Why DAP, PKR failed miserably in Sarawak

Adrian Lim

Malaysiakini

10th May 2016

COMMENT
 With humble and sincere intentions, I have to point out what Sarawakians and Sabahans generally feel about West Malaysians.

If Sun Wu Kong (the Monkey God) had a ‘Journey to the West’, PKR and DAP should now have a ‘Journey to the East’.

In future, obey these rules, and you will not fail so miserably in the east.

1. NEVER go into others’ house, telling them their house is under-developed, lesser democratic, less rich, no highway, no water, no electricity.

Sarawakians are humans, and humans have dignity. The first impression would be: “Why are you West Malaysians so arrogant”?

2. NEVER call people stupid.

If you believe in democracy, then you must also respect East Malaysians’ democratic rights to vote BN, whatever the reason of their choice is.

You claim to be a democracy fighter, yet when Sarawakians exercise their right to vote BN, you call them stupid. Isn’t that a contradiction?

Just to play the devil’s advocate – Voting PKR/DAP is more stupid in the East, because you will end up with no water, no electricity and you will also be transferred deep into the jungle if you are a government servant. And when this happens, DAP/PKR cannot do anything.

3. NEVER force upon Sarawakians what you think they should have.

Sarawakians (and Sabahans) know what they want. Don’t tell them what you think they should have.

Time to check whether electricity, roads, water, etc is really what they want, and time to check whether they want that from West Malaysians, or do they want that from their own Sarawakians?

Reflect, and start pushing local leaders to the front. The likes of Baru Bian, Chong Chieng Jen, Mordi Bimol, Athina Sim should all be allocated front space in the media, not the West Malaysian leaders.

(I don’t care what your party ranking is, this is a state election, not a party election.)

Outsiders like us should assist the local leaders, not tell them what to do.

4. NEVER dictate the aspirations of Sarawakians.

The simple logic behind anti-Malaya sentiments is because ‘Malaya wants to always be boss’.

Learn that East Malaysians in general hate that, and will base their arguments on the 1963 Malaysia Agreement – Sabah, Sarawak and peninsular Malaysia are equal partners.

There is no boss, there are only bosses (three bosses, one from each Sabah, Sarawak and peninsular Malaysia).

The anger is much misplaced, because the real thief is not Malayans, but BN comprising both East Malaysia and West Malaysia leaders.

In order to dispel this, you must let local leaders take centre stage, because only the local leaders will know what their own people want.

Get an engineer to tell a doctor what is best for the patient, get a mathematician to tell a lawyer how to fight a court case, and you will be screwed big time.

5. NEVER assume what West Malaysians hate is what East Malaysians hate.

“Anak Melayu, Anak Cina, Anak Iban” quotes DON’T WORK in Sabah and Sarawak, because we never had any racial animosity.

It works in the peninsula because racial and religious animosity is prevalent, and there are many who yearn for harmony.

Try telling a billionaire a Pakatan Harapan government will give him free water, electricity, buses etc, and you will get the same results – zilch.

6. NEVER try to show how religious you are in East Malaysia.

While I respect my Muslim friends as much as I respect my parents, I have to explain that a lot of East Malaysians are in a way ‘Islamophobes’.

Hence, showing how religious one is will not only destroy your party image, but also destroy the struggles you fight for.

Words like “ini bumi Allah” (This is God’s earth), “Allahuakbar” (God is great) etc will freak out the majority Christian population.

In fact, if you realise, Sarawak BN chief Adenan Satem is well-accepted even by non-Muslims because he does not go around showing how Muslim he is.

7. NEVER try to defy the six points mentioned above.

You can try going into Sabah and Sarawak and tell them their house is under-developed, you can try calling them stupid for voting BN, you can try forcing upon what you think they should have, you can try dictating the aspirations of East Malaysians, you can try to assume what works in the West works in the East, you can try showing how religious you are, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, you can also try defying all six point mentioned above, BUT, what will happen is East Malaysians will have the final say, and they will vote for BN.

So you will end up failing miserably, again. So, better don’t try disobeying these six general rules.

PS: I am criticising PKR and DAP in a constructive way because I believe they have the sincerity to bring change.

However, the approach must be re-looked, revisited and changed to an Ubah and Reformasi approach suited to the East.

ADRIAN LIM is a Sabahan, and chairperson of the #BebasAnwar movement. He was also part of PKR’s campaign team in Sarawak.

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1MDB – A wonderland saga

Tan Siok Choo

Making Sens

The Sun Daily

20 April 2016

“CURIOUSER and curiouser,” said Alice as she grew to more than nine feet high in Lewis Carroll’s fabled novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

This is the likely response of non-partisan readers of often contradictory articles about 1Malaysia Development Berhad (IMDB), the report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and strongly-worded statements by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC).

In a joint announcement on April 11, IPIC and its subsidiary Aabar Investments PJS (Aabar) categorically denied Aabar Investments PJS Ltd, established in the British Virgin Islands (Aabar BVI), is “an entity within either corporate group”. Both IPIC and Aabar also said they had received no payments from Aabar BVI.

In response, 1MDB said it was “curious” IPIC and Aabar had waited “until April 2016” to issue a denial and was surprised “neither IPIC nor Aabar has knowledge of, nor has benefited from, payments made by IMDB to Aabar BVI.”

Under a debt-asset swap agreement on May 28, 2015 involving Aabar, Malaysia’s Ministry of Finance (MOF) and 1MDB, IPIC agreed to:

» provide US$1 billion to enable 1MDB to settle its liabilities;

» pay interest on the US$3.5 billion bonds;

» repay the US$3.5 billion bond; and

» forgive certain 1MDB debts.

In return, 1MDB would transfer to IPIC by June 30, 2016 assets with an aggregate value of all the sums paid by IPIC.

DAP MP Tony Pua says the value of assets 1MDB must transfer to IPIC total US$4.7 billion – US$1 billion to settle 1MDB’s liabilities, US$3.5 billion for the 2012 bonds and up to US$200 million in interest payments.

Two days after IPIC’s statement, 1MDB did an about-turn and acknowledged it could have been a victim of fraud.

On Monday, IPIC accused 1MDB and MOF of failing to honour their obligations and terminated the debt-asset swap deal.

According to a news report, a US$50 million payment on the 1MDB bonds was due on Monday, which IPIC had undertaken to pay.

This sequence of events prompts several questions.

If neither IPIC nor Aabar received the US$3.5 billion 1MDB reputedly paid to Aabar BVI in four tranches, who was the lucky beneficiary? Can 1MDB recover the US$3.5 billion paid to Aabar BVI?

Did 1MDB check who owned Aabar BVI? IPIC’s annual reports from 2011 to 2014 and the interim 2015 report show Aabar BVI isn’t listed as a subsidiary.

Does IPIC’s termination of the debt-asset swap agreement mean 1MDB’s financial obligations could increase by US$4.7 billion? If 1MDB doesn’t have sufficient funds, will MOF have to assume responsibility for paying 1MDB’s debts?

Was the US$50 million on 1MDB bonds paid on time? Would non-payment trigger a cross-default on 1MDB’s other financial commitments estimated at US$5.1 billion?

PAC said it was unable to confirm a US$2.1 billion payment to Aabar BVI while another US$1.37 billion was transferred to the latter without approval from 1MDB’s board.

Since banks require a board resolution authorising a transaction before transmitting the funds, how was the US$1.37 billion transferred to Aabar BVI without 1MDB directors’ approval? Did 1MDB auditors query this unsanctioned payment to Aabar BVI?

The PAC report showed 1MDB’s management, helmed by then CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, ignored board directives on 19 occasions, deceived the board six times and the auditors thrice.

Shahrol was able to disregard 1MDB directors because the real power was with the shareholder, the bipartisan PAC report suggests.

Article 117 of 1MDB’s Articles of Association requires the prime minister, as chairman of the advisory committee, to approve any appointments and terminations of directors and top managements as well as any “financial commitments (including investments) restructuring or matters involving government guarantees.”

The PAC has recommended enforcement agencies investigate Shahrol. Can Shahrol claim as a defence that he was carrying out the directives of 1MDB’s ultimate approving authority?

An early warning signal occurred last year. In April 2015, Khadem al-Qubaisi was abruptly removed as IPIC managing director and Aabar chairman while Mohamad al-Husseiny was replaced as Aabar CEO.

Did news that Qubaisi and Husseiny were no longer employed by IPIC and Aabar respectively prompt 1MDB to contact the two Abu Dhabi corporations?

When Abu Dhabi’s central bank froze the accounts of both Qubaisi and Husseiny and directed major banks in the United Arab Emirates to provide information about these two men’s deposits and transactions, did an amber light flash in 1MDB’s corporate headquarters?

Reports indicate both men are now also being investigated by Swiss authorities.

In short, 1MDB is a wonderland saga; it is like Lewis Carrol’s novel – with a multiplicity of questions and a paucity of rationale answers.

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Abu Dhabi’s IPIC demands more Malaysia compensation as debt row deepens

KUALA LUMPUR/HONG KONG | BY JOSEPH SIPALAN AND UMESH DESAI

Reuters

Wed May 11, 2016

Disputes between Abu Dhabi state-owned International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) and the troubled Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB intensified on Wednesday, with IPIC saying there was a fresh default by 1MDB.

IPIC claimed that 1MDB and the Malaysian government now owe it more than $1.2 billion after a complex series of agreements between the two former partners went sour.

The latest turn came on Wednesday, when IPIC [INTPV.UL], said it had to stump up a $52.4 million coupon payment after 1MDB defaulted on $1.75 billion on bonds due in 2022.

1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) said it had “more than sufficient” funds to make the interest payments on that bond and another $1.75 billion declared in default in April, but did not due to its dispute with IPIC.

1MDB has been locked in a dispute over its obligations to IPIC under a debt restructuring agreement reached in June.

After the default in April, 1MDB maintained that it would meet all its other liabilities but its CEO Arul Kanda had also said “we are keeping our options open on the May 11 coupon”.

The April default, the continuing stand-off with IPIC and a widening investigation across at least six countries into possible corruption and money-laundering connected to 1MDB have been weighing on Malaysia economy and its currency ringgit.

On Wednesday, IPIC said it would now step up its demands for 1MDB and the Malaysian government to compensate the Abu Dhabi firms $1.2 billion, plus accrued interest.

The 1MDB statement said it is “committed to working openly with IPIC to resolve the dispute”.

It also said that the fund recently started an “engagement process” for its US dollar denominated bondholders and encourages all of them to register at a company website.

Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s said on Tuesday that Malaysia’s and 1MDB’s contractual dispute with IPIC is not considered a sovereign default. S&P said it does not expect 1MDB to represent a large contingent liability to the Malaysian government.

HONORING DEBT OBLIGATIONS

Earlier on Wednesday, Malaysia’s new central bank governor said he was confident the government would honor all its debt obligations.

“I’m quite confident the government will honor all of its debt obligations,” Muhammad Ibrahim told reporters in response to a question about 1MDB at an event in Kuala Lumpur.

Earlier this month, Malaysia’s finance ministry said it was taking over 1MDB’s remaining assets, but it was unclear how much of the fund’s debt, would be shouldered by the government.

The fund piled up about $12 billion in debt since its inception in 2009. Some of that was paid off through asset sales late last year as part of a restructuring of the fund.

The defaults at 1MDB come at a difficult time for Prime Minister Najib Razak, with a political controversy raging over the fund, which is the focus of a multi-billion dollar money-laundering investigation in at least six countries.

1MDB’s advisory board was chaired by Najib until its dissolution earlier this month.

(Writing by Praveen Menon; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Richard Borsuk)

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Battling Apathy and Ignorance for a Prosperous Malaysia

By Anas Alam Faizli

11th May 2016

Slightly over 200 years ago, Napoleon Bonaparte said, “I fear four hostile newspapers than a thousand bayonets.” Napoleon Bonaparte was an emperor and a military genius of his time. He faced impossible odds during his military conquests. He had fought 25,000 Ottomans with 6,000 French troops in Egypt and had also confronted the combined Armies of Austria and Russia in Austerlitz. His empire stretched from Spain, Northern Africa to the borders of Russia.

Yet, despite all that, he feared editors. Why? Because editors can control and influence ideas, words and debates. He feared domestic dissent. He wants full control. He even said that, “I want to create an educational body that will steer the way the French people think!”

Napoleon went on to establish public schools in an effort to further craft and dictate how the French would think and act. What Napoleon did through public schools is effective but he undermined and put a stop to human creativity and intellectualism. The same concept was later adopted by the French, as far west as the Americans, and eventually by the whole world.

Freedom of Expression Towards Critical Thinking

Are Malaysians being dictated and controlled on how to think and act too? Do we, as a moderate and progressive nation, understand the meaning of freedom, justice and democracy?

I believe we need to think, question and engage first, in order to understand the purpose of certain jurisdictions, rulings or systems. Safe platforms that encourage intellectual discourse and allow Malaysians to think out of the box, beyond definitions from schools, societal norms and the Government, should be put in place.

On the surface, this may seem like encouragement to partake in unnecessary rebellious activities threatening public safety. But consider the reverse psychology and unintended moral hazard that prevails; it is often when oppressed that people side with the opposite, even when the opposing side may not be the truth or most ideal.

The younger generation especially, will easily be influenced by any idea, regardless of its validity, purely because it is against the mainstream. This is not healthy. We need to liberalize intellectual discussions and arguments. The marginalized and the oppressed should be given room for dialogue and debate. Ideas should be contested in the public sphere.

Evidence has shown that liberalizing ideas and thoughts sparked Britain’s Industrial Revolution. Malaysia too should embrace “Enlightenment” beyond superficial prosperity, through Critical Thinking.

The industrial revolution and the great age of invention could only have happened when people were given the freedom to think for themselves. Then only can human achieve the impossible where even the sky was no limit and even the moon was within reach.

A Story of Social Mobility through Education

My grandfather was a testimony to how Education can uplift generational social mobility. He hailed from Telok Panglima Garang, located far from the bustling city of Kuala Lumpur. In his formative years, he did best in his school and was offered a scholarship by the British Resident at that time. He completed his study then with the Victoria Institution, and became a journalist working with the newspaper Majlis.

Growing up, I always remember how he emphasised education and awareness as key towards great human civilisation. He worked hard and made sure all his children and by extent, his grandchildren managed to complete tertiary education. I remember how he told me he had no regrets as all his grandchildren are well educated.

Many have written on how Malaysia should escape the clutch and trap of the middle income. We have been stuck as a Middle Income nation since 1996. The only way forward is through Education. History of First World nations have time and time again, shown us how powerful the power of education is in founding civilizations and uplifting societies’ quality of life.

Honouring Atok

When I embarked on my doctorate journey, it was my hope that I could create awareness and contribute to society through my thesis and articles. The first piece of article produced during research became part of a book entitled “Rich Malaysia, Poor Malaysians”.

The book provided the public with insight into the day-to-day operations of Petronas being the country’s largest cash cow and how Petronas contributed to Malaysia’s growth. I then continued to write on socio-economic realities of Malaysia, particularly Education and Volunteering. I tried to spell out benefits accrued from education; dangers of the middle income trap; widening income inequality and the ensuing social upheaval. Most importantly, wanted to stress how an inclusive educational system helps in bringing about inclusive socio economic results, thereby helping to alleviate poverty and increase the nation’s well-being. The argument is finalized with the call for policy makers to adopt a “One Graduate One Household” target.

Admittedly, I touched on a multitude of areas. But in sum, education is one of, if not the only, most important solution to all the problems that we are facing today.  My war will not be against a thousand bayonets. My war will be against the lack of education and awareness. I strongly believe that only through education that Malaysia will prosper. I strongly believe that education is an enabler to solving if not all, most of our socio-economic woes in the country. True education teaches us to think, not to blindly obey.

Creating Awareness Together

One can only do so much; even seemingly an inconspicuous speck of dust – yet here I am, with my ideas. However, this speck will only gather steam if many individuals group a collective effort for all Malaysians.

If we allow thinking to flourish, it will turn into dividends for our small sovereign nation, still grappling to understand the true meaning of growth, modernity and human development. If we keep suppressing and fail to encourage thought, Malaysians will be left divided and haphazardly finding meaning amidst global external influences.

Thoughts have not only fuelled revolutions and counter-establishment movements, but have also shaped academia, society and influenced leadership, policy-making, and ultimately mankind’s general livelihood.

As a developing nation, Malaysia is approaching the last but toughest hurdle in achieving wealth and prosperity; that is a knowledge-based society, driven by intellectuals and thinkers. Read, understand, think and take action!

Let’s inculcate reading and critical thinking culture among Malaysians, promote a love for knowledge, care enough to uplift our socio-economic status and strive for a better prosperous Malaysia.

*Anas Alam Faizli holds a doctorate in Business Administration. He is a construction and an oil and gas professional, the author of Rich Malaysia, Poor Malaysians and tweets at @aafaizli

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 11 May 2016, 4:49 pm and is filed under
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Burden of Malay Stereotypes in Academia and Business

M. Bakri Musa

www.bakrimusa.com

This burden of self-affirmation and stereotype threat can crop up well beyond our formative years and at the most unexpected venues.

        At one Alif Ba Ta Conference a few years ago, organized by the UMNO Club of New York and New Jersey in which I discussed self-affirmation and stereotype threat, a group of students confided to me their experiences in the special matriculation class preparing them for American universities. Midway through that class they were given a test. Those who excelled were sent abroad earlier.

        Even though the class was filled predominantly with Malays, for the group selected to leave earlier, non-Malays were over represented. How do I explain that, the students inquired? I immediately sensed their burden of stereotype threat – Malay ineptitude in academics.

        So I asked them what they had done between their school examination in November the preceding year until they were enrolled in that special class the following July. To a person they all replied “Nothing!” Yes, nothing!

        Then I also asked them whether they had discussed with their successful and predominantly non-Malay classmates how they managed to do so well, specifically what were they doing from January till July when they started their matriculation classes together. The Malay students could not answer me. Obviously they never thought to ask or were too embarrassed to discuss that sensitive topic with their non-Malay classmates, or their teachers. For their part, their matriculation teachers, unlike my Mr. Peter Norton at Malay College in the 1960s during my Sixth Form years there, merely accepted the fact as it was.

        Whenever I meet Malaysians at elite American campuses I always try to discern through casual conversation what schools they attended (in particular their matriculation classes) in Malaysia and what made them choose America and pick that particular university. Invariably those students (even Malays) came from other than our national schools, reflecting the quality of such schools. Further and far more crucial, they had spent the six-or seven-month hiatus following their November SPM examination enrolled in private pre-university classes.

        So when they were selected into the government’s special matrikulasi class, they were already six months ahead as compared to their Malay classmates who did “nothing.” That is a significant advantage in what would typically be a two-year course at most.

        Malay College recently (July 2011) started its International Baccalaureate (IB) program after over a decade in planning. Again, the students were those who did well in their SPM the previous November. Apart from its radically different learning and teaching philosophy, IB is all English. Meanwhile those students had spent the previous 11 years in Malay medium. I suggested to those in charge that they should enroll the students earlier (as in January) so they could have six months of “pre-IB” where they could improve their English and other skills.

       The response? No funds lah! I hope the first batch of students had done well. Should they fail or even just not excel, then expect those ugly stereotypes to be resurrected. The burden would fall not only on them but also on those following and on Malays generally. They will certainly not blame the teachers or the organizers of the program!

       The government had already spent hundreds of millions of ringgit to set up the IB program, yet it could not secure extra funds to ensure that it would succeed.

        Meanwhile in the business sphere, when Bank Bumiputra collapsed in the 1990s, ugly stereotypes on Malay aptitude for and competence in commerce were again resurrected, and not just by non-Malays. That too was very ugly, and the public behaviors of the key players merely reinforced those stereotypes. Conveniently forgotten was that the bank failed not because it was run by Malays, but because of corruption, incompetence and political patronage, the very same afflictions that burdened GLCs in China (CITIC), India (Air India), and America (Freddie Mac).

        Today a generation later, the same tragic story is being repeated with 1MDB, another GLC, this time at a much greater cost and with the nation’s highest leader involved. Again here the main players are Malays. Just in case the point is missed, they brought in a non-Malay to resolve the mess. Never mind that he was no more successful than his predecessor.

        The 1MDB scandal again resurrected yet another stereotype, this time on the Chinese. One of the players, the few except of course for Najib who came out like bandits literally, was a Malaysian Chinese character close to Najib’s family.  Here we have the all-too-familiar story of a scheming Chinese taking advantage of a dumb Malay leader. Well, that dumb Malay leader part of the stereotype is true. At least Malaysians should be comforted by that fact. Imagine if we had a Malay leader who was smart as well as corrupt. The damage he would inflict could be horrendous! Count your blessings, Malaysians!

        Linked to stereotype threat is the maintenance of the integrity of self-affirmation. When we see something that threatens our self-image, for example, Malays not doing well academically, we shift the focus elsewhere. Thus we say we do not care for “secular knowledge;” we are more into “spiritual” and “real” knowledge, the kind that would get us into Heaven. In that way we protect ourselves as non-Muslims would certainly not be competing with us in that field. If Muslim Chinese and Indians were to later beat us and excel in the same field, then we would have to spin yet another fanciful narrative.

        When I see Malays focused on religion and the Hereafter and neglect their worldly obligations, I see that as nothing more than a manifestation of this threat to their self-affirmation rather than a genuine love for religious knowledge or concerns with personal salvation.

        A similar phenomenon is seen in children. When kids run a playground race, those who are left behind would rationalize that they are not really “racing” or competing. Or, it’s only a “practice.” Likewise when I am sailing; I am always racing, that is, when I am overtaking the other sailboats. When I am being overtaken, well, I am out just for a leisurely afternoon cruise!

       Both stereotypes and self-affirmation threats can be remedied. We do not have to be resigned to being their victims. To do that however, we first have to free up our minds from those cluttered and unproductive mental patterns. We have to create new or modify existing narratives to be more reflective of reality, one that would also be more useful and productive.

        We can learn much from the insights of modern neuroscience on how to do that. In the next few essays I will review some of those exciting studies and how they could be applied to better understand and appreciate our current particular dilemmas.

Excerpted from the author’s book, Liberating The Malay Mind, published by ZI Publications, Petaling Jaya, 2013. The second edition was released recently in January 2016.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 11 May 2016, 8:01 am and is filed under
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Call to Najib to present White Paper on 1MDB in next week’s Parliament and to set aside three days for debate on it, as well as PAC Report on 1MDB

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said yesterday a failed initial public offering (IPO) exercise, as a result of being “attacked”, was the main reason why 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) encountered problems.

He said 1MDB used the debt funding approach to operate its business, which required an IPO to be undertaken in the shortest possible time. The authorities did not foresee that 1MDB would come under relentless “attacks”, which resulted in the IPO exercise could not be carried out, hence the cashflow problems.

Was this the real reason why  1MDB had exploded to become the nation’s first global financial scandal, keeping the nation constantly in the international limelight for massive transborder financial frauds, irregularities and money-laundering?

Or was the Economic Planning Minister, Datuk Sri  Abdul Wahid Omar more to the point when he admitted last month that 1MDB model of low capitalization and huge borrowings was unsustainable from the very start.

What was the “original sin” of the 1MDB global financial scandal – the IPO failure, the unsustainable model of low capitalization and huge borrowings or something more fundamental, conceived right from the beginning as a mega global scam that has triggered investigations by several countries on international embezzlement and money-laundering to the tune of some USD11 billion stretching from Singapore to the United States?

In the past fortnight, while Najib has led the campaign in the Sarawak state elections to rain money throughout the state, Malaysia has not ceased to be at  the receiving end of adverse international developments, like being named number two by The Economist in its second index of crony capitalism, just behind Russia – after being cited by  the international website, foreignpolicy.com’s as the  host country for the  third “world’s worst corruption scandal of 2015” and TIME magazine’s ranking of Malaysia as the second worst example of global corruption in March.

Will the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal be the top agenda of Parliament when it reconvenes on Monday on 16th May or will Parliament “sleep-walk” for the eight parliamentary sittings as if the first global scandal does not exist in Malaysia and that it was  the whole  world which is hallucinating about the 1MDB scandal?

The Prime Minister should  present a White Paper on the 1MDB scandal, taking into account the report of the Public Accounts Committee on the 1MDB, stating the government’s position on the nation’s first global scandal, and to set aside at least three days for debate on the Government White Paper on 1MDB.

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Elections in Malaysia – Rumbles in the jungle

Economist

May 7th 2016 | KUCHING

A cakewalk in Borneo is a boon for Najib Razak— at least for now

IN A hut on stilts on the island of Borneo, a dozen skulls hang in a cage. They are those of long-dead victims of the Dayaks—indigenous tribes whose members make up the majority in Sarawak, a sprawling Malaysian state. Once thought to harbour protective spirits, the heads are now tourist curios. Few indigenous people still live in the communal dwellings such relics guard, and those who remain hang Christian crosses on their doors.

This month many Malaysians would like to see the Dayaks take one last scalp. Sarawak’s state election on May 7th is a chance for voters to rebuke Najib Razak, Malaysia’s unpopular prime minister, who has spent much of the past year denying that hundreds of millions of dollars which entered his bank accounts were wangled from an ailing national investment firm. Investigations into 1MDB’s dealings are under way in half a dozen countries; some of its borrowings are in default. Yet parties loyal to Barisan Nasional, Mr Najib’s coalition, will probably retain a crushing majority in Sarawak’s state assembly. That prospect illuminates the prime minister’s resilience, which outsiders find bizarre.

Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states in the northern part of Borneo, abutting the tiny kingdom of Brunei. Matters which enrage voters in Peninsular Malaysia, 500 miles (800 kilometres) across the sea, often feel distant. Victor, a shopkeeper in the town of Bau, says he doesn’t know much about 1MDB: it is “a national issue”, not a local one, he explains. Instead, the topics that irk Sarawakians include shabby road and power networks, land-grabbing loggers and the royalties which Petronas, the state oil firm, pays for access to its wells.

Maintaining Sarawak’s support is becoming essential for Barisan, which in various forms has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957 but whose popularity among urbanites is collapsing. Mr Najib has visited the state more than 50 times since 2009, impressing locals. Sarawak’s biggest party, the PBB, forms the second-biggest bloc in Mr Najib’s federal coalition; half of its MPs hold cabinet posts. At the general election in 2013, parties from Sarawak delivered 25 seats to the government—whose winning majority was just 22.

Lucky then that polls in Sarawak hand the incumbent a huge advantage. Limited access to the internet means state-controlled newspapers retain great influence. Canvassing the vast interior is hard without helicopters or speed boats, observes James Chin, a political scientist. Years of gerrymandering have doubled the size of the state assembly. Loyal Malay-Muslim areas enjoy a glut of seats; rebellious ethnic-Chinese ones suffer a paucity. Of 11 new seats being added this year, Barisan will snap up ten.

Unsophisticated rural voters are routinely bought with gifts of cash and other goodies. Sanjan Anak Daik, a candidate from the opposition Democratic Action Party, says some are led to believe that grants and subsidies can be demanded back if they vote against the government. An old man waiting for treatment at a grotty clinic in the small town of Siburan—a stop on Mr Sanjan’s campaign trail—says the opposition will never win if all they hand out is leaflets.

This year Barisan is also getting a legitimate boost from the wild popularity of Sarawak’s newish chief minister, Adenan Satem. A survey in January found that Mr Adenan’s approval rating has climbed above 80%; billboards near Kuching, the state capital, boast that “Adenan fever” is rife. In part voters are simply pleased to see the back of his predecessor (and former brother-in-law) Taib Mahmud, who held power for three decades and on whose watch Sarawak’s precious rainforests were plundered. But he has also softened up locals with a barrage of populist policies, including an end to toll roads and new protections for the environment.

His canniest move has been to back growing calls for the federal government to grant Sarawak greater autonomy, co-opting a cause long championed by the opposition. Playing up the state’s distinctiveness has helped Mr Adenan argue that 1MDB’s woes are not relevant to Sarawakians—and to ban from Sarawak scores of opposition figures who, he hints, will bring problems from the peninsula. Opposition parties, for their part, have made a tough job trickier by squabbling over seats, resulting in undignified multi-cornered fights.

Mr Najib’s coalition will sweep the polls. The victory will probably be peddled as proof that the prime minister retains popular support. But the government’s advantage in Sarawak is slowly eroding. Barisan’s share of the vote fell from more than 70% at state elections in 2001 to only 55% in 2011, notes Faisal Hazis, an academic. An old man sitting outside a shop in Siburan says this election is creating more hullabaloo than usual. He thinks the opposition has given locals a much better understanding of how their state is run.

The big opportunity for Mr Najib’s opponents is not to oust Sarawak’s immovable rulers, but gradually to weaken the state’s allegiance to Barisan. Among other disenchantments, Sarawak’s many Christians are disturbed by the Malay-Muslim chauvinist rhetoric which Malaysia’s government increasingly tolerates. If federal elections keep getting tighter, Sarawak’s MPs may be tempted to defect—dumping Barisan from power in exchange for more autonomy or a greater share of oil. For years a firm friend of the ruling party, Sarawak may one day think for itself.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 11 May 2016, 11:45 am and is filed under
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Malaysia’s Hobbled PM Taps Local Election Win For Support: Why It’s Not Enough

Ralph Jennings

Forbes

MAY 10, 2016

Malaysia’s ruling coalition and embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak got some breathing room this month but aren’t out of the ICU.

Najib’s Barisan Nasional party won 72 of 82 state assembly seats in Sarawak on Saturday, indicating that the party’s coalition has a chance of holding parliament in national elections expected by August 2018. To carry on politically, Najib needs to rebuild his name. He has been suspected since last year of moving about $700 million from government-run development company 1MDB to personal bank accounts. The 62-year-old leader faces no formal charges, but based on suspicion alone a lot of people want him out after seven years as prime minister.

The state election, his party’s first contest since the bank account issue erupted, gives Najib a narrow margin to grapple his way back to good standing before the nationwide vote.

His continuation in power would mean more economic development, his thing all along. The well-off Southeast Asian nation of 30 million people relies mainly on resources such as gas and rubber but faces risks from drops in fuel prices and oil-related taxes that the World Bank says account for around 17% of public revenues. So it’s building up an Islamic finance sector, manufacturing (up more than 20% in 2014) and even a film industry.

The Sarawak victory is a quick fix for the leadership. It’s not necessarily enough to last through the national election, per analyst views.

First, since the 1MDB flap came out, most voters have yet to get a say on Najib or his party. Voters in Sarawak, a state on the island of Borneo, are mostly rural and normally favor Barisan Nasional anyway, says Ibrahim Suffian, program director at the Kuala Lumpur polling group Merdeka Center. That’s no guarantee of support in the cities.

Sarawak also was won on “heavy-handed patronage politics” that may not apply to all of Malaysia, says Meredith Weiss, associate political science professor with The State University of New York at Albany.

“Barisan Nasional’s strong win in Sarawak breathes some life in to the ailing coalition, and Najib has been quick to claim credit for and vindication in the coalition’s success there,” Weiss says. But Weiss cautions that “Malaysia’s economy is far from strong at present, so it is not clear whether his coalition could sustain such electoral largesse at the national elections, were elections to precede an economic rebound.”

With economics a top concern before the national vote, expect Najib’s coalition to add funding for social welfare services and try for increases in the minimum wage and salaries for public sector employees, Suffain says.

Najib will also leverage the Sarawak win to vie with opponents in his party, perhaps by offering them senior government jobs, he adds. To crush rivals all out would stoke public sympathy for them. “My sense is that he’s planning either to coopt them or split the opposition,” Suffain says.

Sarawak, Malaysia’s biggest state, offers a clue on how that effort will unwind. Chief Minister Adenan Satem built some of his electoral support by “arguing that a strong mandate for him would allow the Sarawak Barisan Nasional to stand up to Najib and…and extract concessions for the state,” Weiss says.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 11 May 2016, 11:00 am and is filed under
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Malaysia’s Najib Has Little to Cheer Over Sarawak Triumph

By Luke Hunt

May 11, 2016

The Diplomat

The election win is rooted in local rather than national factors.

Victory for the incumbent at Malaysian state elections in Sarawak has been billed by the government-friendly press as a turning point for the embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak. The state poll was won by chief minister Adenan Satem and Najib was quick to claim the credit.

But any applause for Najib is misplaced and overlooks Adenan’s popularity, which was achieved on the back of promised reforms and his stand against corruption in the aftermath of his predecessor Taib Mahmud, who retired with his family ranked among the world’s richest following over three decades at the helm of Sarawak.

This weekend’s election was not a test of national policies. It was fought on local issues in a state, which legally is an equal part of a three-way Malaysian federation that encompasses neighboring Sabah and the Malaysia peninsula.

In the election, Barisan Nasional (BN), the ruling coalition which is led by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) which Najib heads, secured 72 out of 82 seats. UMNO has been the dominant party within BN at the federal level ever since Britain told Malaysia it was time to evolve into a country in its own right. That was almost 60 years ago and ever since then, politicians have enjoyed conflating the two political outfits when it suits their political purposes.

In this case, it is quite clear that Najib attempted to steal the headlines and craft national-level spin for a local story written by Adenan, who had earned high marks after Taib stood down by promising to respect the rights of the long-marginalized indigenous tribes, crack down on corruption and “put the fear of god into people who are dishonest.”

Illegal logging and allegations of massive fraud in Sarawak have been documented by Global Witness and the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), and Adenan’s reformist zeal was widely praised as refreshing and struck an immediate chord with the electorate.

BMF even noted that for the first time in the history of Sarawak a chief minister had shown some mettle by taking on the timber industry.

Of corrupt officials who profited under Taib, Adenan declared at the outset: “Some, of course not all, pretend they don’t know. The reason is very simple; either they are stupid, cowards or corrupt.”

This was not Najib’s policy prescription. Indeed, any comparisons between the prime minister and politicians in the East Malaysian state should probably lie with Taib Mahmud.

Najib’s name, and that of his free-spending wife Rosmah, has been synonymous with scandal even before he ousted his predecessor to become leader in 2009.

The acquisition of the French Scorpene submarines, the death of a Mongolian model and more recently losses incurred by the 1MDB investment fund have severely tarnished his leadership and led to speculation that he could be forced to ignominiously stand down.

Hence his need to desperately claim some kind of victory out of this weekend’s state polls in Sarawak, a much needed shot in the arm for the BN coalition, rather UMNO or Najib. In fact, Adenan warned he would quit BN if UMNO tried to compete in politics at the state level.

Malaysia’s longest serving leader and Najib’s chief critic Mahathir Mohamad proved gullible. He all but accused Najib of buying support ahead of the polls suggesting: “Now more than ever Najib will have to pander to the demands of Sarawak. In fact, Najib has been doing just that.”

“Anything that Sarawak asks for, Sarawak will get. The cry of Sarawak for the Sarawakians has become louder,” Mahathir, who was himself often troubled by the independent-minded nature of Sarawak and Sabah during his premiership, said.

Mahathir’s response was simply a cliché in response to Najib’s hollow boast and ignores Adenan’s attempts to end the corruption which flourished under Taib – and much of that while Mahathir was prime minister.

As Oh Ei Sun, Najib’s own former political secretary, put it: “BN’s overwhelming Sarawak win is due mainly to the Adenan factor.”

He told CNBC that Adenan had ushered in fresh reforms after more than three decades of rule by Taib and Sarawakian voters were now willing to give him another five years to prove his mantle.

“The win has very little wider implications as to the popularity of national BN,” he said.

That should be cold comfort for Najib rather than reason for applause.

Luke Hunt can be followed on Twitter @lukeanthonyhunt

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 11 May 2016, 11:14 am and is filed under
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The Heavy Burden of Self-Affirmation and Stereotype Threat

M. Bakri Musa

11th May 2016

 Our mind’s narrative of the world includes the perception we have of ourselves, and what we believe others have of us. The first is self-affirmation; the second, stereotype. Each of us is a member of some groups or other (race, profession, culture); thus we cannot escape from being stereotyped.

As for self-perception, like all other of our mental patterns this one too grew out of our experiences. Should we encounter something that does not conform to that mental picture we have of ourselves, we react like the patient with Cabgras delusion; we alter or ‘edit’ that information to make it conform to our pre-set pattern.

Our “self” narrative includes the stereotype others have of us, as with the colonialists’ “lazy native.” Not surprisingly, we often perform to those expectations, further reinforcing the stereotype. This vicious cycle continues, each cycle reinforcing earlier ones.

You have to work doubly hard and perform beyond well just to dispel the stereotype. Then even if you do succeed, there is no guarantee of escaping the stereotyping. It is a heavy burden to bear.

Consider girls and mathematics; there are many associated negative stereotypes. Should a girl were to stumble at her first test in college, not an uncommon experience especially at an elite college where all your classmates are top students while in high school, she would risk being a victim of negative stereotype when there could be other and more valid reasons, as with poor study habits or wrong choice of course. This stereotype burden would be worse if she were also to be a member of a visible disadvantaged minority.

Something similar happened to my daughter. She excelled in mathematics in school but she aspired to be a lawyer. Her undergraduate college required all students to take a math (as well as a science) course, the choice of which to be based upon the college’s own placement test. She was assigned one and found the going rough. She had to devote more than her usual effort just to stay abreast. She confided to us her problem, and as concerned parents we suggested that she meet with her counselor.

To the horror of her counselor, my daughter was assigned to a class for honors mathematics and engineering majors! Presumably she aced her placement test and was thus assigned the “appropriate” course. It may be appropriate based on her test scores but not for her career aspirations. Fortunately it was early in the academic year for her to switch course. Also luckily for her she had sufficient self-confidence and was not burdened by any possible negative stereotype. Imagine a Malay girl having a similar problem at the University of Singapore or even the University of Malaya.

This stereotype threat is the rationale for having single-sex schools and colleges. This phenomenon is also seen in non-academic settings like sports, as with, “White men can’t jump!”

Claude Steele, the Stanford psychologist who had studied stereotypes and self-affirmation threats extensively, shared his insights in his book, Whistling Vivaldi. And Other Clues on How Stereotypes Affect Us.

The title itself is intriguing; he had the idea from his fellow African-American student at the University of Chicago. Like at other elite campuses, African-Americans were noticeable for their rarity at such places, then and now. This friend sensed that his fellow students felt uncomfortable by his presence and would purposely avoid him. He overcame this prejudice by whistling Vivaldi (a classical composer, thus indicating a “high brow” taste in the finer things of life) to smooth the way. I can just imagine the horror on the staid white campus had he tried rap music!

There are many negative stereotypes burdening Malays, like our supposed lack of aptitude for mathematics specifically and academics generally. Unfortunately the statistics reinforce this. Consider that when the results of the SPM and other public examinations are announced, the consistent feature would be Malay under-representation among the top scorers.

The tempting conclusion, and not just by non-Malays, would be to believe these ugly stereotypes about Malays. However, consider this. The Sixth Form science class at Malay College I joined in 1961 had been threatened with closure because there were too few students from the college who had passed the entrance examination. And the college supposedly took in only the brightest Malays! That only fed the prevailing ugly stereotype.

It took the initiative of its chemistry teacher, Mr. Peter Norton, a non-Malaysian, to identify the problem and then push to solve it. Malay College boys did poorly in science not because they were Malays rather they were insufficiently prepared. So in 1961 the college vastly expanded it science laboratories and instituted for the first time a pure science stream at the fourth form. For perspective, my old school in Kuala Pilah had been doing this for years. No surprise then that my old school outperformed Malay College in science.

That first batch of “pure science” students at Malay College excelled, as did others following. They are now among the nation’s eminent doctors, scientists and professors, as represented by Ariffin Aton, a University of Leeds PhD in Chemical Engineering, now head of MyIPO, the body concerned with intellectual properties.

Then there was my calculus class experience at Malay College. At Lower Six we had a Canadian “Peace Corp” volunteer as our teacher. Being new to the country he did not harbor any negative stereotypes of or preconceived ideas on Malays, except perhaps that we lived in trees. On finding out that we did not, he proceeded to treat us like his Canadian students.

Mr. Allen Brown began his class with us without any fuss; no dire preamble about how “tough” calculus would be and that we had to “buckle up.” He treated it like any other subject; he assumed we could handle it.

I remember well his first day in class. He began by drawing a series of arcs of from the same center point, each with a longer radius. Then he asked us to comment on the shape. It was obvious; as the radius got longer, the curve became flatter. No mystery there. Then he asked us to imagine an arc with a radius of infinity. That would be very flat, we responded. Then he beamed and exclaimed, “Yes! A straight line is nothing but a curve with a radius of infinity!”

“Now imagine the opposite,” he continued. “Consider two points on a curve that are infinitely close to each other.” Then he began taking a small arc and magnified it serially, and with each magnification the curve became flatter. “As you can see, if I were to magnify a wee tiny part of this curve a zillion times,” as he pretended doing it on the board, “the two points on it would essentially be on a straight line.”

Then he swung around and exclaimed, “There you have it! A curve is nothing but a series of infinitely short straight lines with variable slopes!” He went on to explain that what we had learned about the properties of a straight line would be equally applicable to a curve, or at least an infinitely small part of it.

Thus was the mystery of variable change and calculus revealed, at least to me. I had taken calculus the year before in fifth form and had aced it. Yet I did not fully grasp its concepts. All I did was memorize the formula and then plug in the numbers. The surprise was that I did well just with that.

We had an even greater surprise the following February when the national examination results were announced. The entire class but two had aced it. The two who did not nonetheless scored high “credit” (B plus). It was a record not just for the school but also the country. As we were whooping it up back at the dorm, Mr. Brown came upon us and wondered what it was we were celebrating. To him, it was not a surprise at all; after all he had seen our performances on the many regular tests he had given us during the year. The surprise for him was that we were surprised.

Decades later, I saw the movie “Stand and Deliver” about a teacher, Jamie Escalante, in a predominantly Hispanic Los Angeles inner-city school. He did such an incredible job with his AP (Advanced Placement, college-level) class that the College Board (the examining body) thought his students were cheating and forced them to re-sit the test! They still aced it!

Escalante quickly became a celebrity. Not revealed in that movie were the many monumental as well as petty obstacles placed in Escalante’s path by his principal and others. For example, his principal was against Escalante using the gym to accommodate the large size of his class, and the teachers’ union was against his exceeding the class-size limit. Tellingly, the program collapsed when Escalante left in frustration.

Talk to any dedicated teacher in Malaysia and she would readily identify with Escalante.

I too can testify to that culture. Many years ago I visited an elite residential school in Malaysia. I wanted to donate a video microscope for its biology lab. As I also wanted to know of its other needs, I made an appointment to see the headmaster. On three occasions he canceled our meeting at the last minute as he had “other commitments.” Needless to say, that video microscope was my only gift to that school.

As for the headmaster’s “other commitments,” one was the meeting of the local Koran reading contest committee, the other, planning the reception for a ministerial visit.

Judging from the many social media postings by parents today, things have only gotten worse in our national schools, further reinforcing the burden of self affirmation and stereotype threats among their students who today happened to be mostly if not exclusively Malays.

Excerpted from the author’s book, Liberating The Malay Mind, published by ZI Publications, Petaling Jaya, 2013. The second edition was released recently in January 2016.

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The Superiority of Growth Versus Fixed Mindset

Bakri Musa

11th May 2016

The corollary to my earlier discussion is that it is far better to have a mindset with the capacity to grow and adapt than one that is fixated on its existing worldview. Harping on “changing mindset,” as our leaders are wont to do, is misplaced.

The Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck describes the two mindsets: the growth versus the fixed. They differ not only in their hypothesis of the outside world but also how they view their inner being.

            Those with a fixed mindset view their talent and ability as fixed and tied to their innate ability. They view themselves as being governed by whatever abilities that they have been endowed with by nature. They are trapped by their biologic pre-determinism, which can be just as crippling as the more familiar religious variety afflicting simple villagers – “My fate is written in the book of life!”

            The “book of life” of those with fixed mindset and are science-literate is the sequence of amino acids encoded in their DNA strands. On the other hand, those with a growth mindset believe that their fate depends on their ability to adapt and learn from new challenges and experiences, not on whatever nature has bestowed upon them through their chromosomes. To these individuals, opportunities are the flipside of crises, as the ancient Chinese wisdom would have it. Success depends on their ability to convert the latter to the former.

            Those with a growth mindset are not trapped or limited by whatever nature had endowed upon them. Nor do they believe that their fate is dependent upon the benevolence of a remote emperor or what had been written in the book of life, either the theological or biological edition.

            In medieval times those with fixed mindset believed that their fate was set at birth. Born a peasant and you would always remain one, and so would your children and their children. This was the belief of Ina and Sabu, the characters in Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s short story Djangus dan Babu. That mindset is continually being reinforced by cultural beliefs and religious convictions.

            Leaders with a fixed mindset are the likes of Mahathir and Lee Kuan Yew, firm believers in their innate abilities. Presidents Nixon and Reagan best exemplified leaders with a growth mindset. Nixon was a staunch conservative and firm supporter of Taiwan, but that did not stop him from opening up to China. Reagan, like Nixon, was also staunchly conservative and anti-communist, but he had no difficulty working with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

            The signal difference between those with fixed versus growth mindset is their attitude towards failure. The former would treat failure as reflecting their inner being, an affirmation of their inadequacies and lack of natural ability. Worse, their failure also reflects that of their race or culture, or both. They would then retreat, never to challenge the situation again.

            Those with a growth mindset on the other hand consider failures as part and parcel of learning and adapting. They bounce right back. In Silicon Valley, California, a failed entrepreneur wears his failure as a warrior would his battle scars, and then moves on. Nixon and Reagan were both defeated on their first try at the presidency, but both went on to win substantial majorities on subsequent attempt.

            Mistakes and failures are part of life. Physicians have a pragmatic approach to mistakes. In making clinical decisions, all things being equal, we would pursue a path where should we make a mistake it would be more readily corrected, over one where it would be more difficult to remedy. For example in a clinically ambiguous situation, surgeons will opt to operate on a case of suspected acute appendicitis only to find out that it is normal rather than wait to be certain and risk the inflamed appendix rupturing and jeopardizing the patient’s life. The consequences of the first mistake (operating too soon) are less severe and more remediable than with the second (operating too late).

            Hamka’s words best encapsulate the attitude of those with a fixed mindset, Takut gagal adalah gagal sejati. The fear of failure is the real failure, the hallmark of those with a fixed mindset.

            We can develop or train ourselves to have a growth mindset. This is best tackled simultaneously at two levels: individual and societal. For individuals, we should expose ourselves to as many new experiences as possible thus enabling our brain to forge those new neural pathways. At the societal and cultural levels, it would be anything that would encourage and facilitate our people in having those new experiences.

            Geography plays a major role in shaping our mindset. Inhabitants of coastal areas and others exposed to large bodies of water (traditional means of transportation in ancient times) are more cosmopolitan than those inland. In China, it is Shanghai; Malaysia, Malacca; and India, Goa. Their residents are exposed to many visitors (mainly traders in the old days) from different lands bringing with them new cultures and ideas. Today, technology, specifically modern means of communications, has overcome this limitations imposed by geography.

            With frequent exposures to new people and experiences, as with traveling, we increase our comfort level with the unfamiliar and different. With that comes tolerance and appreciation.

            This only works if we have a growth mindset. If we have a fixed one, then all those new experiences would only reinforce our existing prejudices. Psychologists refer to this as “confirmation bias,” the tendency to search for or interpret new information in a way that confirms our preconceptions and avoid those that do not. To return to my earlier metaphor, we would be concerned only with “re-editing” the facts to fit our pre-existing narrative instead of creating a new one.

            If you believe that the West is inherently decadent, then when visiting Washington, D.C, all you would see are the porn shops, street potholes, and the homeless pandering. You would miss Georgetown University, Library of Congress, and the National Institutes of Health.

            The writer Anis Sabirin, a former Fulbright scholar who spent decades living in Los Angeles, related in her memoir Dua Dunia (Two Worlds) her experience visiting the Library of Congress. There she was treated with the utmost courtesy and given all the help she needed, a vast contrast to her miserable experience when she visited the University of Malaya library. To make it even more unbearable and unbelievable, she was a former faculty member at that institution!

            Anis Sabirin is a Claremont PhD in economics; she is the beneficiary of America’s tradition of liberal education. Even though she is passionate about Malaysia as reflected in her stirring syairs (poetry), nonetheless she has an open mind to discern the differences between her native land and America. She is also confident of her patriotism such that she is not afraid to criticize her homeland and praise America. That also personifies a growth mindset and a free mind.

            The two activities – traveling and reading (as reflected by visiting libraries) – are the best ways to enhance a growth mindset, as long as you keep an open mind and be aware of the dangers of confirmation bias. Restrictions on travel, standard issue in China, Russia and other repressive societies, together with book banning and burning, are the crudest expression of this fixed mindset. Unfortunately that is the path Malaysian leaders have chosen, with their penchant on banning and/or licensing speakers.

            With a free mind and a growth mindset we can explore the many transformational events in our history and view them from a perspective different from what we have been used to. Only then could we learn and benefit from the exercise, and making our learning curve steeper. With a closed mind, our review of history and past experiences would result only in syok sendiri (self-gratification or glorification), with our learning curve remaining flat and our narrative unchanged.

Next: Self-Affirmation and Stereotype Threat

Excerpted from the author’s book, Liberating The Malay Mind, published by ZI Publications, Petaling Jaya, 2013.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 11 May 2016, 7:43 am and is filed under
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Will Adenan become the next Pak Lah?

The jubilation over Adenan Satem’s victory in Sarawak is somewhat reminiscent of the Pak Lah ‘tsunami’ in the 2004 general elections.

In the 2004GE, Pak Lah led the BN to victory by winning a historic 91% of parliament seats (199 out of 219) with 61% of the popular vote.

He went into the elections promising to clean up corruption in the country. He promised a collaborative approach by famously asking people to ‘work with him, not for him’.

He was helped by a delimitation exercise that added 26 parliament seats in 2003.

The opposition then also did not present a united front or a united coalition although three corner fights were avoided in the majority of seats.

But four years later, in GE2008, Pak Lah suffered a humiliating set back.

He was the first Prime Minister to lead a BN government that did not have a 2/3rds control of parliament. The number of opposition MPs increased fourfold from 20 (9%) in 2008 to 80 (36%). BN’s share of the popular vote dropped from 61% to 55%.

Pak Lah not only failed to clean up corruption but many people perceived an increased in cronyism under his premiership from 2004 to 2008.

Almost all of the promises he made prior to the 2004 general elections were not fulfilled including the establishment of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

Racial and religious relations were managed poorly, to say the least, including the mishandling of the demands of the HINDRAF movement.

Will Adenan suffer the same fate as Pak Lah?

Only time will tell. But the initial signs are not positive. Padungan ADUN, Wong King Wei, revealed cases of land being sold to politically connected parties just prior to the state elections, which is reminiscent of the modus operandi of previous state governments under the former Chief Minister, Taib Mahmud.

Although this revelation did not gain much political traction, if such practices continue under Adenan, he will be proven to be no different from his predecessor.

At the same time, Adenan showed that he could be even more draconian than his predecessor when he banned a record number of opposition MPs and ADUNs from entering Sarawak during the state election including the Speaker of the Selangor DUN.

Adenan also allowed the unprecedented move of immigration restrictions being put on the Menteri Besar of Selangor, Azmin Ali, who was asked to leave the state by the 2nd of May, 2016 (and subsequently not allowed to enter when he returned on the 6th of May, 2016), and on the Chief Minister of Penang, Lim Guan Eng, who was asked to leave the state by the 5th of May, 2016.

No MP or ADUN from the BN was barred from entering Sarawak or had any immigration restrictions put on them. Is this a sign of the extent to which Adenan is willing to go in order to prevent legitimate political competition from taking place in his state?

Adenan should remember that the political landscape in Sarawak has changed significantly since 2001 when BN won 60 out of 62 state seats (97%) with 70.2% of the popular vote.

With the opposition setbacks in the recent election, we are back to the situation in 2006 where the BN won 63 out of 71 state seats (89%) with 62.1% of the vote. (In fact, Adenan’s performance is slightly below the results achieved by Taib in 2006) (See Table 1 below).

The electorate in Sarawak clearly does not want to go back to the old days when the opposition hardly had a voice in the DUN.

If Adenan’s fails to deliver in the next five years, will there be a political upheaval that will sweep even into the rural areas in Sarawak?

The people of Sarawak will be watching very closely at Adenan to see if he can create a positive legacy of his own or will he be another Pak Lah.

Table 1: BN’s seats, share of state seats and popular vote, 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016 Sarawak state elections

2001

2006

2011

2016

Number and % of BN state seats

60 / 62

(97%)

63 / 71

(89%)

55 / 71

(78%)

72 / 82

(88%)

BN’s share of the popular vote

70.2%

62.1%

54.7%

61.7%

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 11 May 2016, 9:13 am and is filed under
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Malaysian Leader Najib’s Stepson Allegedly Funded U.S. Property Deals With 1MDB Money

By BRADLEY HOPE and  TOM WRIGHT

Wall Street Journal

May 11, 2016

At least $50 million allegedly diverted from state investment fund was spent on luxury real estate in the U.S.

At least $50 million allegedly diverted from a state investment fund in Malaysia was spent on luxury properties in New York and Los Angeles by the stepson of the Malaysian prime minister, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and people familiar with the matter.

Riza Aziz, a film producer and stepson of Malaysian leader Najib Razak, used money that originated from the 1Malaysia Development Bhd. fund to acquire a 7,700-square-foot, $33.5 million duplex in the Park Laurel condominium tower overlooking New York’s Central Park, the documents and people said.

Mr. Aziz also used money originating from 1MDB to buy an 11,000-square-foot walled mansion in Beverly Hills with a 120-foot-long pool for more than $17.5 million, the documents and people said.

The financing of those acquisitions is under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is conducting a wide-ranging inquiry into alleged misappropriation of billions of dollars from 1MDB, according to people familiar with the probe. 1MDB was set up in 2009 to benefit the Malaysian people.

Investigators believe that money used to buy the two properties was part of at least $238 million — more than the Journal previously reported — that was transferred to an offshore company wholly owned by Mr. Aziz, Red Granite Capital, by a firm which investigators believe played a central role in the alleged multibillion-dollar fraud. The Journal previously reported that Mr. Aziz’s film company received $155 million in loans originating with 1MDB, much of which went to finance the 2013 movie “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

Mr. Aziz, who according to people who know him lives in a rented apartment in Los Angeles while the Beverly Hills mansion is being renovated, has denied wrongdoing, as has Mr. Najib.

“There has never been anything inappropriate about any of Red Granite Pictures or Riza Aziz’s business activities,” said a spokesman for Mr. Aziz’s film company. “What they have done and will continue to do is develop and produce successful and acclaimed movies that have generated more than $825 million in world-wide box-office revenues.”

He said Red Granite “is responding to all inquiries and cooperating fully.”

The 1MDB fund denies wrongdoing and says it is ready to cooperate with any investigation. It says it hasn’t been contacted by an investigative agency so far.

Mr. Aziz’s real-estate purchases are among a series of personal and political expenditures which investigators say were funded with 1MDB money. The fund is struggling to pay off billions of dollars of debt it accumulated, ostensibly to fuel economic development in Malaysia, though few of its official business plans came to fruition.

The focus by investigators on U.S. properties comes after disclosures that more than $1 billion originating from 1MDB landed in Mr. Najib’s private bank accounts. Some was used to pay for political spending in Malaysia as well as clothing and jewels, the Journal has reported, citing people familiar with probes in two countries, bank-transfer information and other documents.

Mr. Najib has said the money he received was a legitimate donation from Saudi Arabia and that most of it was returned. Malaysia’s attorney general agreed the money came from Saudi Arabia legally and cleared Mr. Najib of wrongdoing.

The FBI also is investigating tens of millions of dollars of real-estate purchases by an associate of Mr. Aziz, a Malaysian businessman named Jho Low, according to people familiar with the FBI’s probes.

The Journal reported in April that Mr. Low, who was instrumental in setting up 1MDB in 2009, received hundreds of millions of dollars as part of a set of transactions involving a deal between 1MDB and a Saudi Arabia company.

A lawyer for Mr. Low didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The money Mr. Aziz used to buy the two properties from Mr. Low came to him through a company called Aabar Investments PJS Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter and bank documents.

The Journal reported earlier that Aabar Investments PJS Ltd.’s name is similar to that of a company whose parent, an Abu Dhabi sovereign-wealth fund called International Petroleum Investment Co., was a key business partner of 1MDB.

IPIC said in April that more than $3.5 billion 1MDB said it sent to the IPIC subsidiary as part of its business arrangements with IPIC was never received. Instead, it went to Aabar Investments PJS Ltd. in the British Virgin Islands, according to Malaysian investigators. IPIC said that company isn’t part of its corporate structure.

Aabar Investments PJS Ltd. then transferred money to Red Granite Capital, a British Virgin Islands company owned by Mr. Aziz. Aabar Investments PJS Ltd., which was set up by two executives of the IPIC subsidiary, was later closed. The executives were removed from their positions and declined to comment.

The Journal further reported that investigators believe Red Granite Pictures, a film company partly owned by Mr. Aziz, funded “The Wolf of Wall Street” with money received from 1MDB through Aabar Investments PJS Ltd., including $105 million sent to Red Granite Capital and another $50 million through other intermediaries in 2012.

Additional new documents reviewed by the Journal show an additional payment of $133 million went to Red Granite Capital from Aabar Investments PJS Ltd. in June 2012, bringing the total sent from Aabar Investments PJS Ltd. to $238 million.

The new documents also show that $60 million of the total received by Red Granite Capital was sent on the same day that 1MDB Energy (Langat) Ltd., a 1MDB unit, sent roughly $790 million to Aabar in the British Virgin Islands.

Loan documents for some of the money given to Red Granite Capital to help fund “The Wolf of Wall Street” show that Red Granite Capital used a relationship manager at the Singapore branch of the Swiss private bank BSI who was also the relationship manager for Mr. Low, Aabar Investments PJS Ltd. and 1MDB, according to documents reviewed by the Journal and court filings in Singapore.

Mr. Aziz, who studied in London, has been spending more time in the U.S. since about 2010. He has hobnobbed with celebrities including “The Wolf of Wall Street” star Leonardo DiCaprio and became a collector of movie memorabilia. Representatives for Mr. DiCaprio didn’t respond to requests for comment.

He bought through a broker a vintage “King Kong” movie poster for several hundred thousand dollars from Kirk Hammett, lead guitarist for the band Metallica, according to people familiar with the matter. A spokesman for Mr. Hammett didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Aziz’s New York duplex is by far the most expensive property in the Park Laurel building, a prominent luxury address near Lincoln Center. It has seven bedrooms and five full bathrooms. Mr. Aziz stays in the apartment when he visits New York, according to a doorman there.

Monthly real-estate tax and maintenance fees are likely more than $20,000, according to brokers.

Mr. Aziz’s property on Hillcrest Road in Beverly Hills was described in an advertisement as a four-bedroom home that is a “stunning architectural statement,” with 14-foot high ceilings, a screening room and a large golden pyramid over an indoor water area.

A visit by a Journal reporter found the property is undergoing renovations while Mr. Aziz lives in his rented Los Angeles apartment.

—John R. Emshwiller contributed to this article.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 12 May 2016, 3:52 pm and is filed under
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S’wak’s Tasik Biru battle DAP’s litmus test of conscience

Mordi Bimol

Malaysiakini

12th May 2016

COMMENT
 On the nomination day for the Sarawak state election on April 25, 2016, Lim Kit Siang, who was present at the Tasik Biru seat nomination centre, described the battle in Tasik Biru between Henry Jinep of the BN and I, as the litmus test for DAP in the Dayak majority seat.

Tasik Biru is a constituency that comprises 68 percent Dayak, 26 percent Chinese and six percent Malay Melanau. BN eventually won with a majority of 1,288 votes, garnering 6,922 votes (55 percent) against the DAP’s 5,634 votes (45 percent).

Although we lost the seat in a straight fight with BN-SPDP, we made significant inroads in this Dayak majority seat.

In the 13th general election, I contested for the parliamentary seat of Mas Gading, which comprises two state assembly seats – Tasik Biru and Opar – and garnered 5,293 votes.

In this state election, we obtained more votes (5,634) in just one state assembly seat alone. At the micro-level, we won in four out of 20 Dayak villages, with one of them as high as 70 percent. We averaged at 40 percent votes for Dayak localities. Such an achievement was unimaginable three years ago.

We managed to make significant inroads into the Bidayuh heartland despite BN’s systematic pouring of cash handouts on the last day and use of fear tactics – the villagers were told that the government would cut their water, electricity and welfare aid if BN were to lose the seat!

Furthermore, we achieved this despite the visits of the Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem, Rural and Regional Development Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak himself at four separate occasions in the short 12-day campaign period, with additional cash and election promises.

In fact, the campaign team was astonished at the last minute visit of the prime minister on the last day of the campaign! Bersih, which was in Sarawak to observe the election, has reported various serious election offences committed by BN, but there was no further action taken by the Election Commission.

Did we lose Tasik Biru because of BN money politics? I am not sure. But I am sure that we lost it because we decided not to buy votes.

We stood by our principle

Since the beginning of the campaign, quite a number of people have suggested to me, whether implicitly or explicitly, to hand out cold, hard cash to targeted voters in order to secure victory. By hook or by crook, to win is crucial. And you cannot beat the dark side by not playing their tricks. Or so they said.

Mathematically, if we were to buy 1,000 votes with RM50 each, we might be able to win the seat with RM50,000. (It turned out that we lost 1,288 votes, which amounts to only 644 votes to purchase to overturn the deficit).

Nevertheless, at the risk of losing the battle, we decided to stand by our principle and declined the agents who were all too ready to play intermediaries in paying cash to the villagers to secure their votes.

In the end, we lost the seat. When the result was announced in our election operation centre, many of us in the campaign team could not hold back our tears. We hugged each other and cried.

All the hard work that I had put on the ground for the past five years, as well as the many months of preparation by the election team, could not overcome the cash handouts, election promises as well as fear and intimidation.

DAP cannot and will not give up

But the DAP cannot and will not give up on Tasik Biru and our rural outreach because of this temporary setback. I remember the lady who wore the Ubat T-shirt with pride, carrying her baby and walked with a torchlight in the dark kampung path leading up to our ceramah venue.

I remember many of the villagers who, despite having financial difficulties, stood with us against the big money from the BN. I remember having discussions with the single mothers who canvassed for us but were fearful that their involvement in the campaign would deprive their children of the opportunities to study and to benefit from scholarships.

I remember another lady from a kampung who told me determinedly that her vote and dignity cannot be bought with money; I remember the faces of all of the campaign workers that were full of pride when I said, in my defeat speech, that “We have fought the battle with dignity and principle.” And I remember every face that looked to me with the hope of change and for a better future.

With the current inroads that we made, as well as the lessons learnt from this defeat with improvements on our rural service and campaign strategy, I am confident that the DAP will one day win the Tasik Biru state seat and the Mas Gading parliamentary seat. And we will win with our heads held high, with the pride that we have finally overcome the politics of money and fear.

Malaysians must continue to strive hard until justice rolls on like a river and righteousness on our land, like a never-failing stream. Till then, let us not lose hope. We must not give up!

MORDI BIMOL was the DAP candidate for the Tasik Biru seat in the 11th Sarawak state election of May 11, 2016.

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The victims of RM50 billion 1MDB scandal are the 30 million Malaysians as “corruption is not a victimless crime”

Malaysia and the Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should be playing a leading role in the historic Anti-Corruption Summit in London today hosted by the United Kingdom Government, as this is the second important global anti-corruption conference held after the 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) in Putrajaya last  September with the theme of
“Ending Impunity: People, Integrity and Action”
.

Unfortunately Najib dodged and ducked the 16th IACC which was supposed to be the high-water mark of  his  six-year anti-corruption campaign and show-case him as one of the exemplary global leaders spearheading a transformation programme with anti-corruption as one of its core objectives.

When Najib’s keynote address for the conference hosted by the Malaysian government  was cancelled at the last-minute, and  Najib’s photograph and biography quietly and ignominiously  removed from the conference website, the 30 million Malaysians had to endure a humiliating opening speech delivered by Transparency International Chair José Ugaz  who told about 1,000 delegates from all over the world that the measures taken by the Najib government in connection with the 1MDB financial scandal “are not the actions of a government that is fighting corruption.”

Jose Ugaz said: “No one can be in Malaysia and not be aware of the corruption allegations of recent months and how damaging they are to the country. There is a corruption crisis here.

“We want to see more progress but that cannot happen while there are unanswered questions about the $700m that made its way into the prime minister’s personal bank account.

“There are two questions that need to be answered: Who paid the money and why? Where did it go?

“One man could answer those questions.”

Eight month forward, these two simple  questions about Najib’s  RM50 billion 1MDB and RM4.2 billion “donation” twin mega scandals (only cited as RM42 billion and RM2.6 billion respectively during the 16th ICAC) are not only  no nearer to answer, but have been swarmed by  more serious issues about integrity, accountability and good governance.

This is why Malaysia and the Malaysian Prime Minister have to continue to dodge and duck the historic Anti-Corruption Summit in London or to appear in the global dock of the accused.

The Anti-Corruption Summit in  London today is historic, taking place just weeks after the Panama Papers thrust offshore secrecy and corruption into the international spotlight.

Corruption is not a victimless crime as it is “one of the greatest enemies of progress in our time” – as  the source of crime, poverty and instability which props  up abusive regimes, keeps fledging economies dependent on foreign aid and deprives populations of basic services.

The sick are left without healthcare. Thousands of children are forced out of school. Others are forced to flee their countries or are driven to extremism. And it is as bad for global economic and political security as it is for development.

The problem must be tackeld at its roots: by ending the ability to hide and move dirty money through the financial system without detection. There are territories like British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands which have built entire economies around selling secrecy, and the Panama Papers have shown the damage this does.

One measure the international community must take as a  global anti-corruption measure is to open  up the Tax Havens to require them to adopt  transparency measures to make information on who owns and controls companies (their ‘beneficial owners’) available to the public.

Will the Najib government support such an anti-global corruption measure, especially as one of the mysteries of the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal is the alleged payment of US$2.4 billion by 1MDB to be a shell company, British Virgin-Island incorporated  Aabar Investments PJS Limited (Aabar BVI) which does not belong to  Abu Dhabi-state owned International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) or its unit Aabar Investment PJS.

IPIC had said: “Both IPIC and Aabar confirm that Aabar BVI was not an entity within either corporate group. Further, both IPIC and Aabar confirm that neither has received any payments from Aabar BVI nor has IPIC or Aabar assumed any liabilities on behalf of Aabar BVI”.

According to publicly available records, Aabar BVI was wound up and dissolved in June 2015.

As the victims of RM50 billion 1MDB scandal are the 30 million Malaysians as “corruption is not a victimless crime”, can Najib throw light on these questions when Parliament reconvenes on Monday on May 16?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 12 May 2016, 8:29 am and is filed under
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Four parliamentary measures to redeem national honour and reputation in the handling of Malaysia’s first global scandal – RM50 billion 1MDB scandal

Kuala Terengganu is the 126th parliamentary constituency that I am visiting in my “Pantang Undur – Berani Kerana Benar” nation-wide tour since my six-month suspension from Parliament in October last year for  demanding two simple answers from the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak with regard to this twin mega scandals which have put Malaysia among the top 10 countries infamous for global corruption – where the monies for the RM50 billion 1MDB and RM4.2 billion “donation” scandals came from and where the monies have gone to.

I will return to Parliament when it reconvenes on Monday 16th May, but six months after my  suspension from Parliament, the two questions of “Where the monies came from and where the monies have gone to” have still to be answered, and have writ even larger,  with major developments in Najib’s twin mega financial scandals confirming Malaysia as home to one of the great global corruptions of the time.

In fact, never before had Malaysia seen a local scandal taken such global dimension as to be almost in frequent international limelight, sometimes for days at a stretch, in the past year or more, and if anyone googles “1MDB scandal”, there would be more than half a million returns!

This is not to the credit or honour of Malaysia – but to our great national shame and humiliation.

Yesterday, I had lamented that Malaysia and the Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had not played a  leading role in the historic Global Anti-Corruption Summit in London hosted by the United Kingdom Government, as it was the second important global anti-corruption conference held after the16th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) in Putrajaya last September with the theme of “Ending Impunity: People, Integrity and Action”.

The 16th IACC was supposed to be the high-water mark of Najib’s six-year anti-corruption campaign and show-case him as one of the exemplary global leaders spearheading a transformation programme with anti-corruption as one of its core objectives, but it became a major flop  and sham for Maalaysia with Najib mired in his twin mega scandals to the extent that Najib had to  cancel the keynote address he was scheduled to deliver.

But Najib  absence from the Global Anti-Corruption Summit in London yesterday was  probably a blessing in disguise for Malaysia, for it would otherwise have been an even more humiliating experience for Najib and Malaysia.

On the same day that the Global Anti-Corruption Summit was held in London, there were three exposes in the international media  about the 1MDB scandal which probably constitute a “game changer” in the drips and drops of revelations over the past year, bearing directly on the  relevance and importance of the agenda of the  London Global Anti-Corruption Summit to demand transparency of the shell companies in offshore financial centres or tax havens like the British Virgin Islands  which played such a critical  role in global corruption and global efforts for the recovery of stolen money from corruption.

The three international media exposes on the 1MDB scandal yesterday were:

Firstly:
 Singapore’s Today Online which reported that a new charge, his seventh,  levelled by Singapore authorities against former private banker Yeo Jiawei revealed SRC International’s link to the 1MDB scandal.

Yeo was charged with facilitating the transfer of US$11.95 million (RM48 million) from SRC International to Affinity Equity International Partners, a company owned by Tan Kim Loong.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Tan was the beneficiary owner of Tanore Finance when it was first set up, the same British Virgin Islands entity that sent US$681 million to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s personal bank accounts.

The US-based publication had also reported that Tanore Finance was the partial beneficiary of the US$3.5 billion that 1MDB was supposed to pay Aabar Investments PJS but was diverted to a British Virgin Islands company bearing a similar name – Aabar Investments PJS Limited.

The money from the wrong Aabar Investments PJS Limited passed through intermediaries before ending up in Tanore Finance.

The Singapore investigation is significant as it reveals the first link between SRC International and individuals connected to the 1MDB issue.

Previously, apart from SRC being a former subsidiary of 1MDB, it was never directly linked to the web of multi-million ringgit transactions by the Malaysian fund that is now the subject of international investigations.

The controversial transactions by SRC International, now under the Finance Ministry, was previously viewed as independent of 1MDB, among them were the transfers of RM42 million and RM27 million, through intermediaries, into Najib’s personal bank accounts.

Secondl
y, the UK Financial Times reported that leaks and settlement documents involving Banca della Svizzera Italiana (BSI) revealed how the bank assisted in helping cash-flushed but suspect individuals to evade tax authorities.

BSI’s Singapore branch was used by state investment firm 1MDB and controversial businessman Jho Low, and is now part of the investigation into 1MDB.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Low, 1MDB and British Virgin Island-registered firm Aabar PJS Limited (Aabar BVI) used the same relationship manager at BSI Singapore.

The same person was listed for loan documents between Aabar BVI and Red Granite Pictures, a Hollywood film production company owned by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s stepson Riza Aziz.

BSI agreed to pay a fine of US$211 million to the US and hand over details of clients evading taxes in the US, following the closure of Switzerland’s oldest bank Wagellin over tax fraud charges.

Thirdly
, the Wall Street Journal report that the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is looking into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s stepson Riza Aziz’s purchase of two luxury properties in its investigation into 1MDB.

Investigators believe at least US$50 million originating from 1MDB were spent on the properties in New York and Los Angeles.

The US daily earlier reported that Riza’s Red Granite Pictures produced the blockbuster ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ using US$155 million diverted from 1MDB.

WSJ reported for the first time that investigation papers  it sighted  showed the funds came through British Virgin Island-registered firm Aabar Investments PJS.

These three international media exposes yesterday constitute a triple shame for Malaysia:

firstly
, a shame that the Malaysian Parliament continues to put up a pretence that the Najib’s twin mega scandals are a figment of imagination of Najib’s enemies, and all sorts of reasons are given to disallow MPs from demanding full responsibility and accountability for  Malaysia’s first global financial scandal;

secondly
, a shame that the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC)  failed to uncover financial frauds, money-laundering and corrupt practices which are now staple of international media reporting on 1MDB scandal;

thirdly
, a shame that Malaysia’s investigative and enforcement agencies, in particular the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC), Bank Negara and the Police, have proven to be such ineffective and inefficient bodies as compared to their counterparts in other countries, with the 1MDB scandal the subject of investigations by some eight other countries.

Najib and Parliament must redeem  national honour and  reputation, and at least four things must be done when Parliament reconvenes on Monday:

1. Tabling of the Auditor-General’s Report on 1MDB (both interim and final) to Parliament on first day of Parliament on 16th May.

2. A White Paper by Najib to give a comprehensive account on the latest on the 1MDB scandal;

3. Three days set aside for a wide-ranging debate in Parliament on 1MDB; and

4. Directive to the PAC to re-open investigation into the 1MDB scandal.

(Speech  at the “Pantang Undur – Berani Kerana Benar” ceramah at Kuala Terengganu on Friday, 13th May 2016 at 8 am)

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Terengganu is a peculiar state where  Opposition Assemblymen help to prop up the UMNO Mentri Besar to defeat a no-confidence motion in the State Assembly from an UMNO Assemblyman

Marang is the 127th parliamentary constituency I am visiting since my six-month suspension from Parliament for wanting the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to answer two simple questions about the twin global corruption scandals which had been haunting and hounding him for over a year – where the astronomical sums of money running into billions of ringgit in the twin mega scandals  come from and where the monies have gone to.

I am returning to Parliament on Monday but these two simple questions about Najib’s RM50 billion 1MDB scandal and RM4.2 billion “donation” scandals are as elusive as ever, although the twin mega scandals have merged into one gargantuan global scandal spanning over a dozen countries.

The Global Anti-Corruption Summit in London yesterday has among its objeectives to:

* expose corruption so there is nowhere to hide;

* punish the perpetrators and support those affected by corruption; and

* drive out the culture of corruption wherever it exists.

Will Najib as Prime Minister of Malaysia declare full support for these three objectives of the Global Anti-Corruption Summit in London, or is the Malaysian Government terribly frightened of these triple goals.

In Parliament next week, Najib should explain why Malaysia is not playing a pivotal role in the Global Anti-Corruption Summit in London yesterday as Malaysia was host to the 16th IACC in Putrajaya last September.

I had two days ago submitted three final questions for the forthcoming fortnight of Parliament meeting beginning on Monday, viz:

1. To ask the Prime Minister why Malaysia is regarded as among the top countries in the world infamous for corruption and what counter actions have been taken.

2. To ask the Prime Minister how is Malaysia affected by the Panama Papers.

3.To ask the Prime Minister whether Malaysia will support global efforts to expose corruption so that there is nowhere for the corrupt to hide.

Terengganu is a peculiar state where  Opposition Assemblymen help to prop up the UMNO Mentri Besar to defeat a no-confidence motion in the State Assembly from an UMNO Assemblyman.

In early March, one UMNO State Assemblyman moved a no confidence motion against the Terengganu Mentri Besar, and if the no confidence motion had been allowed to be decided by the Teregganu State Assembly on the same day, Terengganu  state would have had a new Mentri Besar for the past two months.

Even the Terengganu State Assembly Speaker panicked, but he was able to defer the no-confidence motion until the next day, when the scenario changed completely, and the Terengganu Mentri Besar moved from the “danger” to “no danger” zone, with Opposition Assemblymen switching support in having confidence in the Mentri Besar.

This must go down  as one of the wierdest political episodes in Malaysian political history.

(Speech  at the “Pantang Undur – Berani kerana Benar” ceramah at Wakaf Tapai, Marang on Friday, 13th May 2016 at 11.30 am)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 13 May 2016, 2:32 pm and is filed under
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