Three shocks from the Opposition in Parliament during the  2019 Budget presentation

I was wrong yesterday, I thought there would  be an empty seat next to the Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi, during the presentation of the 2019 Budget in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday as a day earlier, the United States Department of Justice had finally indicted fugitive financier Jho Loh and a former Goldman Sachs  banker Tim Leissner  had pleaded guilty to 1MDB corruption and money-laundering charges.

Jho Low was charged in the federal court at the Eastern District of New York for conspiring to launder billions of dollars embezzled from 1MDB.

Low and former Goldman Sachs banker Ng Chong Hwa, also known as Roger Ng, were also charged with conspiring to violate Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) to paying bribes to Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials.

When the news of the US 1MDB criminal court proceedings broke on Thursday night, my  first thought was what would have happened if UMNO/Barisan Nasional had won the 14th General Election and Najib had not been toppled as Prime Minister on May 9, 2018.

This was because Najib and the former Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali had been arguing since the first US DOJ kleptocratic litigation to freeze billions of dollars of 1MDB-linked assets in July 2016 that there was no criminal suit, but only civil actions.

Or in the words of Mohamad Apandi: “At no point in the civil claims is the Prime Minister named as a defendant or has been alleged to have committed any criminal wrongdoing.”

What would Najib and Apandi say of the latest 1MDB court indictments and proceedings if they had continued as Prime Minister and Attorney-General respectively?

My second thought was that there would be an empty seat next to the Parliamentary Opposition Leader during the presentation of the 2019 Budget by the Finance Minister, Lim Guan Eng, at 4 p.m. yesterday, for it did not enter my mind that Najib could be so shameless and brazen as to  continue to pretend that there is no such thing as the 1MDB scandal after the 1MDB criminal indictments in the US court.

In  his guilty plea to two charges  of conspiring  to launder money and conspiring to violate the FCPA by paying bribes to various Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials, Tim Leisnner admitted in his plea that he bribed officials in two countries  to get bond deals for Goldman Sachs.

He admitted that he and others arranged the 1MDB fundraising as bond offerings because it would generate higher fees for the bank.

Leissner also admitted to enriching himself beyond what was publicly known, saying that more than US$200mil (RM835mil) in proceeds from 1MDB bonds flowed into accounts controlled by him and a relative. As part of his settlement, he will forfeit almost US$44mil (RM184mil).

Bribes allegedly went beyond cash. A shell company controlled by Low allegedly sent US$27.3mil (RM114mil) to pay a New York jeweller who designed a pink diamond necklace for the wife of Najib, Malaysia’s then-prime minister.

Low and Leissner also allegedly transferred US$4.1mil (RM17.1mil) to New York to pay for gold jewellery for Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor.

But I was wrong. Najib was in his seat in Parliament next to Zahid  as if nothing unusual had happened in the latest developments of the 1MDB scandal.

In his recent Al Jazeera 101 East interview, Najib said that Sheikh Mansour, the brother of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamad bin Zayed, who is chairman of International Petroleum Investment Company, intended to present the US$23.7 million pink diamond necklace to Rosmah;

But the US DOJ court documents contradict Najib’s claims over who paid for the pink diamond necklace meant for Rosmah, stating that the necklace was purchased by a shell company owned by Jho Low and several co-conspirators.

It is very sad that the  Malaysia’s sixth Prime Minister seems to have  passed the stage where he could differentiate between right and wrong, or to be ashamed of corruption and kleptocracy.

But this was only the first of three shocks from the Opposition MPs yesterday.

The second shock was when the Opposition MPs booed and jeered Guan Eng at the opening of his budget  speech, where he thanked Malaysians for saving the nation from a kleptocratic government and commended the rakyat for their courage to replace the old government with a new, clean and democratic administration.

This should be the final straw – for the nation was presented with a stark spectacle between MPs who support  the new government committed to a clean-up of the corruption and criminal breaches of trust prevalent under the Najib premiership, and Opposition MPs (whether UMNO, MCA, MIC) who still supported the old regime of kleptocracy!

Before the budget presentation, UMNO President Zahid asked whether the people could trust the Pakatan Harapan budget when the Pakatan manifesto could not be delivered.

Zahid does not seem to realise that it was the height of irony  for him to ask this question, when only sixth months ago, he, Najib  and the entire Barisan Nasional government had been rejected by the Malaysian voters and evicted from Putrajaya precisely because the old government had  proved to be thoroughly untrustworthy!

The 2019 budget speech makes history as never before had a budget speech in Malaysia focused so much on eradicating corruption and ensuring a clean, transparent and accountable government.

Guan Eng asked “the crooks who have stolen the people’s money” to  “return the money and be prepared to face justice” and those “who continue to support these crooks” to “apologise and resign from public office”.

Will Najib and his gang do so or will they continue to defend kleptocracy even in  Parliament during the debate on the 2019 Budget?

Malaysians will know soon enough when Parliament reconvenes on November 12 after the Deepavali holidays to start the debate on the 2019 Budget.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Saturday, 3rd November 2018)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 3 November 2018, 8:55 am and is filed under
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Do Malaysians want a New Malaysia or return to Najib’s kleptocratic Malaysia?

The 2019 Budget presented by Finance Minister, Lim Guan Eng in Parliament on Friday, 2nd November 2018 marks the first phase of the building of a New Malaysia started in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018.

The building of a New Malaysia, made possible by the courageous efforts Malaysians to re-set nation building policies after six decades, cannot be accomplished in a hundred days or in six months, but will take a decade or two.

All Malaysians must develop a Big Picture and Long-term Vision perspectives. But an important  start for the building of a New Malaysia has been made in the past six months, for Malaysia to fulfil the dream to be a top world-class nation leveraging on the values and assets of the diverse races, religions, languages, cultures and civilizations which meet in confluence in Malaysia.

It is  time to show the world that we can:

· Transform Malaysia from a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity.

· Restore democracy and doctrine of separation of powers among the Executive, Parliament and the Judiciary;

· Execute far-reaching law reforms, including the repeal of repressive and undemocratic laws and the enactment of laws to promote democracy, accountability and good governance;

· Effect far-reaching parliamentary reforms to make the Malaysian Parliament a first-world Parliament;

· Develop Malaysia into a “tiger economy” after addressing the massive problems of the “black hole” of a trillion-ringgit government debt and a global kleptocracy;

· Restore the Malaysian education system to ensure that our  primary and secondary schools as well  as universities are comparable to  those from the  world’s top-tier nations in education.

· Build a New Malaysia of greater national unity, integrity, democracy, rule of law, excellence, justice and prosperity.

A New Malaysia is struggling to be born, and it will require the contribution and participation of Malaysians, both inside the country and among the Malaysian Diaspora worldwide, to ensure that this second chance to re-set nation building policies is not wasted or does not fail, for there is not going to be a third chance.

The last six months have shown that there are political forces which want the New Malaysia mission to fail, and this is best highlighted by the obstructive tactics of  Opposition Members of Parliament when they jeered and booed the Finance Minister for declaring in his 2019 Budget presentation on Friday  the government commitment to fight corruption and kleptocracy.

Former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s political debut after being toppled as  Prime Minister on 9th May 2018 is significant for many reasons, including:

· Najib is reclaiming the Crown of UMNO and Barisan Nasional although in the past six months, Najib was the de facto leader of UMNO although he had resigned as UMNO President and  Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi had been elected as the new UMNO President in a three-cornered contest;

· Najib’s refusal to concede that his kleptocracy and the international 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal was the cause of UMNO/BN  electoral debacle in the 14th General Election; and

· Equally important, the failure of the UMNO/MCA/Gerakan/MIC/BN leadership to condemn the 1MDB scandal and Najib for his role in causing Malaysia’s infamy and ignominy in being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy.

I had said that after Thursday’s United States Department of Justice (DOJ) criminal indictments against fugitive financier Jho Low and two former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng and Tim Leissner, and Tim Leissner’s guilty plea to 1MDB corruption and money-laundering charges, it was unthinkable that Najib could continue to pretend that there is no such thing as the 1MDB scandal.

But I was wrong, which was why Najib  could be in Parliament on Friday for the 2019 budget presentation and the  demonstration of support for Najib and his kleptocratic government   by Opposition Members of Parliament, and his political debut yesterday blaming everything under the sun for UMNO/BN defeat in the 14th General Election, except the 1MDB scandal.

Both incidents illustrate  not only how serious is Najib’s hallucination, but those of his followers as well.

What Najib wants is to destroy all efforts to build a New Malaysia, and return to Najib’s previous government of a rogue democracy, kakistocracy and a global kleptocracy.

Does Malaysia want a New Malaysia or return to Najib’s kleptocratic Malaysia?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Sunday, 4th November 2018)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 4 November 2018, 2:41 pm and is filed under
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Let every Opposition MP declare his or her stand during the budget debate  whether 1MDB scandal was a national catastrophe and whether Najib should  be held responsible for Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy

Forme Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak made a big bang in his  political debut on Saturday after his electoral debacle six months ago telling his loyal supporters the fable  that UMNO/BN’s defeat in the 14th General Election  was due to an uneven playing field marred by lies, slanders and empty promises by Pakatan Harapan and not the 1MDB scandal, which he continued to maintain does not exist.

Najib is perpetrating the 21st century Malaysian version of Emperor Has No Clothes with more lies, slanders and fake news!

Some six months after the electoral disaster of the  14th General Election on May 9,  is it still the stand of Opposition parties and Members of Parliament that the 1MDB did not exist, and that all the things said about the 1MDB scandal were lies and slanders?

If so, why did Najib and his Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali did nothing for two years and allowed the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) to tell the world 251-page 957-paragraph of lies and slander in its civil kleptocratic litigation to forfeit US$1.7 billion out of US$4.5 billion 1MDB-linked assets in United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland?

May be, Malaysia should have provisions to impeach the Prime Minister and the Attorney-General for gross dereliction of duty and even betrayal of the national interests that they did not lift a finger to purge Malaysia of the international infamy of being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy.

On Thursday, fugitive financier Jho Low was indicted in the US court in relation to  billions of dollars of 1MDB  money-laundering as well corruption, together with two former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng and Jim Leissner.

Most incriminating of all, Jim pleaded guilty to charges that he bribed officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi to get bond deals for Goldman Sachs and enriched himself beyond what was publicly known, with  more than US$200mil (RM835mil) in proceeds from 1MDB bonds flowed into accounts controlled by him and a relative. As part of his settlement, Tim will forfeit almost US$44mil (RM184mil).  Were all these lies and slanders?

In Singapore, the fall-out from the 1MDB scandal resulted in the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) taking a range of measures against banks and individuals – including shutting down two bank,  fining another eight while several individuals had  been convicted in court and imprisoned, while others were banned from working in the financial industry. Are these all lies and slanders?

In August, Malaysia was the first country to indict the 1MDB mastermind, Jho Low, while Najib had been charged with 38 counts connected to the 1MDB scandal. Former IMDB chairman and former Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah had also been charged with criminal breach of trust. Are these lies and slanders?

Malaysia lost RM50 billion,  totted up a national debt of a trillion ringgit and gained international notoriety as a global kleptocracy. Are these lies and slanders?

Let every Opposition MP declare his or her stand during the budget debate starting on 12th November  whether 1MDB scandal was a national catastrophe and whether Najib should  be held responsible for Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy or whether all the things said by the Pakatan Harapan government on the 1MDB scandal were lies and slanders?

UMNO President, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi, as Parliamentary Opposition Leader,  should  by convention be  opening up the  parliamentary debate on the 2019 Budget reconvenes on Nov.12 after the Deepavali holidays.

Let me tell Zahid and all Opposition MPs that if they are not prepared to declare their individual stand whether 1MDB scandal was a national catastrophe and whether Najib should  be held responsible for Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy, there is no point in their speaking on the 2019 Budget in Parliament!

Najib has become the greatest defender of fugitive financier Jho Low, for Najib was in fact telling the world that Jho Low, like him, is the victim of widespread lies and scandals about the 1MDB scandal.  Why then is Jho Low becoming the most notorious financial fugitive from justice?

Have Zahid and all the Opposition MPs including the newly-elected President of MCA, joined Najib in becoming the greatest defender of fugitive financier Jho Low?

Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia has launched an attack on Najib, accusing him of lying about the multi-billion ringgit deposits in his personal bank account which he claimed was a “donation” from a donation from the Saudi Arabian government, as he had  he told the semi-aborted  Al Jazeera interview that the initial deposits in his personal bank account did originate from Saudi Arabia, therefore, he assumed that subsequent deposits were also from legitimate sources.

It is significant that Awang Selamat, the newspaper’s pen name, cited the old saying that “”not all thieves are liars but all liars would always steal”, as this was not the only lie in Najib’s Al Jazeera interview – the other lies were about Rosmah’s US$23.7 million 22-carat pink diamond necklace and his stepson Riza Aziz’s film production company Red Granite Pictures and films like The Wolf of Wall Street.

Malaysians are indeed great people. Even before the  film The Wolf in Malaysia is produced, they have  already exposed the Wolf in Malaysia –  except that the Wolf in Malaysia has still got followers, even among Opposition Members of Parliament!

Last night  in MCA, the kleptocrat faction which supported Najib’s kleptocracy could even win the party elections. Pity that Najib cannot find a new kleptocratic home in MCA!

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskander Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Monday, 5th November 2018)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 5 November 2018, 7:46 am and is filed under
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Triumph of good over evil – let us slay the 1MDB beast of evil, the worst man-made catastrophe to visit the land in six decades

Deepavali, the Hindu Festival of Light on the triumph of good over evil, is particularly significant for Malaysia this year, when the country made history and rejected rogue democracy, kakistocracy and global kleptocracy.

But the triumph of good  over evil has is not done and complete, until Malaysia transforms from a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity; rejects kakistocracy by leveraging on the best  values and assets of the diverse races, religions, languages, cultures and civilizations which meet in confluence in Malaysia to elevate Malaysia into a top world class nation; and establish Malaysia as a leading light of democracy and good governance instead of a sham democracy – the mission of a New Malaysia.

This is a mission which cannot accomplished in 100 days or six months, but will take a decade or two.

Let every Deepavali henceforth be a report card of the triumph of good over evil in Malaysia until a New Malaysia is fully born.

I must thank Khairy Jamaluddin for giving a new insight on kakistocracy, where we not only have a Cabinet Minister who cannot differentiate between a chicken egg and  a turtle egg but Ministerial  wannabes  who have the IQ of a carrot!

The triumph of good and evil  is a story which resonates with all religions, and should be a common pursuit uniting all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region.

The 1MDB scandal is one of the greatest evils to have visited the land since the founding of the nation.

Last Friday, Goldman Sachs Group in its regulatory filing in the United States said US Government probes into its dealings with 1MDB may still result in “significant fines, penalties and other sanctions” apart from the criminal indictments by the US Department of Justice against Jho Low and two former Goldman Sachs bankers, Roger Ng and Tim Leissner over theft of billions of dollars from 1MDB.

What does this mean for  Malaysia?

For one, it would mean that former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak would be facing more corruption, criminal breach of trust and money-laundering charges apart from the 38 charges which had been levelled against him, as the 38 charges only cover a small section of the 251-page 957-paragragh 1MDB kleptocratic litigation which the US DOJ had filed  in the  United States court.

The nation must  resolve  on the first Deepavali after the Day of History of May 9, 2018 to slay the 1MDB beast of evil, the worst man-made catastrophe to visit the land in six decades.

This is the only way forward –  to conquer the cancer of corruption in Malaysia to release funds to create jobs and build hospitals, schools and universities for Malaysians so as to invest in the future.

(2018 Deepavali Message by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Monday, 5th November 2018)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 5 November 2018, 11:50 am and is filed under
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Will Najib explain in Parliament next week why he betrayed UMNO, BN and Malaysia as he did nothing for over three years  to purge Malaysia of the infamy of a global kleptocracy as a result of the 1MDB scandal despite US Attorney-General’s condemnation of “kleptocracy at its worst”?

I was in Perth in September and I met Greg Lopez, a research fellow at Murdoch University, who wrote a most prescient article in Forbes in August 2015 entitled “
Malaysia’s Prime Minister: A Dead Man Walking?
”.

Greg said the then Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had broken “a cardinal rule in politics” in inadvertently admitting “guilt” when the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission cleared him of any wrongdoing in accepting the infamous RM2.6 billion “political donation”.

He said Najib’s position was no longer tenable as Malaysians questioned his sincerity and trustworthiness.

This was because Najib, in response to  Wall Street Journal report on July 2, 2015 that US$700 million had gone into Najib’s personal bank account, offered “
a non-denial denial”
, viz:

“Let me be very clear: I have never taken funds for personal gain as alleged by my political opponents – whether from 1MDB, SRC International or other entities, as these companies have confirmed.”

Najib  labelled the report as political sabotage and threatened to sue the Wall Street Journal the following week, which he did not do for more than  three years.

Instead, to use Greg’s words,
“As the noose tightened around his neck, Razak went for broke.”

The website Sarawak Report was blocked by the government and an arrest warrant was issue for its founder and editor, Clare Rewcastle-Brown, the The Edge Financial Daily and The Edge Weekly were suspended for a period of three months, the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyidin Yassin and the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail were sacked summarily and the Public Accounts Committee “neutralized”.

Greg wrote:

“After pulling off such a brazen act with a high degree of skill, the prime minister blinked.

“On August 3, 2015, the MACC announced that the $700 million channeled into Razak’s personal bank account came from donors. In doing this, Razak inadvertently confirmed the Wall Street Journal’s report and opened Pandora’s box.

“This admission of ‘guilt’ has taken the toxicity of the prime minister to an all-time high. But even more damaging than the legal implications of the matter (i.e. was it corrupt for Razak to solicit donations on behalf of UMNO; is it certain that the donations were for UMNO; who donated; what were the donations for; were the donations used at the 2013 general elections; did the donation break Malaysian laws; etc) is the question of trust and legitimacy.

“Malaysians will now once again question Razak’s honesty and sincerity in denying all other allegations made against him, his family and his administration. After all, if the Wall Street Journal’s  preposterous allegation is correct, could all the other preposterous allegations also be true?”

But Greg cautioned:
“One should not, however, dismiss Razak outright. It goes without saying that a dead man walking can be very unpredictable and dangerous.”

As events proved, the “dead man” could walk for almost three years, and nearly continued walking for more years, as no one, including Najib himself, had expected UMNO and Barisan Nasional to be defeated in the 14th General Elections which was held in the  most uneven electoral playing field in the nation’s history in favour of UMNO/BN.

In fact, Najib was expecting a great victory even winning back the parliamentary two-thirds majority which UMNO/BN lost ten years ago in the 12GE in 2008.

I had not expected Pakatan Harapan to win the 14GE and form the  Federal Government on May 9, 2018 and Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had told me that he had not expected it  either.

The “dead man”, however, is still walking. He has said he has no intention to return as prime minister or the president of UMNO and BN, saying he is being vocal to fulfil his duties as an elected representative.

He said in his Facebook:”
“My wish is only to give my views and ideas to strengthen Umno, improve the well-being of the people and the economy.

He said: “
I can contribute towards these goals, especially in the face of lies and misinformation.

 “I hope all parties will give me space to do this as it is my contribution to the people, my party and country.”

For a start, let Najib explain in Parliament in the 2019 budget debate next week why he betrayed UMNO, BN and Malaysia as he did nothing for over three years  to purge Malaysia of the infamy of a global kleptocracy as a result of the 1MDB scandal despite US Attorney-General’s condemnation of “kleptocracy at its worst”?

Secondly, let him tell Malaysians what has happened to the US$23.7 million 22-carat pink diamond necklace which Jho Low had paid as a gift for  his wife Rosmah Mansor as well as the two subjects which he had lied in his aborted interview with Al Jazeera – the RM2.6 billion donation in his personal banking account and his stepson Riza Aziz’s film production company Red Granite Pictures and  its films like The Wolf of Wall Street.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Tuesday, 5th November 2018)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 6 November 2018, 3:45 pm and is filed under
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Let Najib reply to Utusan Malaysia and every Opposition MP take a stand on the latest Utusan position on Najib when Parliament reconvenes next week

Last Monday, I called on every Opposition Member of Parliament to declare his or her stand during the 2019  Budget debate in Parliament next week  whether the 1MDB scandal was a national catastrophe and whether Datuk Seri Najib Razak should  be held responsible for Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy or whether all the things said by the Pakatan Harapan government on the 1MDB scandal were lies and slanders.

I suggested that  there was no point of  UMNO President, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi, in speaking although  as  Parliamentary Opposition Leader he  would   by convention open   up the  parliamentary debate on the 2019 Budget on Monday, if he is  not prepared to declare his  stand whether the 1MDB scandal was a national catastrophe and whether Najib should  be held responsible for Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy.

Yesterday, Zahid  announced  that the Barisan Nasional MPs have decided that instead of the traditional practice of the  Parliamentary Opposition Leader opening up the 2019 Budget debate on Monday,  the former Umno Youth leader, Khairy Jamaluddin will be the first speaker in the  2019 Budget debate.

Khairy is  the only one of two Opposition MPs who have conceded that the 1MDB scandal was the cause of Barisan Nasional’s election defeat on May 9, 2018.

In reply to Najib’s bizarre  attempt to white-wash the 1MDB as the cause of the BN election defeat in his political debut last Saturday, attributing the defeat to Pakatan Harapan’s “lies, slanders and empty promises”, Khiary had twittered: “
We lost because of 1MDB. The end.”

The other Opposition MP who agreed with Khairy is former UMNO Minister  Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz (Padang Rengas) who said: “
I agree with YB Khairy (Khairy Jamaluddin). The scandal happened and the Cabinet only knew about all the decisions after the issue exploded in the media.”

NazrI said Cabinet members had supported Najib at the height of the controversy earlier because they were informed that the issues could be solved.

“
That is why we defended it. We also did not find out until the issue was out in the news and became bigger in public.

“We lost not because people rejected us, but because of 1MDB.

“We cannot be in denial.”

Does the choice of Khairy to be the lead Opposition  MP to open up the 2019 Budget debate in Parliament mean that Zahid is not prepared to declare that  the 1MDB scandal was a national catastrophe and that Datuk Seri Najib Razak should  be held responsible for Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy?

Be that as it may, there is not a single Opposition MP who can escape the national imperative to  require everyone of them to declare  whether 1MDB scandal was a national catastrophe and whether Datuk Seri Najib Razak should  be held responsible for Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy.

In fact, the national imperative to Save Malaysia from becoming a rogue democracy, kakistocracy and a global kleptocracy requires every Opposition MP, apart from Najib himself, to declare why he or she had betrayed UMNO, the Barisan Nasional and Malaysia as they had done nothing for over three years  to purge Malaysia of the infamy of a global kleptocracy as a result of the 1MDB scandal despite US Attorney-General’s condemnation of “
kleptocracy at its worst”.

In fact, those who were MPs in the previous Parliament aided and abetted in turning the Malaysian Parliament into a laughing-stock in the world which prohibited any questioning or debate of the 1MDB scandal in Parliament!

Najib, however, has a heavier responsibility to acquit himself of the crime of national betrayal by plunging  Malaysia in the 1MDB “
kleptocracy at its worst”
,  apart from explaining the  many mysteries about the 1MDB scandal, like what happened to the US$23.7 million 22-carat pink diamond necklace which Jho Low had paid as a gift for his wife Rosmah Mansor as well as the two subjects which he had lied in his aborted interview with Al Jazeera – the RM2.6 billion donation in his personal banking account and his stepson Riza Aziz’s film production company Red Granite Pictures and  its films like The Wolf of Wall Street.

In fact, Najib has now more explaining to do as a result of the guilty plea of former Goldman Sachs banker, Tim Leissner in a court in  New York to charges of conspiring to launder money and pay bribes as well as kick-backs from the proceeds raised via 1MDB.

By pleading guilty to the charges that were brought by the Department of Justice (DoJ) in the United States, Leissner effectively admitted to the DoJ’s charges on how money raised by 1MDB was used to pay bribes and fund an expensive lifestyle of several high-ranking officials in Malaysia, Abu Dhabi and a particular relative of a high-ranking official in Malaysia.

Tim also admitted that several people in Goldman Sachs knew that the funds were going to be diverted but supposedly kept the information from the Compliance and Intelligence groups of Goldman Sachs to avoid jeopardising the investment bank’s dealings with 1MDB.

Leissner’s plea came together with the arrest of Roger Ng, who was also with Goldman Sachs when 1MDB raised the funds in 2012 and 2013.

The two, together with fugitive financier Jho Low, were identified as key figures in 1MDB raising US$6.5bil (RM27.3bil) in three bond issues in 2012 and 2013 and the diversion of the funds. Low is still on the run, while Ng being  extradited to the United States.

Of the amount raised, a staggering US$2.7bil (RM11.34bil) was diverted to bribes, kick-backs, buying gifts and financing the luxury lifestyle of a host of people in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi.

Najib and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor are facing a host of criminal charges in Malaysia from money laundering to abuse of power in the 1MDB scandal.

From the US DOJ proceedings, it is clear that the 38 charges levelled against Najib was only scratching the surface of the 1MDB scandal.

The DoJ charge sheet does not name Najib by person. However, the description of the high-ranking “Malaysian Official No. 1” (MO1) that allegedly benefitted from the funds diverted from 1MDB fits that of the former Prime Minister and none other than Najib’s right-hand man, former senior  UMNO Minister and BN strategic communications director Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan had openly admitted that “MO1” is  none other than Najib.

Najib should explain to Parliament next week why for three years he pretended that he did not know that “MO1” was a direct reference to him, and why he had not answered the charges levelled against “”MO1”.

Even in the his recent aborted Al Jazeera interview, Najib has denied any knowledge that money which he received came from funds raised by 1MDB. He also denied knowing that a multi-million-dollar piece of jewellery “presented” to his wife was actually bought using proceeds from 1MDB’s bond issues.

He contended that it was a gift from royalty in the United Arab Emirates and that expensive gifts were common among dignitaries.

However, according to Leissner’s charge sheet, on Oct 10, 2014, the banker and a co-conspirator from Abu Dhabi transferred US$4.1mil as part payment to a jeweller in New York for jewellery meant for the wife of MO1.

The payment to the jeweller was part of a kick-back with the hope of securing the mandate to list 1MDB’s energy unit. The listing of the energy unit did not take place eventually, as it failed to meet the requirements of the authorities.

Going through Leissner’s charge sheet, the intention to defraud 1MDB was already there right from the beginning in 2009.

That was the time when the birth of 1MDB took place under the original name of the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA).

This called for a satisfactory explanation by Najib.

There is also the question of who was the mystery Goldman Sachs executive at the 1MDB meeting with Najib at Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Time Warner Center in New York in Sept. 2013.

A federal filing unsealed on Thursday (Nov 1) places Najib and a “high-ranking executive” from Goldman Sachs  in a meeting with several people the US now accuses of a massive global fraud – including a Malaysian financier who had been repeatedly flagged by the bank’s compliance teams.

Present was  Jho Low, whom the US accuses of masterminding the scheme to divert billions of dollars from 1MDB to private accounts, fine art, luxury toys and high-end real estate.

Three days later Jho Low  returned to the Time Warner Center, where Najib was staying at the Mandarin Oriental hotel, according to the court filing, according to an FBI special agent’s affidavit filed under seal in June.

There, Low and a jeweler presented Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, with a custom-made 22-carat pink diamond pendant and necklace, according to court documents. The jewels cost US$27.3mil (RM114mil).

The money came from funds that were raised by Goldman for 1MDB and then diverted into accounts controlled by Low, according to the filings.

This is a totally different account from that given by Najib in his aborted Al Jazeera interview.  It is time that in his speech in Parliament, Najib should straighten out this issue.

A final note. In his latest FB live broadcast, Najib insisted that he did not lie about the RM2.6 billion donation that he had received in his personal bank account but we must thank Awang Selamat, the editorial voice  of  UMNO-owned newspaper, Utusan Malaysia, for highlighting one important aspect of Najib’s claim about the RM2.6 billion donation –  that Najib did not take the initiative to thank the Saudi Arabia government or the King, if the money was indeed from them!

This had  provoked Awang Selamat to refer to  the old story which said that not all thieves are liars, but all liars will always steal!

Let Najib reply to Utusan Malaysia and every Opposition MP take a stand on the latest Utusan position on Najib when Parliament reconvenes next week

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Wednesday, 7th November 2018)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 7 November 2018, 8:48 am and is filed under
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I have asked Chong Chieng Jen whether Sarawak State Assembly could be the first State Assembly in Malaysia to condemn 1MDB “kleptocracy at its worst” scandal following the damning guilty plea of former Goldman Sachs banker Timothy Leissner to immoral and colossal theft of Malaysian public funds

I have asked the Sarawak Pakatan Harapan Chairman and Sarawak State Assembly Leader, Chong Chien Jen whether the Sarawak State Assembly could be the first State Assembly in Malaysia to condemn 1MDB “kleptocracy at its worst” scandal following the damning guilty plea of former Goldman Sachs banker Timothy Leissner to immoral and colossal theft of Malaysian public funds.

Chong will discuss with the Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Abang Openg on the possibility of the Sarawak State Assembly taking the lead for all State Assemblies in Malaysia to condemn the heinous corruption, criminal breach of trust and money-laundering crimes committed in the 1MDB scandal, which involved tens of billions of ringgit of funds of Sarawakians and Malaysians.

Last week, the Sarawak State Assembly unanimously  passed a ministerial  motion on  the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) to form a high-level special task force to negotiate with the federal government to resolve all outstanding issues related to compliance and upholding of the constitutional safeguards and special rights accorded to Sarawak in accordance with the terms, intent and spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

I do not see why the Sarawak State Assembly cannot unanimously pass another  motion supported by both sides of the Assembly to condemn the most heinous multi-billion ringgit corruption, criminal breach of trust and money-laundering crime in the nation’s history, which affects not only all states in Malaysia but future generations as well.

For years, Sarawakians and Malaysians have been told that the 1MDB scandal was fake news, a concoction of disloyal and anti-national elements in cahoots with foreign forces to topple the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the UMNO/BN Government, but such fables have become unsustainable after the historic 14th General Election result of May 9, 2018.

However, the full scope, extent and magnitude of the colossal and immoral 1MDB scandal can only be fathomed after the indictments and filings against former Goldman Sachs banker Timothy Leissner by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) were unsealed in a court in New York last Thursday.

It is now world news and not fake news that Timothy Leissner and another former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng paid bribes and stole and laundered money from 1MDB, putting Goldman Sachs  at the center of one of the biggest financial frauds in history.

Timothy Leissner, then head of Goldman Sachs in Southeast Asia,  pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder money and violate foreign antibribery laws for helping siphon off billions of dollars from 1MDB.

Former Goldman managing director Roger Ng, and the  mastermind of the fraud, Malaysian financier Jho Low, were indicted on three counts of conspiring to violate foreign antibribery laws and launder money.

Goldman underwrote about US$6.5 billion in bonds for 1MDB. The indictment detailed how the bankers bribed government officials to get the bond deals, controlled offshore accounts where the stolen money was funneled and helped launder the proceeds.

Goldman was paid $600 million in fees from 1MDB for the deals, making the investment fund one of Goldman’s most profitable clients in the world in those years.

The unsealing of the filings and indictments against Tim Leissner, Roger Ng and Jho Low are “must read” material for every elected representative, whether Member of Parliament or State Assembly representative.

Najib and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor are facing a host of criminal charges in Malaysia from corruption, money laundering to abuse of power in the 1MDB scandal.

From the US DOJ proceedings, it is clear that the 38 charges levelled against Najib was only scratching the surface of the 1MDB scandal.

The DoJ charge sheet does not name Najib by person. However, the description of the high-ranking “Malaysian Official No. 1” (MO1) that allegedly benefitted from the funds diverted from 1MDB fits that of the former Prime Minister and none other than Najib’s right-hand man, former senior  UMNO Minister and BN strategic communications director Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan had openly admitted that “MO1” is  none other than Najib.

Najib should explain to Parliament next week why for three years he pretended that he did not know that “MO1” was a direct reference to him, and why he had not answered the charges levelled against “”MO1”.

Even in the his recent aborted Al Jazeera interview, Najib had denied any knowledge that money which he received came from funds raised by 1MDB. He also denied knowing that a multi-million-dollar piece of jewellery “presented” to his wife was actually bought using proceeds from 1MDB’s bond issues.

He contended that it was a gift from royalty in the United Arab Emirates and that expensive gifts were common among dignitaries.

However, according to the US DoJ filing unsealed last Thursday (Nov 1), it  referred to a meeting in New York in Sept. 2013 where Najib, Najib’s wife Rosmah Mansor and Jho Low were present, where a jeweler presented Rosmah with a custom-made 22-carat pink diamond pendant and necklace. The jewels cost US$27.3mil (RM114mil).

The money came from funds that were raised by Goldman for 1MDB and then diverted into accounts controlled by Low, according to the filings.

This is a totally different account from that given by Najib in his aborted Al Jazeera interview.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Sibu on Thursday 8th November 2018)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 8 November 2018, 7:30 am and is filed under
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Jeff Sessions was fired by Trump as US Attorney-General six months too late  to be of any use to Najib to save him from the 1MDB “kleptocracy at its worst” scandal

Jeff Sessions was fired by US President Donald Trump as US Attorney-General six months too late to be of any use to Datuk Seri Najkb Razak to save him from the international 1MDB corruption, criminal breach of trust and money-laundering scandal.

This must be one of Najib’s greatest  regrets – to think that he might have salvaged his political life and the Prime Ministership if Jeff Sessions had been  sacked very much earlier, as he and his legion of  propagandists and cybertroopers  would then be able to crow that even President Trump had repudiated Jeff Session’s caustic indictment at the Global Forum on Asset Recovery last December that the 1MDB scandal was “kleptocracy at its worst” and that the US Department of Justice (DoJ) was working to provide justice to the victims!

All these historic “IFs” were of course  subject to the greatest “IF” of all, i.e IF Najib had not been thrown out of Putrajaya by the Malaysian electorate in the historic peaceful and democratic transition of power first time in six decades in Malaysia.

All these possibilities, combinations and permutations are now so much water under the bridge, for it is completely unthinkable that under the present circumstances, Trump would even spend a second of his time on the question of  how to bail out Najib – although things might have been different IF Najib had won the 14th General Election and remained as Prime Minister.

Then the history of the 1MDB scandal might have been completely re-written. But everything is now too late, and the only thought for Trump after the US mid-term election is how far he dared to go to pursue the Trumpian agenda and interests – whether to sack Special Counsel Robert Mueller and squash the probe into Russian meddling into 2016 US Presidential elections.

I am  very shocked and shamed to  read today of the US Department of Justice (DoJ)’s filings and indictments against 1MDB mastermind Jho Low and two former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng and Tim Leissner which were unsealed in a court in New York last Thursday – and the guilty plea of Tim Leissner to the criminal charges of grand corruption, criminal breach of trust and money-laundering, as well as the forfeiture of US$43 million of illicit earnings by Tim Leissner.

In the US DoJ filings and indictments against Tim Leissner unsealed last Thursday, Najib was mentioned as “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” over 30 times, Rosmah Mansor referred to as “wife of Malaysian Official 1” over 10 times, and although Najib had claimed not involved in 1MDB decision-making, at least six meetings involving the former Prime Ministe, Jho Loh or Tim Leissner were described.

The description of “MO1” in the US DoJ indictments and filings last week were updated from the US DoJ kleptocratic litigation in July 2016 and June 2017  to forfeit 1MDD-linked assets to “a Malaysian national and high-ranking official in the Malaysian government and the MOF from at least 2009 to at least 2018 and had approval authority over 1MDB business decisions”!

The  US DoJ indictments and filings against Tim Leissner were shocking and astounding as it traced Tim Leissner’s five-year career in crime and corruption from January  2009 to October 2014  in the 1MDB scandal, including the description of a clear case of bribery of a top 1MDB official, who was promised in a chat that “one American burger should be delivered next week”,  where the “American burger” is a reference to the transfer of US$1 million.

I can now understand why Najib is making numerous Facebook postings every day, which is clearly an attempt to distract and divert attention from the 1MDB scandal, in particular the US DoJ 1MDB filings unsealed in a court in New York last Thursday.

The US DoJ indictments and filings against Jho Low, Roger Ng and Tim Leissner are “must readings” for every Member of Parliament, especially for Opposition MPs who want to participate in the 2019 Buddget debate in Parliament beginning on Monday.

What is their stand on the 1MDB “kleptocracy at its worst” which brought unmentionable infamy and ignominy to Malaysia?

What has Najib  got to say for bringing the worst infamy and greatest shame to Malaysia not only among the Prime Ministers but among Malaysians for the last six decades?

Furthermore, how can the Ministers and MPs in Najib’s governments from 2009 to 2018 redeem themselves for the unforgivable sins and crimes they have committed against Malaysia by aiding and abetting Najib’s kleptocracy?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lm Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, 8thNovember 2018)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 8 November 2018, 4:24 pm and is filed under
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Malaysians must always be reminded of the 1MDB scandal and the national catastrophe we avoided by a hair’s breadth six months ago until we have suceeded in redeeming ourselves by transforming Malaysia from a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity

Six months ago, we were rushing headlong in the trajectory towards a rogue democracy, a kakistocracy where a Cabinet Minister could not differentiate between a turtle egg and a chicken egg and where even those with the of IQ of a carrot can hope to get into the Cabinet, and an instant global kleptocracy.

By a hair’s breadth, on May 9, 2018, Malaysians escaped the national catastrophe awating the country if we had continued unchecked towards such a trajectory towards disaster.

Voices are gathering saying that it is time to put the 1MDB scandal behind us now that multiple charges on the 1MDB scandal had been made against various personalities in the courts, including the former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, his wife Rosmah Mansor, and that the people should leave it to the courts to adjudicate on the matter.

I cannot disagree more.

The scope, breadth and magnitude of the corruption, criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money-laundering of the 1MDB scandal is so humongous and mind-boggling  that it has suceeded in winning the condemnation of the United States Attorney-General in a global conference on asset recovery as “kleptocracy at its worst”, condemned Malaysia as a global kleptocracy and qualified it to rank as  one of the greatest financial frauds in the world.

Just imagine, two former Goldman Sachs bankers caught in the web of the 1MDB scandal  – Tim Leisener,  who pleaded guilty to 1MDB corruption and money-laundering charges, forfeiting US$43.7 million of ill-gotten gains and Roger Ng, who is challenging extradition to the United States,  reported to have agreed to surrender about US$29 million (RM120.7 million) linked to 1MDB to Singapore authorities and later return to Malaysia.

If just two of the conspirators in the 1MDB scandal had agreed to cough up  over RM300 million of ill-gotten gains from the “kleptocracy at its worst”, and Goldman Sachs  itself could make US$600 million from three kleptocratic bonds totalling US$6.5 billion, it  totally boggles the imagination as to the tens of billions of ringgit which had been stolen from Malaysians, which could have gone to create jobs, provide places in schools and universities as well as providing Malaysians with the best public health and welfare systems in the world!

In June 2015, Najib gave an assurance to some 1,000 UMNO divisional leaders and selected representatives of NGOs that the controversy surrounding 1MDB would be resolved by year-end.

In his  2016 New Year Message on 31st December 2015 as Prime Ministe of Malaysia, Najib told Malaysians that his RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion donation twin mega scandals had been resolved and were no more issues.

Najib could not be more wrong.

Today, hardly a day passes without the monstrous 1MDB scandal dominating the news.

For instance, the 1MDB news today include:

· Naming of the former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein as the “unidentified high-ranking” executive who met former prime minister Najib Razak, identified as “MO1” in the US Department of Justice litigation on 1MDB scandal,  in New York in 2013.

· Singapore police report by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) against the author of an article published on www.statestimesreview.com on Nov 5, 2018, titled “Lee Hsien Loong becomes 1MDB’s key investigation target” which alleged that Malaysia had signed several unfair agreements with Singapore, in exchange for Singapore banks’ assistance in laundering 1MDB’s funds. MAS said the statement claimed in the website was  false and malicious, and impugned the integrity of MAS as a financial regulator.

Yesterday, 1MDB news included:

· Fugitive businessperson Jho Low’s second passport had been deactivated by its issuing country, Saint Kitts and Nevis.

· Former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng and his family reportedly agreed to surrender about S$40 million (US$29 million) to Singapore authorities, which will be repatriated to Malaysia.

The day before, on Wednesday, 7th November, the 1MDB news included:

· Goldman Sachs chief executive David Solomon admitted that its former employees “blatantly broke the law” in their dealings with 1MDB.

· Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng asking  Goldman Sachs to pay back the US$588 million (RM2.44 billion) it received in fees from 1MDB in 2012 and 2013.

· Former Bank Negara governor Muhammad Ibrahim questioned by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in connection with a  22.5-hectare plot of government land that the central bank had bought for RM2 billion in January this year, allegedly to bail out 1MDB.

On Tuesday, 6th November, the 1MDB news included:

· Najib’s absurd claim that he had never lied about the infamous RM2.6 billion donation in the 1MDB scandal.

· News by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC)  Deputy Chairman Wong Kah Woh that PAC will proceed with its 1MDB proceedings following a clarification sought with attorney-general Tommy Thomas the previous Friday to avoid sub judice to ongoing 1MDB criminal trials.

Yesterday’s sacking of Jeff Sessions by US President Donald Trump as US Attorney-General will be one of Najib’s greatest regrets that it did not take place when he was still Prime Minister, when his “mainstream media” would be able to crow that even President Trump had repudiated Jeff Session’s caustic indictment of  the 1MDB scandal was “kleptocracy at its worst” and the stage set to salvage the 1MDB scandal –  in the way that Najib’s “mainstream media” were able to present Najib’s meeting with Trump in the White House in September last year as a “resounding success” when US and world media regard it as a disaster for both countries.

All the possibilities, combinations and permutations that could have changed the history of the 1MDB scandal if Najib had won the 14th General Election and remained as Prime Minister are now so much water under the bridge, for it is completely unthinkable that under the present circumstances, Trump after the US mid-term election would even spend a second of his time on the question of  how to bail out Najib – although things might have been different IF Najib had won the 14th General Election and remained as Prime Minister.

So Najib’s main strategy now is to  divert and distract attention from the unfolding crime all over the world of 1MDB scandal, in particular to suggest that the country must look forward and not backwards about the 1MDB scandal.

I have said I do not agree with this school of thought.

On the contrary, the terrible corruption and crime of 1MDB must remain in the forefront of Malaysian consciousness and Malaysians must always be reminded of the 1MDB scandal and the national catastrophe we avoided by a hair’s breadth six months ago until we have suceeded in redeeming ourselves by transforming Malaysia from a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Friday, 9th November 2019)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 9 November 2018, 12:50 pm and is filed under
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DAP and Pakatan Harapan  in full support of China’s  Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), but make  it an all-win formula and it  might even contest the “Clash of Civilisation” theory and lead to One Universal Civilisation for mankind

The Third Academic Forum on China’s Belt and Road Initiative (RBI) today cannot be more timely, held six months after the historic peaceful and democratic first transition of power in Malaysia after six decades to reset nation building policies to create a New Malaysia.

In this New Malaysia, academic forums and the civil society have an active and  important role to play in Malaysia’s robust and vibrant democracy, which is open and receptive of diverse views about the future of Malaysia and the world, where dissent is not regarded as an act of disloyalty or anti-national expression which must be met with detention without trial or repressive authority of the state.

When the change of government in Putrajaya first took place six months ago, there were concerns about the China policy of Pakatan Harapan Government.

This was because there had been irresponsible propaganda for quite some time trying to portray Pakatan Harapan and DAP as being anti-China and would pursue an anti-China foreign policy if Pakatan Harapan should defeat UMNO and Barisan Nasional in the 14th General Election.

Like many of the lies and falsehoods that MCA/UMNO/BN leaders and propagandists had spread  about Pakatan Harapan and DAP leaders to frighten off the voters from voting for a change of government in the 14th General Election, only the naïve and foolish would believe such devilish and mischievous propaganda.

Not only in Malaysia, but in the whole wide world, it would be utter folly for anyone to adopt an anti-China foreign policy, for this is not a responsible policy to promote universal peace and co-existence in view of the growing influence and power of China to be the world’s superpower.

DAP had never been naïve or foolish. In fact, even before Malaysia recognised the Peoples’ Republic of China and normalised Malaysia-China relations, DAP had pressed the Malaysian Government on both issues for close to a decade as we maintained that it was the Beijing government and not the Taipei government which should represent the Chinese people in the United Nations.

DAP and Pakatan Harapan fully support China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). We want it  to be a win-win formula for all the 65 countries which are to be connected by sea, air, road and rail links.

If the great BRI vision succeeds, it will be an unprecedented human achievement, for it would bring together people with different languages, religions, values, way of life, customs, technologies and even civilisations.

In fact, it may mark the next major step of development in human history – contesting the “Clash of Civilisation” theory with the development of One Universal Civilisation for all mankind.

The Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s first visit to China in August after the 14th General Election had been twisted, distorted and misinterpreted as Malaysia’s opposition to China’s RBI.

These critics cannot be more wrong, and Dr. Mahathir had more than once clarified after his visit to China that Malaysia supports the RBI.

In fact, we will like to see even closer ties between Malaysia and China  forged under the Pakatan Harapan Government.

I believe that with China’s history of 5,000 years of civilization, the leaders of both countries have the wisdom and the long-term and big-picture perspectives not to allow a kleptocrat and his kleptocratic scandal, however humongous, monstrous and immoral in the annal of nations, to endanger or damage the long-term interests and relationship between our two countries.

I have no doubt that China’s leaders fully understand the perspective of Malaysian leaders who want to forge closer Malaysia-China ties but at the same time want to see the rectification of unfair contracts and deals which had been entered by the old regime to save himself and not the country as a result of the interntional 1MDB corruption and money0-laundering scandal.

After all, China is not without  experience of having been bullied by foreign powers in the past by unequal treaties especially after the Opium War, to the extent that the Chinese people could be humiliated in Chinese territory when  “dogs and Chinese” were not  allowed on the Shanghai Bund.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang when opening the Third Academic Forum on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of Southern University College held in Johor Baru on Sunday, November 10, 2018 at 10 am)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 10 November 2018, 6:17 pm and is filed under
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Documentary “Kleptocrats” about the 1MDB scandal making  world premier in New York while the Supreme Kleptocrat in Malaysia continues in his bubble to deny existence of 1MDB scandal

Former UMNO Minister and UMNO Wanita leader, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz has asked a  most important and pertinent question  about education in Malaysia  at the  Nurture, Engage, eXchange Leadership Conference in Penang yesterday: “
What are you bringing up? Kleptos (thieves) and bullies?”

She said Malaysia has no need to come up with reports on the education system, as by the time the reports are written, the rest of the world would have already moved ahead.

“
So many studies, so many reports, but nobody looks at them. So no need”
, she said.

Just consult the private sector and ask industry players, both local and foreign, what they need in terms of human capital and skills – was her recipe for educational reform in Malaysia.

Although I do not fully agree with her, I must say that Rafidah’s sharp-tongued criticism of the flaws of the educational system resonates with the majority of Malaysians who are worried about the education of their children.

Her question,
“What are you bringing up? Klepptos (thieves) and bullies”
 is very relevant in Malaysia six decades after Merdeka in 1957 and the formation of Malaysia in 1963 – whether despite Islam as the official religion of Malaysia and the country being the confluence of the great religions and civilisations in the world, our schools and universities are producing a generation completely devoid of moral compass or religious values, who can be very comfortable with the infamy, ignominy and iniquity of being a global kleptocracy?

And horror of horrors, where a political party  based on political Islam like PAS could even  embrace kleptocracy, which is denounced by Islam and all religions and moral systems in the world – the unwritten agenda for the joint UMNO-PAS gathering in Perak this weekend.

Malaysia’s greatest moral dilemma six decades after nationhood  is vividly highlighted by the following three images:

· Former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and those in  his cohoots being hauled to court in the country to answer scores of criminal charges of corruption, criminal breach of trust and money-laundering in the 1MDB scandal; while overseas,1MDB conspirators like former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner pleaded guilty of 1MDB criminal and corruption charges, and  with another Goldman Sachs banker, Roger Ng, agreeing to forfeit some RM300 million of ill-gotten gains in the 1MDB scandal. Meanwhile, the international manhunt for 1MDB mastermind Jho Low, who has been indicted in Malaysia and the United States, continues.

· Najib shooting off numerous statements in his Facebook every day to distract attention from the 1MDB noose closing in on him, while continue to live in his bubble and to deny the existence of 1MDB scandal.

· The 84-minute U.S. documentary “
The Kleptocrats
” (https://bit.ly/2zsvCGl) making its world premier in New York, with the following script accompanying the documentary:

“
In one of the world’s biggest financial crimes, 3.5 billion dollars were stolen from a Malaysian  government fund. Investigative reporters from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Hollywood Reporter follow the money as it travels across the globe, financing everything from luxury real estate and decadent parties in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street. Capturing white-collar crime at its greedy best. The Kleptocrats is tale of embezzlement, scams and greed run amok.
”

Like Tom Wright and Bradley Hopes’ Billion Dollar Whale book,
The Kleptocrats
 puts added emphasis on the role of fugitive financier Jho Low in the corruption scandal spanning at least 10 countries.

It tracks Low’s movements as he criss-crossed the world between Malaysia and Hollywood, playing up his lavish lifestyle that led to his playboy image.

Directors Sam Hobkinson and Havana Marking also included interviews with Malaysian personalities such as MPs Tony Pua and Maria Chin Abdullah to help convey the damage the scandal wrought on Malaysia.

Both the documentary
The Kleptocrats
 and the harvest of books on the 1MDB scandal, like Billion Dollar Whale, reinforce the question asked by Rafidah yesterday –
“What are you bringing up? Kleptos (thieves) and bullies?”

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Liam Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Sunday, 11th November 2018)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 11 November 2018, 8:38 am and is filed under
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Hope that the US-China trade war will end at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Argentina at the end of November

All over world, events are developing at unprecedented speed and it is important that Malaysians, if they are to succeed in the  building of a New Malaysia which is  a world top-class nation, keep abreast or even ahead of these developments.

China, for instance, led the world when China’s state news agency Xinhua this week introduced the newest members of its newsroom – AI (artificial intelligence) news anchors who will report “tirelessly” all day every day, from anywhere in the country.

In China, new developments are taking place by leaps and bounds. In September, Hong Kong opened a new high-speed bullet-train rail link with Guangzhou which reduced journey time between Hong Kong to Guangzhou to 48 minutes; while the longest 55-kilometre sea bridge, connecting Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai in mainland China was opened by Chinese President Xi Jinping last month.

No man is an island and  in the modern world, no country can retreat into its own world and disregard what is happening in the international society.

This is why I hope that the US-China trade war, which will be detrimental to  both US and Chinese economies as well as undermining international economic developments, will end at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Argentina at the end of November.

Only time will tell whether my hope is realistic or not.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at the 40th anniversary dinner of Johore Motor  Parts Traders’ Association  in Johor Baru on Saturday, November 10, 2018 at 10 pm)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 11 November 2018, 8:06 am and is filed under
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Not enough for global mega-bank  Goldman Sachs to feel “horrible” for  its principal role in the international 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal, as it is time for  it to explain how it is going to compensate 32 million Malaysians for their criminal breach of trust and kleptocracy

The Goldman Sachs chief executive David Saloman said in Singapore  last week that he felt “horrible” that two former employees “blatantlyh broke the law” in their dealings with 1MDB.

It is not enough for the global mega-bank Goldman Sachs to feel “horrible” for its principal role in the interntional 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal, as it is time for it to explain how it is going to compensate 32 million Malaysians for its criminal breach of trust and kleptocracy, for it is crystal clear that without Goldman Sach’s criminal role,  the 1MDB scandal would not have become, in the words of the former United States Attorney-General Jeff Sessions at the inaugural Global Forum on Asset Recovery last December , “kleptocracy at its worst”.

At the inaugural Global Forum on Asset Recovery, Jeff Sessions said that “nearly half of the US$3.5 billion in corruption proceeds we have restrained is related to just one enforcement action” – the 1MDB scandal.

Jeff Sessions told the Global Forum:

“That action was related to a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund known as 1MDB.  1MDB was created by the Malaysian government to promote long-term economic development for the benefit of the Malaysian people.

“But allegedly corrupt officials and their associates reportedly used the funds for a lavish spending spree: $200 million for real estate in Southern California and New York.  $130 million in artwork.  $100 million in an American music label.  Not to mention a $265 million yacht.

“In total, 1MDB officials allegedly laundered more than $4.5 billion in funds through a complex web of opaque transactions and fraudulent shell companies with bank accounts in countries ranging from Switzerland and Singapore to Luxembourg and the United States.  This is kleptocracy at its worst.

“Today, the U.S. Department of Justice is working to provide justice to the victims of this alleged scheme.”

But such “kleptocracy at its worst” would not have been possible without the principal role of Goldman Sachs.

According to United States prosecutors, Goldman Sachs generated about US$600 million in fees for its work with 1MDB, which included three bond offerings in 2012 and 2013 that raised US$6.5 billion.

The two former Goldman Sachs bankers indicted by the United States Department of Justice, Tim Leissner who pleaded guilty  and Rober Ng and others received large bonuses in connection with that promotion of 1MDB kleptocracy.

It is reported that Leissner and Ng have agreed to forfeit some RM300 million of ill-gotten gains in the 1MDB scandal.

But what about the US$600 million in fees which Goldman Sachs illegally earned for three bond offerings in 2012 and 2013 that raised US$6.5 million (RM27.25 billion)?

The Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad said in Singapore yesterday that the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) will hand back money which was misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Board (1MDB), which amounted to about US4.3 billion (RM18 billion), which included some money which US investment bank Goldman Sachs had raised through bond offerings.

Malaysians want to hear from Goldman Sachs on this issue and are awaiting the global titan in the intentional financial industry to render justice to the Malaysian people who are the victims of the “horrible” 1MDB kleptocratic scandal, as the billions lost in the 1MDB scandal could go to create jobs, provide places in schools and universities and to build clinic and hospitals for Malaysians and not to pad ill-gotten gains of crooks and kleptocrats.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Wednesday, 14th November 2018)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 14 November 2018, 1:13 pm and is filed under
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Why the Wall Street titan  Goldman Sachs should contact the Malaysian Government  to offer an acceptable settlement for its criminal facilitation of the 1MDB “kleptocrtacy at its worst” scandal

It is most  ironic that  the Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs is criminally involved in the facilitation of the 1MDB “kleptocracy at its worst” scandal of Malaysia.

Goldman Sachs has produced top-notch United States government leaders, and some of the former Goldman Sachs employees who have moved on to top government positions include former US Secretaries of the Treasury Robert Rubin and Henry Paulson and current US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, former US Chief Economic Adviser Gary Cohn, European Central Bank President Mario Craghi, former Bank of Canada and current Governor of Bank of England Mark Carney.

In addition, former Goldman employees have headed the New York Stock Exchange, the World Bank, and competing banks such as Citigroup and Merrill Lynch.

Goldman Sachs has a compliance group responsible for  managing and overseeing compliance policies and internal accounting controls covering bribery, money-laundering, conflicts of interest, personal investments, outside activities, etc.

Goldman Sachs Chief Executive David Solomon said in Singapore last week that he felt “horrible” that two former employees “blatantly broke the law” in their dealings with Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

Soloman said:

“It is obviously very distressing to see two former Goldman Sachs employees went so blatantly around our policies and so blatantly broke the law.

“I feel horrible about the fact that people who worked at Goldman Sachs, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s a partner or it’s an entry level employee, would go around our policies and break the law.”

He said that Goldman Sachs take compliance and control in the firm
 “extremely seriously”
and will continue
 “to cooperate with the authorities and there’s a process in place and that process will proceed.”

It is worth a thought as to whether the Goldman Sachs executive would have reached such a “horrible” conclusion if the people of Malaysia had not made the historic decision in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 to topple Datuk Seri Najib Razak from power in a peaceful and democratic transition of power so as to get to the bottom of the 1MDB “kleptocracy at its worst” scandal.

Goldman Sachs raised nearly US$6.5 billion in three bond sales for 1MDB between 2012 and 2013.

According to the US Department of Justice, more than  US$2.5 billion raised from these bonds was misappropriated by high-level 1MDB officials, their relatives and associates.

In the process, Goldman earned almost US$600 million for the three deals – described as “a jaw-dropping” amount of close to 10%, far in excess of the normal 1-2 percent fees a bank could expect for helping sell bonds.

The fees alone – 5 to 10 times more than usual rate – should raise the red flag that something fishy was going on, which today has proven to be true.

It has been said that  the US$600 million in fees earned would make 1MDB the most profitable client in the world for Goldman during those years and reminds us of the wisdom of the saying  that there is no free lunch in the world.

If Goldman Sachs is genuine  and sincere in its contrition about Goldman Sach’s “horrible” crime in facilitating the 1MDB scandal, through Tim Leissner, Roger Ng and other Goldman Sachs bankers, then the Wall Street titan should contact the Malaysian Government  to offer an acceptable settlement for its criminal facilitation of the 1MDB “kleptocrtacy at its worst” scandal.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Thursday 15, 2018)

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Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon’s voice mail too little, too late and too paltry – just repay US$600 million to 1MDB to show genuine contrition and take first step back to become a responsible global  corporate citizen

Goldman Sachs Group Inc CEO David Solomon’s voice mail to Goldman Sachs employees that “This isn’t us” to distance the mega bank from the multi-billion 1MDB scandal is too late, too little and too paltry, when in July 2016 and later in June 2017 in its expanded and updated kleptocratic litigation to forfeit 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, US Department of Justice (DoJ) had listed the “material misrepresentations and omitted facts” of the three 1MDB bonds arranged by Goldman Sachs in 2012 and 2013 and the almost-instant misappropriation and fraudulent diversion of some 40 per cent each of the three bonds.

The guilty plea of Goldman Sach’s former top banker in Asia, Tim Leissner, to two counts of conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to violate the Foreign

Corrupt Practices Act in relation to the 1MDB scandal has undermined the mega bank’s  attempt to wash its hands of responsibility for the 1MDB scandal.

In his guilty plea in a New York district  court on August 28, which was unsealed on November 8,  Leissner said others at the bank helped him conceal bribes used to retain business in Malaysia.

He said  the culture of secrecy at the investment bank led him to conceal wrongdoing from the company’s compliance staff.

According to the  heavily redacted transcript which is available on the Internet, the US district  judge Margo K. Brodie warned Leissner that under federal sentencing guidelines he faced decades in prison. Providing useful information to prosecutors might help Leissner get a more lenient sentence and  sentencing has been fixed for January 17, 2019.

In his guilty plea, Leissner has agreed to the forfeiture of  US$43.7 million. He’s free on US$20 million bail.

Leissner’s Aug. 28 statement to the judge may give prosecutors more leverage to go after the Goldman Sachs and other bank executives for their roles in raising three bonds totalling  US$6.5 billion for 1MDB.

Prosecutors say more than US$4 billion was siphoned off by Jho Low and friends and family of the nation’s prime minister at the time, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, among others.

I am very struck by Leissner’s guilty plea as can be found in the redacted transcript.

In his plea, Leissner acknowledged lying to compliance officials at Goldman about the role in the fund played by Jho Low, the  mastermind of the 1MDB fraud.

He said: “I knew that concealing Jho Low’s involvement as an intermediary was contrary to Goldman Sachs’s stated internal policies and procedures.

“I and several other employees of Goldman Sachs at the time also concealed that we knew that Jho Low was promising and paying bribes and kickbacks to foreign officials to obtain and retain 1MDB business for Goldman Sachs, for the benefit of Goldman Sachs and myself.”

But there is the new mystery over the two New York  meetings that the former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein had with Najib, the first time in  2009 and the second time in 2013.

Did these two meetings have any connection with the 1MDB scandal?

Leissner has  admitted that he bribed officials in two countries – Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates – to get bond deals for Goldman Sachs.  Who are these Malaysian officials?

As Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon’s voice mail of “This isn’t us” is too little, too late and too paltry – the global titan should  just repay US$600 million commissionhn  to 1MDB to show genuine contrition and to  take the first step back to become a responsible global  corporate citizen.

But the greatest  question to Malaysians is why Najib is continuing to  maintain a thunderous silence on the 1MDB developments and Tim Leissner’s guilty pleas.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Friday, 16th November 2018)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 16 November 2018, 3:17 pm and is filed under
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Since 14GE, there  was hardly a day when the 1MDB scandal did not dominate news  headlines, very  often with multiple items a day

What a far cry from what the then Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib said in his 2016 New Year Message on Dec. 31, 2015 that his RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion donation twin mega scandals had been resolved and were no more issues.

Since the 14th General Election on May 9,. 2018,, there was hardly a day when the 1MDB scandal did not dominate news  headlines, very  often with multiple items a day!

Today, for instance, there were four news stories connected to the 1MDB scandal in Malaysiakini, viz: “
New Zealand gov’t: Jho Low not given passport”;  “Jho Low drops claims to New York’s Park Lane Hotel to facilitate sale”;“1MDB probe to be completed in ‘another month or two’”
; and “
Najib upset over muted gov’t bench when he talks about 1MDB
”.

Najib’s refusal to enter the dock meant for the accused at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court during the case management yesterday  for his 25 criminal charges related to the  1MDB scandal is a salutary  three-point reminder to Malaysians.

Firstly, that Najib’s is still cacooned in his hallucinatory denial complex that he had not committed any crime or wrong in the 1MDB “kleptocracy at its worst” scandal and that all the 1MDB scandal stories are all fake news and false information. While this Najibian complex is most astounding, what is even more deplorable and contemptible is that Najib’s erstwhile comrade-in-arms whether in UMNO or in the Barisan Nasional or previous Barisan Nasional parties, whether as  Najib’s Ministers, MPs and BN leaders, could continue  to defend Najib and the 1MDB scandal today, whether by commission or omission.

If Najib had succeeded in the 14th General Election to win victory for UMNO/BN and to continue as Prime Minister, he would have succeeded in cutting off Malaysia from the world and continue the façade and charade that the 1MDB scandal never existed, although Malaysia is regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy with  one foreign country after another initiating action against 1MDB  crimes and corruption.

Secondly, there Malaysia has a long way to go to restore the rule of law and the principle of equality before the law, as  eloquently explained in the Opinion piece by veteran journalist R. Nadeswaran in the Malaysiakini article “’
No sitting in the dock for Najib’ raises double standards
”.

Thirdly, it is testimony that Malaysia has an even  longer  way to go if we are to show the world that we can transform a global kleptocracy into a leading nation of integrity.

Recently, the Chief Commissioner of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Mohd Shukri Abdull recounted that he felt so embarrassed about Malaysia’s corruption levels when on a trip abroad in 2016 that he pretended to be an Indonesian national.

The chief commissioner also noted how the country’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) fell from 52 percent in 2014 to 47 percent in 2017.

“
In 2014, Malaysia recorded 52 percent in CPI. It is a barely passable score, like a C-grade.

“In 2015, our score reduced to 50. It went down to 49 percent in 2016 and in 2017, we obtained 47 percent,” he said.

Even the conclusion from the findings of KPMG’s Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Survey, as well as surveys conducted by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer show that corruption is getting worse.

Najib’s defiance and contempt of court yesterday refusing to enter the accused’s dock despite 25 charges of corruption in connection with the 1MDB scandal illustrates the resistance  the Pakatan Harapan Government is facing in its challenge to transform Malaysia from a global kleptocarcy to a leading nation in integrity.

The 38 charges that had been levelled against Najib is just scratching the surface of the gargantuan international 1MDB corruption and embezzlement scandal.

Najib’s defiance and contempt of court must  be a salutary reminder to Malaysians who voted for change on May 8, 2018, that they must have the stamina, perseverance and tenacity as the kleptocrats  to see through the transformation of Malaysia  from a global kleptocracy to a leading nation  of integrity.

Najib has expressed unhappiness over the absolute lack of response from government MPs when he spoke about 1MDB at the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday.

Najib does not realise that he is the only former Prime Minister, in fact, the only  politician in Malaysia who has sunk so low as  to lose  all credibility and forfeit public trust  to the extent that nothing from him warrants or deserves  belief or even attention.

If Najib wants to make a political comeback and regain public trust and credibility, he should first explain about his own lack of response spanning over three years, about the ballooning 1MDB scandal, particularly after the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed its largest kleptocratic litigation to forfeit US$1.7 billion of 1MDB-linked assets from US$4.5 billion embezzled from 1MDB funds, and where he was personally cited as “Malaysian Official 1” (MO1), as well as about the jewelleries from the embezzled 1MDB funds for his wife.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Saturday, 17th November 2018)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 17 November 2018, 2:38 pm and is filed under
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Did Zahid get a mandate from various UMNO levels – UMNO Supreme Council, UMNO MPs and State Assembly representatives, UMNO Divisions, UMNO Youth, UMNO Wanita and UMNO Puteri  and the UMNO General Assembly – as well as from other Barisan Nasional parties for the  proposal of a merger  between UMNO and PAS?

UMNO President Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi must be credited with making the most astounding announcement in the six months after Malaysians created history toppling the sixth Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the six-decade rule of UMNO/BN Government in a peaceful and democratic transition of power.

This is his proposal at the joint UMNO-PAS rally in Pasir Salak last night openly calling for a PAS-UMNO merger “in the name of Islam, Malays, Malaysia and bumiputera”.

Two months ago, Zahid assured Malaysians that the co-operation between UMNO and PAS was not leading towards the formation of a new coalition but was a co-operation between two parties to strengthen their roles in the opposition camp.

There is now a quantum jump in Zahid’s political thinking where an informal co-operation for Opposition’s sake had been skyrocketed into a merger between the two parties.

But two questions  need to be clarified first:

First, did  Zahid get a mandate from various UMNO levels – UMNO Supreme Council, UMNO MPs and State Assembly representatives, UMNO Divisions, UMNO Youth, UMNO Wanita and UMNO Puiteri and  the UMNO General Assembly – as well as from other Barisan Nasional parties like MCA and MIC  for the  proposal of a merger  between UMNO and PAS?

Or did Zahid unilaterally and without  extensive discussion with other UMNO and BN leaders made the proposal for a merger between UMNO and PAS last night?

Secondly, is PAS reciprocating to the UMNO overture for a merger between UMNO and PAS.

At the joint UMNO-PAS rally, the PAS President Datuk Seri Hadi Awang, who spoke after Zahid, made no mention of Zahid’s merger proposal.

It would appear that Zahid has lost confidence in his ability to lead UMNO to regain power, although in the initial period, UMNO leaders had believed that the four-party Pakatan Harapan coalition would implode and disintegrate within two years of forming government.

Now,  even UMNO leaders are wondering whether they could regain in the 15th General Election before May 2013 and they must be prepared for a longer stint in the political wilderness!

Hence the desperate cry to PAS to help to keep UMNO alive made by Zahid yesterday.

UMNO won 54 parliamentary seats in the 14th General Election while PAS won 18 parliamentary seats.

Zahid’s proposal is extraordinary, for in the normal course of events, any proposal for a merger would come from the smaller party, but here the bigger party UMNO is suggesting to a smaller party for a merger!

Although the number of UMNO parliamentary seats have been reduced from 54 to 48 seats, Zahid has clearly lost confidence in his ability to  restore government power to UMNO unless he made the overture of a merger between UMNO and PAS.

It is most unfortunate that in the foreseeable future, the  country is going to be trapped in the toxic politics of fear and hatred, based on irrational and baseless politics of race and religion,  seeking  to polarize and divide  Malaysians along racial and religious differences, instead of an overarching, unifying  and inclusive politics to seek the betterment of lives of all Malaysians, regardless of race or religion.

But I believe that the merchants of fear and hate, who exploit the irresponsible politics of race and religion, are  fighting a losing battle for the majority of Malaysians in an age of information would want a New Malaysia which promotes the welfare of all Malaysians regardless of race and religion to succeed and for Malaysia to take her rightful place as a successful, united, just, democratic, ethical; progressive and prosperous nation in the international arena.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Sunday, 18th November 2018)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 19 November 2018, 10:22 am and is filed under
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Fie to all Opposition MPs as not a single UMNO, MCA, MIC, PAS or Opposition MP dared to take a stand during the Budget debate that 1MDB scandal is a national catastrophe and Najib must be held responsible for the infamy of Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy

The 2019 Budget debate in Parliament has ended, with the Ministers beginning their replies today.

One of the most astounding features of the 2019 Budget debate is that not a single UMNO, MCA, MIC, PAS or Opposition MP dare to take a stand that the monstrous 1MDB “kleptocracy at its worst” scandal is a national catastrophe and that the former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak must be held responsible for the infamy of Malaysia becoming a  global kleptocracy.

This despite my public  reminder before the budget debate that every Opposition MP should declare his or her stand whether 1MDB scandal was a national catastrophe and whether Najib should be held responsible for Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy.

This shows that not a single Opposition MP could be depended upon to perform the national duty to redeem Malaysia’s international reputation and standing by transforming Malaysia from a global kleptocracy into a leading nation in integrity in the world.

All Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or party politics, is now entitled to say “Fie and Shame” to  every UMNO, MCA, MIC, PAS and Oppositon MP for their cowardice and dereliction of parliamentary and national duty to take a stand during the Budget debate that 1MDB scandal is a national catastrophe and that Najib must be held responsible for the infamy of Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy.

Are the Opposition MPs  such retards  when even Utusan Malaysia, Najib’s erstwhile mouthpiece, could wake up from a long Rip Van Winkle sleep to challenge Najib’s claim that the infamous RM2.6 billion donation in Najib’s personal banking account was from Saudi Arabian royalty, as Najib had never thanked the Saudi Arabia government or the King for the RM2.6 billion donation, if the money was indeed from them?

There was  a great coming-together of UMNO and PAS in a joint rally in Pasir Salak where the UMNO President, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi, made the astounding proposal for an UMNO-PAS merger, which was summarily rejected by PAS without second thought.

Two things stood out in the joint UMNO-PAS rally in Pasir Salak on Saturday night: Firstly, how low UMNO has fallen from just six months ago, when it regarded itself as the eternal candidate to be the government of the country; and secondly, not a word was uttered  by leaders of both parties to condemn corruption  or even to express regret that Malaysia had been regarded by the world as a global kleptocracy.

It is clear that both parties do not find any objection to Malaysia from being regarded by the world as a global kleptocarcy as both UMNO and PAS have taken a most ambiguous  stand on the 1MDB scandal  – failing the  litmus test of their commitment to a clean and  honest government whose  top priority is  to transform Malaysia from a global kleptocracy to a leading nation in integrity.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Monday, 19th November 2018)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 19 November 2018, 10:58 am and is filed under
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Two “laughing stocks” in Malaysian politics within 48 hours

Malaysian politics achieved two new records of sorts within 48 hours – both highlighted by none other than the new MCA President, Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong.

In the first instance, Wee had captured the essence when he said that the UMNO President, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi had been turned into a “laughing stock” after his overture to PAS for a UMNO-PAS merger were ignored.

Wee said:

“
To see PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang (ignore such overtures) is embarrassing… to me (Zahid) is a laughing stock.

“I want to marry you, but you refuse. What does that mean?” he said when met at the Parliament lobby yesterday.

On Saturday, during a joint Umno-PAS rally in Pasir Salak, Zahid openly said it was time for the two parties to “merge”, but this was rejected by PAS.

The second event was provide by Wee himself, who said that Zahid’s overture for a UMNO-PAS merger was a “betrayal” of Barisan Nasional.

Pleading that BN component parties should at least be consulted before Zahid made the overture of a merger to PAS, Wee pleaded: “Please reserve some respect for MCA and other BN parties concerning this matter.”

Two beggaring statements within 48 hours, the first one by the UMNO President to PAS and the second one by the MCA President to UMNO.

Wee complained plaintively that UMNO was only interested in pursuing Muslim votes, although the BN is multi-racial in outlook.

He said: “
Their angle is: ‘Non-Muslim voters are no longer important’. Where is the spirit of the coalition?

“We want a new Malaysia. We want multiethnic political parties.”

But the greatest irony of all is that MCA is not a party open to all ethnic groups in Malaysia!

What has Malaysian politics come to – producing two “laughing stocks” within 48 hours!

(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Tuesday, November 20, 2018)

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Will UMNO and PAS hold joint protest rally to condemn Najib,  1MDB scandal and Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy

Will UMNO and PAS hold a joint protest rally against Najib Razak, 1MDB scandal and Malaysia becoming  a global kleptocracy?

There are no signs that UMNO and PAS are prepared to do so, as their leaders and Members of Parliament do not regard the international 1MDB corruption, criminal breach of trust and money-laundering scandal or the infamy and ignominy to Malaysia to be regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy to be of any concern at all.

This is why in the 2019 Budget debate in Parliament, while the 1MDB scandal continues to make daily waves internationally, not a single UMNO or PAS MP dare to take a stand that the monstrous 1MDB “kleptocracy at its worst” scandal is a national catastrophe and that the former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak must be held responsible for the infamy of Malaysia becoming a  global kleptocracy.

This despite my public reminder before the budget debate that every Opposition MP should declare his or her stand whether 1MDB scandal was a national catastrophe and whether Najib should be held responsible for Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy.

UMNO and PAS is getting cosier with each other, with a joint rally in Pasir Salak on Saturday, and another major protest rally in Kuala Lumpur on Dec. 8.

But would any UMNO or PAS leader make a clear stand against immorality, greed, corruption and abuses of power  by giving unreserved condemnation of the  1MDB scandal which had stolen tens of billions of ringgit of funds belonging to the Malaysian people which could have been used to create more jobs and raise the incomes of all Malaysians, build more homes and hospitals as well as provide more places in  schools and universities for Malaysian students?

As I do not see any such signs, let us hear from UMNO and PAS leaders whether any such joint protest rally to condemn Najib, the 1MDB scandal and Malaysia being regarded as a global kleptocracy is in the pipeline in the “honeymoon-buildup”  by UMNO and PAS.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Tuesday, November 20, 2018)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 20 November 2018, 10:55 am and is filed under
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All the UMNO and PAS MPs who disregarded  and defied the Speaker’s directives and shouted and yelled incessantly to stop Waytha Moorthy from continuing his reply in Parliament on Monday should be referred to the Committee of Privileges to prevent another recurrence

What happened in Parliament on Monday morning, when UMNO and PAS  Members of Parliament defied and disregarded the Speaker’s directives and  shouted and yelled incessantly to stop the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, P. Waytha Moorthy from replying and delivering his speech during the Ministerial winding-up in the debate on the 2019 Budget is the greatest disgrace in the half-a-century history of  Malaysian Parliament, as such a dishonourable  incident had never happened before in the Malaysian Parliament since 1959.

Has parliamentary standards in Malaysia degraded so much  in the past half-a-century? Is the Malaysian Parliament next to graduate to fist-fights and physical attacks on the Speaker as happened in other Parliaments?

What made Monday’s disgraceful incident in Parliament even more shocking is that some of the miscreant Members of Parliament were former Cabinet Ministers – which highlighted the glaring fact that the former Cabinet that was unceremoniously chucked out of Putrajaya  by the Malaysian voters on May 9, 2018 was one the worst in Malaysian history – made up of  the most “deadwood” and “half-past six” Ministers.

It is sad  that the  miscreant UMNO and PAS Members of Parliament who succeeded in shouting down Waytha Moorthy and prevented him from replying in Parliament  had never heard or understood the famous Voltarian saying: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”!

Why can’t the UMNO and PAS Members of Parliament exercise the necessary  parliamentary decorum and dignity to allow Waytha Moorthy to have his say, however vehement they may disagree with him, and then respond to him, whether in Parliament or outside?

The disgraceful parliamentary episode on Monday morning should never be allowed to happen again, and no Member of Parliament or Minister should be  shouted and yelled at  to shut him or her  out to prevent an MP or Minister  from having his or her say in Parliament.

For this reason, all the UMNO and PAS MPs who disregarded and defied the Speaker’s directives and shouted and yelled incessantly to stop Waytha Moorthy from continuing his reply in Parliament on Monday should be referred to the Committee of Privileges to ensure that such a blot on the record of the Malaysian Parliament will never recur.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Wednesday, November 21, 2018)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 21 November 2018, 11:37 am and is filed under
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