and arbitrarily fast-tracked the PAS President’s private member’s bill in Parliament without consultation or reference to the other BN component parties – in reckless disregard of the 43-year BN stand and consensus that PAS’ hudud proposal was not appropriate for Malaysia’s plural society, and against the fundamental provisions of the 1957 Merdeka Constitution and 1963 Malaysia Agreement.

Did the other  BN component parties, including MCA,  Gerakan, MIC and the Sabah and Sarawak Barisan Nasional component parties make it clear to UMNO at the BN Supreme Council meeting three Fridays ago that the Barisan Nasional Federal government would collapse and disintegrate if UMNO unilaterally and arbitrarily goes ahead to support Hadi’s private member’s bill in Parliament, when there is no BN “consensus” for such a parliamentary action by UMNO Ministers?

Or has Barisan Nasional consensus degenerated from the original meaning of agreement by all 13 BN component parties into a perverted and corrupt version of what is unilaterally and arbitrarily decided by UMNO even in the face of objection by the other 12 BN component parties?

The second reason why I find the Parliamentary Business scheduled next week surprising is the total absence of concern about a matter which had elicited world-wide attention and outrage  except in Malaysia – the 1MDB global financial scandal which had catapulted into world ranks of “global kleptocracies”.

Malaysians who are patriots and  love and are proud of Malaysia must feel great shame and outrage that the 1MDB global scandal had spawned and spurred world-wide criminal and regulatory investigations into an international conspiracy involving multi-billion dollar money-laundering, whether in United States, Switzerland, Singapore and at least seven other countries except in Malaysia.

The first parliamentary business in the 25-day Budget Parliament should be a government motion, preferably moved by the Prime Minister himself, to debunk and refute the damning allegation that Malaysia has become a global kleptocracy.

How can Malaysia take such a damning appellation of a “global kleptocracy” so supinely, virtually lying down?

DAP and Pakatan Harapan MPs are Malaysian patriots and  are open minded and prepared to be convinced by Najib to refute the allegation that Malaysia is a “global kleptocracy” based on facts and figures, in particular over the 1MDB global financial scandal.

It is still no too late for the Prime Minister to move such a motion as the first item of parliamentary business when Parliament reconvenes on Monday.

Will Najib consider moving such a motion in the first day of the Budget Parliament, and in particular to refute all the negative connotations of being identified as “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” (MO 1) in the US Department of Justice lawsuit for the forfeiture of US$1 billion of 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland arising from the international  embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of over US$3 billion of 1MDB funds?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 13 October 2016, 1:18 pm and is filed under
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Congrats Hashim Jasin for appointment as  new Mursyidul Am PAS but he should not allow others to put words into his mouth

Congratulations to Hashim Jasin for his appointment as the new Mursyidul Am PAS but he should not allow others to put words into his mouth.

I refer to the Bernama report yesterday quoting Hashim  as saying that PAS would never co-operate with DAP again and is willing to face three-cornered fights in the coming 14th general election.

He  regarded PAS-DAP ties as beyond reconciliation alleging that  DAP had “reneged on its agreement to cooperate with PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang”.

Hashim said the cooperation with DAP in GE13 was based on a conditional political approach while its cooperation with Umno was on the basis of Islamic unity.

“We do not want to repeat our mistake and be bitten twice in the same spot for resuming ties with DAP,” he  told a press conference in Kangar.

The former Perlis PAS commissioner is entitled to his political views but he is not entitled to speak on matters he has no personal knowledge or to try to  pass off untruths  as truths.

I do not know what Hashim is talking about.  It is clear that Hashim did not know what he was saying  when he said that DAP had “reneged” on its agreement to co-operate with Hadi, when it was Hadi who had reneged on the Common Policy Framework agreed by PAS when forming Pakatan Rakyat.

For the information of Hashim, DAP had never broken our commitments and  Pakatan Rakyat broke up not because DAP had defaulted on any solemn agreement DAP had undertaken.

Hashim should learn why Pakatan Rakyat broke up instead of telling tall tales.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 14 October 2016, 2:03 pm and is filed under
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Former Finance Minister Husni Hanadzlah is the only BN MP who had put in a parliamentary question out of the  1,800 oral and written questions in the 25-day budget meeting on the 1MDB scandal

I had several shocks when going through the Parliamentary Order Paper for the 25-day budget meeting of Parliament from Oct. 17 to 24th November.

One is that PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s private member’s bill motion is item No. 4, which means that after the Youth and Sports Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin’s motion to congratulate the Malaysian Olympians and Para-Olympians for their sterling performances in the two recent world sporting events; the Advocates (Sabah) (Amendment) Bill 2016 and a Treasury motion to convert a RM500 million loan to Small Medium Enterprise Development Bank Malaysia Berhad (SME Bank) to equity, Hadi’s private member’s motion may come up for debate and voting on Tuesday, or even on Monday!

This will lead to be tectonic shift of the fundamental basis and principles of the Merdeka Constitution 1957 and the Malaysia Agreement 1963, with far-reaching consequences  not only the nation-building process but to  the very survival and integrity of the Malaysian federation since 1963.

Another surprise and shock is the lowly and irrelevant position given to the one issue which had made Malaysia infamous internationally  – the 1MDB global financial scandal which had catapulted the nation  into world rank of  a “global kleptocracy”.

The 1MDB global scandal should the first item of parliamentary business when Members of Parliament reconvened on Monday 17th October, after a break of five long months, when the country’s reputation was battered all over the world  in a tide of negative and adverse  international developments about the 1MDB scandal, the worst being the July 20 lawsuit initiated  by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to forfeit over US$1 billion of 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland from over US$3 billion international embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of 1MDB funds as well as the crackdowns by the Singapore and Swiss financial regulatory authorities.

But from the  Order Paper for the forthcoming 25-day meeting of Parliament, it would appear that the 1MDB global scandal is not a major concern or worry for Malaysia at all – and totally absent from the radar of the Malaysian Government.

No Malaysian can claim to be a patriot or love Malaysia if he or she is not ashamed and outraged by the disgraceful appellation of Malaysia as a “global kleptocracy” – as if Malaysians are happy to be ruled by thieves and robbers.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that no Malaysian is fit to be a Member of Parliament or Minister in the country if he or she is not ashamed and outraged by appellation of Malaysia as as a “global kleptocracy”.

I am really shocked that not only is the 1MDB global scandal not the first item of parliamentary business, no MPs from  MCA, Gerakan, MIC, or Sabah/Sarawak Barisan Nasional component parties dared to ask a single question about the 1MDB global scandal!

Is it because they have got all the answers or they are blissfully convinced that the 1MDB global financial scandal is no scandal at all?

There are seven oral questions on the 1MDB global scandal on the first day of Parliament on  Monday, 17th October out of the 56 oral questions listed, but they were listed No 24, 25, 29, 30, 32, 44 and 49, which means they will never see the “light of day” to be answered on the floor of Dewan Rakyat, as only  the first six to ten questions would be answered in the 90 minutes of Question Time every day.

Some of these oral questions on 1MDB slated for the “parliamentary museum” not to answered on the floor of Dewan Rakyat on Monday include:

1. Dr. Ko Chung Sen (Kampar) minta Perdana Menteri menyatakan:

(a) sama ada beliau telah membaca sepenuhnya tuntutan mahkamah oleh Jabatan Kehakiman (DOJ) di Amerika Syarikat untuk merampas asset bernilai AS$1 billion yang dibeli dengan wang yang diambil daripada 1MDB; dan

(b) samada Perdana Menteri boleh mengesahkan mana-mana butiran di dalam saman Jabatan Kehakiman (DOJ) tersebut adalah tersesat dan tidak benar terhadap mana-mana individu atau pegawai kerajaan Malaysia.

2. Dato’ Seri Dr. Wan Azizah binti Wan Ismail (Permatang Pauh) minta Perdana Menteri menyatakan berikutan dengan pendedahan yang di buat oleh Department of Justice (DOJ) bahawa terdapat penglibatan Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) dalam kes sivil Red Granite, apakah Kerajaan Malaysia telah mengenalpasti siapakah MO1 dan tindakan yang diambil terhadap MO1 susulan daripada pendedahan tersebut dan jika tiada tindakan mengapa.

3. Tuan Wong Chen (Kelana Jaya) minta Perdana Menteri menyatakan sama ada “Malaysian Official 1” (MO1) yang disebut dalam saman sivil Jabatan Kehakiman Amerika Syarikat berkenaan 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) merujuk kepada Perdana Menteri sendiri.

4. Puan Alice Lau Kiong Yieng (Lanang) minta Perdana Menteri menyatakan: –

(a) siapa “Malaysian Official 1” (MO1) yang disebut dalam laporan Jabatan Keadilan (DOJ) Amerika  Syarikat pada 20/7/2016 dan adakah siasatan dijalankan keatas MO1; dan

(b) tindakan kerajaan berhubong  laporan DOJ.

Altogether  1,283 oral questions and  543 questions for written answer had been  submitted for the 25-day Parliamentary meeting, but all the questions about the 1MDB scandal had come from the Pakatan Harapan MPs – except for one from an UMNO backbencher.

This is quite a surprise. On Thursday, November 17, Question No. 18 is a question from Husni Hanadzlah “minta Menteri Kewangan menyatakan adakah 1MDB dan SRC mencapai matlamat penuhubannya”.

This question by Husni speaks volumes.  In fact, Husni should be answering his own question, as he was second Finance Minister until recently when he quit the Cabinet when he could not stand the stress and strain of defending the indefensible in the 1MDB kleptocratic scandal – which was why he gave up his assignment as the only  Minister to be appointed Cabinet Spokesman for the 1MDB scandal in the seven-year  sad saga of the 1MDB global scandal.

But where are the questions from  the MPs from all the other UMNO, MCA, Gerakan, MIC, Sabah/Sarawak Barisan Nasional component parties on the 1MDB scandal?

Their silence and cowardice from raising a single question on the 1MDB kleptocratic scandal  raises the issue whether they are Malaysian patriots and really love Malaysia, when they can be immune to the shame and outrage all patriotic Malaysians must feel over the infamy of Malaysia being labelled as a “global kleptocracy”.

The first parliamentary business on Monday in the 25-day Budget Parliament should be a government motion, preferably moved by the Prime Minister himself, to debunk and refute the damning allegation that Malaysia has become a global kleptocracy.

It is still not too late for the Prime Minister to move such a motion as the first item of parliamentary business when Parliament reconvenes on Monday.

I suggest that the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak summon an emergency meeting of Cabinet so that he could move such a motion in the first day of the Budget Parliament to  debunk and  refute the damning allegation that Malaysia has become a global kleptocracy under his administration, and in particular, to refute all the negative connotations of being identified as “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” (MO 1) in the US Department of Justice lawsuit for the forfeiture of US$1 billion of 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland arising from the international  embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of over US$3 billion of 1MDB funds.

Unless Najib wants to be a “sitting duck” of all the international allegations about global embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of billions of ringgit of 1MDB funds?

(Speech at the DAP Kukup Solidarity Dinner held in Kukup, Johor on Thursday, October 13, 2016 at 9 pm)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 14 October 2016, 11:42 am and is filed under
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Malaysian Fund 1MDB Linked to White House Visit

By BRADLEY HOPE and  COLLEEN MCCAIN NELSON

Wall Street Journal

Oct. 13, 2016

Investigators look into whether money embezzled from the fund paid for lobbying seeking closer U.S.-Malaysian relations

WASHINGTON — Malaysia’s government-fund scandal, one of the world’s biggest alleged white-collar crimes, has been connected to a Hollywood studio, high-end U.S. real estate — and now, a visit to the White House.

Federal investigators are looking into whether money improperly obtained from the Malaysian fund was paid to a businessman who later arranged an Oval Office visit for relatives of the Malaysian prime minister, according to people familiar with the probe.

The businessman is Frank White Jr., an entrepreneur who helped start an investment firm called DuSable Capital Management LLC, along with partners including a rap star. Mr. White has also raised funds for President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Investigators believe about $10 million allegedly embezzled from 1Malaysia Development Bhd., known as 1MDB, flowed indirectly to Mr. White in a business deal, said people familiar with the probe.

Additionally, 1MDB paid $69 million to buy a DuSable unit out of a deal they had agreed on to build solar-power plants, the firms said last year.

The investigation of the payments is part of the wider inquiry into 1MDB, a fund that Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak set up in 2009 to spur development. Investigators in several countries believe up to $6 billion was improperly diverted from the fund. Malaysia’s attorney general cleared Mr. Najib of wrongdoing, and 1MDB has denied wrongdoing. Both have pledged to cooperate with investigators.

Mr. White and DuSable have provided information to investigators, said a person familiar with their position. The investigation hasn’t resulted in any allegations of wrongdoing against Mr. White or DuSable.

A spokesman for Mr. White and DuSable said the dealings with 1MDB were “intended to provide renewable energy in Malaysia, create jobs in the United States and earn support for Malaysia in the United States.” At the time, they were aware of no allegations 1MDB was the “victim of theft,” said the spokesman, Erik Smith.

U.S.-Malaysian ties have warmed in recent years, with Mr. Obama in 2014 making the first visit to Malaysia by a U.S. president in over 50 years.

This July, the U.S. Justice Department moved to seize $1 billion of real estate, art and other assets investigators believe were purchased with proceeds from the alleged 1MDB fraud. Civil forfeiture suits filed by the Justice Department are pending.

Mr. White’s Malaysian connections were on display in December 2013 when he escorted to the Oval Office a delegation that included the son and stepson of Malaysia’s prime minister, according to visitor records. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio and director Martin Scorsese accompanied them to present to the president a copy of “The Wolf of Wall Street,” a film the stepson, Riza Aziz, co-produced.

The Justice Department said in its July lawsuits the film was partly funded by money stolen from 1MDB, an allegation The Wall Street Journal had reported in April. Mr. Aziz has denied wrongdoing and his production company said it believed the money came from a legitimate partner. Mr. White’s spokesman said he had no dealings with Mr. Aziz.

There is no indication Mr. Obama or the White House were aware of any 1MDB links with Mr. White, or of any issue with the movie’s financing.

Deputy White House press secretary Eric Schultz called Mr. White “a prominent supporter of the president” but stressed that U.S.-Malaysia policy has been driven by what is best for the U.S. and not by outside influences.

Mr. Schultz said Mr. Obama has privately discussed with Mr. Najib “the importance of transparency, accountability, and rooting out corruption” and has raised this issue publicly as well. He wouldn’t comment on Justice Department proceedings.

Mr. DiCaprio declined to comment. Mr. Scorsese didn’t respond to comment requests.

Mr. White in 2007 sold an information-technology company he founded called Advanced Concepts Inc. He raised millions of dollars for Mr. Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns.

Mr. White is listed on Mrs. Clinton’s website as a “Hillblazer” who contributed or raised at least $100,000. He has donated between $1 million and $5 million to the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation, its website says.

A campaign official said Mr. White has hosted events for Mrs. Clinton, but that is the extent of their relationship.

Malaysia’s government has long sought to deepen ties with the U.S., to attract investment and burnish its standing as a moderate Muslim nation.

Jho Low, a Malaysian businessman who U.S. investigators believe played a central role in the alleged 1MDB fraud, helped come up with the solar-power project on which Mr. White’s firm cooperated, said people familiar with the matter. They said Mr. Low told others his efforts in arranging it helped Mr. Najib get closer to Mr. Obama, who golfed with the prime minister in Hawaii at Christmastime in 2014.

Mr. Najib’s office declined to comment on the power project. Mr. Low didn’t respond to comment requests.

Mr. White, whose sister is married to a cousin of First Lady Michelle Obama, knew Mr. Low through friends involved with New York nightclub circles, people familiar with the matter say.

In 2012, Mr. White was paid about $10 million by a company called MB Consulting LLC, owned by an Abu Dhabi business partner of Mr. Low, said people familiar with the payment. It was part of a consulting agreement, said one of the people. The Abu Dhabi partner declined to comment.

Part of the money allegedly embezzled from 1MDB was sent to MB Consulting, U.S. prosecutors stated in their July lawsuits, without saying where it went next.

In May 2013, Mr. White formed DuSable Capital with Shomik Dutta, a former White House special assistant and 2012 Obama fundraiser, and with Pras Michel, an original member of the hip-hop group the Fugees and the artist behind the hit “Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You are).”

Messrs. Dutta and Michel declined to comment.

Later in 2013, Mr. White registered DuSable, which calls itself an investment firm focused on renewable energy and infrastructure, as a lobbyist for 1MDB. The filing said DuSable would “encourage the U.S. government to provide non-financial support” for a solar project in Malaysia.

On Dec. 18, 2013, Mr. White escorted the Malaysian prime minister’s family members on their Oval Office visit, where they met President Obama.

In April 2014, a DuSable unit agreed with 1MDB to jointly develop the solar-power project. The deal was done without a public tender, according to 1MDB board minutes reviewed by the Journal. The minutes say 1MDB executives presented it to the 1MDB board as a “government-to-government” deal between Malaysia and the U.S. Mr. White’s spokesman said the U.S. government wasn’t a party to the deal.

Mr. Obama arrived in Malaysia on April 26, 2014.

Four months later, 1MDB moved to buy the DuSable unit out of the project, which had seen no construction, to prepare 1MDB’s energy assets for a public offering.

Mr. Najib signed a resolution to pay DuSable $95 million for its interest in the solar project. The price was renegotiated and 1MDB paid $69 million, said a 1MDB/DuSable joint statement last year.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 14 October 2016, 12:32 pm and is filed under
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My plea from prison: Malaysia must choose freedom over repression

By Anwar Ibrahim

Washington Post

October 12, 2016

Sungai Buloh Prison, Malaysia — Yesterday, Malaysia’s Federal Court heard my final appeal to reverse the injustice of my politically-motivated detention at the hands of the Malaysian government. It won’t likely issue a final decision on my case for many months. What is really at stake in Malaysia, however, is a catastrophic slide to authoritarian kleptocracy by a country that was set to be the shining example of pluralistic democracy in a multi-religious Muslim majority country. My last appeal could well be the final opportunity for Prime Minister Najib Razak and the judiciary he cynically controls to set Malaysia again on a path of restoring its much tainted reputation on the global stage. But without the support of the international community and President Obama’s help, my fate is pre-determined.

I have struggled my entire life for the betterment of my country and the improvement of the lives of Malaysia’s citizens. I am coming up on having spent 10 years of my adult life over the course multiple imprisonments in jail. I am grateful for the strong support of the United Nations and organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, which have concluded I am illegally detained and have urged my immediate release. Although this has been particularly hard on my family, I am most worried about the unprecedented existential threat to Malaysia’s democracy and stability. We are at a crossroads where we can either emerge as a pluralistic democracy in Asia and in the Muslim world or where our nation will implode from grand corruption and different religious and ethnic groups being pitted against each other fighting for limited resources.

Najib’s overreach is even bringing my former political foes from the ruling party, including my political benefactor and later jailer Mahathir Mohamed, to defect to the opposition. But most democracies around the world have remained totally silent, and none have taken concrete measures to censure Najib and his government before the damage done by their corruption and authoritarianism is irreversible.

The opposition coalition I led in the 2008 elections shocked the ruling BN alliance led by the nationalist United Malay National Organization (UMNO), because a truly multi-racial and multi-religious coalition united to earn 48 percent of the popular vote. That only translated into 37 percent of the seats in the parliament, but it denied BN a two-thirds majority for the first time since 1969. But our success led the government to frame me for crimes that I did not commit in a lengthy trial that was held over me for some six years.

So when our opposition coalition won 52 percent of the popular vote in the 2013 elections, Najib could not allow me to remain free. I was finally imprisoned by his judiciary last year. To maintain his grip on power, Najib has imposed severe restrictions on public protest, imprisoned countless people for exercising their basic rights of freedom of expression, and maintained almost total domination of the media. This government has also stoked enmity between ethnic Malay Muslims on one hand, and ethnic Chinese and Indians of Christian, Buddhist, and Hindu religious affiliations on the other.

The outcome of Malaysia’s last general election in 2013 showed the political opposition and the movement for reform winning a majority of the popular vote. It demonstrated the thirst of the Malaysian people for fundamental reform of our key institutions and for genuine democracy and the rule of law. However, the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) or National Front that has held onto to control of the government for the entirety of our 59 years of independence, continues to subvert our liberty and hijack our democracy. Its efforts to hold power indefinitely include the adoption of new repressive legislation and a recent attempt by its submissive Election Commission to guarantee minority rule indefinitely through newly-proposed extreme gerrymandered districts. Left unchecked, in Malaysia this will pave the way for unbridled corruption, religious extremism, and inter-communal violence.

The international community has also learned about the wanton pilfering of public funds in the Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB which is linked to close associates of Najib. According to Malaysia’s auditor-general, some $7 billion of funds are missing. The corruption in this one case amounts to over $2,800 per Malaysian taxpayer, in a country with median income of less than $1,500 per month. While the U.S. Department of Justice is pursuing its own cases relating to the scandal, Malaysia’s own Attorney General has refused to bring any charges at all in the country where most of the crimes were committed.

A critical mass of our citizens want democracy. I have been imprisoned to stop our opposition coalition from bringing together our diverse peoples to achieve a multi-ethnic and multi-religious Malaysia.

Malaysians who want to hold Prime Minister Najib and the Malaysian government to account for their misdeeds and bring about change for the better need meaningful support from the international community.

My imprisonment is something I will endure as a necessary sacrifice in the struggle for democratization of my beloved country. However, far more is at stake for Malaysia than just my personal freedom. The question at hand is whether Malaysia, a country with immense potential, will rise to achieve it, or whether it will instead become a failed state.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 14 October 2016, 7:55 pm and is filed under
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Singapore Mustn’t Spare the Rod

By Andy Mukherjee

Bloomberg

Oct 12, 2016

A slap on the wrist of a licensed, regulated intermediary must satisfy three conditions. One, the errant party must feel remorse before relief. Two, all other players ought to be put on notice. Three, society should feel avenged on behalf of its often faceless victims.

The punishment meted out by Singapore to banks as part of its ongoing investigation into the 1MDB scandal looks to have achieved little success in meeting the first aim. It has done better in hitting the second goal, but largely missed the third.

Start with the first objective. A S$1 million ($725,000) fine on homegrown DBS and a S$1.3 million penalty on UBS elicited just the kind of contrition one can expect from organizations brimming with talented public relations professionals. UBS said it was “disappointed” it didn’t do more to detect and report suspicious transactions earlier; DBS said it should have taken more “rigorous action.” Both have promised to go after miscreant bankers, and forgo profit from their lapses. UBS would support industry-wide anti-money-laundering initiatives, while DBS would donate to a worthy cause.

These are all fine words, but peering through them is a palpable sense of relief. While nobody quite expected pragmatic Singapore to score an own goal by aggressively punishing shareholders of lending institutions for egregious behavior by their executives, the fines appear way too small in a city where being in possession of chips outside of a casino attracts a S$150,000 penalty.

Crime and Punishment

The fine of S$1 Million on DBS is equivalent to six people being caught in Singapore with chips outside casinos or 500 litterbugs being given the maximum penalty for first-time offenses

Falcon offers a case study. The Zurich-based institution joined BSI as the second Swiss private bank to get booted out of Singapore in connection with 1MDB, the Malaysian state investment firm alleged to have been looted of billions of dollars that were then laundered in multiple countries. Falcon was fined S$300,000 by the Monetary Authority of Singapore following a 2013 inspection that uncovered breaches of the central bank’s anti-money-laundering requirements. When the regulator probed the bank again in 2015, it found “an even larger number of regulatory breaches as well as serious failings” on the part of Swiss-based senior management and the Singapore branch manager, the MAS said on Tuesday.

If a S$300,000 fine leads to more bad behavior, then skeptics could argue that a few million dollars also fails to set an example, which is the second goal of any punishment. But in this case, they’d be wrong. The real stick in the central bank’s statement on Tuesday lies not in the quantum of the fine, but in its revelation that Falcon’s Singapore branch manager was arrested last week by the Commercial Affairs Department. Add that to charges filed on Monday against two former employees of BSI, and it’s safe to assume that MAS Notice 626 and 1014 on money laundering are now being read by more people in banks than just compliance officers.

Bankers are on notice. But where the MAS stick may have come up short is in sending a message to society that courtiers to the rich and the powerful won’t get off lightly. After all, there’s no reason why the integrity of the city’s financial system should matter any less than the reliability of its subway network. Considering that Singapore’s transport regulator slapped a S$5.4 million penalty on train operator SMRT for one day of service disruption last year, maybe it’s time for the MAS to ask for powers to inflict bigger pecuniary damages on those who don’t play by its rules.

At the very least, the fine should lead to some uncomfortable investor questions for CEOs at annual general meetings. Writing a check for less than what it costs to buy a decent apartment in Singapore isn’t much of a punishment.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 15 October 2016, 10:47 am and is filed under
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Six  possible scenarios as to what could happen to Hadi’s private member’s bill motion in the 25-day budget Parliament

There are six possible scenarios as to what could happen to the PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s private member’s bill motion in the 25-day Budget Parliament beginning on Monday, viz:

1.	Hadi’s private member’s bill motion comes up for debate in the first week of Parliament, whether on  Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday and passed with simple majority support.

2.	Hadi’s private member’s bill motion debated in the first week of Parliament and rejected with simple majority vote.

3.	Hadi’s private member’s bill motion not debated in the first week of Parliament and deferred until after the 2017  Budget’s debate and passage in the last week of Parliamentary meeting from  Nov. 21-24.

4.	Hadi’s private member’s bill motion debated in Parliament’s last week and passed by simple majority.

5.	Hadi’s private member’s bill motion debated in Parliament’s last week and rejected by simple majority.

6.	Hadi’s private member’s bill motion not debated and deferred to next year’s Parliamentary meeting.

I am quite perplexed by the statements which the MCA President and the MCA Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, had been making in the past two days about the possibility of Hadi’s private member’s bill motion coming up for debate and vote in next week’s Parliament.

For instance, at the Terengganu MCA convention in  Kuala Terengganu yesterday, Liow repeated what he said a day earlier in Putrajaya, that there is now a  13-party Barisan Nasional “consensus” that the Barisan Nasional government would not allow Hadi’s private member’s bill motion to have priority over government’s official parliamentary business, as happened in the May meeting of Parliament.

Was this the “consensus” that was reached at the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council meeting on 23rd September 2016, and was this what the UMNO and Barisan Nasional secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor meant when he said early this month that BN had arrived at a “consensus” regarding Hadi’s private member’s bill motion?

If so, this should be a very simple and straightforward matter, and Barisan Nasional leader should not find any difficulty in announcing the nature of such a Barisan Nasional “consensus”.

Why should the Barisan Nasional leaders be involved in a “cloak-and-dagger operation” to hide  what was the Barisan Nasional “consensus” on Hadi’s private member’s bill motion – unless the Barisan Nasional leaders have something to hide preventing them from acting in an honest, upright and transparent manner as they  have  some political trickery and chicanery up the sleeve on the issue?

Would Adnan and  the other BN leaders confirm that the Barisan Nasional has decided on a “consensus” that no priority would be given to Hadi’s private member’s bill over official government business in the forthcoming Parliament, and furthermore, what disciplinary action had been taken against the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, for violating the 43-year BN stand and consensus that PAS’ hudud proposal was not appropriate for Malaysia’s plural society, and against the fundamental provisions of the 1957 Merdeka Constitution and 1963 Malaysia Agreement?

There is a further cause for befuddlement whether about MCA or BN stand on Hadi’s private member’s bill motion.

Why was Liow’s announcement about the Barisan Nasional’s new “consensus” that BN would not give priority to Hadi’s private member’s bill motion over official business in Parliament published only in the Chinese media, but not even in the MCA-owned English-language daily?

Is this because Liow is not telling the truth?

Will  there be  clarifications by Liow, Adnan and the other BN leaders on the Barisan Nasional “consensus” on Hadi’s private member’s bill motion?

Or is there a possibility that  the parliamentary business next week would be arranged in such a manner whereby Hadi’s private member’s bill motion would come up for debate as the fourth item of parliamentary business, without any priority being given to it over official government business, as after the disposal of the first three parliamentary items of official business, there are no other official business on the Parliamentary Order Paper after Hadi’s private member’s bill motion?

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 15 October 2016, 12:56 pm and is filed under
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Are MCA Ministers seeking  “insurance” to remain in Cabinet as long as possible by equivocating on Hadi’s private member’s bill motion?

MCA Ministers led by the MCA President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai must have thought that they are very smart and clever in finding  a way  to get  “insurance” to remain in the Cabinet for as long as possible by equivocating on PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s private member’s bill motion.

MCA leaders have been going round the country declaring that MCA Ministers will relinquish their Cabinet posts if Hadi’s private member’s bill is passed.

This is begging the question as MCA Ministers are completely avoiding the issue which may come up in the first week of Parliament beginning on Monday as to whether  Hadi’s private member’s bill motion will be debated and  passed by simple majority vote.

Will MCA Ministers declare that they will relinquish their Cabinet posts if Hadi’s private member’s bill motion is passed in Parliament either next week or the last week of Parliament from Nov. 21 – 24?

And if not, why not?

This applies to the Ministers from Gerakan, MIC and other Sabah/Sarawak Barisan Nasional component parties.

By making an artificial distinction between Hadi’s private member’s bill motion and Hadi’s private member’s bill, MCA Ministers hope to get “insurance” to cowardly and cravenly hang on to the Cabinet for as long as possible – relying on Standing Order 49(3), (4) and (5) to argue that although Hadi’s private member’s bill motion had been passed in Parliament, Hadi’s private member’s bill had not yet been passed.

Standing Order 49 (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5) reads:

“49. (1) Any private member desiring to introduce a Bill may, subject to the provisions of Article 67 of the Constitution, apply to the House for leave to do so, and shall, at the same time, submit a copy of the Bill with an explanatory statement of the objects and reasons but shall not contain any argument.

(2) Every such application shall be made in the form of a motion, and the member making such application shall at the same time deliver to the Setiausaha a copy of his motion containing the title of his proposed Bill. The Setiausaha shall refuse to accept any application which does not conform with the requirement of these Standing Orders or any Federal law.

3) Leave being granted on a question put and carried, the Bill shall be deemed to have been read the first time and ordered to be printed and a copy of the Bill shall be delivered to the Setiausaha.

(4) The Bill shall, subject to Standing Order 51, thereupon be printed and circulated to members, and shall stand referred without discussion to the Minister concerned with the subjects or functions to which the Bill relates or, if there is no such Minister, then to such other Minister or member as Tuan Yang di-Pertua may nominate; and no further proceedings shall be taken upon such Bill until the Minister or member to whom it has been referred has reported to the house thereon.

(5) After the report referred to in the preceding paragraph of this Order has been made, the Bill shall be set down for second reading upon such day as the member in charge of the Bill shall desire.”

MCA Ministers are trying to argue that if Hadi’s private member’s bill motion is debated and adopted, Hadi’s private member’s bill had not yet been passed, as under Standing Order (4), the matter stands referred to the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Islamic affairs for a report to be submitted to Parliament.

This is misleading and fallacious.

As is evident from Standing Order 49 (3), if Hadi’s private member’s bill motion is passed by Parliament either next week or during the last week of the Budget Parliament, Hadi’s private member’s bill “shall be deemed to have been read the first time”.

However,  the condition precedent to the second reading of  Hadi’s private member’s bill is for the Bill to be referred to the Minister responsible for the portfolio and for him to submit a report  on the Bill to Parliament.

As Standing Order 49 (5) made  it very clear, the bill concerned during the whole process  remained Hadi’s Bill and never became the Minister’s bill, as once the Minister had submitted his report, “the Bill shall be set down for second reading upon such day as the member in charge of the Bill shall desire”.

The lacuna in Standing Order 49 is what time span is provided the Minister under Standing Order 49 (4) to report to the House on Hadi’s private member’s bill – whether the Minister concerned can sit on the Bill without submitting any report to the House, which would mean that Hadi’s private member’s bill can be killed by the Minister’s inaction and never  reach the stage of second reading until dissolution of Parliament?

Is this a lacuna in the Parliamentary Standing Orders that the  MCA Ministers are banking on as the “insurance” where they do not have to  honour their claim that they will  relinquish their  Cabinet posts if Hadi’s private member’s bill is passed – as distinct from Hadi’s member’s bill being given the first reading when Hadi’s private member’s bill motion is passed in the coming meeting of Parliament?

It is sad and shocking that UMNO, MCA and Barisan Nasional MPs, for their selfish short-term political interests,  are prepared to be so irresponsible as to play around with the fundamental principles and basis of the Merdeka Constitution 1957 and Malaysia Agreement 1963  as to flirt with Hadi’s private member’s bill motion.

Let MCA Ministers as well as those  from Gerakan, MIC and Sabah/Sarawak  Barisan Nasional parties come out strong and clear whether  they will relinquish their Cabinet posts if Hadi’s private members bill motion is passed by Parliament, whether next week or the last week of Budget Parliament, as the passage of Hadi’s private member’s bill motion is equivalent to passage of the  first reading of Hadi’s private member’s bill!

(Speech at the DAP 50th Anniversary Dinner in Jasin, Malacca, on Saturday, 15th October 2016 at 9 pm)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 16 October 2016, 11:45 am and is filed under
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World’s largest gathering of blind and mute MPs on Monday – when Malaysian Parliament reconvenes pretending the 1MDB financial scandal and infamy of Malaysia as “global kleptocracy” do not exist

The world’s largest gathering of blind and mute Members of Parliament will meet on Monday when the Malaysian Parliament reconvenes with the Barisan Nasional MPs, with the exception of former Finance Minister, Datuk Husni Hanazlah,  pretending that the 1MDB global financial scandal and the infamy of Malaysia as “global kleptocracy” do not exist.

All patriotic Malaysians who love the country deeply and passionately must feel ashamed and outraged that since the May meeting of Parliament some five months ago, Malaysia has acquired the international infamy being a “global kleptocracy”, especially after the July 20 lawsuit initiated by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to forfeit over US$1 billion of 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland from over US$3 billion international embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of 1MDB funds and the recent actions by the Swiss and Singapore financial regulatory authorities to either close down banks or institute criminal proceedings in connection with 1MDB money-laundering crimes.

The 1MDB global scandal and the infamy of Malaysia becoming a “global kleptocracy” should be the first item of parliamentary business when Parliament reconvenes on Monday, but from the Parliamentary Order Paper, it is clear that these two issues are totally absent from the radar of the Malaysian Government and Parliament.

One can in fact use the 1MDB and Malaysia’s infamy as “global kleptocracy” as a yardstick to judge whether a Minister or a Member of Parliament is a Malaysian patriot and nationalist, as no Malaysian can claim to be a patriot, nationalist or love Malaysia if he or she is not ashamed and outraged by the disgraceful appellation of Malaysia as a “global kleptocracy”, as if Malaysians are happy to be ruled by PPP – Pencuri, Perompak dan Penyamun.

It is to the eternal shame of the Malaysian Parliament that no oral question on the 1MDB global financial scandal  is slated to be answered in the 90 minute of question time on the first day of Parliament on Monday  – although there are seven out of the 56 oral questions listed for Monday’s Question Time, but they are placed so behind the queue that they will not be answered at all.

It is an even greater shame to Malaysia’s Parliament that out of 1,283 oral questions and 543 questions for written answer  submitted for the 25-day Parliamentary meeting, only one Barisan Naional MP (MP for Tambun and former Second Finance Minister Husni Hanadzlah) asked about the 1MDB global financial scandal and Malaysia’s infamy as a global kleptocracy.

All the questions about the 1MDB scandal (except for Husni’s) had come from the Pakatan Harapan MPs – a clear indicator who are genuine Malaysian patriots and nationalists and who are fakes and frauds.

Will the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, redeem Malaysia and Parliament’s honour and dignity by moving a motion on Monday to debunk and refute the damning allegation that Malaysia has become a global kleptocracy under his administration, and in particular, to refute all the negative connotations of being identified as “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” (MO 1) in the US DOJ  lawsuit on the international money-laundering of 1MDB funds?

I will be very surprised if the Prime Minister is capable of such action to redeem the honour, dignity and reputation of Malaysia and the Malaysian Parliament!

[Speech (2) at the DAP 50th Anniversary Dinner in Jasin, Malacca, on Saturday, 15th October 2016 at 9 pm]

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 16 October 2016, 1:10 pm and is filed under
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History will not look kindly at 13th Parliament as it pretends that the 1MDB financial scandal and infamy of Malaysia as “global kleptocracy” are no issues at all!

History will not look kindly at 13th Parliament as it pretends that the 1MDB financial scandal and infamy of Malaysia as “global kleptocracy” are no issues at all!

We must thank young creative architect Tey Tat Sing for sharing with us his vision of transforming our present living surroundings into a more humane, connected, integrated and holistic living spaces with a “soul”.

I particularly appreciate Tat Sing’s reimagination as I find the very unconventional décor of the Library for Social Democracy very soothing to the nerves and the soul, especially after a very stressful, disconnected and dehumanizing day – attending the first day of the 2017 Budget Parliament and at the end of it, being caught in more than an hour of a totally no-reason traffic jam in Kuala Lumpur, where traffic lights at intersections changed from red to green for close to ten times, but no traffic moved!

I thank REFSA (Research for Social Advancement) Chairman Liew Chin Tong for inviting to launch this Library for Social Democracy.

I am reminded of the great libraries during the golden age of Islamic civilization in the ninth through thirteenth centuries which mark an era of scientific, religious, philosophical and cultural development the scale and depth of which had never been in world history before or since.

There was Abbasids’ House of Wisdom in Baghdad  which was at once a university, library, translation institute and research lab, all on one campus.

Baghdad had reached its highest reputation and glorious status during the reigns of the Caliphs Al-Rasheed, Al-Ma’moun, Al-Mu’tadhid and Al-Muktafi.

It was the centre for Islamic (if not the world) culture and civilisation, as well as the headquarters for the Arts, Sciences and Letters. It was crowded with Scientists, Physicians, philosophers, Mathematicians, Astronomers, Men of Letters, Poets, Writers, Translators, Scribes, and Professionals in the various arts and crafts.

Baghdad’s House of Wisdom met its  sad,  tragic and brutal  end in 1,258 with the Mongol invasion of Baghdad and  the killing of the last Abbasid Caliph, the slaughter of the Caliph’s entire family and relatives, as well as those in the Caliphate Court – marking the end of the Abbasid Caliphate.

The magnificent collection of books and manuscripts of the House of Wisdom was thrown into the muddy waters of the River Tigris whose brown colour turned black for days as a result of the washing away of the ink used in the writing of these books and manuscripts.

There is also  the Great Library of Cordoba of the Umayyad Dynasty in Andalusia with its thousands of magnificent books and manuscripts. One can only imagine its invaluable collection when one reads that after 1492 and during the Spanish Inquisition when about half-a-million of its priceless books and manuscripts were deliberately and callously burnt!

Over the ages, there have been a lot of darkness and light metaphors about libraries, with libraries often described as a yardstick of success of a civilization and about a candle going out when a library closes.

Dark ages, however do not begin with the closing of a library but because of breakdown of government and the principles of good governance.  My thoughts today are particularly in this direction after the first day of the budget meeting of Parliament.

History will not look kindly at the 13th Parliament as it pretends that the 1MDB financial scandal and infamy of Malaysia as “global kleptocracy” are no issues at all.

Today, we have the Speaker’s ruling barring all questions on the US Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit filed on July 20 seeking forfeiture of US$1billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland from over US$3 billion international embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of 1MDB funds on the ground that it is “sub judice”.

DAP MP for Puchong Gobind Singh Deo and I immediately objected to the Speaker’s ruling. I asked how the “sub judice” rule in Malaysian Parliament could  apply in connection with litigation proceedings in foreign lands while Gobind asked whether the Speaker had read the 136-page DOJ lawsuit.

However, the Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia said his ruling was “final” and would not be reviewed unless there is a substantive  motion under Standing Order 43 to review it.

I then intimated that there would be a motion under Standing Order 43 to review the Speaker’s ruling and asked for an assurance from the Speaker that time would be allocated to debate the substantive motion – but such an assurance was not forthcoming.

All patriotic Malaysians who love the country deeply and passionately must feel ashamed and outraged that since the May meeting of Parliament some five months ago, Malaysia has acquired the international infamy being a “global kleptocracy”, especially after the July 20 lawsuit initiated by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to forfeit over US$1 billion of 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland from over US$3 billion international embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of 1MDB funds and the recent actions by the Swiss and Singapore financial regulatory authorities to either close down banks or institute criminal proceedings in connection with 1MDB money-laundering crimes.

The 1MDB global scandal and the infamy of Malaysia becoming a “global kleptocracy” should be the first item of parliamentary business when Parliament reconvened today, but Speaker’s shocking ruling has given the official excuse for Government and Parliament to pretend that they not relevant and pertinent concerns and to perform the Malaysian magic of making a global problem disappear into thin air in Malaysia!

The  1MDB and Malaysia’s infamy as “global kleptocracy” are in fact yardsticks to judge whether a Minister or a Member of Parliament is a Malaysian patriot and nationalist, as no Malaysian can claim to be a patriot, nationalist or love Malaysia if he or she is not ashamed and outraged by the disgraceful appellation of Malaysia as a “global kleptocracy”, as if Malaysians are happy to be ruled by PPP – Pencuri, Perompak dan Penyamun.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a historic day for the Malaysian Parliament with the debut of  the half-hour Minister’s Question Time (MQT), touted as the most significant of parliamentary reforms.

I have submitted a question for the MQT to ask the Prime Minister what action the government is taking to cleanse and purge the infamy of being regarded world-wide as a “global kleptocracy”.

If this question is rejected in the MQT tomorrow, then it will be the best proof that the MQT is nothing but a façade  to hide Parliament’s subservient and ignominous role to carry out the government’s charade to pretend that the 1MDB financial scandal and infamy of Malaysia as “global kleptocracy” are not issues at all!

(Speech at the launching of the REFSA Library for Social Democracy in Kuala Lumpur and Library Festival of Workshops, Forums, Art, etc on Monday, 17th October 2016 at 7.30  pm)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 18 October 2016, 8:50 am and is filed under
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Boycott of Minister’s Question Time (MQT) debut in protest against Parliamentary charade pretending Malaysia’s international infamy for being “global kleptocracy” does not exist

Today is supposed to be a historic day for the Malaysian Parliament with the debut of  the half-hour Minister’s Question Time (MQT), touted as the most significant of the Speaker’s parliamentary reforms.

I have however boycotted the debut of the MQT in protest against the parliamentary charade pretending that Malaysia’s infamy for being a “global kleptocracy” does not exist.

I had submitted a question for the MQT debut today to ask the Prime Minister what action the government was taking to cleanse and purge the national  infamy of being regarded world-wide as a “global kleptocracy”.

This question was rejected by the Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia for today’s MQT.

After the Speaker’s  ruling yesterday barring all  questions on the US Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit filed on July 20 seeking forfeiture of US$1billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland from over US$3 billion international embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of 1MDB funds on the ground that it is “sub judice”, the rejection of my question for the MQT would appear to be part of a blatant and unashamed  attempt to censor and outlaw all debate, discussion or question not only about the DOJ action but anything concerning 1MDB and Malaysia’s infamous and iniquitous appellation as a “global kleptocracy” in the Malaysian Parliament.

I fully agree with former Court of Appeal judge Datuk Hishammuddin Mohd Yunus who asked what “sub judice” was the Speaker talking about, as Ministers should not be “barred” from answering questions in Parliament on the United States Department of Justice’s (DOJ) civil suit involving the alleged misappropriation of 1MDB funds for the reason of sub judice.

I would not use the word “barred” and instead substitute it with “saved”, as Hishammuddin’s question was exactly the one I asked Pandikar when he made the shocking ruling yesterday – how can the “sub judice” meant for Malaysian courts and judges be applied in a litigation overseas!

Hishamudin Mohd Yunus is right when he said the question of sub judice does not arise at all.

He said: “This is because it is a foreign hearing. The sub judice rule applies in relation to hearing in Malaysian courts.”

Today’s incident where the Speaker followed up his arbitrary ruling yesterday barring all questions about the US DOJ action with rejection of the question on Malaysia’s infamy of being regarded world-wide as a “global kleptocracy” for the MQT seemed to be part of an scheme to censor and  outlaw all discussion on the Prime Minister’s 1MDB global financial scandal.

The Speaker should realise that the US DOJ action was taken under the US Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative (KARI) and which is why Malaysia had ignominiously  earned the epithet of a “global kleptocracy” – making Pandikar the Parliament Speaker of a global kleptocracy.

This is nothing to be proud of – in fact, it should be matter of great shame and outrage!

I reiterate that history will not look kindly at the 13th Parliament if it pretends that the 1MDB financial scandal and infamy of Malaysia as “global kleptocracy” are not burning  issues at all.

I maintain that all patriotic Malaysians who love the country deeply and passionately must feel ashamed and outraged that since the May meeting of Parliament some five months ago, Malaysia had acquired the international infamy being a “global kleptocracy”, especially after the July 20 lawsuit initiated by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to forfeit over US$1 billion of 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland from over US$3 billion international embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of 1MDB funds and the recent actions by the Swiss and Singapore financial regulatory authorities to either close down banks or institute criminal proceedings in connection with 1MDB money-laundering crimes.

DAP MP for Puchong Gobind Singh Deo will file a substantive motion under Standing Order 43   to review the Speaker’s ruling barring all questions on US DOJ forfeiture action on the ground of “sub judice” and I hope that the Speaker will ensure that such a substantive motion will be allotted time for debate after 48 hours’ notice.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 18 October 2016, 3:29 pm and is filed under
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Is UMNO leading MCA/Gerakan/MIC/BN  or PAS down the garden path on Hadi’s hudud bill?

On  May  26 in Parliament, the UMNO leadership led MCA, Gerakan, MIC and the Sabah/Sarawak Barisan Nasional parties down the garden path when without any Barisan Nasional “consensus”,  the UMNO Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Azalina Othman Said unilaterally and arbitrarily,   moved a motion in Parliament to give priority to PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang’s private member’s bill motion over all official business.

In the last two days in Parliament, the UMNO leadership led PAS President, PAS MPs and the PAS membership down the garden path when Hadi’s private member’s bill motion was pushed from Item No. 4 yesterday to Item No. 7 today.

Although PAS members throughout the country expected Hadi’s private member’s bill motion to be passed in Parliament either yesterday or today, it is now clear that Hadi’s private member’s bill motion is unlikely to be debated in this first week of Parliament, which means it could not be debated, if at all, only in  the last two days of the present budget meeting on Nov. 23 and 24 as Parliament will begin debating the 2017 Budget on Monday.

The intriguing question is who  UMNO is  leading down the garden path – MCA/Gerakan/MIC/BN parties in Sabah and Sarawak or PAS?

When asked by parliamentary reporters today, the Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi said only the Prime Minister and UMNO President, Datuk Seri Najib Razak could decide on whether UMNO MPs would support Hadi’s private member’s bill motion.

May be the question that Najib should clarify is even wider than whether UMNO is leading MCA/Gerakan/MIC/BN or PAS down the garden path, but whether Najib is leading UMNO and the country down the garden path!

Malaysians are entitled to a clear-cut stand from Barisan Nasional MPs whether Barisan Nasional will renege on their commitment to uphold the fundamental basis and principles of the Merdeka Constitution 1957,  the Malaysia Agreement 1963  and Rukunegara 1970 and that not a single BN MP will vote in support for Hadi’s private member’s bill motion.

UMNO/MCA/Gerakan/MIC/BN equivocation on Hadi’s private member’s bill motion is one of the most shameful and disgraceful episodes in Malaysia’s parliamentary history.

The irresponsibility of UMNO/MCA/Gerakan/MIC/BN MPs on Hadi’s private member’s bill is only exceeded by the most outrageous and shameful episode in Malaysian parliamentary history – their total absence of shame and outrage at Malaysia’s infamy from being regarded world-wide as a “global kleptocracy”, i.e. a rule by thieves and robbers!

Today is supposed to be a historic day for the Malaysian Parliament with the debut of  the half-hour Minister’s Question Time (MQT), touted as the most significant of the Speaker’s parliamentary reforms.

I have however boycotted the debut of the MQT this morning in protest against the parliamentary charade pretending that Malaysia’s infamy for being a “global kleptocracy” does not exist.

I had submitted a question for the MQT to ask the Prime Minister what action the government was taking to cleanse and purge the national  infamy of being regarded world-wide as a “global kleptocracy”.

This question was rejected by the Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia for today’s MQT.

Does this mean that Malaysia’s infamy from being regarded world-wide as a “global kleptocracy” and Najib’s 1MDB global financial scandal have become “banned” subjects and cannot be raised in Parliament, whether by way of question, motion or debate?

Yesterday,  the Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Mulia Amin made a ruling barring all  questions on the US Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit filed on July 20 seeking forfeiture of US$1billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland from over US$3 billion international embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of 1MDB funds on the ground that it is “sub judice”.

The Speaker’s ruling is against national interests as it will protect and even save Najib and the government from having to give full accountability for the 1MDB scandal, the DOJ action as well as Malaysia’s infamy at  being regarded world-wide as a “global kleptocracy”, which I described in Parliament as a rule by PPP – Pencuri, Perompak and Penyamun!

I fully agree with former Court of Appeal judge Datuk Hishammuddin Mohd Yunus who asked what “sub judice” was the Speaker talking about, as Ministers should not be barred from answering questions in Parliament on the United States Department of Justice’s (DOJ) civil suit involving the alleged misappropriation of 1MDB funds for the “sub judice” rule is meant for Malaysian courts and judges and cannot  be applied in a litigation overseas!

The second MQT will be on Thursday. I am submitting the same question for the second MQT – to ask the Prime Minister what action the government is taking to cleanse and purge the national  infamy of being regarded world-wide as a “global kleptocracy”.

Let us see whether  Malaysia’s infamy of being regarded world-wide as a “global kleptocracy” and Najib’s 1MDB scandal have become “ banned” and outlawed subjects in the Malaysian Parliament, and whether I have to continue to boycott the MQT in protest at the charade the Malaysian Parliament has been reduced to so as to save the Prime Minister and  Ministers from having to give a full account on  these two burning issues.

(Speech at the DAP Anniversary/SSS Lim Guan Eng Dinner organized by Bukit Bintang DAP  Branch in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday 18th October 2016 at 9 pm)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 19 October 2016, 8:31 am and is filed under
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Continued boycott of second Minister’s Question Time: Parliament must bear part responsibility if Malaysia TI CPI 2016 plunges because of Malaysia’s world-wide infamy as the newest global kleptocracy

Today is the second day of Minister’s Question Time (MQT) which I am continuing to boycott in protest against the parliamentary charade pretending that Malaysia’s infamy for being a “global kleptocracy” does not exist.

I had again  submitted a question for the MQT  today to ask the Prime Minister what action the government was taking to cleanse and purge the national  infamy of being regarded world-wide as a “global kleptocracy”, a question which was not picked by the Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, as one of the three questions for answer during the MQT debut on Tuesday.

This question has again been rejected for the MQT today.

All over the world,  the reverberations from Malaysia being regarded  world-wide as a global kleptocracy as a result of the 1MDB global financial scandal continues unabated, but in Malaysia, Parliament is the latest recruit of the great national pretence that Malaysia’s infamy being regarded world-wide as a global kleptocracy as a result of the 1MDB global financial scandal does not exist.

The latest is In London, where the Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio has said he will cooperate with investigations of corruption allegations against Malaysia’s state investment fund 1MDB          and his charitable foundation has pledged to return gifts or donations that came from the fund.

This follows  a protest by anti-corruption activists from Malaysia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom  against the Hollywood superstar in London at the premier of this climate change documentary “Beyond the Flood” this week.

The anti-corruption activists come from organisations including  Malaysia’s Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4), Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) and London Bersih want DiCaprio to disclose and disavow his ties to associates of Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is suspected of using state funds to finance the actor’s 2013 film “The Wolf of Wall Street” and to pay back all “dubious funds” received by his production company from Riza Aziz, the prime minister’s stepson, and financier Low Taek Jho.

After the Speaker’s  ruling on Monday  barring all  questions on the US Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit filed on July 20 seeking forfeiture of US$1billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland from over US$3 billion international embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of 1MDB funds on the ground that it is “sub judice”, the repeated  rejection of my question for the MQT would appear to be part of a blatant and unashamed  attempt to censor and outlaw all debate, discussion or question not only about the DOJ action but anything concerning 1MDB and infamy as a “global kleptocracy” in the Malaysian Parliament.

The Speaker should realise that the US DOJ action was taken under the US Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative (KARI) and which is why Malaysia had ignominiously  earned the epithet of a “global kleptocracy” – making Pandikar the Parliament Speaker of a global kleptocracy.

This is nothing to be proud of – in fact, it should be matter of great shame and outrage!

I reiterate that history will not look kindly at the 13th Parliament if it pretends that the 1MDB financial scandal and infamy of Malaysia as “global kleptocracy” are not burning  issues at all.

I maintain that all patriotic Malaysians who love the country deeply and passionately must feel ashamed and outraged that since the May meeting of Parliament some five months ago, Malaysia had acquired the international infamy being a “global kleptocracy”, especially after the July 20 lawsuit initiated by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to forfeit over US$1 billion of 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland from over US$3 billion international embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of 1MDB funds and the recent actions by the Swiss and Singapore financial regulatory authorities to either close down banks or institute criminal proceedings in connection with 1MDB money-laundering crimes.

Parliament must bear part responsibility if Malaysia TI CPI 2016 plunges not only because of Malaysia’s world-wide infamy as the newest global kleptocracy but Parliament’s shameful role in pretending that this problem does not exist.

(Media Conference Statement  in Parliament on Thursday, 20th October 2016 at 12 noon)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 20 October 2016, 3:00 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia intent on becoming laughing stock of the world – from “hotdog” furore  to Speaker of global kleptocracy trying to ensure integrity of justice system in United States when we cannot ensure integrity of Malaysian judiciary

Malaysia seems intent to be constantly in  international  headlines as the laughing stock of the world  – the latest being the “hotdog” furore and the Speaker of a global kleptocracy trying to ensure integrity of justice system in the United States!

I fully agree with former Cabinet Minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz who lamented that Malaysia’s reputation as a moderate Muslim nation is being negated with unfavourable developments which paint the country as nation governed  in some spheres by people with horses blinkers – like the furore involving Auntie Anne’s “pretzel dog”, with people in power who had gone “doggone loco” trying to change the name of popular Western snack.

Then we have the Speaker of Parliament of a country which is the latest entry of  the obnoxious club of “global kleptocracies” trying to ensure the integrity of the justice system in the United States, when we cannot ensure the integrity of the Malaysian judiciary in the first place.

Yesterday, Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia says it is sub judice to discuss the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) suit on 1MDB assets, because the Hansard could then be cited by the DOJ in the US hearing.

He said: “Even if no one from Malaysia is called to testify in the trial in America, they can quote what is being said in the Malaysian Parliament in order to influence the trial in the America.

“This is why I did not allow the debate, because every argument made here can be used in the American trial, even if it is in a foreign land.

“What the minister said here can be quoted in the American trial. In my opinion, this can influence the trial.”

I do not want to go into a full discussion on the demerits of the Speaker’s ruling on Monday barring  parliamentary questions on the DOJ’s civil forfeiture suit in California, but I hope that the Speaker will announce that DAP MP for Puchong, Gobind Singh Deo’s substantive motion to review his ruling under Standing Order 43 will be fully debated in Parliament on Monday.

But it is worth noting that the United States had often been accused of trying to be the world’s policeman.

Now, we have the Speaker of Parliament of Malaysia, the latest entry to the obnoxious club of “global kleptocracies”, trying to ensure the integrity of the justice system of the world’s policeman.

I do not know which case is  more guilty of impertinence, hubris and megalomania – to try to be the policeman of the world or to try to uphold the integrity of the justice system of the “policeman of the world” when we are ourselves struggling with the integrity, independence and professionalism of the Malaysian judiciary!

The first concern of the Parliament of Malaysia is not to indulge in any Don Quixotic endeavour to try to protect the integrity of the justice system of the United States when we seem to be helpless and impotent to guarantee the integrity, independence and professionalism of the Malaysian judiciary, but to perform the patriotic duty to protect the good name and reputation of Malaysia  from the infamy of being regarded world-wide as a global kleptocracy as a result of the  July 20 lawsuit initiated by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to forfeit over US$1 billion of 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland from over US$3 billion international embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of 1MDB funds and the recent actions by the Swiss and Singapore financial regulatory authorities to either close down banks or institute criminal proceedings in connection with 1MDB money-laundering crimes.

History will not look kindly at the 13th Parliament if it continues to pretend that the 1MDB financial scandal and infamy of Malaysia as “global kleptocracy” are not burning  issues at all.

All patriotic Malaysians who love the country deeply and passionately must feel ashamed and outraged that since the May meeting of Parliament some five months ago, Malaysia had acquired the international infamy being a “global kleptocracy”.

The 13th Parliament must be mindful that it  must bear part responsibility if Malaysia’s Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (TI CPI) 2016 plunges not only because of Malaysia’s world-wide infamy as the newest global kleptocracy but Parliament’s shameful role in pretending that these problems do not exist and does nothing to cleanse and purge Malaysia of the infamy of the epithet of a “global kleptocracy”.

This is the reason why I  had boycotted both sessions of  Minister’s Question Time (MQT)  this week as protest against the parliamentary charade pretending that Malaysia’s infamy for being a “global kleptocracy” does not exist.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 21 October 2016, 12:03 pm and is filed under
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2017 Budget Speech will go down in history as one where Prime Minister Najib  admits failure and repudiates Vision 2020 by announcing  his Vision 2050

Today’s budget presentation in Parliament by the Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, makes dubious history.

I have personally seen some 42 Budget presentations in Parliament since my first election as MP, and this is the first time that a budget has attracted such derision because of its double absence of credibility – over the budget itself and the presenter of the budget.

This is why for the first time in Malaysia’s parliamentary history since Merdeka in 1957,  there is a mass  protest walk-out of Opposition MPs in Parliament during the presentation of the Budget!

Why had such protest walk-outs of MPs not happened in past budget presentations by past Finance Ministers?

Najib’s 2017 Budget makes double history – the first budget since Malaysia had acquired the infamy of being regarded world-wide as a “global kleptocracy” as well as going down in history as one where Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak admits failure and repudiates Vision 2020 by announcing his own Vision 2050!

Najib’s repudiation of Vision 2020 was done in a very wily manner.

It was made at the end of his 2017 Budget speech, to a chamber of mostly BN or pro-BN MPs as  over 70 Opposition MPs had staged a protest walk-out of the Parliament Chamber, and in a very indirect but most craven manner – as he did not have the courage to openly and directly repudiate Vision 2020 but had to resort to the sleight-of-hand of not mentioning Vision 2020 at all when announcing his new Vision 2050.

But there can be no doubt that Najib as good as repudiated former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s Vision 2020 when he announced his new vision, Transformasi Nasional 2050 (National Transformation 2050 – TN 50) as the new national lodestone for the next three decades when he said:

“From now on, TN50 is our lucky charm. Let the old legacy pass. The future of Malaysia, we Recreate.”

It is most shocking that Najib could so cavalierly and unceremoniously repudiated Vision 2020 when only in the last budget presentation last year, he reiterated his commitment to achieve Vision 2020 and the goal of a developed nation status.

What has happened to the 11th Malaysia Plan which Najib had announced in Parliament in March last year as “the final lap” in the country’s march to achieving developed nation status in 2020?

Has he abandoned both Vision 2020 and its final lap?

Have MCA, Gerakan, MIC and the Sabah and Sarawak Barisan Nasional component parties agreed to the failure and repudiation of Vision 2020 or is this another example of UMNO hegemony in Barisan Nasional, where the UMNO dictates as to what should be the Barisan Nasional policy and direction and the other 12 Barisan Nasional component parties just obey and follow?

If Vision 2020 is a national failure, is there a review and post-mortem as to why Vision 2020 had failed in its 30-Year Plan to achieve fully-developed nation status for Malaysia , with a more united Malaysian citizenry and democratic polity?

Malaysians have a right to know why the 30-year  Vision 2020 had failed before they embrace and embark on Najib’s 34-year Vision  2050 – whether Transformasi Nasional 2050 or Deformasi Nasional 2050!

(Speech at the Bukit Kepayang DAP Anniversary Dinner in Seremban on Friday, 21st October 2016 at 9 pm)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 22 October 2016, 6:32 am and is filed under
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Sad, shocking and most embarrassing  that there is not  a word to refute  Malaysia’s infamy as a global kleptocracy as a result of 1MDB global financial scandal in  2017 Budget

The very fact that the question
“Was it a budget speech, or a three-ring circus ringmaster’s pitch?”
 was asked  testifies to the fact that Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 2017 Budget speech in Parliament yesterday was the most weird, unorthodox and even unbudgetary speech in the nation’s  59-year history – including Najib’s previous seven budgetary speeches from 2009 to 2015.

The writer who posed the question whether it was a budget speech or a three-ring circus felt it was unbecoming for the Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister, “like magician pulling rabbits out of a hat, Najib seemed to have filled the House with this person and that, whom he called out to each and every time his speech went to the part of goodies that he threw their way” – there were “cabbies and mosque imams, tok siaks and bilals, athletes, scientists, policemen, soldiers, micro loan programme Tekun participants, and yes, even the dead”.

The writer asked: “Is he unveiling a budget, or a circus troupe, as he name-drops all through his speeches, naming this person, that person living and some who have passed?”

Where did Najib get inspiration for such a most weird and unorthodox budget presentation?

From Donald Trump, who blazed new “breakthroughs”  with the special guests he invited to the US Presidential debates, or from Robert Mugabe, who had a special “four-eyes only” meeting with Najib –  meeting between the world’s oldest kleptocrat with the world’s newest kleptocrat –  although no photographs of the dubious event in Kuala Lumpur was released to the media?

Najib said yesterday that the Opposition had embarrassed themselves by creating a ruckus during his Budget 2017 speech.

Najib  cannot be wrong.

What is reall sad, shocking and most embarrassing is  that there is not  a word to refute  Malaysia’s infamy as a global kleptocracy as a result of 1MDB global financial scandal in  2017 Budget!

This is Najib’s “denial syndrome” at its worst, as it is Najib who had embarrassed himself, Parliament and the nation with his unabashed presentation of the first budget of a country after Malaysia  had been acquired the infamy of a world-wide epithet as a “global kleptocracy”, without any attempt by the Malaysian government in Parliament to cleanse and purge Malaysia of such ignominy.

There is not a word of refutation in Najib’s budget speech about Malaysia’s infamy as a result of the world-wide epithet  of a “global kleptocracy”, especially after US Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit under its Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative (KARI) filed on July 20 seeking forfeiture of US$1billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland from over US$3 billion international embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of 1MDB funds and the recent actions by the Swiss and Singapore financial regulatory authorities to either close down banks or institute criminal proceedings in connection with 1MDB money-laundering crimes.

In fact, there is not a word about Malaysia’s fight against corruption in the 2017 Budget – despite  the backdrop of Malaysia’s newly-acquired international infamy as a global kleptocracy!

Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications Director Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan thinks he was being very clever when  he tweeted that he had answered who Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) is with regard to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) civil suits related to 1MDB.

He asked why Pakatan Harapan MPs were still holding up placards with the words “Who is MO1?” when he had said Najib is MO1 in front of millions of BBC’s international audience.

It is an indication of Abdul Raham’s political  irrelevance that his BBC interview  is not given the weight and importance he thinks its deserves, or the placard “Who is MO1?” should be replaced with “TANGKAP MO1”.

History will not look kindly at the Malaysian Government, the Cabinet and the 13th Parliament if they continue to  pretend that the 1MDB financial scandal and infamy of Malaysia as “global kleptocracy” are not burning  issues at all – which  they have succeeded in doing  in the first week of Parliament and in Najib’s 2017 Budget.

All patriotic Malaysians who love the country deeply and passionately must feel ashamed and outraged that since the May meeting of Parliament some five months ago, Malaysia had acquired the international infamy of being a “global kleptocracy” after the actions by the US, Swiss and Singapore  financial and regulatory authorities.

Parliament must bear part responsibility if Malaysia’s Transparency International (TI CPI) 2016 plunges when it is published in less than six weeks’ time –   not only because of Malaysia’s world-wide infamy as the newest global kleptocracy but Parliament’s shameful role in pretending that this problem does not exist.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 22 October 2016, 11:50 am and is filed under
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I will ask  for a third time  in the MQT on Tuesday the question what the government is doing to purge the country of the infamy of a “global kleptocracy” – a test of whether Malaysian Parliament is first or third world Parliament

I will ask for a third time in the third session of Minister’s Question Time  (MQT) next Tuesday the question  what the government is doing to purge the country of the infamy of a “global kleptocracy”, which will be a test of whether the Malaysian Parliament is  capable of becoming a first-world Parliament or  is destined to be relegated to a third-world Parliament status.

I had boycotted the two MQTs  last Tuesday and Thursday in protest agains the parliamentary charade pretending that Malaysia’s infamy for being a “global kleptocracy” does not exist.

I had on both MQT  occasions submitted a question  to ask the Prime Minister what action the government was taking to cleanse and purge the national infamy of being regarded world-wide as a “global kleptocracy”, but on both occasions, the question was not picked by the Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, as one of the three questions for answer during the MQT.

During the first day of Parliament last Monday, the Speaker made a most shocking and extraordinary ruling, barring all questions on the US Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit filed on July 20 seeking forfeiture of US$1billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland from over US$3 billion international embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of 1MDB funds on the ground that it is “sub judice”.

Pandikar is making a Speaker’s ruling which sets a world precedent, for no other Parliament in the world applies the “sub judice” rule arising from lawsuits in foreign countries.

This appears to be an attempt to  censor and outlaw all debate and discussion  not only about the DOJ action but anything concerning the 1MDB  scandal and infamy as a “global kleptocracy” in the Malaysian Parliament.

All over the world, the reverberations from Malaysia being regarded world-wide as a global kleptocracy as a result of the 1MDB global financial scandal continues unabated, but in the Malaysian Parliament there is the great pretence that Malaysia’s infamy being regarded world-wide as a global kleptocracy as a result of the 1MDB global financial scandal  does not exist and had become  a “sensitive”  subject which could not be raised in Parliament.

If this parliamentary pretence is not challenged and countered, Parliament in Malaysia will never become first-world Parliament, and will be relegated to a third-world Parliament status, whatever high-sounding parliamentary reforms like the MQT may be attempted.

Parliament does not become a first-world Parliament just because of innovations where the Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak used power-point for his budget speech on Friday, if MPs are not allowed to raise grave and burning issues in the country in Parliament.

In this connection, I want to know whether Opposition MPs could use the  power-point facilities  during their speeches in Parliament, or whether the power-point facilities are specially reserved for the Prime Minister’s use only.

If so, this will  be a grave breach of parliamentary privileges, and the Prime Minister should be referred to the Committee of Privileges for a grave breach of privilege especially as the House Committee was never consulted about the  power point facilities for Najib for his 2017 budget speech.

[Media Conference Statement (2)  after the Opening of Johore State DAP Convention in Kulai on Sunday, October 23, 2016 at 12 noon]

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 23 October 2016, 5:04 pm and is filed under
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