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GLCs The Problem, Not The Solution

Bakri Musa
22.3.2016

Last of Six Parts

Malaysia is today paralyzed – and polarized – by the scandal of One Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a government-linked company (GLC). Rest assured that this debacle will not be the last. The other certainty is that future ones will carry even far greater costs.

The only sure way to prevent this is to get rid of GLCs. Sell them, and use the proceeds to enhance the quality of our human capital. In the final analysis that is the only matrix that matters.

GLCs are now very much part of if not the problem, as exemplified by 1MDB. They are not the solution, not even part of it.

As massive as the price tag of the 1MDB fiasco is (and it’s still growing), far more consequential is the accompanying erosion of our institutions and degradation of our values. You cannot quantify those damages. Continue reading “GLCs The Problem, Not The Solution”

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Invitation to MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers to the People’s Congress on Save Malaysia Citizen Declaration in Shah Alam on Sunday to demonstrate their patriotism and love for Malaysia

Simpalek New Village has a special place in Malaysian political electoral history, because it was in Simpalek during the Raub by-election in May 1983, that a MCA Deputy Minister had a misstep and fell into a drain, but he tried to exploit it to political advantage by accusing the DAP of instigating DAP members and supporters to push him the drain.

But there were photographs on record to show that nobody pushed the Deputy Minister into the drain.

After the ‘longkang’ incident, the Deputy Minjster went around Raub limping on a tongkat, except that he forgot which foot should be injured, and he was photographed limping on a different foot when going in and coming out of Simpalek new village MCA premises.

The MCA Deputy Minister’s falling into a drain and limping around on the foot which was supposed to be injured in the fall became the laughing stock in the by-election.

The DAP victory in the Raub by-election, which was one of the triple by-election victories after the Kepayang state assembly by-election in Perak and the Seremban parliamentary by-election in 18 months after the 1982 General Election marked the revival of DAP after a disastrous electoral performance in the first five general elections under Mahathir’s 22-year premiership which had used the gleaming slogan of ABC, “amanah, bersih and cekap”.

Now, the fourth and longest-serving Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir is on the same page with 44 other political and civil society leaders who collectively signed and proclaimed the Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur on March 4, 2016 to demand removal of Datuk Seri Najib Razak as the Prime Minister and for meaningful democratic and institutional reforms. Continue reading “Invitation to MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers to the People’s Congress on Save Malaysia Citizen Declaration in Shah Alam on Sunday to demonstrate their patriotism and love for Malaysia”

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Let “Save Malaysia” be the uniting objective and vision of all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or politics to stop Malaysia hurtling down the slippery slope towards a failed and a rogue state

On 4th March 2016, an unprecedented and historic event took place in Kuala Lumpur – the signing and proclamation of the Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia by 45 political and civil society leaders which bridged the political divide for the first time in 59 years of the nation’s history.

The Citizens’ Declaration called for the resignation of Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Prime Minister for having embroiled Malaysia in the 1MDB scandal, the worst mega scandal in the nation’s history, and plunging the country to be among the world’s worst countries in corruption.

For eight long months, Najib had not only refused to sue international news publications that have made serious allegations of corruption against him involving the 1MDB scandal, he had also undermined full and independent investigation into the twin mega scandals which include the RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal, as well as subverted the independence, professionalism and integrity of national institutions which include the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Attorney-General’s Chambers, Bank Negara, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the Police.

Even more important, the Citizens’ Declaration recognized that the multiple crisis afflicting Malaysia is not just because of an individual but a systemic one, which is why it also called for “democratic and institutional reforms” to restore the important principle of the separation of powers among the executive, legislature and judiciary to ensure the independence, credibility, professionalism and integrity of national institutions.

I have visited 97 parliamentary constituencies since my six-month suspension from Parliament on Oct. 22, 2015 for demanding answers to the simple questions as to the source, the donor or donors, of the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal banking accounts before the 13th General Election in May 2013 and where the astronomical sums have gone to.

I wanted public feedback whether Malaysians agree that the Prime Minister should stop his tactics of procrastination and denial but should answer directly the teeming questions asked by the public and the world about Najib’s RM55 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” twin mega scandals.

In the past two weeks since March 4, in the 17 parliamentary constituencies in Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis and Pahang, I had also sought public feedback on the historic national development on March 4, the Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia. Continue reading “Let “Save Malaysia” be the uniting objective and vision of all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or politics to stop Malaysia hurtling down the slippery slope towards a failed and a rogue state”

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Hadi hustles from hudud to hullabaloo

Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
21 Mar 2016

What a remarkable line-up of strange bedfellows. Has-beens. Wannabe Arabs. Back-stabbers. ‘Devout’ Muslims with plenty to say on hudud, but not a word about punishing corrupt politicians. Back-pedallers. Misoygynists.

This new political line-up hopes to become a formidable opposition force, the ‘third force’ of Malaysian politics; but it is more farcical than forceful. The combo is more of a vanity political coalition, than a serious political entity.

The Ikatan president and former tourism minister, Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir, had a joint press conference (PC) with Hadi Awang, the PAS president, about the new pact.
The Malaysian equivalent of Donald Trump (physical attributes), and a wannabe Arab. How can anyone have any confidence in this duo? Their track record is not a glittering success.

Hadi flirts with anyone whom he thinks can serve his purpose, but does not seem to realise that he is being used. He ignored the wise words of PAS’ spiritual adviser, Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat, to be wary of Umno Baru, but like Adam in the Garden of Eden, he ate the forbidden fruit, and today, his party has been banished from Eden. Continue reading “Hadi hustles from hudud to hullabaloo”

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‘Don’t think I am a crook’: Malaysia’s Najib Razak lashes out at critics

Lindsay Murdoch, South-East Asia correspondent
Sydney Morning Herald
March 20, 2016

Malaysia’s prime minister Najib Razak has declared he is not a crook despite refusing to explain how hundreds of millions of dollars turned up in his personal bank accounts.

“I will not take the people’s property, don’t think I am a crook … I am prime minister for the people,” he told a political rally in Kuantan, a city on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia.

Facing a growing movement aiming to remove him from office, 62 year-old Mr Najib lashed out at his critics, saying they are trying to tarnish his image while he struggled to defend people’s welfare.

“You already know me, I am not like what is said by people over there … if I had wanted to rob, I would have robbed the forest here long ago.”

Mr Najib has refused to clarify how almost $1 billion came to be deposited into his personal bank accounts in 2013 or to explain what happened to millions that remains unaccounted for. Continue reading “‘Don’t think I am a crook’: Malaysia’s Najib Razak lashes out at critics”

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Najib Razak: ‘Don’t think I am a crook’

Jeevan Vasagar
Financial Times
March 20, 2016

Malaysia’s prime minister Najib Razak, mired in a growing international scandal over state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, urged a rally of supporters at the weekend not to think of him as a “crook” as he fights to retain control of the ruling party.

Mr Najib said that he had never misappropriated public property. Malaysia’s government is battling pressure from global regulators over allegations of corruption linked to 1MDB. Continue reading “Najib Razak: ‘Don’t think I am a crook’”

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Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak Says He Isn’t a ‘Crook’

By YANTOULTRA NGUI andCELINE FERNANDEZ
Wall Street Journal
March 21, 2016

Malaysia leader embroiled in 1MDB scandal seeks to assure his supporters

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—Prime Minister Najib Razak has told supporters that he isn’t a “crook,” amid continuing fallout from investigations into state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd., or 1MDB.

Pressure has grown on Mr. Najib since The Wall Street Journal reported last year that government investigators had found that hundreds of millions of dollars had entered his personal bank accounts via banks, companies and other entities linked to 1MDB, whose advisory board he chairs.

The government probe didn’t name the source of the money or specify what happened to it. Global investigators said deposits totaling more than $1 billion—hundreds of millions more than identified by the Malaysian investigators—had flowed into Najib’s personal accounts, people familiar with the matter said earlier this month.

Mr. Najib has denied wrongdoing or taking money for personal gain, a stance he reiterated Saturday in a talk to more than 5,000 supporters and leaders of the ruling party, the United Malays National Organization, in his home state of Pahang.

“If I had wanted to rob, I would have robbed the forest here long ago,’’ Mr. Najib was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama. “I didn’t even take an inch, I didn’t take a single tree in Pahang, I didn’t take the bauxite mine, I didn’t take anything.”.

“I have not changed my stand when I became prime minister,’’ Mr. Najib was quoted as saying. “I will not take the people’s property. Don’t think I am a crook, don’t think I steal the people’s property. I am the prime minister for the people.” Continue reading “Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak Says He Isn’t a ‘Crook’”