Najib should open up,  invite and answer  questions about the 1MDB scandal and Malaysia as a global kleptocracy  when he   visits the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations before the end of his three-day visit to United States

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has visited the White House and met President Trump but he continues to be hounded and haunted by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) largest kleptocratic suit to forfeit some US$1.7 billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland.

The jury is out as to whether Najib could capitalize on his White House visit and meeting with President Trump for his benefit in the run-up to the 14th General Election, or whether it would be a deadweight to sink his premiership and coalition in the next general election.

The missing “elephant” in the Trump-Najib meeting  is not only the talk of Malaysians and Americans, but the whole world – as never before had any Malaysian Prime Minister or possibly any  visiting foreign leader who had been bombarded by such a bad press, both in the United States and world-wide.

What is worse, Najib’s visit has added a new ethical conundrum for both Trump and Najib – as the Malaysian Prime Minister and his entourage are staying at the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, raising the question whether Trump is violating the Emoluments Clause of the US Constitution which forbids presidents from receiving gifts or payment for services rendered from foreign governments while in office.

Those who believe that Najib’s visit to the White House will ipso facto put the 1MDB scandal behind him are being incredibly naïve, for all that  Najib’s visit to the White House has done is to present an unprecedented spectacle of two leaders who are both under investigation by the US DOJ – the Malaysian Prime Minister and the US President, one for theft and money-laundering of more than US$4.5 billion over six years from 1MDB and the other on whether Trump’s current or former aides colluded with Russian intelligence during the 2016 presidential campaign.

The unprecedented White House meeting in fact conjured up images of  posters of former US President Nixon in prison garb  and raises the question whether the two personages who met at the White House yesterday would end up in prison garbs!

Najib must face up to the reality of the situation – there is no way for him to wish the “elephant” of the 1MDB scandal and Malaysia as a global kleptocracy away with mere pretence and  charade that the infamy and ignominy of 1MDB scandal  and Malaysia as a global kleptocracy do not exist.

Najib should open up,  invite and answer  questions about the 1MDB scandal and Malaysia as a global kleptocracy when he   visits the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations later today before the end of his three-day visit to United States.

Let it be  a start for the Malaysian authorities especially Parliament and the Judiciary  to grapple with and kill Malaysia’s new demons – 1MDB scandal and Malaysia as a global kleptocracy – which have tainted and tarred Malaysia’s reputation and international standing.

It is indeed supreme irony that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is celebrating its 50th anniversary with the launching of two LRT coaches on the Kelana Jaya Line, painted with the theme Jerung atau bilis dalam jaring kami (Big fish or small, we will get you).

This MACC LRT campaign only serves to remind Malaysians that the MACC is only a paper-tiger, as it could only act against ikan bilis or may be medium-size fishes but not jerung, who enjoy both immunity and impunity in the MACC’s anti-corruption campaign.

Is the MACC prepared to prove that it is serious about eradicating corruption, without fear or favour, and if so, when is it going to get serious with investigations into the 1MDB scandal and address Malaysia’s infamy and ignominy as a global kleptocracy?

(Media Statement in Gelang Patah on Wednesday, 13th September 2017)

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Trump hosts scandal-hit Malaysian PM

News24

2017-09-12

Washington – US President Donald Trump hosts Malaysia’s prime minister at the White House Tuesday, a meeting that risks being overshadowed by his guest’s spiraling corruption scandal.

Prime Minister Najib Razak will visit the Oval Office for talks that the White House says will be focused on terrorism, trade and Asian maritime disputes.

But the run-up to Najib’s arrival has been dominated by questions about his entanglement in an ongoing US Justice Department investigation.

The veteran prime minister faces allegations that billions were looted from a sovereign wealth fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), in complex overseas deals that are being investigated by authorities in several countries, including the United States.

Both the prime minister and the fund deny any wrongdoing, but the Justice Department has filed civil lawsuits to seize assets, from high-end real estate to artworks, it says are worth about $1.7 billion.

The White House refused to say whether the issue will come up, and has tried to shift the focus onto relations with a key partner in South East Asia.

Trump is expected to visit the region later this year for summits in Vietnam and the Philippines.

“Look, we’re not going to comment on an ongoing investigation being led by the Department of Justice,” said press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Monday. “That investigation is apolitical and certainly independent of anything taking place tomorrow.”

“The United States and Malaysia have had a 60-year relationship and partnership built on common economic and security interests, and that continues.”

She listed “strengthen counterterrorism cooperation,” halting the Islamic State group, “addressing North Korea” and “making sure that we promote maritime security in the South China Sea” as topics for discussion.

Trump is also likely to reiterate thanks for Malaysia’s efforts to assist the USS John S. McCain, which collided with a tanker as the destroyer was on its way to Singapore, tearing a huge hole in the hull and leaving 10 sailors dead.

Ahead of his arrival at the White House, Najib sought to play up majority-Muslim Malaysia’s role as a partner in countering violent extremism.

“What underpins decades of friendly, productive and cooperative relations are the deep-seated values we share,” he wrote in an article published by The Hill newspaper.

“Our commitment to the fight against radicalisation and terror is something we feel in our hearts.”

Criticism of Najib

Malaysian opposition lawmaker Lim Kit Siang painted that appeal as a deflection.

“No prime minister of Malaysia in the past 60 years had to face such phalanx of international media hostility or avalanche of adverse press publicity both in the United States and the world,” he said in a statement.

“It is inconceivable that Najib would have the credibility to salvage his own as well as the nation’s reputation with his visit to the United States.”

“Najib cannot free Malaysia from the ignominy and infamy of being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocrat.”

In an editorial, the Washington Post said Najib’s visit “sets a new low” for the Trump administration.

“Not only is Mr Najib known for imprisoning peaceful opponents, silencing critical media and reversing Malaysia’s progress toward democracy,” the paper wrote.

“He also is a subject of the largest foreign kleptocracy investigation ever launched by the US Justice Department.”

Trump faces his own Justice Department investigation into his presidential campaign’s ties Russia and alleged efforts to obstruct justice. Trump has also denied any wrongdoing.

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Trump, Malaysia’s Najib skirt round U.S. probe into 1MDB scandal

Roberta Rampton, David Brunnstrom

Reuters

SEPTEMBER 12, 2017

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to the White House on Tuesday, praising his country for investing in the United States while steering clear of an American investigation into a Malaysian corruption scandal.

The visit is important for Najib, who faces elections next year and wants to signal he is still welcome at the White House despite a criminal probe by the U.S. Justice Department into a state fund called 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Flanked by top advisers in the Cabinet Room, Najib told Trump that Malaysia Airlines would buy 25 Boeing 737 jets and eight 787 Dreamliners, and would probably add another 25 737s in the near future – a deal he said would be worth more than $10 billion within five years.

Najib said Malaysia’s Employees Provident Fund, a major pension fund, wanted to spend $3 billion to $4 billion on U.S. infrastructure development.

Najib enjoyed close ties with Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, playing golf in Hawaii in 2014, but relations cooled over human rights issues as well as the 1MDB scandal.

Najib founded the fund, which is facing money laundering probes in at least six countries including the United States, Switzerland and Singapore. He denies wrongdoing.

The U.S. Justice Department has said more than $4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB by high-level officials of the fund and their associates, according to dozens of civil lawsuits it filed last year.

The Justice Department sued to seize some $1.7 billion in assets it said were bought with misappropriated 1MDB funds, but asked for a stay on its civil lawsuits in August because it was conducting a related criminal probe.

The White House had said it would not comment on the Justice Department investigation but a senior U.S. official acknowledged it was unusual to meet with Najib while 1MDB was under regulatory scrutiny.

“It’s a weird situation, no doubt,” the official said, explaining that the administration has prioritized developing relations with Southeast Asia to counter “huge gains” China has made in the region.

Najib and his delegation stayed at the Trump International Hotel, according to several U.S. media reports, but the White House dismissed questions about the stay.

“We certainly don’t book their hotel accommodations, so I couldn’t speak to the personal decision they made about where to stay here in D.C.,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.

In a speech to U.S. business leaders, Najib said opposition politicians had blown the 1MDB scandal out of proportion in a failed attempt to topple his government.

“I know that some of you will have heard some less positive stories about the Malaysian economy, particularly about 1MDB,” Najib said.

“Indeed, there was a campaign to deliberately sabotage the company – and undermine investor confidence in our economy – in a failed attempt to topple the government in-between election cycles.”

He also said Malaysia’s investigations into 1MDB revealed there had been some “failings”.

The U.S. lawsuits had alleged $681 million of the misappropriated funds from 1MDB was transferred to the account of “Malaysian Official 1”, which U.S. and Malaysian sources have previously identified as Najib.

A Malaysian government investigation has cleared him of any wrongdoing.

Najib’s invitation to the White House was slammed by several rights groups who had urged the Trump administration to bring up Najib’s record of cracking down on the media and others critics.

NORTH KOREA TIES

Trump sees Malaysia, a majority Muslim nation, as an ally in its fight against Islamic militancy. It is also wants it to cut ties with North Korea.

“He does not do business with North Korea any longer, and we find that to be very important,” Trump said referring to Najib.

Ties between Malaysia and North Korea soured after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s half brother was assassinated in Kuala Lumpur this year. It was also discovered that North Korea was using Malaysia as a base for its arms export and other businesses, that funneled money to Pyongyang.

Before their meeting, Trump praised Najib for his tough stand on Islamic State.

“He’s been very, very strong on terrorism in Malaysia, and a great supporter from that standpoint.”

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Trump meeting with Malaysian prime minister comes under scrutiny

PBS Newshour

BY JULIE BYKOWICZ, ASSOCIATED PRESS AND EILEEN NG, ASSOCIATED PRESS

September 12, 2017

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump praised Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak for his country’s financial investments in U.S. companies during a meeting Tuesday at the White House and thanked him for helping to fight Islamic State militants.

Left unsaid by either leader: anything about the massive corruption scandal swirling around Najib’s multibillion-dollar state fund.

Malaysia’s government has said it found no criminal wrongdoing at the fund, called 1MDB and founded by Najib. But it has been at the center of investigations in the U.S. and several countries amid allegations of a global embezzlement and money-laundering scheme.

The U.S. Justice Department says people close to Najib stole billions of dollars, and the federal government is working to seize $1.7 billion it says was taken from the fund to buy assets in the U.S.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said later Tuesday that she was “not aware” of the corruption accusation coming up during Trump’s conversations with Najib.

At their meeting, Trump and Najib instead focused on areas of agreement, such as economic development and counterterrorism measures when they spoke during a public appearance in the Cabinet room of the White House.

“Mr. Prime Minister, it’s a great honor to have you in the United States and in the White House,” Trump said.

Flanked by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Vice President Mike Pence, the president crossed his arms and listened raptly as Najib described Malaysia’s purchase of billions of dollars’ worth of aircraft from Chicago-based Boeing. Trump said the deal is worth $10 billion to $20 billion.

Trump also pointed out that Malaysia is a “massive investor in the United States in terms of stocks and bonds.”

“They have to be very happy because we are hitting new highs on almost a weekly basis,” Trump said. “We’re very proud of our stock market, what’s happened since I became president.”

On fighting ISIS, Najib said his country would do its part to “keep our part of the world safe.” And he encouraged Trump to continue building partnerships in the region.

“The key is to support moderate and progressive Muslim regimes and governments around the world because that is the true face of Islam,” Najib said.

Najib has resisted calls to resign, has clamped down on critics and continues to enjoy the unwavering support of most ruling-party members, but his real test will come in general elections due by mid-2018.

Senior opposition lawmaker Lim Kit Siang said many Malaysians viewed Najib’s White House visit as a “national humiliation and shame” as he is tainted by the 1MDB financial saga.

Analysts said Najib hoped to dispel the corruption scandal and secure political legitimacy with the White House visit.

“He can tell Malaysians that the 1MDB is a non-issue and that the opposition’s message that he is unwelcome by world leaders is not true. He will also try to convey the impression that the U.S. investigation on 1MDB has nothing to do with him,” said James Chin, who heads the Asia Institute in Australia’s University of Tasmania.

Najib’s entourage was spotted several times at the Trump International Hotel, down the street from the White House. Trump stepped away from his global real estate, marketing and property management company when he took office, but he has not cut financial ties with it.

Sanders said Tuesday that the White House had nothing to do with choosing the accommodations of visiting foreign dignitaries. She said she did not believe Najib was trying to curry favor with Trump by staying at his hotel.

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Trump meets Malaysia leader under investigation by his Justice Department

By Kevin Liptak,

CNN White House Producer

September 12, 2017

Washington (CNN) Malaysia’s prime minister visited the White House on Tuesday seeking a dose of legitimacy amid a US Justice Department investigation into his finances.

The US Justice Department criminal probe into Prime Minister Najib Razak centers around billions of dollars in assets the US claims were acquired using a government fund and laundered through American firms. Najib denies any wrongdoing.

In meeting with him at the White House, President Donald Trump hoped to cultivate a dependable ally in Asia, but the visit made for awkward timing.

Last month, the Justice Department shifted its focus from seizing the disputed assets — including real estate, art, jewelry and movie rights — to a criminal investigation into the money used to purchase them. The US asserts the money was stolen from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a state investment fund that Najib founded.

The corruption matter didn’t arise, at least in public, during Najib’s visit. Seated around the Cabinet Room table at the White House, the men praised new cooperation between their two countries, including agreements for sales of US-made Boeing jets and General Electric engines.

“I want to thank you very much for all of the investments you made in the United States,” Trump said. He lauded stock market growth under his presidency, noting Malaysia’s vested interests in American financial markets.

“We are very proud of our stock market and what’s happened since I became president,” Trump said. “I congratulate you on those investments.”

North Korea on agenda

Arriving at the White House midday for a handshake and talks with Trump, Najib hoped to demonstrate to his critics back home that he’s still welcome in Washington, despite the allegations against him. He faces reelection next year.

He also sought to flatter his new US counterpart — including by staying in Trump’s Washington hotel during his stay.

“We come here with a strong value and proposition to put on the table,” Najib said in the Cabinet Room, listing the new airplane and equipment investments as examples of cooperation between the two countries.

Beforehand, the White House said the meeting would focus primarily on security issues and North Korea, and not the corruption scandal. Trump has been seeking partners in Asia to help counter Pyongyang amid new provocations.

Malaysia’s relations with North Korea have deteriorated since February, when Kim Jong-Un’s half-brother was assassinated with a nerve agent at the Kuala Lumpur airport. The attack was widely believed to have been carried out by agents of North Korea.

Since then, Malaysia has cut off some ties to Pyongyang, though Trump has hoped for greater cooperation from Asian allies in his bid to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

Trump downplayed a new round of sanctions against North Korea approved by the United Nations Security Council on Monday, saying they were only a “small step.”

“Those sanctions are nothing compared to what ultimately will have to happen,” he said. The topic is expected to dominate next week’s UN General Assembly meetings, which Trump indicated on Tuesday he was looking forward to attending.

Strategy in Asia

Trump is looking to bolster regional counters to China, particularly in Southeast Asia, where maritime disputes in the South China Sea and trade practices remain irritants to Washington-Beijing ties.

Malaysia is situated at an important shipping channel, the Straits of Malacca, making it an important ally to both China and the US. China is the largest foreign investor in Malaysia, and three Chinese companies are involved in a plan to build a new deep sea port in Malacca costing billions of dollars.

Malaysia, a majority Muslim nation, has also acted as an important US partner in countering Islamic terrorism in the region, which Trump praised Tuesday.

Trump has yet to visit Asia, but plans to attend conferences in Vietnam and the Philippines in November. He’s expected to stop in additional Asian capitals during that trip.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said this week that the Justice Department investigations were not expected to arise when Trump meets Najib in the Oval Office.

“That investigation is apolitical and certainly independent of anything taking place tomorrow,” she said on Monday.

Najib has met Trump before, and boasts of a warm relationship with the billionaire former businessman. The pair played a round of golf at Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club before Trump was president, and a photograph of the occasion hangs in the clubhouse there.

Then-President Barack Obama also once enjoyed Najib’s company on the golf course. The two played golf during Obama’s Christmastime vacation in Hawaii in 2014.

But the corruption allegations cooled relations between Malaysia and the United States in the final years of Obama’s administration. The US also took issue with Malaysia’s crackdown on media and free speech.

CNN’s Ben Westcott contributed to this report.

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Trump says ‘it’s an honor’ to host Malaysian PM who faces corruption probe over national wealth fund which gave Leo di Caprio a Picasso – as dignitary beds down in Trump hotel

*President Donald Trump met at the White House with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak

*The Justice Department says people close to Najib stole billions of dollars

*Trump said it was a ‘great honor’ to have him in the White House

*Trump said a deal for Malaysia to buy Boeing planes is worth up to $20 billion

*He called Malaysia a ‘massive investor in the United States in terms of stocks and bonds’

*White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders ‘not aware’ if corruption accusation came up

*The prime minister was spotted repeatedly at Trump’s D.C. luxury hotel

*Malaysia’s government has found no criminal wrongdoing with the 1MDB fund founded by Najib

*U.S. Justice Department investigation for possible money laundering

*Najib says Malaysia plans to invest $4 billion in Trump’s infrastructure plan

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.s. Political Editor For Dailymail.com and Associated PressDaily Mail, UK

12 September 2017

President Donald Trump said it was a ‘great honor’ to have the prime minister of Malaysia at the White House, and the president’s spokeswoman said she wasn’t aware whether a massive corruption investigation of his associates came up.

Trump praised Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak for his country’s investments in the U.S. – and singled out purchases of Boeing aircraft that could hit $20 billion.

‘Malaysia is a massive investor in the U.S.,’ Trump said during a joint meeting in the White House cabinet room. ‘It’s an honor to have you here and your delegation with us,’ said Trump.

In the faint praise department, the president added: ‘He does not do business with North Korea any longer and we find that to be very important”

The prime minister’s entourage was spotted several times at Trump’s luxury hotel in D.C., which is located nearby the White House. According to a BBC report, Najib has a photo of he and Trump golfing that he keeps on his office desk.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it was a ‘personal decision’ where the Malaysian leader stayed.

‘We certainly don’t book their hotel accommodations, so I couldn’t speak to the personal decision they made about where to stay here in D.C.’

Although Trump transferred the hotel and other businesses to a family trust run by his adult sons, the president still owns and profits from the hotel, which saw a spike in room rates and bar tabs after he won the White House.

Najib said Malaysia was committed to purchasing 25 of Boeing’s 737 aircraft, and there is a ‘strong possibility’ to purchase another 25 in the near future.

‘Thank you,’ replied Trump.

He also mentioned U.S. investments that were even bigger.

‘We have Employees Provident Fund, which is a major pension fund in Malaysia. They’ve got quite a big sum of capital to be exported,’ the prime minister said.

‘They have invested close to $7 billion, in terms of equity, in the United States. And they intend to invest three to four additional billion dollars to support your infrastructure redevelopment in the United States.’

‘Great,’ Trump responded.

Left unsaid by either leader: anything about the massive corruption scandal swirling around Najib’s multibillion-dollar state fund.

The White House said it wasn’t aware if the issue came up between the two men.

Malaysia’s government has said it found no criminal wrongdoing at the fund, called 1MDB and founded by Najib. But it has been at the center of investigations in the U.S. and several countries amid allegations of a global embezzlement and money-laundering scheme.

The U.S. Justice Department says people close to Najib stole billions of dollars, and the federal government is working to seize $1.7 billion it says was taken from the fund to buy assets in the U.S.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said later Tuesday that she was “not aware” of the corruption accusation coming up during Trump’s conversations with Najib.

At their meeting, Trump and Najib instead focused on areas of agreement, such as economic development and counterterrorism measures when they spoke during a public appearance in the Cabinet room of the White House.

“Mr. Prime Minister, it’s a great honor to have you in the United States and in the White House,” Trump said.

Flanked by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Vice President Mike Pence, the president crossed his arms and listened raptly as Najib described Malaysia’s purchase of billions of dollars’ worth of aircraft from Chicago-based Boeing. Trump said the deal is worth $10 billion to $20 billion.

Trump also pointed out that Malaysia is a “massive investor in the United States in terms of stocks and bonds.”

“They have to be very happy because we are hitting new highs on almost a weekly basis,” Trump said. “We’re very proud of our stock market, what’s happened since I became president.”

On fighting ISIS, Najib said his country would do its part to “keep our part of the world safe.” And he encouraged Trump to continue building partnerships in the region.

“The key is to support moderate and progressive Muslim regimes and governments around the world because that is the true face of Islam,” Najib said.

Najib has resisted calls to resign, has clamped down on critics and continues to enjoy the unwavering support of most ruling-party members, but his real test will come in general elections due by mid-2018.

Senior opposition lawmaker Lim Kit Siang said many Malaysians viewed Najib’s White House visit as a “national humiliation and shame” as he is tainted by the 1MDB financial saga.

Analysts said Najib hoped to dispel the corruption scandal and secure political legitimacy with the White House visit.

“He can tell Malaysians that the 1MDB is a non-issue and that the opposition’s message that he is unwelcome by world leaders is not true. He will also try to convey the impression that the U.S. investigation on 1MDB has nothing to do with him,” said James Chin, who heads the Asia Institute in Australia’s University of Tasmania.

Najib’s entourage was spotted several times at the Trump International Hotel, down the street from the White House. Trump stepped away from his global real estate, marketing and property management company when he took office, but he has not cut financial ties with it.

Sanders said Tuesday that the White House had nothing to do with choosing the accommodations of visiting foreign dignitaries. She said she did not believe Najib was trying to curry favor with Trump by staying at his hotel.

The Department of Justice’s anti-money-laundering division filed a complaint seeking forfeiture of properties connected to the Malaysian fund. Included in the complaint was a Picasso that a Malaysian financier and art collector named Jho Low gave to DiCaprio, Art News reported.

A DiCaprio spokesman said he returned it to the government before the filing, and that the painting had been offered for a charity auction for his foundation. The 1939 painting is titled Nature morte au crâne de taureau.

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Trump welcomes Malaysian leader, despite advocates’ concerns

By Annie Linskey

Boston Globe

Sept. 12, 2017

WASHINGTON — Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is linked to a multibillion-dollar embezzlement scandal, and human rights groups say he has limited free speech, imprisoned opposition leaders, and locked up Malaysians who have “insulted” the government.

But on Tuesday, Najib was greeted at the White House by President Trump, who listened to his guest’s pledge to invest billions of dollars for US infrastructure while publicly ignoring his links to the scandal that the Justice Department is actively probing.

“It’s a great honor to have you in the United States and in the White House,” Trump said to Najib in the Cabinet room Wednesday morning.

It’s the latest example of Trump’s compliments directed at dictators: He called Russian President Vladimir Putin “very strong,” he praised Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who is overseeing a crackdown on Islamists, for doing a “tremendous job under trying circumstance,” and he told Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte that he’s doing an “unbelievable job” fighting drug addiction even though the country’s police regularly kill addicts and dealers.

Of the 32 foreign leaders from sovereign countries that Trump has invited to the White House so far, 15 rule over nations that either score in the bottom half of the Global Democracy Ranking, which uses metrics to measure the health of 112 democracies in the world, or hail from countries like Saudi Arabia that have no pretense of democratic rule.

“The pattern with Trump has been one of very evident preference being shown for spending time with leaders who have similar tendencies to our president,” said Tom Malinowski, who was the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor from 2014 to 2017 under President Barack Obama. “Leaders who don’t like a free press, who mix personal family business with the affairs of state, and who are disdainful of checks and balances. . . . In Trump they have a president who will not judge them and cannot judge them.”

Among those yet to get a sitdown at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue are leaders from Norway, Switzerland, and Sweden, which happen to be the top democracies on the planet, according to the Global Democracy Ratings.

To be sure, relations in Southeast Asia are tricky. Malaysia is a key US trading partner, an ally in the war against terror, and a potential bulwark against growing Chinese influence in the region.

In Tuesday’s meeting, Najib offered to buy $10 billion worth of Boeing planes, steer up to $4 billion from the country’s pension fund to invest in US infrastructure, and help the United States win the “hearts and minds” of Muslims.

Presidents often meet leaders who’ve done unsavory deeds — Obama played golf with Najib in December 2014 — but what’s different now is the absence of a public slap on the wrist.

Obama distanced himself from Najib as corruption allegations snowballed in 2015. When Obama sat down with him, it was on the sidelines of global summits and included both public and private rebukes.

“The Obama administration met with him as needed,” said Ned Price, a National Security Council spokesman for the Obama administration. “And in doing so he was very clear, both publicly and privately, about the values that we expected world leaders to adhere to,” which included the rule of law, transparency, and respecting human rights.

Najib’s government has been most recently ensnared in a global investigation into a multibillion-dollar fund established by the prime minister that was intended to make improvements in Malaysia.

More than $4.5 billion from that fund was “misappropriated,” according to a June announcement from the Justice Department. The department, at that point, had opened its largest-ever action brought under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative to investigate what happened to the money, some of which it believed was laundered through US accounts.

Najib and operators of the fund have denied wrongdoing. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters on Monday that the investigation would not be discussed at the bilateral meeting. “That investigation is apolitical, and certainly independent of anything taking place tomorrow,” Sanders said.

Longtime diplomats say the most troubling aspect of the Najib meeting was that it’s become commonplace for Trump to glad-hand with autocrats and ignore their shortfallings — giving license for bad behavior.

“In my experience authoritarian leaders around the world are constantly hearing an American voice in their ears reminding them that they’re being watched,” said Malinowski, who often was that voice under the Obama administration. “While that voice doesn’t always dissuade them, it sometimes does. And now that voice is gone.”

The consequence for US reluctance to press human rights and democratic values could mean a world with less of those values.

“There’s been a broad deterioration in human rights in the past few years,” said John Sifton, the Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “It’s accelerated in the last year. And it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that part of that is because the Trump administration is no longer pressing human rights issues.”

A tour around the world in the past year shows autocratic behavior is on the upswing, according to human rights watchers. In Cambodia, Prime Minister Hun Sen closed the country’s most important independent newspaper and has locked up his most important opposition leader. Neighboring Vietnam is also cracking down on opposition voices, most recently locking up a blogger for criticizing the government.

Egypt is seeing increasing reports of extrajudicial killings for those who oppose the government. And Bahrain, where Trump is restarting an arms deal that Obama paused, is turning to increasingly repressive tactics, according to Amnesty International.

“In our field of work, corruption and good governance, the US has been historically identified as a moral leader as well as a champion against impunity for corruption,” said Alejandro Salas, the Americas regional director at Transparency International, a global anticorruption group.

Under Trump, he argues, “leaders from authoritarian regimes feel a free hand to act according to their own interests.”

Though Trump has backed away from human rights issues, several experts were quick to mention that the federal bureaucracy as a whole has not.

Salas said US aid to foreign countries continues to be conditioned on human rights records. And he pointed to the Justice Department, which under Trump is helping Panama extradite a former president from the United States back to his homeland to face corruption charges, even though he has ties to Trump.

“You have very strong institutions that are showing their strength,” said Salas, who is based in Germany. “They are managing to limit his decision. They are able to stop things.”

But Trump continues to seek ties to leaders that others shun. One example is Duterte, of the Philippines, whose national police force has killed thousands of drug dealers and drug users, and who is most recently trying to defund a human right commission.

Trump took the extraordinary step of calling the Filipino leader on April 29 to “congratulate” him and praise him for doing an “unbelievable job on the drug problem.”

“Many countries have the problem, we have the problem, but what a great job you are doing and I just wanted to tell you that,” Trump said according to a confidential transcript of the call that was leaked to the press.

He offered a meeting in the Oval Office.

“Seriously,” Trump said. “If you want to come over just let us know.”

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 13 September 2017, 4:54 pm and is filed under
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Trump Welcomes Najib Razak, the Malaysian Leader, as President, and Owner of a Fine Hotel

By MARK LANDLER

New York Times

SEPT. 12, 2017

WASHINGTON — When President Trump welcomed Malaysia’s prime minister, Najib Razak, to the White House on Tuesday, he thanked him for “all the investment you’ve made in the United States.”

Mr. Trump did not single out Mr. Najib’s patronage of his hotel two blocks from the White House, but he could have: the Malaysian leader was spotted entering and exiting the Trump International Hotel, with his entourage, on Monday and Tuesday.

The White House denied that Mr. Najib had picked the hotel at Mr. Trump’s behest. “We certainly don’t book their hotel accommodations,” the press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said, “so I couldn’t speak to the personal decision they made about where to stay here in D.C.”

Whatever the motivation, the choice of lodgings added to the awkwardness of a meeting already replete with ethical questions. Mr. Najib is under investigation by the Justice Department, part of a corruption scandal that critics said he has fended off by firing investigators and dismissing negative news reports about him as “fake news.”

In these respects, he is not unlike Mr. Trump. So it was perhaps not a surprise that the two leaders skipped a news conference, kept their public remarks brief, and stayed on the safe ground of trade and counterterrorism.

“We’re talking about trade – very large trade deals,” Mr. Trump said to Mr. Najib, during a photo opportunity before they met in the Cabinet Room. “Malaysia is a massive investor in the United States in the form of stocks and bonds.”

A grateful Mr. Najib replied, “We come here with a strong value proposition to put on the table.” He talked about buying Boeing planes and General Electric jet engines but did not mention that he had just come from the Trump hotel.

Behind closed doors, the prime minister urged the United States to put pressure on neighboring Myanmar — including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of the elected civilian government — to stop the systematic persecution of the Rohingya, its minority Muslim population.

Mr. Trump, a senior administration official said, expressed anger over the military crackdown and discussed ways to pressure authorities in Myanmar. There are no current plans for Mr. Trump to call Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, this official said, but he did not rule out a future conversation.

American presidents have long done an awkward dance with the leaders of Malaysia, a Southeast Asian country that is a valuable trading partner and dependable counterterrorism ally of the United States but is ruled by a corrupt, entrenched Malay elite.

That tension is even more acute with Mr. Najib, who is under investigation by the United States and others for an estimated $3.5 billion that investigators believe he and his associates diverted from a Malaysian government fund that he headed. Among other things, the money was used to buy jewelry, real estate and the rights to Hollywood films.

The White House insisted that the Justice Department inquiry had no relevance to the meeting and would not figure in the conversation. “That investigation is apolitical and certainly independent of anything taking place tomorrow,” Ms. Sanders said on Monday.

But the White House did move a picture-taking session from the Oval Office, denying Mr. Najib the customary photo with the president before the fireplace, under George Washington’s portrait.

Before their meeting, Mr. Trump credited Mr. Najib with cutting off business ties between Malaysia and North Korea. The Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, has served as one of the hubs for North Koreans seeking to buy or sell nuclear-related technology or trade weapons.

Relations between the two countries ruptured after Malaysia accused the North Korean government of assassinating Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of Kim Jong-un, in a bizarre attack at Kuala Lumpur’s international airport. Each country temporarily barred the other’s nationals from leaving.

“He does not do business with North Korea any longer, and we find that to be very important,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Najib presented a detailed list of purchases and investments – with dollar signs attached – that seemed tailored to Mr. Trump’s balance-sheet emphasis in dealing with other nations. Malaysia, he said, had committed to buying 25 Boeing 737’s and eight 787 Dreamliners for its national airline.

In addition, Mr. Najib said, one of Malaysia’s largest pension funds planned to invest between $3 billion and $4 billion in the Trump administration’s effort to rebuild American infrastructure. And another sovereign wealth fund planned to increase its existing $400 million investment in Silicon Valley.

“Great,” Mr. Trump interjected, each time Mr. Najib reeled off a figure.

For Mr. Najib, who faces an election and has been under unrelenting pressure at home, the meeting qualified as a major victory. It demonstrated to critics that he could travel to the United States without fear of being detained.

For Mr. Trump, the payoff was less obvious. Administration officials view Malaysia as a counterweight to China and say it has been steadfast in the fight against the Islamic State. But the president broke arguably the strongest bond between the two countries when he pulled the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a regional trade pact that includes Malaysia.

Mr. Trump’s predecessor, President Barack Obama, once praised Mr. Najib as a reformer and played golf with him in Hawaii in 2014. But after the cloud of corruption allegations took hold, Mr. Obama only met the Malaysian leader at regional conferences. Last year, when the two were together at a summit meeting at the Sunnylands estate in Rancho Mirage, Calif., Mr. Najib did not earn a repeat invitation for golf with Mr. Obama.

Mr. Trump, however, seems comfortable with Mr. Najib, a suave figure who speaks impeccable English. In 2014, they played golf at Mr. Trump’s club in Bedminster, N.J. Mr. Trump gave his guest a photo of the two of them, inscribed, “To my favorite prime minister.”

Mr. Trump has not hesitated to meet with autocratic leaders — or leaders with legal problems. He invited the Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, to the White House, despite what critics said was his record of ordering extrajudicial killings of drug dealers.

Still, human-rights advocates criticized this meeting because of the signal they said it would send.

“It’s a strange meeting,” said John Sifton, the Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “Clearly, President Trump has repeatedly shown that he is willing to host authoritarian leaders. But this meeting, in some respects, marks a new low. Najib has been engaged in a broad crackdown against journalists, civil society, even cartoonists.”

Richard C. Paddock contributed reporting from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 13 September 2017, 2:16 pm and is filed under
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From Trump hotel lobby to White House, Malaysian prime minister gets VIP treatment

By Jonathan O’Connell

Washington Post

September 12, 2017

Before arriving at the White House late Tuesday morning to meet with President Trump, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak strode through the golden doors of an elevator at the Trump International Hotel and past the lounge to his waiting motorcade.

The prime minister’s official White House visit also brought at least 24 hours of activity and sales to the glamorous 263-room hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue that Trump owns through a trust. And it is likely to escalate debate over whether the president is benefiting from a luxury property that has become Washington’s new power center — and, its critics say, a staging area for those seeking White House access.

Hotel staffers and Malaysian officials declined to say whether Najib and the other officials stayed overnight at the hotel, among the most expensive in Washington, or if they did stay, for how long.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders dismissed a question about the delegation’s stay. “We certainly don’t book their hotel accommodations,” she told reporters Tuesday.

But signs of the Malaysia delegation’s presence were obvious at the property. At lunchtime Monday, more than a dozen members of Najib’s entourage relaxed in a lounge area reserved for hotel guests. That evening, they came and went from the hotel, sometimes returning to the valet stand with shopping bags.

Najib departed just before 8 p.m. Monday in his motorcade. He had a scheduled dinner with a business group. He returned to the hotel and rode up the escalator at nearly 10:30 p.m.

On Tuesday morning, dozens of delegation members convened in meeting rooms with name cards bearing the Malaysian coat of arms. Some attended a white-tablecloth breakfast in the hotel’s Lincoln Library meeting room.

Events of this scale would probably mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue for the Trump Organization, based on confirmed spending totals of other groups that have set up camp there. The company declined to comment.

Trump has come under fire for declining to divest of his interest in the hotel, which is now managed by his sons, creating opportunities for foreign governments and special interests to enrich the president while also seeking changes to U.S. policy, in Najib’s case within a few minutes’ time.

Lawsuits from government watchdog groups and inquiries from Democratic leaders and governments agencies, including the Government Accountability Office, are targeting the hotel, which operates in a building leased to his company by the federal government, which Trump oversees.

[How the Trump hotel changed Washington’s culture of influence]

Ethics experts, citing the Constitution’s emoluments clause, consider foreign government bookings at the hotel unacceptable. Though it has hosted hotel events for many foreign entities, as well as lobbying-group events and Republican fundraisers, the Trump Organization says it does not seek foreign governments as clients, keeps a separate log of their payments and plans to donate profits it receives from them to the U.S. treasury at the end of the year.

Najib was scheduled to return to Malaysia on Wednesday evening.

Trump’s invitation to Najib also has drawn scathing criticism because the United States is conducting a probe — its largest kleptocracy investigation ever — into whether the prime minister diverted more than $1 billion from a Malaysian-government investment fund to his own bank accounts.

The Justice Department is aggressively investigating potential fraud surrounding the fund, known as 1MDB, and announced in June that prosecutors had filed forfeiture complaints seeking $540 million in assets.

U.S. prosecutors a year earlier had filed similar complaints seeking more than $1 billion in assets that they alleged were ill-gotten gains from an effort by Malaysian officials and their associates to misappropriate money from the government-owned fund. That means the total value of assets sought stands at nearly $1.7 billion, the Justice Department has said.

Among the things U.S. officials have sought to seize are New York City penthouses, Hollywood and Beverly Hills mansions, a private jet and even some future proceeds from the movies “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Dumb and Dumber To.” The 2016 complaint alleged that more than $730 million of what seemed to be 1MDB money was ultimately routed to the personal bank account of “Malaysian Official 1,” a thinly veiled reference to Najib.

Najib has said on social media that “no crime was committed,” and an investigation by the Malaysian attorney general determined that the money in Najib’s account was a personal donation from the Saudi royal family. In 2015, President Barack Obama visited Najib in Malaysia to curry support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The Malaysian delegation visiting this week included six other high-ranking officials, according to the Malaysian Embassy, among them the minister of foreign affairs, the minister of trade, the chief secretary, the ambassador to the United States and the director of the nation’s security council.

Members of Najib’s entourage repeatedly waved off a reporter’s questions Monday evening and Tuesday morning. Inquiries to the Malaysian Embassy and the White House were not immediately returned.

Once at the White House, Najib was greeted by Trump, Vice President Pence and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

“It’s great to have the prime minister of Malaysia and his very distinguished delegation with us today,” Trump said, sitting across a conference table from Najib. Trump praised the prime minister for his stance on terrorism and for investing in U.S. businesses.

“Mr. Prime Minister, it’s a great honor to have you in the United States and in the White House,” he said.

Najib responded by saying he wanted to help “strengthen the U.S. economy” by purchasing Boeing airplanes and engines from General Electric, among other initiatives.

Matt Zapotosky and Drew Harwell contributed to this report.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 14 September 2017, 5:40 am and is filed under
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Malaysian Leader Plays Up Aircraft Deals, Investments During U.S. Visit

Michael C. Bender

Wall Street Journal

Sept. 12, 2017

President Trump and Prime Minister Najib don’t mention U.S. probe of Malaysia’s investment fund

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump touted what he described as a plan by Malaysia Airlines Bhd. to spend between $10 billion and $20 billion on Boeing Co. jets and General Electric Co. engines as he opened a White House meeting with Malaysia’s prime minister.

Mr. Trump, in a public appearance with Prime Minister Najib Razak, cited the airline deal as a basis for strong ties between the two countries. Boeing said the deal involved 16 new planes. He also identified Malaysia as a strategic national-security ally in Asia, while playing down the significance of a fresh round of sanctions the United Nations Security Council approved against North Korea on Monday.

Mr. Trump also praised Malaysia as a significant investor in U.S. securities, saying American markets have been hitting records “on almost a weekly basis” during his presidency. “I congratulate you on those investments,” Mr. Trump said during a brief public appearance with the Malaysian leader.

The airline deal puts the administration in the unusual position of coaxing investment from a trade partner that the U.S. is also investigating for investment fraud.

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the alleged looting of 1Malaysia Development Bhd., a Malaysian economic-development fund. The probe threatens to ensnare much of the country’s ruling elite, including Mr. Najib.

Mr. Trump didn’t mention the investigation during his public appearance with Mr. Najib. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Monday that the investigation was “apolitical, and certainly independent of anything taking place” during meetings involving the president.

Instead, the two leaders’ were meeting to discuss a “wide range” of regional issues and security concerns, including the halt of the Islamic State extremist group, North Korea’s push for nuclear weapons, and territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Jonah Blank, a senior political scientist with Rand Corp., said it is unlikely the leaders discussed the investment scandal since both had ample domestic reasons for wanting a harmonious meeting.

While Mr. Trump can tout investment, Mr. Najib will use the high-profile reception at the White House to boost his stature back home. “If he is able to portray himself as a firm partner of the U.S., it can of course be used against him, but it’s likely a positive,” Mr. Blank said.

Mr. Najib said during the public appearance with Mr. Trump on Tuesday that he was interested in contributing to the U.S. economy. Malaysia Airlines agreed in 2016 to buy 25 Boeing 737s, with an option to buy another 25, in a deal estimated at $5.5 billion.

In an apparently new deal unveiled on Tuesday, Malaysia Airlines also will buy eight Boeing 787 Dreamliners, Mr. Najib said, a deal that would be valued at about $2.2 billion. Mr. Najib on Tuesday said the airline deals would be valued at $10 billion in five years, or more if the airline executes the option for additional planes.

Mr. Najib also said the Employees Provident Fund, a major pension fund in Malaysia, planned to invest $3 billion to $4 billion in U.S. infrastructure projects. He said additional investments were planned from Malaysia’s state investor Khazanah Nasional Bhd, which he said has an office in Silicon Valley.

Boeing said in a statement Tuesday night that the company signed a memorandum of understanding with Malaysia Airlines for 16 planes—the eight Dreamliners and eight additional 737s.

“We are delighted Malaysia Airlines continues to put its trust and confidence in Boeing,” the statement quoted Boeing President and Chief Executive Kevin McAllister as saying. The statement quoted Peter Bellew, managing director and CEO of Malaysia Airlines as saying the deal built on more than 40 years of partnership between the airline and Boeing.

Mr. Najib also didn’t mention the Justice Department’s 1MDB probe.

He said Malaysia was committed to fighting terrorism and “will also contribute in terms of the ideological warfare because you need to win the hearts and minds,” while not specifically commenting on North Korea.

Mr. Trump said Malaysia “does not do business with North Korea” any longer. ”We find that to be very important,” he said.

The president noted the fresh round of U.N. sanctions against North Korea, but said “those sanctions are nothing compared to what will ultimately have to happen” as reporters were escorted from the room.

While in Washington, Mr. Najib and members of his entourage were shown in a videotape by the New Straits Times, a Malaysian newspaper, visiting the Trump International Hotel in Washington, which is owned by Mr. Trump. Hotel officials declined to say whether Mr. Najib and his aides were guests at the hotel, and aides to Mr. Najib didn’t return calls seeking comment.

Ms. Sanders, the White House press secretary, brushed aside questions about the prime minister’s accommodations at a news briefing, saying she didn’t think his patronage of the president’s business was an attempt to curry favor.

—Doug Cameron and Alan Cullison contributed to this article.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 14 September 2017, 5:29 am and is filed under
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Malaysians dependent on mainstream media out-of-sync with rest of the world – believing Najib’s meeting with Trump at White House “resounding success” when US and world media regard it as a disaster for both countries

Malaysians dependent on mainstream media for their information are out of sync with the rest of the world – believing Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House was a “resounding success” when US and world media regard it as a disaster for both countries.

Najib has given a new meaning to foreign trips by our Prime Minister and Ministers as until Najib’s US visit, one criteria to judge the  success of such  a foreign visit is to consider the amount of foreign investments it had been able to attract for Malaysia, but there was not only none in Najib’s White House visit, the Prime Minister visited the White House bearing gifts like a supplicant visiting a reigning potentate!

Any self-respecting Malaysian who read the transcript of the remarks made by Trump and Najib at the White House Cabinet Room on Tuesday would squirm at the tone and tenor of the exchange, for it was not between two equals representing two sovereign nations but like those between a monarch and a minor chieftain of one his far-flung territories!

Before his White House visit, Najib told Malaysians in Washington that Trump’s invitation to the White House was a form of acknowledgement of Malaysia’s status as a rising star.

Najib must have said this “tongue-in-cheek” for the Malaysian Prime Minister cannot be unaware that of the 32 foreign leaders from sovereign countries that Trump had invited to the White House so far, 15 rule over nations that either score in the bottom half of the Global Democracy Ranking, which uses metrics to measure the health of 112 democracies in the world, or hail from countries like Saudi Arabia that have no pretense of democratic rule.

Najib and his strategists and propagandists are making the same mistake which caused the Prime Minister to say 21 months ago in his 2016 New Year Message on 31st December 2015 that his RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion donation twin mega scandals had been resolved and were no more issues.

Najib could not be more wrong, for the twin mega scandals have waxed even bigger and more monstrous with unending twists and turns in various parts of the globe in the international money-laundering scandal in the last two years.

Similarly, it is a great fallacy for Najib, his strategists and propagandists to believe that with Najib’s visit to White House and meeting with Trump, the 1MDB and donation twin mega scandals are now behind Najib.

The twitter from the Director of Barisan Nasional strategic communications, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, who is also the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, yesterday, “Instead of avoiding the subject, PM went for the jugular right in the heart of DC” is most revealing.

I can imagine that two questions must have long vexed Najib’s highly-paid foreign consultants and media propagandists in preparing Najib’s propaganda campaign for the forthcoming 14GE: firstly, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) largest kleptocratic suits to forfeit US$1.7 billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland involving Najib’s confidantes and relatives; and secondly, the 1MDB scandal.

At one of the many brain-storming sessions to find a way out of the propangada impasse, the highly-paid foreign consultants and media propagandists must have struck on two bold initiatives to defang both these issues: One, for Najib to be invited to White House to meet President Trump, which could be presented as US Presidential repudiation of the DOJ action; second, to “go for the jugular” by going into the offensive and accusing the Opposition of using the 1MDB issue to undermine investor confidence in the Malaysian economy.

Both these “bravado” initiative spring from a position of desperation but  the highly-paid foreign media consultants believe that these “go for the jugular” initiatives may pass muster because of the monopoly of mainstream media, both printed and electronic, in Malaysia.

But the highly-paid foreign media strategists and consultants have underestimated the intelligence of Malaysians to believe they will succumb to the “go for the jugular” offensives, by blaming the Opposition for the 1MDB scandal when it is Najib and his cohorts who have single-handedly turned Malaysia into a global kleptocracy within so short a time.

Now the Najib media consultants and propagandists are trying to blame the Opposition for Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy!

Time will tell whether Najib’s “go for the jugular” offensives will save Najib’s political life, but for the moment, let Najib tell Malaysians how much was spent to secure Trump’s invitation to White House, whether paid from the government coffers or from private funds.

(Media Statement in Gelang Patah on Thursday, September 14, 2017)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 14 September 2017, 8:02 pm and is filed under
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Call on Zahid to immediately head a task force to prevent any more tahfiz school fires and present a White Paper to Parliament when it meets on Oct. 23 on the result of checks on all tahfiz schools in the country

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should not just chair the task force on the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah tahfiz schools fire which resulted in the death of 24 people yesterday, his task force should be expanded in scope and terms of reference to ensure that there will be no more tahfiz school fires in the country.

Former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has expressed his upset that no lessons had been learnt from a tahfiz school fire in Kedah in 1989, which killed 27 people.

He recalled that in the fire at a tahfiz school dormitory in 1989, 27 female students died. The fire also totally gutted the school and eight wooden hostels.

Zahid’s task force on tahfiz fire should also probe into why no lesson had been learnt from the fire in Kedah in 1989, which claimed 27 lives, as well as other tahfiz fires.

Since 2015, 211 fires have been reported to be broken out at the private religious schools. Shouldn’t there be more outrage at such rampant fire risks and disregard of safety issues?

Tan Sri Noh Omar, the Minister for Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government, has  sadly and shockingly shown that he is not serious or suitable for the Ministerial responsibility to ensure that the Fire and Rescue Department identify all schools and premises at risk of fire and to take the necessary safety measures.

Noh Omar should be sacked as Minister for Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government for he has no understanding of “urban well-being” whatsoever, or at minimum, he should be switched to another Ministry where his Ministerial negligence  or irresponsibility would not cause the loss of so many   human lives or so much human suffering.

With the tragedies of so many tahfiz fires in the country, the government cannot but be firm to ensure that there will be no repetition of such tragedies in the future and not to allow any misconceived ideas to justify such criminal negligence or misconduct.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 15 September 2017, 1:49 pm and is filed under
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The 5 minute 58 second-exchange in the White House that launched a thousand jokes

Just as there is a saying about “The face that launched a thousand ships”, I would not be surprised if there is saying about “The 5 minute 58 second-exchange in the White House that launched a thousand jokes”.

The Trump-Najib meeting at White House on Sept. 12 was choreographed as a “master propaganda stroke” to position the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in an unassailable position in the run-up to the 14GE.

It was to  knock out the adverse publicity hounding and haunting  Najib as a result of the US Department of Justice (DOJ)’s largest kleptocratic suits ever to forfeit US$1.7 billion of 1MDB-linked assets, and coupled with the “go for the jugular” propaganda offensive blaming the Opposition of using the 1MDB issue to undermine investor confidence in the Malaysian economy, it was to place Najib in the elevated  and unbeatable position of a world-respected Malaysian leader facing unreasonable attacks by unpatriotic Malaysians!

But within 24 hours, the two-prong propaganda offensive of the Najib strategic communications team came apart, for it was so artificial and lacking in candour and  truth that it is not sustainable, and the top-heavy propaganda artifice erected by Najib’s highly-paid media foreign consultants has come  tumbling down.

In fact, instead laying all controversies, including the RM55 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion donation twin mega scandals to rest, the Najib-Trump meeting at the White House, and in particular the 5 minute-58 second Trump-Najib exchange in the White House,  opened up more questions.

Here are 10 of these questions:

1.	Who conceived the ideas of  the two propaganda offensives – the White House Trump-Najib show and the “go for the jugular” offensive to blame the Opposition for using the 1MDB scandal to undermine investor confidence in the Malaysian  economy.  Did it come from the highly-paid media consultants and propagandists, and if so, let us have the names.

2.	How much was spent to secure Trump’s invitation to Najib for the meeting at the  White House, whether paid from the government coffers or from private funds.

3.	Did Najib and his entourage stay for three days at Trump International Hotel and what was cost of the stay for the Najib entourage – whether  in  hundreds of thousands of United States dollars?

4.	Was Najib aware that his entourage’s stay at the Trump International Hotel created an ethical problem, whether Trump was violating the Emoluments Clause of the US Constitution which forbids presidents from receiving gifts or payments for services rendered from foreign governments while in office; and if so, they still stayed at Trump International Hotel?

5.	Why is the 5 minute 58 second-transcript of the Trump-Najib exchange in the White House Cabinet Room so humiliating for Malaysians, as the tone and tenor of the exchange were not between two equals representing two sovereign nations but like those between a monarch and a chieftain of vassal state bearing gifts, like Bunga Mas, to the sovereign?

6.	Is Najib  aware of the ludicrous and comical implications, and the total lack of a sense of scale,  when as Malaysian Prime Minister, he declared Malaysia sought to “strengthen the US economy” to make America great again when the comparative  2016 GDP  is US$18.569 trillion  for USA and  US$296 billion for  Malaysia only (or USA having a GDP which is 63 times bigger than Malaysia)?  How could an economically weaker country  “strengthen” the economy of a country which is 63 times bigger than that of Malaysia – when  it should be the other way round? Out of the 50 states in USA, 22 states have GDPs larger than Malaysia, headed by three states which are trillion-dollar economies, namely California which has  GDP of  US$2.6 trillion; Texas US$1.6 trillion; New York US$1.5 trillion.  The next three states in USA topping the GDP list are Florida with US$927 billion; Illinois US$792 billion and Pennyslvania US$725 billion.

7.	Najib claimed that Trump’s invitation to the White House was a form of acknowledgement of Malaysia’s status as a rising star. Is he aware that of the 32 foreign leaders from sovereign countries that Trump had invited to the White House so far, 15 rule over nations that either score in the bottom half of the Global Democracy Ranking, which uses metrics to measure the health of 112 democracies in the world, or hail from countries like Saudi Arabia that have no pretense of democratic rule.

8.	Najib’s White House meeting with Trump has not put the 1MBD scandal behind the Malaysian Prime Minister, as the opposite has happened, highlighting the iniquity and monstrosity of the scandal which has made Malaysian overnight into a global kleptocracy. Will Najib finally  recognize that the 1MDB scandal will not go way, and that it can only disappear if there is full accountability.

9.	During Najib’s meeting with Trump, he had pledged “value propositions” to strengthen the US economy and announced that the Employees Provident Fund will invest between US$3 billion to US$4 billion in US infrastructure project. He also announced Malaysia Airlines’ planned purchase of between 33 to 58 aircraft from Boeing, a deal which would be worth more than US$10 billion within five years, and that Khazanah Nasional Berhad will also increase investments in US high-tech companies. Will Najib  summon an emergency meeting of Parliament to debate his  5 minute 58-second exchange  with Trump in the White House and seek endorsement of his “value propositions” to Trump? Is Najib aware that his “value propositions” constitute a drop in the ocean of USA economy, as the cost of Trump’s infrastructure upgrade is USD5 trillion over the next decade, and that  the market capitalization of the New York stock exchange totaled USD27 trillion?

10.	Najib had boasted in his article “Malaysia’s Record of Democracy and Free Speech is Strong” on the eve of his visit to White House. Would he establish his credentials on both fronts  by (i) allowing Parliament to have a full debate on the 1MDB scandal and Malaysia as a global kleptocracy; and (ii) declare that he would peacefully and democratically transfer power to Pakatan Harapan if Malaysian voters in 14GE decide on a change of government in Putrajaya and that there would be riots or any declaration of emergency?

(Media Statement in Gelang Patah on Friday, 15th September 2017)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 15 September 2017, 8:27 am and is filed under
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Trump’s meeting with Malaysian crook Najib reeks of the Swamp

BY PAUL WOLFOWITZ

Newsweek

9/13/17

This article first appeared on the American Enterprise Institute site.

President Trump met yesterday with Prime Minister Najib of Malaysia, a visit the Wall Street Journal in an editorial last week characterized appropriately as “Trump’s Malaysia Swamp.”

As an Australian expert on Southeast Asia quoted in the New York Times said, “From a pure public relations point of view, it’s a meeting the White House should avoid. . . . Even a photo op with Kim Jong-un would be better.”

The Washington Post in an editorial yesterday said that the visit “sets a new low. Not only is Mr. Najib known for imprisoning peaceful opponents, silencing critical media and reversing Malaysia’s progress toward democracy. He also is a subject of the largest foreign kleptocracy investigation ever launched by the US Justice Department.”

The Justice Department suit in question seeks recovery and forfeiture of over $1 billion in assets alleged to have been purchased with funds “misappropriated” from Malaysia’s One Malaysia Development Bank (or 1MDB), which the suit alleges is largely controlled and managed by someone identified as “Malaysian Official 1” — and who is widely known to be Najib.

In addition to his overall responsibility for the more than $4 billion of misappropriated funds, some $1 billion of which were laundered in the United States, “Malaysian Official 1” personally received $731 million, of which $620 million was supposedly returned, netting him a tidy $111 million.

Did President Trump know about any of this when the Malaysian Prime Minister was added to his schedule?

One fact not mentioned by any of those three major papers seems to provide a clue as to how this meeting was arranged. In May, a former Trump campaign aide — Healy E. Baumgardner-Nardone of the “45 Group” — registered as a foreign agent to represent the Office of the Prime Minister of Malaysia. She reported receiving $250,000 for her services.

The Malaysian government has paid lavishly in the past for Washington “swamp dwellers” to purchase influence and disparage its opponents and critics.

As the Journal editorial points out, during President Obama’s second term the Malaysians rewarded a major Democratic Party fundraiser handsomely for representing them, just before Najib secured an Obama state visit to Malaysia (the first by a US president in sixty years), and then received an even more unprecedented invitation from Obama to join him in Hawaii for a game of golf.

Back during George W. Bush’s first term, Malaysian business interests hired Belle Haven Consultants for fees in excess of $1 million over two years to promote Malaysian interests in the US.

Some of that money was reportedly used to influence the views of a prominent conservative think tank, through the intermediary of the Alexander Strategy Group, associated with former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and the notorious Jack Abramoff.

During Obama’s first term, the Najib government paid millions to APCO Worldwide of Washington, a portion of which went to the London-based “Fact Based Communications, Ltd.” to hire an individual named Josh Trevino, to organize a network of bloggers to write blog posts disparaging opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim — whose coalition was growing in strength heading into the 2013 elections.

That game blew up when Trevino was fired by The Guardian of London for failing to disclose that he was on the Malaysian payroll while writing a supposedly independent column. That forced Trevino to file a belated foreign agent registration exposing the whole scheme.

Back in Malaysia, the government does more than merely disparage its critics. Just last week, in the latest development in the 1MDB case, FBI special agent Robert Heuchling asserted in a filing in court in Los Angeles that “identifying witnesses [in the case] could result in intimidation or threaten their safety,” citing “reports of local officials and politicians who have been arrested for purportedly disclosing information linked to 1MDB.”

He also cited Malaysian press reports from August 30 that said “the driver of former Malaysian Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail was shot in public as a possible warning against assisting the US government in the case.”

If President Trump were serious about “draining the swamp” in Washington, he should have found a diplomatic excuse to postpone this embarrassing meeting.  Doing so would have sent a strong signal to other lobbyists attempting to sell access to the President.

Having failed to do that, at a minimum he should find out who was responsible for inviting the Malaysian swamp to the White House. And if they did not properly inform him of the scandal surrounding Najib, someone needs to be disciplined.

Paul Wolfowitz is a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).

Before joining AEI, he spent more than three decades in public service and higher education, working in the administrations of seven different presidents. Most recently, he served as president of the World Bank and deputy secretary of defense. At the World Bank he focused on the problem of corruption and the challenges of sub-Saharan Africa. As ambassador to Indonesia and assistant secretary of state for East Asia in the Reagan administration, Mr. Wolfowitz was an advocate of reform and political openness. He was involved in Persian Gulf security for almost 30 years during three different tours at the Department of Defense.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 15 September 2017, 10:38 am and is filed under
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Najib knows he is not telling the truth because he knows that never in the nation’s history is UMNO/BN coalition more likely to be turned out of Putrajaya than in the 14th General Election

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak knows that he is not the telling truth when in his speech to an artificial crowd at Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur today, he said that the Chinese community must realise that it is highly unlikely that Pakatan Harapan will be able to capture Putrajaya in the next general election.

Najib said the political reality is that the Malays only have two parties representing them, UMNO and PAS and that Pakatan Harapan is not being supported by the Malays.

Najib knows that he is not telling the truth because he knows that never in the nation’s history is the UMNO/BN coalition more likely to be turned out of Putrajaya than in the 14th General Election.

In fact, the UMNO/BN coalition had lost the popular vote in the 13th General Election, winning only 47% of the total votes cast, and this is why Najib is the first minority Prime Minister in the country.

This is because although UMNO/BN secured only 47% of the popular vote, through an unfair and unjust  redelineation of constituencies, gerrymandering and a host of other undemocratic measures, Najib could win 60 per cent of the parliamentary seats, giving him the post of the first minority Prime Minister in Malaysia.

However, if there is a swing of 10% of the Malay voters and 5% of the non-Malay voters in Peninsular Malaysia in the 14GE as compared to 13GE, Pakatan Harapan will win 113 parliamentary seats, UMNO/BN 50 and PAS two.

With these numbers, Pakatan Harapan will form the new Federal Government in Malaysia – as Pakatan Harapan’s parliamentary representation will at least be between 125-130 out of a Parliament of 222 seats, if not more, if Sabah and Sarawak are taken into account!

Najib is aware of this scenario, but he is trying to disseminate misleading information to confuse the Malaysian voters to swing their support to UMNO/BN.

The 14GE will prove that there is a new political landscape in Malaysia, and those who claim that the Malays will only support two Malay parties, UMNO or PAS, are out of touch with realities.

Just now, I was privileged to see a major breakthrough in Sabah politics, where over 300 Muslim bumiputras joined the DAP to form four new branches in Sabah.

This is no more news in Peninsular Malaysia, as we have not only Malay MPs and leaders, as well as predominantly Malay branches, but for Sabah this is a historic breakthrough.

This demonstrates that the lies, fake news and false information about DAP and myself as anti-Malay and anti-Islam is not sustainable in the information age where information travels at the speed of light – and given time, the UMNP/BN demonisation campaign of DAP as anti-Malay and anti-Islam will collapse when exposed to the light of truth and reality.

UMNO  is in a triple dilemma – it has lost the support of the majority of Malays in the country as well as lost the support of the highest percentage of the 1.6 milion Malay civil servants.

There is also the possibility that a sizable section of  the 3.5 million UMNO members may not support the Najib leadership, and there is also a possibility that a big chunk of the one million PAS members may not support the Hadi leadership of PAS – as a vote for PAS has become a vote for  UMNO with Hadi becoming the strongest apologist and defender for Najib’s 1MDB scandal and turning Malaysia into a global kleptocracy.

Najib’s visit to the White House and meeting with US President Trump has turned out to be a political disaster of the first magnitude. especially the 5-minute 58-second Najib-Trump exchange in the White House, where the Malaysian Prime Minister forgot his national duties and responsibiilties and offered Trump three “value propositions” to help strengthen the US economy! As if this is possible when GDP of USA is near USD19 trillion while Malaysia’s GDP has not reached USD300 billion (i;e. USA economy is some 63 times larger than the Malaysian economy.)

Najib has made a fool of himself as well as the country during his visit to White House and meeting with Trump.  This may be the reason why Najib has cancelled the possibility of dissolving Parliament after his White House visit.  The next possibility is when Najib presents his 2018 Budget in Parliament on Oct. 27.

Will Najib dissolve Parliament after the 2018 budget presentation on Oct. 27 or will he push it to next year? We will soon know.

[
Speech at the DAP kopitiam dialogue in Sandakan on Saturday, 16th Sept. 2017 at 5 pm
]

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 16 September 2017, 10:19 pm and is filed under
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Will Najib sue former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz and Newsweek for calling him a “crook”?

Will the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak sue the former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitze and American news magazine Newsweek for defamation for calling him a “crook”?

This is the first time that a Malaysian Prime Minister in 60 years has been publicly called a “crook” by an international personality like the former World Bank President and an international news magazine.

Is Najib going to keep quiet and submit to such public defamation or is he going to defend his personal honour and the nation’s dignity by taking legal action to sue Wolfowitz and Newsweek magazine for calling him a “crook”?

Malaysians can still remember that it is more than two years ago that Najib had threatened to sue Wall Street Journal in July 2015 for implicating him in the 1MDB and RM2.6 billion donation twin mega scandals, but nothing has come out of it.

Similarly, can Najib be believed if he now indulges in saber-rattling warning that he would sue Paul Wolfowitze and Newsweek without coming through with any defamation proceedings?

In the last two years, Najib has acquired the epithets of kleptocrat, “MO1” and now “crook”.

If these epithets are flung at Najib because of his personal activities, it is Najib’s personal matter. But when it is hurled against Najib because of his capacity as Prime Minister of Malaysia, it is not Najib’s personal matter but a national issue of great importance. Is he going to take all these infamy and ignominy with a grin without any legal action to establish his integrity and incorruptibility as Prime Minister of Malaysia?

The claim by the Finance Ministry Secretary-General Tan Sri Mohd Irwan Serigar bin Abdullah yesterday that Najib’s statement about the procurement of Boeing jets and the investment by Employees’ Provident Fund’s (EPF) in the United States equity has nothing to do with “strengthening” the US economy has further undermined  Najib’s credibility as a result of his visit to White House and meeting with US President Donald Trump.

Irwan said: “The allegation and idea that certain quarters claimed otherwise that we want to help the US economy is baseless.”

Irwan said EPF’s job was to investment and generate returns to depositors and equity investments were the fund’s business. As for Malaysia Airlines, Irwan said the airline had to buy new planes to expand its business.

Irwan, who is also now the chairman of 1MDB, is trying to deny the undeniable.

May be Irwan should state who are the persons who made the “allegation” and gave such an “idea” the Najib’s “value propositions” were intended to “strengthen” the US economy!

Could it be that Irwan did not know or understand what Najib said in the White House on Sept. 12?

For Irwan’s edification, this is what Najib said in that infamous 5 minute 58 second-exchange with Trump in the White House on Sept. 12:

“Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak: Thank you very much, Mr President, for your invitation for me and members of my delegation to meet with you at the White House. I want to say that we come here with a strong value proposition to put on the table.

“Number one, we want to help you in terms of strengthening the US economy. I come with three specific proposals. Number one, we intend to increase the number of Boeing planes to be purchased by MAS. We are committed to 25 planes of the 737 MAX 10, plus eight 787 Dreamliners. And there is a strong probability – not possibility – probability that we will add 25 more 737 MAX 10 in the near future. So within five years, the deal will be worth beyond $10 billion. That’s one. We will also try to persuade AirAsia to purchase GE engines.

“Trump: Great.

“Najib: Secondly, we have Employees Provident Fund, which is a major pension fund in Malaysia. They’ve got quite a big sum of capital to be exported. They have invested close to $7 billion, in terms of equity, in the United States. And they intend to invest three to four additional billion dollars to support your infrastructure redevelopment in the United States.

“Trump: Great.

“Najib: And thirdly, our sovereign fund, Khazanah, they have an office in Silicon Valley. They have invested about $400 million, in terms of high-tech companies, and they intend to increase that investment as well.”

Najib spoke quite simple and straightforward  English which cannot be misunderstood by anyone with an elementary grasp of the language.

Or has the standard of English in Malaysia plunged so precipitately that even the Secretary-General of the Finance Ministry cannot understand the simple English of the Prime Minister?

Unless of course what Najib said in the White House was not accurately reflected by the official transcript of the 5-minute 58-second exchange between Najib and Trump in the White House on Sept. 12.

Is Najib going to issue a statement that he had been wrongly quoted in the White House transcript and that he never said what was in the transcript?

Is Najib going to write to Trump to correct the White House transcript and to put in writing what he actually said to Trump in the White House of Sept. 12.

I am sure  Najib’s entourage would have their own recording of the infamous 5-minute 58-second exchange between Najib and Trump, and if Najib’s transcript is completely different from what was released by the White House, then all the more the Najib entourage should release its own transcript.

I am prepared to personally listen to Najib’s recording of the 5-minute 58-second exchange between Najib and Trump in the White House on Sept. 12, if Najib claims that the White House transcript is wrong and inaccurate.

I will reserve further comment until this conundrum whether the White House transcript is the true and correct version of what transpired in the 5-minute 58-second exchange between Najib and Trump in the White House on Sept. 12.

When will Najib send out the  invitation to interested parties to listen to the true recording of the Najib-Trump conversation at the White House on Sept. 12?

(Media Statement in Gelang Patah on Saturday, 16th Sept. 2017)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 16 September 2017, 6:59 am and is filed under
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Call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry jointly headed by Tan Sri Simon Sipaun and Datuk Sri Robert Jacob Ridu into Malaysia Agreement 1963 and Cobbold Commission Report

We are celebrating the 54th anniversary of Malaysia Day, and I am in Sabah yesterday and today in Sandakan, Lahad Datuk and Kota Kinabalu to celebrate the formation of Malaysia 54 years ago in 1963.

I would have expected the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and all the Cabinet Ministers to spend these few days in Sabah and Sarawak to celebrate Malaysia Day, but they seemed to have made the most perfunctory observation of Malaysia Day, with the Prime Minister and his deputy making lightning visit to Kota Kinabalu last night for the official Malaysia Day celebrations and and leaving almost immediately thereafter.

I do not think the Prime Minister is doing justice to Malaysia Day, Sabah and Sarawak especially at a time of the highest discontent by Sabahans and Sarawakians about the unjust and inequitable treatment by the Federal Government since 1963.

Najib could spend the past week in United States and United Kingdom but he could only spend a few hours in Kota Kinabalu for the formal Malaysia Day celebrations, flying in and out in a few hours. He could not spend even 24 hours in Sabah.

In the previous Parliament before the 13th General Elections, I had suggested that with the approach of the 50th anniversary of the formation of Malaysia, there should be a Royal Commission of Inquiry to inquire as to whether the dreams and hopes of Sabahans and Sarawakians in the formation of Malaysia in the past half a century had been realised and the reasons for their present discontents and unhappiness in Malaysia.

I was shocked that my proposal in Parliament for an RCI for Sabah and Sarawak did not receive any support from the Sabah and Sarawak Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Members of Parliament and my call for a RCI for Sabah and Sarawak remained only a record in the parliamentary Hansards.

If my call for a RCI for Sabah and Sarawak had been heeded and acted upon six or seven years ago, we would be in a better position today to deal with the grievances of Sabahans and Sarawakians. In a way, the past 54 years were lost and wasted years in ensuring justice, freedom, diversity, good governance and democracy.

If rampant corruption and abuses of power had not been the curses and bugbears for the past decades in Sabah and Sarawak, there would have been enough funds from Sabah and Sarawak from equitable sharing of oil and gas royalties to build the Pan Borneo Highway by now – and not allow Pan Borneo Highway to be Najib’s main bait for Sabah and Sarawak in the 14th general election.

The DAP co-ordinator for Lahad Datu Johan Nul said UMNO operatives are trying to frighten Malay and Muslim bumiputra voters claiming that DAP is anti-Malay and anti-Islam and that if Umno loses power, the Malays and Muslim bumiputeras will perish as the DAP and the Chinese will grab the political power of the Malays.

These are Umno lies, fake news and false information, for DAP is not anti-Malay and not anti-Islam. We have Malay and Muslim MPs, State Assembly representatives, leaders, members and branches as DAP represents all races and religions.

I am not surprised by Johan’s revelations about Umno lies and falsehoods. But Johan’s revelation marked a new stage in the history of DAP. This is the first time that I hear that Umno is using these lies in Sabah although they have been used in Peninsular Malaysia for decades.

This shows that Malays and Muslim bumiputeras in Sabah are breaking away from the Umno lies and falsehoods – that even in Sabah there is a new trend of Malays and Muslim bumiputeras supporting DAP for justice, fair play and democracy in Malaysia as well as in Sabah and Sarawak.

I want to use this occasion to call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry jointly headed by Tan Sri Simon Sipaun and Datuk Seri Robert Jacob Ridu into Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the Cobbold Commission report.

All the problems raised by Johan just now, about the erosion of Lahad Datu, the return of Labuan to Sabah, the corruption in Sabah and Sarawak as well as the misgovernance like no medicines at the Lahad Datu hospital since March this year will have platforms to be ventilated.

[
Speech at the DAP Malaysia Day celebrations at Hotel De Leon in Lahad Datu on Sunday Sept 17, 2017 at 10 am
]

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 17 September 2017, 3:15 pm and is filed under
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Five political disasters in one week – isn’t it enough?

What an anti-climax and a political disaster!

The much hyped-up media conference announcement this evening  by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak which attracted not only national but world-wide attention proved to be an utterly inconsequential one of  the former Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib rejoining UMNO, after leaving UMNO in 2013 to join PAS, and then leaving PAS in 2015 to join PKR.

May be, Najib should be congratulated for getting a better candidate to be Selangor Mentri Besar than the one Selangor UMNO/BN  has at present, but whether “Mike Tyson” will inspire Selangor voters to give the Selangor Government  mandate back to UMNO/Selangor  is another question.

What is most deplorable is the “game” which UMNO propagandists and cybertroopers played on the media, to make then their “agents” to spread their ploy, naming various ex-UMNO personalities who would be returning to the fold, like Shafie Apdal, Tamrin Ghaffar, Khalid Ibrahim, etc.  We are indeed seeing “swamp” politics of the most immoral and despicable variety now in Malaysia.

This is Najib’s fifth political disaster in a week. Isn’t it enough?

What were the other four Najib political disasters in a week?

The first was Najib’s visit to White House and meeting with US President Trump on Sept. 12 – a national humiliation and shame for 30 million Malaysians  as the Prime Minister of Malaysia was publicly branded a kleptocrat and “MO1” in the US Department of Justice (DOJ) largest kleptocratic litigation to confiscate US$1.7 billion 1MDB-linked assets in US, UK and Switzerland, and we have the Malaysian PM meeting the President of such a government without making any attempt for two years to clear or cleanse himself and Malaysia of the infamy and ignominy of a global kleptocracy.

But worse was to come when the Najib-Trump meeting at the White House took place, when Najib went like a supplicant, bearing gifts like bunga mas in olden history, with three “value propositions” to “strengthen” the American economy to make America great again!

I have had my differences with the first five Prime Ministers of Malaysia – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein, Tun Mahahthir and Tun Abdullah – but they have never acted like a supplicant or a vassal state compromising Malaysia’s sovereignty!

Making the whole farce even more incredible, the Secretary-General to the Finance Ministry tried to deny that Najib had said the three “value propositions” were to strengthen the American economy – an blatant attempt to deny the undeniable as what Najib said was released in the transcript of the 5-minute 58-second Najib-Trump exchange at the beginninng of the White House meeting, and the transcript was released by none other than the White House.

The second was Najib’s speech at the MCA-organisedl Chinese Community Patriotic Assembly at the UMNO headquarterd in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, he threatened the Chinese saying that “the Chinese community would be targeted should Malaysia ever descend into chaos…If there is no peace in our country, what will happen? The Chinese will be the first to be targeted if there is no peace in this country.”

I fully agree with the DAP Director of Political Bureau and MP for Kluang, Liew Chin Tong, that no leader should ever threaten the people or any community to gain votes in the way Najib had singled out the Chinese community yesterday.

Has Najib forgotten about the article “Malaysia’s Record of Democracy and Free Speech is Strong” on the eve of his US visit?

Is this why he ignored my challenge to him to prove that he is a true democrat by declaring that he would democratically and peacefully transfer to Pakatan Harapan if Malaysians voters decide on a change of government in Putrajaya in the 14 General Election and that there won’t be riots or any declaration of emergency as some have claimed?

The third political disaster which Najib committed in a week is the perfunctory manner he celebrated Malaysia Day as Prime Minister of Malaysia – spending less than 24 hours in Sabah (completely ignoring Sarawak) just to attend the official events in Kota Kinabalu last night.

Najib’s fourth political disaster in a week is to be called a “crook” by former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitze and Newsweek magazine, and  Najib  dare not sue them for defamation.

Five political disasters in one week – isn’t it enough?

A piece of friendly advice for Najib – he should sack the coterie of highly-paid foreign media publicists and consultants for landing him in a political soup in the past week!

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 17 September 2017, 9:39 pm and is filed under
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