A government which has lost the ability to differentiate between right and wrong has forfeited the right to be the government of Malaysia

A government which has lost the ability to differentiate between right and wrong has forfeited the right to be the government of Malaysia

A government which has lost the ability to differentiate between right and wrong has forfeited the right to be the government of Malaysia – and this is why the UMNO/BN coalition must be replaced by the Pakatan Harapan coalition before Malaysians suffer more shame, indignity, infamy and ignominy.

What happened at SK Putrajya Presint 14(1) today is the latest proof that the UMNO/BN Federal Government has become a morally bankrupt coalition, which has lost the ability to differentiate between right and  wrong or  good and bad, capable of doing things which Bapa Malaysia and the other four former Prime Ministers would never have approved or authorized.

An important line had been crossed when hundreds of pupils and teachers  SK Putrajaya Presint 14 (1) were required to participate in a “class decoration and performance” competition with the theme “Umno and Independence”, where  Umno flags were draped all over the primary school’s compound and the pupils  brandished Umno flags and crooned the party’s anthem.

At one point, a banner with the words “Hidup Umno, Hidup Melayu. Dulu, Kini dan Selamanya” (Long Live Umno, Long Live Malays. Before, Now and Forever) appeared on stage.

The event was organised by the Federal Territories Ministry, the Putrajaya Education Department, Putrajaya Umno division education bureau and two other NGOs.

During the 52 years from 1957 to 2009 under the leadership of the  first five Prime Ministers of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein Tun Mahathir and Tun Abdullah, the Minister responsible for such a blatant and brazen UMNO show in a school would have been instantly sacked, but in the case of Federal Territories Minister, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, he would probably be hailed by the Prime Minister as having made a major “breakthrough” in these parlous times for the UMNO/BN coalition.

Two episodes highlight the SK Putrajaya P:resint 14(1) UMNO show as  a sorry event.

Firstly, the event glorified and extolled UMNO’s contribution to nation-building. What about MCA, Gerakan, MIC, and the Sabah and Sarawak BN component  parties and their leaders  or they didn’t exist or simply didn’t  matter in the real political scheme of things in Putrajaya?

Secondly, UMNO never had to beg for Malays to join UMNO, and Tengku Adnan’s open begging to teachers at a school function to join UMNO must the first event of its kind in the history of UMNO.

It confirmed that new political landscape in the country, where Malaysians are now on the cusp of major political changes with the possible defeat of UMNO/BN and the formation of a Pakatan Harapan Federal Government in the forthcoming 14th general election because of three factors:

• UMNO has lost the support of the majority of Malays in the country.

• UMNO losing support of the majority of the 1.6 million civil servants in the country.

• the highest percentage of UMNO members (at present, 3.5 million UMNO members) in UMNO history likely to vote against UMNO President, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and UMNO in the 14GE.

This was probably  why the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak did another “first” today when he addressed some 5,000 civil servants, stressing that the UMNO/BN coalition and the civil service are inseparable and warned them of a possibility of bleak future if Pakatan Harapan comes into power.

Najib is doubly wrong. UMNO/BN coalition and the civil service are separate and distinct entities, and the future of the civil service does not  and must not depend on the fate of the UMNO/BN coalition, which is going downhill.

Secondly, it is just irresponsible  fear-mongering on Najib’s part to stoke fears among Malay civil servants that a Pakatan Harapan general election victory will “gamble” away their future and those of  their descendants.

The Pakatan Harapan State Governments in Penang and Selangor for two terms will be an assurance to all Malaysians that under a Pakatan Harpaan Federal Government, Pakatan Harapan  will compete  with UMNO/BN to show that Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region will enjoy a better deal as Malaysians than under the Najib premiership.

It is a reflection of Najib’s political insecurities that he has broached the heretical notion of wala’ (loyalty) for civil servants.

Najib said: “It’s about promising loyalty to a legitimate leader, a leadership institution and an administration as long as there is no element of cruelty in the leadership.

“If the principle of wala’ is practiced in the civil service, a particular organisation will be disciplined and will also run smoothly.”

Apart from the inappropriateness of the principle of wala’ in a democratic country, the  1.5 million civil servants and the 32 million Malaysians are entitled to ask what “legitimacy” Najib is talking about when he had done nothing to clear or cleanse the country of the infamy of a “global kleptocracy” and/or his premiership of the ignominy of a “kleptocrat” and “MO1”?

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 3 October 2017, 5:44 pm and is filed under
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MACC should return RM5 million to Yayasan Prihatin SPRM from Najib because of “conflict-of-interest” and ask for a budget provision of RM300 million for 2018 to combat corruption against “sharks” of corruption

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should return the RM5 million allocation to Yayasan Prihatin SPRM announced by the Prime Minster, Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Sunday because of “conflict-of interest” issues and ask for a budget provision of RM300 million for  2018 for MACC to combat corruption against “sharks” of corruption.

The integrity, independence and professionalism of MACC and its officers  must be jealously guarded and should not be compromised in any manner, such as the RM5 million allocation for Yayasan Prihatin SPRM, a foundation set up to look after the welfare of MACC personnel, announced by the Prime Minister when opening the new MACC headquarters in Putrajaya on Sunday.

Malaysia’s record in fighting corruption has been  a dismal one if we look back the past two decades, as recorded the annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI) reports of Transparency International (TI) since 1995.

In 1995, Malaysia was ranked No. 23 out of 41 countries, with a CPI score above the half-way point of 5.2 out of 10 (which is best score for the least corrupt nation).

In the past 22 years, Malaysia’s record in fighting corruption got worse over the years despite an almost ten-fold increase in the annual budget allocation for the anti-corruption agency, ie. from RM28.6 million in 1994 to RM265 million for 2015. The budget allocation for MACC for 2016 was RM252 million and for 2017 RM216 million.

The MACC Chief Commissioner, Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad should explain why despite a ten-fold increase in the budget for anti-corruption in Malaysia in the past two decades, Malaysia’s ranking in the annual TI CPI worsened from No. 23 in 1995 to No. 55 in 2016, while the CPI score fell from above the mid-point of 5.32 out of 100 in 1996 to below the mid-point of 49 out of 100 in 2016?

Both in TI CPI ranking score, Malaysia in 2016 is even worse than 1995.  Why is this the case?

Furthermore, can Dzulkifli explain why China and Indonesia, which were ranked as the last two and most corrupt countries in the list of 41 countries in the 1995 TI CPI, had been able to make steady progress in the anti-corruption front, as seen by the TI CPI 2016, where China was ranked No. 79 out of 176 countries with a CPI score of 40 out of 100, while Indonesia climbed from the bottom of the list to  a respectable No. 90 out of 176 countries with a score of 37 out of 100.

At this rate and trend of anti-corruption efforts in Malaysia, China and Indonesia, Malaysia would long lose out to both China and Indonesia in terms of integrity, good governance and anti-corruption well before TN 2050 (National Transformation in Year 2050).

With the opening of the new MACC Headquarters, Malaysia has achieved a global  “first” in having the biggest anti-corruption complex in the world.  This is not the “first”, as Malaysia  had earlier achieved a global first transforming itself into a “global kleptocracy” under the Najib premiership.

MACC does not  need to have such an expensive, ostentatious and grand Hqrs.

It is more important that MACC  has more modest headquarters but establish a   global reputation and fame as an effective world-class anti-corruption agency to  combat corruption, without fear or favour, regardless of whether they are “sharks”, “tigers” or “crocodiles”.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 3 October 2017, 3:08 pm and is filed under
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Salleh and Abdul Rahman are stooges because they are not only  Najib’s court jesters, they also fit the other meaning of ‘stooge’ in  blindly defending Najib’s lies and falsehoods

The Minister for Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak asked if  standing up for one’s party to defend it against lies, slander and other attacks makes one a stooge. The answer is “NO’.

Such a question indicate two maladies:  Firstly, Salleh’s poor grasp of thinking and logic, for I had never said or implied such a thing.

Secondly, his poor grasp of English,  which seems to be an affliction reaching the highest levels of the UMNO/BN Cabinet and leadership.

Salleh never realized that when I said “Sabah has produced to UMNO stooges”, I was referring in  the context like the “The Three Stooges”,  where Salleh and the Director of BN Strategic Communications and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan  played the role of  Najib’s court jesters, becoming  the laughing stock of the country.

On reflection, I agree that both Salleh and Abdul Rahman Dahlan also qualify for the second meaning of “stooge”, an unthinking underling who will do anything to please his master.

Examples of Salleh and Abdul Rahman as Najib’s stooges in the first context as Najib’s court jesters are aplenty, like Abdul Rahman going bonkers and scoring his own goal in his blog entitled
“TIME FOR LIM KIT SIANG TO RESIGN FROM POLITICS”
 and Salleh’s asking why former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had not apologised to me when Mahathir admitted at the launch of the Johor Pakatan Harapan last Friday that he (Mahathir) was behind the UMNO’s move to label DAP as a “Chinese chauvinist party” when he was UMNO president for 22 years, but Mahathir has come to realise that DAP is really multi-racial.

I had asked Salleh why he is so upset that Mahathir had admitted he had been wrong when he previously said that DAP was anti-Malay? But Salleh has not been able to reply.

Recently, Najib regurgitated the lie and slander that I have “absolute power” in Pakatan Harapan, and that Mahathir,  Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim,  Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Mohamad Sabu are only my puppets and stooges, but instead of being embarrassed by Najib’s lies and slander, Salleh and Abdul Rahman performed their role as Najib’s stooges – in both senses of the word – to mimic  these lies and slander.

I thank Abdul Rahman for his back-handed compliment when he said yesterday that I had “become jaded” in my thinking after so many years in politics.

Does  he realise that he  is conceding that I once had good ideas about politics for the country.

Would Abdul Rahman list out my  “good ideas” before I became “jaded” in my thinking, as it is a great pity these “good ideas” had not been accepted and implemented by the Najib premiership.

Or is Abdul Raham  talking utter rubbish for he is unable to list a single one of these “good ideas” of mine?

Abdul Rahman continues to paint a doomsday scenario for me, that my “dignity is finished”, my “political currency has plummeted” and “no one takes him seriously”.

If so, why is Abdul Rahman  is obsessed about me when I am such a “goner” in Malaysian politics?

Let Salleh and Abdul Rahman continue in both context as stooges of Najib – as the Prime Minister’s court jesters and unthinking underlings who will even  defend the Prime Minister’s lies and slander – for the more the duo blog, the less credibility UMNO/BN will command among the Malaysian populace and the end of UMNO political  hegemony will come sooner.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 3 October 2017, 10:09 am and is filed under
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Challenge to Najib to deny that he had not created an instant billionaire (in Malaysian ringgit) by approving RM1.8 billion commissions to Leissner or 9% of the  three 1MDB bonds totally US$6.5 billion in 2012/3 – which is several times the industry average for underwriting risky bonds

The international headlines about former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner, who had been linked to the 1MDB scandal,  barred from the US securities industry for failing to provide documents for 1MDB investigations, is the  latest proof that despite Malaysian Prime Minister,  Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s optimistic forecast in his 2016 New Year Message 21 months ago that the 1MDB scandal was no more and his Sept. 12 visit to the White House and meeting with US President Trump, the 1MDB scandal is not only very much alive, but has become more global in its tentacles and scope.

The US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) said the indefinite ban on Leissner was issued on Sept 11 as he did not respond to requests for documents and other information on 1MDB investigations.

The US industry body was probing Leissner’s departure from Goldman Sachs in early 2016, in particular into a reference letter he allegedly wrote during his time with the firm.

Leissner, who was formerly Goldman Sachs’ Southeast Asia chairperson, was an adviser to 1MDB and had allegedly issued an unauthorised letter in June 2015 to a financial institution in Luxembourg, vouching for controversial entrepreneur Jho Low, a key figure in the scandal surrounding the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.

Goldman Sachs suspended him, and he later quit the firm. Subsequently, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued a 10-year ban against him trading in the country, effective March 13, 2017.

Leissner was prime mover in Goldman Sachs’ effort in raising US$6.5 billion through the sale of three bonds in 2012 and 2013 for 1MDB, a deal where the firm  made US$593 millionh (or RM1.8 billion) in commissions.

Malaysians are entitled to know who in 1MDB, the Finance Ministry and the Government of Malaysia was responsible for approving US$593 million (or some RM1.8 billion)  profits to  Leissner or 9% of the  three 1MDB bonds totally US$6.5 billion in 2012/3 – which is several times the industry average for underwriting risky bonds.

I challenge Najib to deny that he had not created an instant American  billionaire (in Malaysian ringgit) in the 1MDB scandal  by approving RM1.8 billion commissions to Leissner or 9% of the  three 1MDB bonds totally US$6.5 billion in 2012/3 – which is several times the industry average for underwriting risky bonds.

Najib cannot really disclaim responsibility for creating an instant American billionaire (in Malaysian ringgit) in the 1MDB scandal because under Article 117 of the 1MDB Memorandum and Articles of Association (M&A), the Prime Minister is the ultimate authority who exercised final direct control of 1MDB, as Article 117 required all major decisions of the company involving financial commitment (including investment), restructuring and major appointments to have the written authorization from the Prime Minister.

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

If Najib claims he did not personally approve the RM1.8 billion commissions to Leisnner for the three 1MDB bonds in 2012 and 2013, then let Malaysians know  who was the 1MDB operative or operatives who had acted with such recklessness in so high-handed a manner as  making Leisnner an instant billionaire (in Malaysian currency) at the expense of 32 million Malaysians, and why no action had been taken by the police or other authorities to bring him or them to justice?

According to the US Department of Justice (DOJ) litigation to forfeit U$1.7 billion of 1MDB-linked assets in the US, UK and Switzerland, the three 1MDB loans arranged by Leissner and Goldman Sachs  totalling US$6.5 billion represented two of the four “principal phases” of criminal conduct in the 1MDB scandal.

The  US DOJ pleaded in its kleptocratic litigation  that in 2012, “1MDB officials and others misappropriated and fraudulently diverted substantial portion of the (US$3.5 billion) proceeds that 1MDB raised through two separate bond offerings arranged and underwritten by Goldman Sachs International”.

It continued: “Beginning almost immediately after 1MDB received the proceeds of each these two bond issues, 1MDB officials caused a substantial portion of the proceeds – approximately US$1.367 billion, a sum equivalent to more than forty per cent of the total net proceeds raised – to be wire transferred to a Swiss bank account belonging to a British Virgin Island entity called Aabar Investments PJS Limited (“Aabar-BVI”).

“Aabar-BVI was created and named to give the impression that it was associated with Aabar Investments PJS (“Aabar”), a subsidiary of IPIC incorporated in Abu Dhabi. In reality, Aabar-BVI has no genuine affiliation with Aabar or IPIC, and the Swiss bank account belonging to Aabar-BVI was used to siphon off proceeds of the 2012 bond sales for the personal benefit of officials at IPIC, Aabar, and 1MDB and their associates.”

The same modus operandi was applied to the third 1MDB bond worth US$3 billion, where more than US$1.26 billion were diverted to a bank account in Singapore held by Tanore Finance Corporation (“Tanore account”), which was in effect operated by 1MDB mastermind Jho Low.

Who was responsible in 1MDB and the Malaysian Government in making Tims Leissner  instant billionaire (in Malaysian currency) from the  three 1MDB bonds in 2012 and 2013,  while Malaysians suffered from one economic crisis to another, whether from the relentless rise in price of goods and services as a result of the GST, inadequate medical supplies for the sick in government hospitals or problems faced by 100,000 Felda settlers and 700,000 PTPTN loan defaulters.

Is this the way Najib is helping to “strengthen” the American economy?

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 4 October 2017, 2:08 pm and is filed under
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Ex-Goldman Banker Leissner Barred From U.S. Securities Industry

By Michael J Moore

Bloomberg

October 4, 2017

Tim Leissner, a senior Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker before leaving the firm in the wake of its work with Malaysia’s embattled investment fund, has been barred from the U.S. securities industry for failing to provide documents to a regulator.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued an indefinite bar on Sept. 11, saying Leissner didn’t submit to its requests during an investigation, according to his employment records on Finra’s website. Leissner accepted the findings, without admitting or denying them, according to the self-regulatory body.

Leissner, once Goldman Sachs’s Southeast Asia chairman, was an adviser to 1Malaysia Development Bhd., an investment fund set up in 2009 to help the nation build infrastructure. 1MDB ultimately became embroiled in allegations of financial irregularities that sparked probes in multiple countries. Leissner left Goldman last year after questions about the fund, his work on an Indonesian mining deal and a reference letter he allegedly wrote.

Finra’s probe was into the reference letter, which was “allegedly both inaccurate and unauthorized” by the firm, according to the filing.

Singapore’s monetary authority said in December that it planned to bar Leissner from its securities industry for 10 years because of the reference letter, which it said was on behalf of Low Taek Jho, a Malaysian financier who has been linked to alleged efforts to siphon billions of dollars from 1MDB.

Critics questioned Goldman’s earnings from arranging bond sales for 1MDB in 2012 and 2013. Goldman made about $593 million from three bond sales that raised $6.5 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, dwarfing what banks typically make from government deals. Goldman has previously defended the Malaysia fees as representing its underwriting risks and market conditions at the time.

The Wall Street Journal reported Finra’s decision earlier on Tuesday.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 4 October 2017, 10:34 am and is filed under
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Lawyers directed to take out a test case to sue the media which  printed lies and defamatory material about me, like receiving RM1 billion bribe  from Mahathir, just by quoting some “Tom, Dick and Harry”

The two UMNO stooges in the Cabinet have been knocked out and this is one reason for their silence in the past two days.

The other reason is that they have been directed to shut up  by Prime Minister Datuk Seri  Najib Razak’s right-hand man, regarded as  the  maestro in blacks ops operation who has assigned other operatives to get the better of me in their long unending  propaganda war against the DAP and Pakatan Harapan.

Since last Saturday, a digit operating outside the country had published  the most vicious and downright lies about me, but when such lies and falsehoods were ignored, another digit operating inside the country was activated to repeat the vicious and downright lies.

It is not worth paying attention to these “Tom, Dick and Harry”, whether operating outside and inside the country, for they have absolutely no credibility whatsoever from any perspective.  Nobody reads or believes what they say!

But when certain media allowed themselves to be used to  publish and circulate  these vicious and downright lies, such perversities and loopholes cannot be ignored.

Can we allow a situation where the most vicious and downrights lies can  be told about the Prime Minister, and when these most vicious and downright lies are related by any “Tom, Dick and Harry” and ignored, some media can come along and disseminate them on the basis of the narration of some backrupt personality?

I have directed my lawyers to take out a test case to sue the media which printed lies and defamatory material about me, like receiving RM1 billion bribe from Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad so that Parti Pribumi Bersatu could join Pakatan Harapan, Mahathir made Pakatan Harapan Chairman, my silence  on the Bank Negara foreign exchange (forex)  scandal of the 90s and Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir be given a safe Parliament seat to contest in the forthcoming general election.

The run-up to the 14th General Election is getting dirtier and dirtier, because Najib has realized that his hold in Putrajaya is very tenuous and Malaysians regardless of race, religion, region or even politics, deserve a political change to save Malaysia from kleptocracy and the trajectory towards a failed and a rogue state.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 4 October 2017, 5:59 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia: 1MDB casts a long shadow

by Eric Ellis

EuroMoney

October 04, 2017

This is the third year of the drama: as the government desperately tries to untangle its controversial fund before elections are called, Malaysians are asking who’s really paying to clean up the mess.

It was a revealing time to be a banker in Malaysia.

During the last week of July, word went around Kuala Lumpur’s banking circles that there could be a big government mandate in the offing, a deal to raise around $600 million, there for the taking for anyone up for the business. A $600 million transaction might not be especially large, but a deal is a deal, and even better if it’s for a sovereign, no? After all, the pickings have been a little slimmer for KL bankers ever since Malaysia was engulfed by the 1MDB corruption scandal in 2015, a saga that has rocked the ringgit, threatened Malaysia’s credit standing and plunged the country into chronic political and economic turmoil. At the centre of the scandal is Malaysia’s prime minister, Najib Razak, who received hundreds of millions of dollars via 1MDB, and who claimed the money was a donation from Middle Eastern supporters.

Two years on, the $12 billion debt drama at the Malaysian sovereign fund continues to reverberate at home and echo in regulators’ offices around the world, with investigations under way in seven countries – but notably not Malaysia. Given the suspicions of money laundering and embezzlement, investigators, some wielding indictments, are demanding answers to tough questions about important people implicated in the case.

“There was real damage here. 1MDB caused significant widespread reputational damage to Malaysia,” says the country head of a large foreign bank in KL.

Unsurprising then that such a toxic environment has made bankers in KL rather more discerning – let’s call it gun-shy – when it comes to doing business these days. After all, they are well aware of the fate of one their coterie, Tim Leissner, the former Goldman Sachs southeast Asia boss who was close to the ruling family at the centre of the scandal. The flashy Leissner raised billions for 1MDB through 2013, earning his bank a rumoured $300 million in fees.

When word filtered through the market at the time about Goldman’s 1MDB windfall, “I got my butt kicked by my bosses asking why we didn’t get the business,” one local banker tells Asiamoney.  Today, Leissner is long gone from KL, and from Goldman Sachs too. Nor is he welcome in neighbouring Singapore, where the market regulator has banned him from banking for 10 years for 1MDB-related offences. Goldman and Leissner are also under investigation by the US Department of Justice over their roles in the 1MDB affair.

Deadline

But 1MDB continues to draw blood: as talk of this proposed deal got around, bankers remembered that July 31 was the deadline imposed by 1MDB’s erstwhile Gulf associate, the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic), for repayment of the first tranche – or half – of the $1.2 billion that it owes Ipic.

That payment is an important part of the Malaysian government’s painstaking unravelling of 1MDB, a sclerotic, credibility-straining process of asset firesales and debt restructuring.

For Najib, whose government faces elections next year, 1MDB has become a political liability. In a US lawsuit seeking to recover assets acquired with 1MDB cash, the prime minister was simply referred to as “Malaysian Official No. 1”.

Najib, who was 1MDB’s one-time chairman, has dismissed the scandal as a lapse in governance, while his government has tried to stifle dissent. But there are hints at the depth of public revulsion at what has happened at the fund.

At the Starbucks cafes in downtown KL, it’s common to hear customers giving the name “Malaysian Official No. 1” when the baristas take their coffee orders.

Roadside government billboards exhorting public integrity are defaced with graffiti, as are the advertisements for property developments that promise a “new generation of aristocratic demeanour”. (The ennobled Najib hails from a family storied in Malaysian cultural and political history.)

So, were these two end-of-July events, this sniff of a sovereign deal and the Ipic-1MDB repayment deadline, connected?

No one in Putrajaya, Malaysia’s administrative seat, could or would officially say, which indicated something to old KL hands. Indeed, that this crucial Ipic debt deadline was looming went largely unremarked in the mainstream Malaysian media, which is read more to divine the official line. But it was a different take online, where the 1MDB saga has mostly played out and, in these strange days in KL, that’s where bankers tend to get their news – and from sources.

All that made this particular week in late July problematic for KL bankers and financiers. As it progressed, various industry sources told Asiamoney what they were hearing about how 1MDB might make good Ipic’s $600 million. It was believed, as it turned out correctly, that 1MDB didn’t have that sort of money to hand. So to make the July 31 deadline, it might have to come from somewhere else and, crucially, be seen as market-appropriate in doing so.

There was speculation that Malaysia’s Employees Provident Fund, a respected institution boasting assets of $200 billion, might step up. The rumour in the market was that 1MBD’s masters in the finance ministry – where Najib has been minister since late 2008, shortly before he became prime minister in early 2009 – had approached the EPF.

Then there was talk that Kwap, the $40 billion state-run retirement fund for civil servants, had been sounded out.

The state investment house Khazanah Nasional was also mentioned as a potential source of funds, as was the Federal Land Development Authority, which answers to the prime minister. The state-owned oil company Petronas was cited as a possible player; so too the Tabung Haji, the government agency responsible for arranging religious pilgrimages.

None of these agencies responded to Asiamoney’s inquiries. But as each large government-owned institution was cited as a possible source of funds, the notion was similarly cast aside as being both unrealistic and politically problematic for Najib’s ruling UMNO-led coalition. Denying wrongdoing at 1MDB, Najib has tried to affect a ‘crisis, what crisis?’ air about the debt-laden fund, promising that no state agencies will be engaged to bail it out.

So by Wednesday, with the deadline looming, official operatives and go-betweens started sounding out bankers. Could they help? ‘We’ll make it worth your while,’ they apparently cooed.

“It was only five days to the payment,” one banker told Asiamoney. “They were facing a technical default, and they’d only started making calls. It just showed how disorganized they are at the top.”

By Friday and with the pressure on, financiers were suddenly remembering golf and family dates they’d curiously forgotten about. Calls weren’t returned; phones were switched off for the weekend. As one investment banker put it to Asiamoney: “It was a banker’s equivalent of collectively deciding that we all had to wash our hair that day.”

Credibility

As bankers in Malaysia note, there were powerful reasons to get the payment made, not least the financial credibility of two sovereign players in the international markets.

After long and often bitter negotiations, 1MDB and Ipic agreed last April that 1MDB would pay Ipic $1.2 billion in two stages. Backed by the Malaysian state, 1MDB also committed to meet all the interest and principal payments of two $3.5 billion 10-year bonds that Ipic had guaranteed in 2012 for 1MDB. Those bonds helped pay for two power companies that 1MDB was later forced to sell as the fund tried to unravel its debt mess.

In agreeing to make good its debt, 1MDB promised to meet its obligation via the “monetization of 1MDB-owned investment fund units.”

In Abu Dhabi, there is no appetite for further public embarrassment over how one of the emirate’s leading sovereign funds was managed.

Authorities have jailed the former Ipic managing director, Khadem al-Qubaisi, over his role in the 1MDB plot, and Gulf observers believe Ipic’s messy involvement with 1MDB was a catalyst for the state-led, $125 billion merger last January of Ipic with another Abu Dhabi sovereign investor, Mubadala Investment.

“The Emiratis are also very keen to get their money back,” notes a banker. But back in KL, progress on that front was taking time: July 31 came and went without 1MDB making good its obligation to Ipic, marking another technical default for a Malaysian sovereign entity. Then Bank Negara, Malaysia’s central bank, published details inviting investment in a Shariah-compliant 30-year government bond to be issued by August 4. The amount was RM2.5 billion, or nearly $600 million – curiously, the same amount owed by 1MDB.

Was this a coincidence, or was it to raise the 1MDB payment? And was the Najib government breaking its promise not to deploy state agencies to bail out the troublesome fund? As speculation swirled about who was going to bail out 1MDB, Najib told parliament that the missed payment was a “technical issue…and not because we are not able to pay back. We trust that it will not affect the confidence in the country’s economy.”

Bond markets started to wobble. 1MDB broke its silence to say it had requested a brief delay from Ipic to make good the debt.

Blaming the default on “additional regulatory approvals,” 1MDB claimed that funds that were due to be paid to it in July had “been delayed to August.” The widely followed Malaysia Insight news site reported: “The delay was caused by banks, both local and international, not wanting to handle transactions related to 1MDB.”

On August 8, when 1MDB missed Ipic’s five-day extension to pay up, the Emirati fund told the London Stock Exchange it had given 1MDB another extension. Now it was demanding that 1MDB pay $310 million of the debt by August 12, the rest of the first $600 million tranche by the end of the month, and bear any penalty interest arising from the late payment.

As for that Shariah bond offered for auction via Bank Negara, Najib’s deputy in the finance ministry, Johari Abdul Ghani, then chimed in.

“That bond has nothing to do with 1MDB”, he insists. “It is a normal government bond,” Johari claims its issuance was a normal part of government business: “Every year, we have a deficit budget and we need to finance government expenditure through bond issuance. That’s it. So whoever speculated that this bond will be issued to help 1MDB is making totally baseless allegations and they are factually wrong.”

1MDB says: “All payments due from 1MDB to Ipic will be made from the proceeds of the 1MDB rationalization plan.”

On August 11, 1MDB at last made good on part of the first $600 million tranche to Ipic, wiring $350 million from 1MDB’s account at Maybank, which was $40 million more than was due. Even though it was 11 days after the original July 31 deadline, 1MDB noted it had paid a day ahead of the new August 12 deadline.

1MDB refused to say why it had paid an extra $40 million than necessary, though most observers believe it was a penalty for late payment. Nor did it explain why it didn’t pay the remaining $300 million due as part of the first tranche.

On August 30, 1MDB announced it had paid a further $350 million owed to Ipic, saying: “All funds were paid from proceeds of the on-going rationalization programme.”

Now December 31 looms as the deadline for the next $600 million.  Some 20 years after the Asian financial crisis, this is the new normal in Malaysia.

Sensitive

Few banks operating in Malaysia have been unsullied by the 1MDB mess. Indeed, the extent of local involvement is a sensitive subject and no bank has fully quantified its exposure.

AmBank, the one local known to have had exposure, is now in the throes of merging with RHB Bank to create Malaysia’s fourth-biggest bank – after Maybank, CIMB and Public Bank. JPMorgan Chase is advising AmBank and Credit Suisse is advising RHB.

The AmBank-RHB merger will also close a difficult period for big Australian lender ANZ, whose 24% stake will be diluted to an easier-to-offload 10% of the merged entity as ANZ ends its Asian adventures.

One bank that has dodged the 1MDB bullet is HSBC Malaysia. And that’s a considerable source of satisfaction for country chief Mukhtar Hussain, a Briton who has also run HSBC’s global Islamic bank out of in Kuala Lumpur since 2009.

“There were phenomena in the market that we were not involved in,” Hussain tells Asiamoney. “We chose not to be involved in them over a period of time, and what it showed us was the robustness of our own judgement in process.”

After eight years in Malaysia, Hussain doesn’t see any negative impact on HSBC’s franchise simply because it decided to steer clear of questionable business.

“We’ve survived, we’ve invested, we’ve prospered, we’ve been through the ups and down with this country,” he says. “But I think we’ve always been fairly conservative and cautious about who we do business with and what business we do. The important point to take away is (that) we wouldn’t do business just because it is commercially attractive. And that has served us well.”

Having a diversified customer base helps.

“We are not reliant on government-linked companies for business, on the public sector for our core business,” he says. “We are able to make dispassionate objective decisions about what we want to be involved with, and who we want to be involved with.”

Hussain points to the reminders he’s had put up inside the lifts at HSBC’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. When members of staff ride the elevators to their floor, they cannot avoid seeing the confronting posters stuck to the inner doors.

“Ask yourself. Is there a financial CRIME risk?” the signs say, listing “bribery, corruption, money laundering, organized crime, tax evasion, terrorist financing” as the issues to be avoid.

“Are there UNACCEPTABLE risks? Complex company structures, country-specific risks, customer conduct, non-tax compliance, regulatory or reputational risk.”

Indeed, some of these warnings displayed around HSBC’s head office sound as if they come directly from the 1MDB playbook.

“It’s every day in the lift, every day on your computer. You hear it, you read it, you see it, you learn it, you do it,” says Hussain. “It isn’t just for those who of us who sit on this (management) floor to believe it. We have a footprint across this country, so it’s no good having a head office that believes this stuff but nobody else practices it.”

Hussain says the questions the bank’s credit analysts ask themselves boil down to basic due diligence.

“We apply a fairly rigorous degree of analysis to make a determination as to whether a piece of business is what we want to pursue or not,” he says.

“What are the facets of the transaction that we need to understand? There are the reputational facets of the institution, of the sponsors. The very simple truth is, do we understand what the purpose of the transaction is? Can we get some sensible answers to the commercial and financial logic of the transaction? Is being done in a transparent way? Is it a public markets transaction?”

Unravelling

HSBC has been involved in the 1MDB matter, but as Hussain insists, only in the dealmaking that has marked its unravelling. “Where we have been, as an institution, is solving the problem, not helping create the problem,” he says.

He means HSBC’s role in advising the Chinese state-owned energy giant China General Nuclear Power Corp in its $2.5 billion purchase from 1MDB of Edra Global Energy, which owned the largest independent power stations in Malaysia, Bangladesh and Egypt.

HSBC Malaysia is also investing $250 million in a new headquarters at TRX, slated to be Kuala Lumpur’s new financial precinct. The ministry of finance took over the project from 1MDB: that transaction, bank insiders say, was painstaking in its due diligence so as to ensure it passed the “smell test” and that 1MDB was well out of the deal.

Still, bankers are divided over the medium-term impact of the 1MDB crisis. One player who’s been on the road with various deals over the last two years says no one is talking about it anymore, or asking questions, and it is not a factor in pricing or risk.

“1MDB has made Malaysia cheaper,” says one banker. “The ringgit has fallen and Malaysia is now short of its weighting in the MSCI indices. Foreign investors just look for value – up until recently, regardless of 1MDB, Malaysia was just too expensive.

Malaysia has big local funds and they are always in the market and the PEs [price-earnings ratios] get pushed up.”

Says a fund manager: “Malaysia is rebuilding, albeit from a toxic base.”

So why did banks like HSBC avoid the 1MDB mess?

“If you don’t know who they and their business partners are, why would you bank someone you don’t know? And where’s the substance behind these figures? What’s the story? Where’s the value-add?” says one banker who prefers to remain anonymous. “We couldn’t really get the answers to any of these questions to our satisfaction. It was basic discipline.

“We take it as read that is what we do, but what 1MDB shows is that our way of assessing things is clearly not market practice.”

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 4 October 2017, 7:41 pm and is filed under
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Were there “fireworks” in the Cabinet this morning with Education Minister Mahdzir demanding public apology from Adnan for leading  students astray or was there Ministerial camaraderie laughing at the “great fun” at the Putrajaya school?

Were there “fireworks” in the Cabinet this morning as a result of the outrageous episode at SK Putrajaya Presint 14 (1) yesterday, where in honour of the visit by the Federal Territories Minister, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, hundreds of pupils and teachers  were required to participate in a “class decoration and performance” competition with the theme
“Umno and Independence”
, where  Umno flags were draped all over the primary school’s compound and the pupils  brandished Umno flags and crooned the party’s anthem.

At one point, a banner with the words
“Hidup Umno, Hidup Melayu. Dulu, Kini dan Selamanya”
(Long Live Umno, Long Live Malays. Before, Now and Forever) appeared on stage.

There would be “fireworks” in the Cabinet this morning if we have an upright, honest and dedicated Education Minister who take his education portfolio seriously, and who will not brook any Minister trespassing into his portfolio to corrupt the minds of young Malaysians, and a Cabinet of Ministers who have not lost the basic value of being able to distinguish between right and wrong – and what Tengku Adnan did yesterday were positively wrong, no question about it.

Such an Education Minister and Cabinet of Ministers would have “fried” Tunku Adnan for his gross misdemeanours at the SK Putrajaya Presint 14 (1)  requiring the student and teachers to stage such a vaudeville and even worse, his open begging of teachers to join UMNO!

In fact, a honest and  self-respecting Education Minister would not only have demanded a public apology from Tengku Adnan, but would have asked  Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to penalise Tengku Adnan  by transferring him out of Federal Territories Ministry to an even-less important Ministry or out of the Cabinet altogether.

What did the Education Minister, Datuk Seri Madzir Khalid do at the Cabinet this morning?

There would be no “fireworks” in the Cabinet this morning if the Education Minister and all other Ministers see nothing wrong in the SK Putrajaya Presint 14 (1) episode, having all lost the sense of being able to differentiate right from wrong, and in fact, all enjoying the “brickbats” flying around since the Putrajaya school episode in Ministerial camaraderie – regarding them as “great fun”!

Or are all the Ministers a little afraid of Tengku Adnan, as he is not only UMNO Secretary-General but also Barisan Nasional Secretary-General, not a person to offend at this time as they want to be in his “good books” because the 14th General Election is around the corner and they do not want to spoil their chances to become BN candidates?

A final thought – was the UMNO escapade at the  Putrajaya national school yesterday all because former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad might stand as a candidate in Putrajaya  or Langkawi in the 14GE?

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 4 October 2017, 3:46 pm and is filed under
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Call on the civil service chiefs to resist the political pressures by Prime Minister and the UMNO/BN leadership to co-opt civil service to campaign for UMNO/BN in the run-up to 14GE

I call on the civil service heads to resist political pressures by the Prime Minister and the UMNO/BN leadership to co-opt the civil service to campaign for UMNO/BN in the run-up to the 14th General Election.

The civil service must be mindful that it is non-partisan and serves the government of the day, whether UMNO/BN or Pakatan Harapan, to further the interests of the people and country.

The civil service owes loyalty to the people and nation and not to any political party or coalition, as civil servants are paid from the  taxes levied on Malaysians and not from the pockets of the Prime Minister or party coffers of any coalition of parties.

The political pressures applied on top civil servants to co-opt the civil service to campaign for UMNO/BN in the run-up to the 14th General Election has already caused several top public servants to commit public bloopers and become the butt of public jokes or adverse comments.

A case in point is the shocking statement by the Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Ali Hamsa, who said yesterday that there is no problem with the Federal Territories Minister, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, openly inviting teachers to join UMNO at a school function in Putrajaya, which turned into a mini-UMNO affair with students singing the UMNO party song and waving UMNO flags.

Would Ali say that teachers can join DAP and the other  Pakatan Harapan component parties, and if not, can the 13th Chief Secretary point out where in the General Orders is it stated that teachers can join UMNO but not DAP and the other Pakatan Harapan component parties?

Can teachers expect some clarity as the Education Minister, Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said in March that teachers who supported the opposition and criticised the government should leave the profession?

The past fortnight had been a fortnight of faux pas  for top civil servants, as Ali Hamsa was not the only casualty.

Last Thursday, Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Irwan Serigar Abdullah revived the myth of the Lazy Native and said that there is no reason that Malaysians should be poor, because there are plenty of opportunities for them to be well-off.

Irwan Serigar claimed that those who are poor are in situations of their own making.

He  said: “If people are poor, I believe that they have made themselves poor. If they have arms and legs and can walk, they can survive in Malaysia.

“There are four million immigrants living in Malaysia. Like in Chow Kit. It used to be us (Malaysians) doing business in Chow Kit. Now half of those doing business are Indonesians.

“If Indonesians can thrive in Malaysia, Malaysians should be more successful.”

This is not the place the re-visit Syed Hussein Alatas’ seminal study,
“The Myth of the Lazy Native”
, except to note two things: the first one  the question by investigative journalist, R. Nadeswaran who asked yesterday: “Or is the Ali-Baba system flourishing in a different way? Previously, if it was the Malays who were selling or leasing their licences to the Chinese, now the trend is for Malay traders to ‘pajak’ (lease) their licences to their Indonesian brethren.”

The second is the observation by Alatas’ daughter, Masturah Alatas,  in her article
“Four decades of a Malay myth”
 in  January in New Mandala: “What is missing from the narrative is if it is laziness or hard work that has to do with how the current Prime Minister, Najib Razak, was able to allegedly channel more than $1 billion into his personal bank accounts.”

The third top public servant to be caught in an invidious position as a result of increasing political pressures on the civil service to help out the UMNO/BN politicians is the new Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Mohamad Fuz Harun.

On 21st September, I asked whether the new IGP had committed his first blot on his professionalism when he issued a statement on the Kuala Lumpur City ban on the Better Beer Festival because of terrorist threat and security reason.

But  earlier that day, Bukit Aman counter terrorism division senior principal assistant director Datuk Ayub Khan Mydin Pitchay had said he knew nothing about the Better Beer Festival being cancelled because of terrorist or security problems.

The reason given by Kuala Lumpur City Hall for the ban on  the Better Beer Festival, which had been held for several years, was “political sensitivities”.

The job of the top policeman in the country is to lead the police force to fight crime and ensure the safety and security of Malaysia to its citizens, visitors and investors and not to play Barisan Nasional  politics with the sacred duty of the police force for the benefit of politicians in government.

Two weeks before the 60th Merdeka Anniversary celebrations, the Perak Police Chief revealed that the Islamic State (IS) was planning to launch an attack in Perak during the upcoming Merdeka Day celebrations.

Did the government cancel all Merdeka celebrations in Perak because of such intelligence reports?

Of course not, although the intelligence reports would have justified more police reinforcements at critical areas and greater police preparedness.

If the Malaysian police cannot even handle a security or terrorist threat to the Better Beer Festival, which would be held in a very localised and easily protected area, Malaysians would be entitled to ask how could the Police face a major or full-scale terrorist threat?

Two days ago, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak blatantly campaigned for votes among the civil service when  he addressed some 5,000 civil servants and stressed  that the UMNO/BN coalition and the civil service are inseparable and warned them of a possibility of bleak future if Pakatan Harapan comes into power.

 Najib is doubly wrong. UMNO/BN coalition and the civil service are separate and distinct entities, and the future of the civil service does not  and must not depend on the fate of the UMNO/BN coalition, which is going downhill.

Secondly, it is just irresponsible  fear-mongering on Najib’s part to stoke fears among Malay civil servants that a Pakatan Harapan general election victory will “gamble” away their future and those of  their descendants.

The Pakatan Harapan State Governments in Penang and Selangor for two terms are an assurance to all civil servants that under a Pakatan Harpaan Federal Government, Pakatan Harapan  will compete  with UMNO/BN to show that Malaysian civil servants, regardless of race, religion or region will enjoy a better deal as Malaysians than under the Najib premiership.

It is a reflection of Najib’s political insecurities that he has broached the heretical notion of wala’(loyalty) for civil servants.

Najib said: “It’s about promising loyalty to a legitimate leader, a leadership institution and an administration as long as there is no element of cruelty in the leadership.

“If the principle of wala’ is practiced in the civil service, a particular organisation will be disciplined and will also run smoothly.”

Apart from the inappropriateness of the principle of wala’ in a democratic country, the  1.5 million civil servants and the 32 million Malaysians are entitled to ask what “legitimacy” Najib is talking about when he had done nothing to clear or cleanse the country of the infamy of a “global kleptocracy” and/or his premiership of the ignominy of a “kleptocrat” and “MO1”?

The speech by Najib to the 5,000 civil servants two days ago was a most inappropriate vote-getting exercise by the Prime Minister and the Barisan Nasional government in the run-up to the 14GE.

Will the Chief Secretary Ali Hamsa ensure that Pakatan Harapan leaders will have a similar opportunity to address the 5,000 civil servants on what they could expect from a Pakatan Harpaan Federal Government in the run-up to the 14GE?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 5 October 2017, 6:31 am and is filed under
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Is Dzulkifli emulating Najib in refusing to have any media conference because he is afraid like the Prime Minister that his boasts and bombasts may  be pricked  by journalists’ sharp questioning?

Is the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad emulating the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in refusing to have any media conference because he is afraid like the Prime Minister that his boasts and bombasts  may be pricked by journalists’ sharp questioning?

Najib achieved a few “firsts” in his visit to the White House and meeting with US President Donald Trump on Sept. 12 – one of which was to strenuously avoid the press and evade any media conference from the Washington White House Press Corps who might  ask him embarrassing questions about Malaysia’s global kleptocracy, 1MDB scandal, “MO1” and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) largest kleptocratic litigation to forfeit US$1.7 billion 1MDB-linked assets in United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland.

Today is Dzulkifli’s first major address to an international conference, the 9th International Conference on Financial Crime and Terrorism Financing since his appointment as Chief Commissioner of MACC a year ago.

However, after his keynote address at the international conferenc, he did one thing which key-note speakers do not do  – he declined to take questions from the media.

Why was it necessary for Dzulkifli to “play safe” by avoiding a media conference, if the MACC has nothing to hide in its campaign to fight corruption in Malaysia?

Clearly, there are several issues Dzulkifli wants to avoid, just as Najib wanted to avoid several issues in the Rose Garden of the White House if he had a press conference with the White House press corps.

Leading the issues which Dzulkifli would want to avoid being asked by the media are:

•	Why MACC dare not re-open investigations into 1MDB scandal, when it continues to made international waves and headlines – the latest being former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner, who had been linked to the 1MDB scandal,  barred from the US securities industry for failing to provide documents for 1MDB investigations;

•	Has the MACC accepted the RM5 million allocation to Yayasan Prihatin SPRM announced by the Prime Minister when opening the new MACC building in Putrajaya, and whether this will compromise MACC’s integrity and professionalism;

•	What is the actual  cost of the new MACC headquarters in Putrajaya to become the world’s biggest anti-corruption complex, what is the use of having the world’s biggest anti-corruption complex when not a single “shark” had been arrested, charged and jailed in Malaysia unlike so many “dragons” in China and “crocodiles” in Indonesia; and

•	What is  MACC doing to clear and cleanse Malaysia of the indignity, ignominy and infamy of being regarded world-wide as a globoal kleptocracy?

When will Dzulkifli schedule a comprehensive no-holds-barred media conference on what MACC had achieved in the past one year under his stewardship?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 5 October 2017, 5:09 pm and is filed under
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Syed Saddiq should be a model for young Malays and young Malaysians to be true to our Malaysian Dream for the country  to be show-case to the world of an united, successful, progressive, prosperous, plural nation of diverse races, religions, languages and cultures

Is Parti Bumiputra Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) Youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman to be believed when he said that he turned down the bribe of a place in Oxford University and RM5 million in return for leaving Bersatu.

The UMNO information chief, Tan Sri Annuar Musa said Syed Saddiq is not worth RM5 million and that he has a long way to go in politics.

I believe Syed Saddiq is telling the truth.

I do not believe  the “movers and shakers” in UMNO today regard Annuar is now worth RM5 million, and this is why Annuar is desperately trying to make himself useful with his nation-wide “4 All” UMNO dialogue programmes.

RM5 million is not a small sum to  ordinary Malaysians, but it is just pittance to those who have found that UMNO is the “goose that lays the golden eggs”.

Last year, 30  Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officials took 15 hours to go through the tens of millions of ringgit in  cash in various currencies during a MACC Sabah State Water Department corruption probe, which eventually totaled RM114.5 million of valuables confiscated.

But twenty years ago, it was already not unusual for an  UMNO chieftain for whom UMNO is the “goose that lays the golden egg” to lug around the world  suitcases of cash worth as much as RM3 million – until one of them got caught in Australia in 1997.

I have myself been accused of possessing  extraordinary wealth by UMNO operatives, the latest being that I have received RM1 billion bribe from Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad so that Parti Bersatu could join Pakatan Harapan, Mahathir made Pakatan Harapan Chairman, my silence  on the Bank Negara foreign exchange (forex)  scandal of the 90s and Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir given a safe Parliament seat to contest in the forthcoming general election – and that RM750 million had already been paid to me overseas.

I have also been accused of committing RM40 million to fund a news portal over the next five years.

Apart from lies, fake news and false information which is the staple diet the UMNO propaganda maestros use to feed their digits, what is significant is that they talk and operate in terms of tens and hundreds of millions of ringgit, and even a billion ringgit – the result of being long-time beneficiaries from the “goose that lays the golden eggs”!

So what is a RM5 million bribe offer to Syed Saddiq.

It is fully in the character and bears the mark of an UMNO/BN operation.

Syed Saddiq should be a model for young Malays and young Malaysians to be true to our Malaysian Dream for the country  to be show-case to the world of an united, successful, progressive, prosperous, plural nation of diverse races, religions, languages and cultures.

In fact, Syed Saddiq has the potential to be the country’s youngest Cabinet Minister after the 14th General Election.

At a time when the Prime Minister, his Cabinet of Ministers and top public servants, like the Chief Secretary to the Government, the Chief Justice, the Speaker of Parliament,  the Inspector-General of Police, the Secretary-General of the Finance Ministry, have lost the ability to differentiate right from wrong, Syed Saddiq is a refreshing example that there is still hope in the young generation of Malaysians who have not been contaminated and polluted by kleptocratic ways to lose their moral moorings.

There are no more Syed Saddiqs in UMNO/BN – as they are only to be found in the Pakatan Harapan coalition of DAP, PKR, Amanah and Bersatu.

This is why the time is long overdue for a change of a Federal Government in Putrajaya and the various State Governments ruled by UMNO/BN, for new moral force must rise up in the land to evict the immoral occupants in Putrajaya and other State capitals.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 5 October 2017, 11:50 am and is filed under
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Further proof that the rot has set in and only a government and political change in Putrajaya can bring a new hope to Malaysians with  a new sense of responsibility by the nation’s leaders

When the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, is not prepared to take a stand on the controversy surrounding the violation of the Education Ministry’s own guidelines against turning schools into playgrounds of party politics which happened  at SK Putrajaya Presint 14(1) on Tuesday, with the flying of  Umno flags in the school compound and pupils singing the UMNO song, it is further proof that the rot has set in and only a government and political change in Putrajaya can bring a new hope to Malaysians with a new sense of responsibility by the nation’s leaders.

It is confirmation that the nation’s leaders – both political and civil service in government – have lost the ability to differentiate between right and wrong.

I cannot think of a time in the 60-year history of the nation when the government  has completely lost its political rectitude and  moral moorings.

The Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Ali Hamsa, said that there is no problem with the Federal Territories Minister, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, openly inviting teachers to join UMNO at the  school function in Putrajaya, when a few months earlier, the  Education Minister, Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid had warned teachers from supporting the Opposition!

It cannot be that Chief Secretary did not know that what he said was wrong and improper, yet he said it. Why? Is he going to retract and apologise?

After Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting, I had asked whether there were “fireworks” in the Cabinet as a result of the Putrajaya school incident.

There would be “fireworks” in the Cabinet this if we have an upright, honest and dedicated Education Minister who take his education portfolio seriously, and who will not brook any Minister trespassing into his portfolio to corrupt the minds of young Malaysians, and a Cabinet of Ministers who have not lost the basic ability  to distinguish between right and wrong – and what the Federal Territories Minister  Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor did was positively wrong, no question about it.

But there were apparently no “fireworks” at the Cabinet, for no Minister felt outraged by what Tengku Adnan and what the Putrajaya school did.

But the unkindest cut of all was the flippant response of the Deputy Prime Minister when asked about the school incident today, and his refusal to take a stand on the controversy!

                This entry was posted on Friday, 6 October 2017, 3:02 pm and is filed under
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“H” is Najib’s propaganda  “war general”

The Prime Minister’s press secretary, Tengku Sarifuddin Tengku Ahmad said there is nobody in the Prime Minister’s Office who fits the description of “H”, as the Prime Minister’s Office has no officer named as such, nor does such an officer work for the PM.

But Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) Youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman rightly told Tengku Sarifuddin not to “play on technicalities”, as the man identified as “H” is a known right-hand man of the Prime Minister.

Syed Saddiq also asked “H”, whom he alleged was the mastermind of the attempts to “buy” him, to come forward and deny the accusations.

Syed Saddiq said: “I have never met ‘H’ in person, but I have met his middlemen. I have met different individuals (who acted as his representatives) during various meetings.”

Is there such a person “H” who is Najib’s right-hand man, who is one of the “movers and shakers” of the top UMNO/BN leadership although he holds no official government or party position?

Yes, of course, there is such a person “H”, who is Najib’s propaganda “war general”, to whom most of the UMNO/BN leaders, including Ministers, have to pay obeisance, which shows how powerful and influential he is in the UMNO/BN power equation.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 6 October 2017, 8:25 am and is filed under
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If there is any truth in the  lies about Mahathir’s RM1 billion bribe to me,  and MACC knows nothing about it, then MACC Chief Commissioner Dzulkifli Ahmad should resign in disgrace because of utter incompetence

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has dismissed the allegation that he had paid me RM1 billion bribe, stating only the insane would believe he had such a fortune at his disposal.

I do not think the people behind the allegation that Mahathir had paid me RM1 billion bribe, with RM750,000 already given to me overseas, with the four-fold objective to let Parti Pribumi Bersatu join Pakatan Harapan, make Mahathir the Pakatan Harapan Chairman, ensure my silence  on the Bank Negara foreign exchange (forex)  scandal of the 90s and give Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir a safe Parliament seat to contest in the forthcoming general election, are “insane” people.

They are very sober and intelligent though very calculative and depraved, with a very clear objective in mind –  making use of all channels, including propaganda digits outside the country and inside Malaysia, as well as mainstream media under their thumbs, to spread such lies and falsehoods.

Mahathir said only the insane would believe that he had such a fortune at his disposal as to pay me RM1 billion bribe.

I would go one step further and state that if there is any truth in the  lies about Mahathir’s RM1 billion bribe to me, with RM750,000 already paid into my accounts,  and MACC knows nothing about it, then MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad should resign in disgrace because of utter incompetence.

How could the MACC know nothing of such a huge billion-ringgit bribe to me, with RM750,000 already paid to me overseas?

Only last Sunday, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak declared open the world’s biggest anti-corruption complex, which is the new MACC headquarters.

I stumbled on the new MACC headquarters in Putrajaya two months ago when some 30 Members of Parliament from Pakatan Harapan marched to the nearly-completed MACC headquarters to present a memorandum calling on the MACC to re-open investigations into the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal which had turned Malaysia overnight into a “global kleptocracy”.

I confess I was totally bowled over and overawed by the immensity and cost of the new MACC building in Putrajaya making it the largest anti-corruption complex in the world!

Unfortunately, the MACC has nothing much to show in fighting corruption, as in the past two decades, corruption in Malaysia has got worse while in other countries notorious for corruption two decades ago have been making tremendous  progress in fighting corruption.

Good examples are China and Indonesia.

In the first annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of Transparency International (TI) in 1995, Malaysia was ranked No. 23 out of 41 countries, with a CPI score above the half-way point of 5.2 out of 10 (which is best score for the least corrupt nation).

In the past 22 years, Malaysia’s record in fighting corruption got worse over the years despite trebling of the anti-corruption agency’s annual budget allocation from some RM95 million in 1995 to some RM260 million in 2016, a phenomenal increase in MACC personnel and now the world’s largest anti-corruption complex!

In 2016, Malaysia’s ranking fell to No 55 while CPI score was below the half-way mark of 49 out of 100.

Why is this the case?

There have been tremendous progress in the war against corruption in China and Indonesia in the past two decades.

In China, the “tigers” of corruption are being arrested, convicted, jailed and even executed. In Indonesia, they are catching the “crocodiles” and bringing them to justice.  But in Malaysia, the “sharks” of corruption of swimming freely  and merrily in the South China Sea!

China and Indonesia, which were ranked as the last two countries in the list of 41 countries in the 1995 TI CPI, had improved by leaps and bounds for China to be ranked No. 79 out of 176 countries with a CPI score of 40 out of 100, while Indonesia climbed from the bottom of the list to a respectable No. 90 out of 176 countries with a score of 37 out of 100.

Within a decade, China may overtake Malaysia in the TI CPI, although Indonesia will take longer time to beat Malaysia as a country with regard to integrity, good governance and the battle against corruption.

In such circumstances, with corruption getting worse instead of getting better, having the biggest anti-corruption agency complex in the world is a national shame and not a national pride or glory.

I will meet my lawyers next week on my instruction to them to take out a test case to sue the media which printed lies and defamatory material about me receiving RM1 billion bribe from Mahathir.

We are seeing a new modus operandi in character-assassination and spreading of lies and falsehoods against DAP and Pakatan Harapan leaders.

When we ignore the lies and falsehoods being spread at first outside the country and later taken up in the country by irrelevant and inconsequential propaganda digits who have no credibility whatsoever, UMNO/BN-owned media would be used to spread these lies and falsehoods.

Are these media protected from defamatory proceedings for re-cyling such lies and falsehoods? This is the test case which I have instructed my lawyers to initiate and institute.

(Speech at the DAP Bakri “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptocrasi” Dinner held in Muar on Friday, October 6, 2017 at 10 pm)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 7 October 2017, 7:20 am and is filed under
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Still waiting for Dzulkifli of MACC to accept invitation personally explain at the “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptocrasi” rally in PJ on Oct. 14 what he had done to defend Malaysia’s reputation against being regarded worldwide as  global kleptocracy as a result of 1MDB scandal

A week ago, at the launching ceremony for Johor Pakatan Harapan in Tampoi, I challenged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad to explain at the Pakatan Harapan “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptokrasi” rally in Petaling Jaya on Oct. 14 what he had done to defend Malaysia’s reputation against being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy as a result of the 1MDB scandal.

I am still waiting for Dzulkifli to declare whether he dares to accept the invitation or otherwise. Don’t tell me that the MACC Chief Commissioner dare not even say yes or no?

Last week, Dzulkifli said that the people are watching me to judge my commitment and seriousness towards fighting corruption and abuses of power.

But Dzulkifli has forgotten that he is also being watched by 32 million Malaysians whether he is genuine about fighting corruption, in particular grand corruption, and whether he could explain why China had been catching and punishing “tigers” and Indonesia pursuing the “crocodiles”, but in Malaysia, the “sharks” of corruption are swimming freely and merrily in the South China Sea?

Let us see whether Dzulkifli has the courage, commitment and zeal against corruption to come to the Pakatan Haeapan “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptokrasi” rally in Petaling Jaya next Saturday on Oct. 14 to explain how the MACC is fighting the greatest financial scandal in Malaysian history – the 1MDB scandal.

 Three frequently asked questions (FAQ) on the 1MDB scandal are:

1.     Whether Najib received RM2.6 billion donation from Saudi royalty;

2.     Whether Najib returned RM2.1 billion to Saudi royalty; and

3.     Whether the RM144 million  pink diamond necklace for the “wife of MO1” came from stolen 1MDB funds.

The answers to all these three FAQs about the 1MDB scandal are available in great detail in the US Department of Justice (DOJ)’s largest kleptocratic litigation to forfeit US$1.7 billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland.

The answers to the three FAQs are:

(1) Najib never received the RM2.6 billion donation from Saudi royalty just before the 13th General Election, although he received other donations from Saudi sources which have not been given a proper accounting. The RM2.6 billion monies came from 1MDB funds.

(2) Najib never returned the RM2.1 billion to Saudi royalty, as the money did not come from Saudi sources, but were returned to Tanore account in Singapore  which was operated by 1MDB mastermind and Najib’s confidante, Jho Low, and were from stolen 1MDB funds.

(3) The RM2.1 billion returned to Tanore account in Singapore was used to buy, among other things, the RM144 million pink diamond necklace for the “wife of MO1”.

These details and evidence are  all to be found in US DOJ kleptocratic litigation  and are  virtually “served on a silver platter” to MACC, and Dzulkifli should explain on Oct. 14 why he and the MACC had done nothing about these incontrovertible evidence.

(Speech at the DAP kopitiam dialogue at Simpang Durian, Negri Sembilan on Saturday, 7th October 2017 at 3 pm)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 7 October 2017, 6:15 pm and is filed under
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There is a plot to get MACC to arrest and parade me in handcuffs in  orange-coloured MACC lock-up uniform to counter kleptocratic allegations against Najib over 1MDB scandal

Today’s Barisan Nasional owned and controlled media are full  of pictures and story of the Parti Warisan Sabah vice president Datuk Peter Anthony, in handcuffs and in orange-coloured MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) lock-up uniform being taken to the Kota Kinabalu courthouse to be remanded for five days for further MACC investigations in connection with the siphoning off of some RM7.5 billion to supply water, electricity and roads to the rural poor.

I do not know anything about the latest Sabah corruption case, but I know there is a conspiracy and plot to get the MACC to arrest me under the allegation that former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had given me a RM1 billion bribe  and parade me in handcuffs in orange-coloured MACC lock-up uniform.

This, according to the UMNO/BN election strategists, would be the best way to counter the kleptocratic allegations against Najib over the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal which had turned Malaysia overnight into a global kleptocracy.

The top UMNO/BN election strategists had brain-stormed long and hard as to what is  the most effective way to  counter the main issue against Najib in the “do-or-die” 14th General Election –  the kleptocratic allegations, not only in Malaysia but world-wide, against Najib because of the 1MDB scandal.

The most powerful and effective way to counter and destroy this attack on Najib over kleptocracy and 1MDB scandal would be for Najib to prove that he is  clean, honest and trustworthy, that there is no 1MDB scandal and that the lies about the US Department of Justice (DOJ) allegations against him as a kleptocrat and “MO1” are just utter lies and falsehoods.

Unfortunately, Najib had done nothing in the past few years to clear or cleanse himself of these kleptocratic allegations.

In fact what Najib had done had only reinforced these allegations, as in Parliament, Members of Parliament are not allowed to ask questions or even debate the 1MDB scandal. In fact, I was suspended from Parliament for six months because  I insisted in wanting to know the full story about the 1MDB scandal.

This has presented the UMNO/BN strategists with a great problem – how counter and destroy the kleptocratic allegations against Najib over the 1MDB scandal when Najib cannot clear or cleanse himself of these 1MDB allegations?

The second best option for the UMNO/BN strategists to deal with Najib’s kleptocratic allegations over 1MDB is to neutralize them through a campaign of  character-assassination of   DAP and Pakatan Harapan leaders and tar them with corruption allegations, to make the point that all political leaders whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Harapan are corrupt and that it is a matter of “half kati and six tahils”.

DAP Secretary-General and Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng had been charged with corruption in a very clear cased of political persecution.

Now UMNO/BN strategists are trying to implicate Mahathir and me in one of the wildest allegations that Mahathir had given me a RM1 billion bribe, even claiming that RM750 million had already been paid into my bank accounts outside the country.

There are even some UMNO/BN strategists who want MACC to arrest me over the outrageous RM1 billion bribe allegation, put me in orange-coloured MACC lock-up uniform and parade me throughout the country as the best way to counter the kleptocratic allegations against Najib.

Malaysians must know the truth of what is happening in the country.

I will meet my lawyers next week on my instruction to them to take out a test case to sue the media which printed lies and defamatory material about me receiving RM1 billion bribe from Mahathir.

We are seeing a new modus operandi in character-assassination and spreading of lies and falsehoods against DAP and Pakatan Harapan leaders.

When we ignore the lies and falsehoods being spread at first outside the country and later taken up in the country by irrelevant and inconsequential propaganda digits who have no credibility whatsoever, UMNO/BN-owned media would be used to spread these lies and falsehoods.

Are these media protected from defamatory proceedings for re-cyling such lies and falsehoods?

This is the test case which I have instructed my lawyers to initiate and institute.

(Media Conference Statement in Seremban after visiting the Seremban Central Market fire victims on Saturday, October 7 at 11 am)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 7 October 2017, 2:48 pm and is filed under
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Call on all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or politics to attend the Pakatan Harapan rally “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan kleptocrasi”  in PJ to send a clear and unmistaken message to Najib and  the world

My visit to Rahang new village this morning  is a most significant one.

It was from Rahang, through the Rahang by-election on 11th December 1965, which was won by Dr. Chen Man Hin as an independent candidate as DAP was still waiting for registration by the Registrar of Societies, that DAP took the first step in our long-term political struggle for an united, just and democratic Malaysia.

As the saying goes, “A journey of thousand miles begin with a single step” – the DAP’s 52 year struggle for an united, just and democratic Malaysia start from the “single step” in the Rahang by-election 52 years ago.

Let all Malaysians recall  our Merdeka Dream 1957 and Malaysia Dream 1963 to be “for ever a sovereign democratic and independent State founded upon the principles of liberty and justice and ever seeking the welfare and happiness of its people and the maintenance of a just peace among all nations”.

Sixty years after attainment of Merdeka in 1957 and 54 years after the formation of Malaysia, it is highly controversial  whether in the past six decades, we have stayed true, loyal and faithful the key words in the Merdeka Proclamation 1957 and Malaysia Proclamation 1963  of being “sovereign”, “democratic”, “independent”, “liberty”, “justice”, “welfare and happiness of its people” and “maintenance of a just peace among all nations”.

Today, there are more and more incidents which would be unthinkable to our forefathers and the early Prime Ministers during the early decades of the nation – like the upsurge of race and religious issues over beer, shorts and launderette, which caused one of the Sultans to declare that his state is not a Taliban state!

Our Prime Minister talks about a Global Movement of Moderates at international forums but inside the country, racial and religious polarization had never been as serious today as in any period of the nation’s history. What went wrong?

The answer is simple – The leaders of the government have forgotten the Merdeka Dream and the Malaysia Dream, and it now left to the ordinary Malaysians in the 14th General Election to reclaim the country from UMNO/BN by electing a new Pakatan Harapan government in both Putrajaya  and in several states, including Negri Sembilan, so that we can re-set nation-building policies in consonance with the Merdeka Dream 1957 and Malaysia Dream 1963.

Irresponsible UMNO strategists and cybertroopers can continue to demonise the DAP as anti-Malay and anti-Islam, and to condemn those who co-operated with DAP, like Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Mohamad Sabu as traitors of the Malay and Islamic faith.

I have previously co-operated with the first Prime Minister and Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, the third Prime Minister, Tun Hussein Onn, fto ensure that Malaysia can become an united, just and democratic Malaysia.

Are the UMNO propagandists and cybertroopers suggesting that Tunku and Hussein were anti-Malay and anti-Islam and stooges of DAP?

UMNO leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers are making a fatal mistake if they underestimate the intelligence of the Malay voters and think that they can be easily misled by lies and falsehoods painting DAP as anti-Malay and anti-Islam while framing  Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Hussein and now Tun Mahathir, Muhyddin, Anwar, Wan Azizah and Mat Sabu as DAP stooges.

DAP is a Malaysian political party, promoting the rights and interests of all races and religions in the country, and we have within our ranks Malaysians from all races and religions, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans, Kadazans and Orang Asli; whether Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs or Taoists.

We cannot be anti-Malay or anti-Islam for this will be anti-Malaysian, which comprise the diverse races and religions in the country.

Why then are there these UMNO propagandists and cybertroopers persist in their campaign of fear and lies that DAP is anti-Malay and anti-Islam when they know that these outrageous charges are fake news and false information?

The answer is very simple – these are the real enemies of a peaceful, harmonious united, progressive and prosperous multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-lingual and multi-cultural Malaysia who want to create disunity, division and discord by setting race against race and religion against religion because this is their only way to hold on to political power.

Only the ordinary Malaysians can save the country from kleptocracy and the fate of a failed and rogue state.

Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or politics, must unite and make a special point to attend the Pakatan Harapan rally on “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptocrasi” on Saturday, 14thOctober, to send two  clear and unmistakable messages to the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the world that (i) it is the ordinary Malaysians  and not the so-called political leaders in government, who are the real patriots of Malaysia; (ii) that Malaysians do not want Malaysia to continue to become a global kleptocracy but  want Malaysia to be known and identified with integrity, good governance and anti-corruption.

(Speech at the DAP kopitiam dialogue in Rahang new village, Senawang, Negri Sembilan on Sunday, 8th October 2017 at 11 am)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 8 October 2017, 2:22 pm and is filed under
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I have been in politics for 52 years and the thought of becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia had never entered my mind

Former Prime Minister and Chairman of Pakatan Harapan, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad today blogged that I had publicly stated that I had no ambitions to become Prime Minister of Malaysia.

I have been in politics for 52 years and I have stated more than once that the thought of becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia had never entered my mind.

If I had never thought of becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia when I was in my twenties, thirties and forties, why should I be thinking of becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia when I am in the seventies?

I am also on public record as saying that although the Malaysian Constitution provides that any Malaysian can be a Prime Minister, I do not see any non-Malay  becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia during my lifetime.

In the United States, a black man Barack Obama became the President of the United States – but this took place some 230 years after the establishment of the United States in 1776.

I hope that Malaysia would not need 230 years before a non-Malay become Prime Minister, but I do not expect a non-Malay to become Prime Minister in the 21st century, but whether there will be a non-Malay Prime Minister in the 22nd century from 2,100 to 2,199 or 23rd century from 2,200 to 2,299 will depend on whether the politics of identity will not continue to be  so primordial and elemental as a political force  in the Malaysian political landscape as today.

But the political reality that for the next hundred years, the Prime Minister of Malaysia will be a Malay will not affect the UMNO strategists and propagandists from stepping up their campaign of lies and fear to hold the Malays to ransom by warning that Malays will perish if UMNO is defeated in the 14th General Election.

The best rebuttal to UMNO leaders’ warnings that the Malays will perish if UMNO is defeated in the forthcoming general election is from the Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hassan in his speech at the opening of the Sembrong Division UMNO delegates’ conference in August.

Mohamad said Umno must woo the Malay voters to get the support of the majority of the people so that BN wins the 14th general election.

He said Umno could no longer think that the Malays needed it but instead it was Umno that needed the Malays in order to survive.

He said: “The Malays now have many choices such as PAS, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu). We (Umno) cannot be complacent saying that the Malays need us.”

Mohamad failed to mention DAP, as the DAP is party which will defend the uphold the interests of all Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans or Orang Asli.

I can vouch that for the band of Malaysians who came together 52 years ago to form the Democratic Action Party in pursuit of a Malaysian Dream of a country where all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, can feel proud of their place under the Malaysian sun, we never thought of becoming State Assembly members or Members of Parliament, let alone to be Ministers, Deputy Prime Minister or Prime Minister.

We were in politics not because of what we can get out of political involvement, but what we can give to the country in terms of helping to make this country of ours  more united, democratic, just and progressive  – a shining example to a troubled and divided world as to how a plural nation of diverse races, religions, languages and cultures can build a harmonious and prosperous nation.

Just now we see young boys and girls between four and six years perform their songs and dances to celebrare Pesta Tanglong, with their parents and grandparents very proud of their achievements.

This is what we are politics for – to ensure a better nation for our children and children’s children, not  become a land of kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state, but a successful, progressive and prosperous Malaysia for which all her citizens, regardless of race, religion, region or politics can feel proud.

This is why there must be a change of government in Putrajaya and in various states, including Negri Sembilan and Johore in the 14th General Election – not only because historically Pesta Tanglong stands for “UBAH” and change of government but also because such a Federal and State Government change in the 14GE is the precondition for saving Malaysia from kleptocracy and a future of a failed and rogue state.

(Speech at the DAP Rasah Pesta Tanglung in Rasah, Negri Sembilan on Saturday, 7th September 2017 at 9 pm)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 8 October 2017, 6:58 am and is filed under
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If Mahathir had given me RM1 billion bribe, I will give one million Malaysians earning below RM1,200 a month a donation of  R1,000 each

I have  been accused of receiving RM1 billion bribe from former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad with the four objectives to let Parti Pribumi Bersatu to join Pakatan Harapan, make Mahathir the Pakatan Harapan Chairman, ensure my silence  on the Bank Negara foreign exchange (forex)  scandal of the 90s and give Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir a safe Parliament seat to contest in the forthcoming general election.

I said in Muar on Friday night that if such an allegation is true, and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)  knows nothing about, then this is a gross dereliction of duty on the part of MACC and the MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri  Dzulkifli Ahmad should resign in disgrace because of utter incompetence.

I was utterly dumb-founded when the MACC Deputy Chief Commissioner, Datuk Azam Baki responded to this statement and pleaded that the MACC  has no jurisdiction over political donations, and that the MACC Act 2008 does not cover offences related to money politics.

He said that Parliament had not passed any legislation that provides guidelines for political parties or politicians on political funding.

He said that the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan is heading the National Consultative Committee on Political Financing to look into a law on political funding and he believed that the bill on political funding may be tabled in Parliament next year.

What is most shocking is that the MACC would not investigate the allegation that I had received RM1 billion bribe from Mahathir, saying:

“It is not an issue of whether we know about it or not. The issue came out on social media, but no one came forward to lodge a complaint.

“But, as far as we know, it is not an offence under our laws. So, that is why we did not open an investigation paper on that matter.”

I find Azam’s explanation most astonishing and totally unacceptable.

MACC’s contention that there is a need for special legislation by Parliament for political funding before MACC can take action against money politics and corruption is a red herring and just an excuse and cover-up for MACC failure and inaction against the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM2.6 billion donation in his personal banking accounts.

There is nothing under the law to stop MACC from acting against the Prime Minister, Minister or any political leader for the criminal offence of money politics or the use of money to buy political favours, except for the lack of political will in the MACC.

MACC now says that there is nothing wrong if Mahathir had given me RM1 billion for four objectives:  to let Parti Pribumi Bersatu to join Pakatan Harapan, make Mahathir the Pakatan Harapan Chairman, ensure my silence  on the Bank Negara foreign exchange (forex)  scandal of the 90s and give Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir a safe Parliament seat to contest in the forthcoming general election.

If Mahathir had given me RM1 billion bribe, I hereby declare that I will give one million Malaysians earning below RM1,200 a month a donation of RM1,000 each.

If Mahathir had given me RM1 billion, I will give one million Malaysians earning below RM1,200 a month R1,000 each.

It has  been alleged that RM750 million had been paid by Mahathir to me overseas – in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Produce the evidence and I will gladly donate the entire sum to RM750 million  to  Malaysians earning less than RM1,200 a month at RM1,000 each!

Although I should be happy that according to MACC, it is no crime to receive RM1 billion bribe from Mahathir for the four stated objectives and I am free to spend the mythical RM1 billion as to how I like, let me state that the MACC is very wrong and failed in its duty to fight corruption.

I do not accept that  if it is true that  I had received RM1 billion bribe from Mahathir for the four stated objectives, it is no offence of corruption.

For instance, RM1 billion bribe to buy my silence on the RCI inquiry into Bank Negara’s forex losses three decades ago? If true, is this criminal act not a crime at all?

MACC officers who hold such views are not qualified to be MACC officers at all.

Clearly, the MACC is deliberately giving a very narrow interpretation of “corruption” to justify its inaction on the Prime Minister and the 1MDB scandal.

(Speech t the Pakatan Harapan ceramah on “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptocrasi” at Dewan Komplex Sukan Pandamaran, Klang on Saturday, October 8, 2017 at 9 pm)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 8 October 2017, 11:09 pm and is filed under
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