Zahid must not take Malaysia as a nation of fools even if he can achieve a Cabinet of fools with Ministers obediently accepting his outrageous take about his infamous letter to the FBI

I do not believe that the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi suffers from comprehension problems that he could not understand that his letter was not merely intended to clarify that Paul Phua, the alleged gambling kingpin standing trial for illegal gambling in Las Vegas, Nevada was not a member of the 14K triad “in Malaysia”.

I do not believe that Zahid is so unsophisticated as to believe that when his infamous letter to the FBI referred to Phua as having helped the Malaysian government in “projects affecting our national security”, that “we continue to call upon him to assist us from time to time as such, we are eager for him to return to Malaysia” and that Phua’s release would impact on furthering “good international relations between our two countries, especially in the exchange of information”, these statements would be regarded by FBI as superfluous, empty and meaningless verbiage and not meant to influence FBI handling of Phua’s case.

Zahid is being very brazen and blatant in demanding that everybody act as gullible fools to accept his version that his infamous letter to the FBI was merely intended to clarify that Phua was not a member of the 14K triad “in Malaysia” and nothing more.

Zahid claimed yesterday that the Cabinet at its meeting on Wednesday was “satisfied with his explanation on the matter”.

I do not believe that our Cabinet Ministers suffer from comprehension problems either or they will not have risen to their present pinnacle of political power in government.

For reasons best known to themselves, they prefer to appear to be gullible fools but this is no compliment on their political purpose and integrity that they could be cowed into obediently accepting Zahid’s outrageous explanation of his infamous letter to the FBI, knowing in their heart of hearts that Zahid was not speaking the truth.

Are there Ministers who really believe that Zahid’s infamous letter to the FBI was nothing more than clarifying that Phua was not a member of the 14K triad “in Malaysia” and are prepared to step forward and identity themselves one by one?

I doubt there will be a single Cabinet Minister who will be prepared to state openly and publicly that he or she truly believes that Zahid’s infamous letter was just to clarify that Phua was not a member of the 14K triad “in Malaysia”, although collectively they have been cowed into accepting Zahid’s claim or at least not to puncture the balloon in public that his explanation had been accepted by the Cabinet!

Zahid must not take Malaysia as a nation of fools even if he can achieve a Cabinet of fools with Ministers obediently accepting his outrageous take about his infamous letter to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) on behalf of Paul Phua.

Zahid made one startling revelation yesterday to justify his infamous letter to FBI, claiming that previous Home Ministers before him had also written such clarification letters.

Is this true, that previous Home Ministers had also unilaterally written to the FBI, without the knowledge of the police or the IGP at the time, contradicting police reports to the FBI, as well as without the knowledge or clearance from the Foreign Ministry?

If this was the case, then the Ministers of the past had been even more indisciplined, wild and arbitrary than the Malaysian public had ever dared to imagine.

Previous Home Ministers like Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad and Datuk Azmi Khalid must speak up to clear themselves and to put the record straight, and Malaysians expect no less from them.

From one Minister endorsing and vouching for the character of an alleged gambling kingpin standing trial for illegal gambling in Las Vegas, we have now the whole Malaysian Cabinet seeming to have endorsed Zahid to vouch for the character and integrity of the alleged gambling kingpin.

Is this the intention of the Malaysian Cabinet on Wednesday when, according to Zahid, it accepted Zahid’s explanation on his infamous letter to FBI?

Zahid said yesterday that the nature of the “national security projects” which Phua had helped the government cannot be revealed as they were classified under the Official Secrets Act 1972.

Has Zahid informed the Cabinet last Wednesday the nature of these “national security projects”?

If not, how could the Ministers “accept” Zahid’s explanation for his infamous letter to the FBI?

If yes, every Cabinet Minister is now not only collectively but personally responsible for Zahid’s infamous letter to the FBI.

This must also be the first time in the nation’s history where the Home Minister is using the Official Secrets Act to keep secret, not only from the public, but the police force and the Inspector-General of Police, the nature of the “national security projects” which Phua had been involved in!

What is most significant about Zahid’s press conference yesterday was that Zahid ended it abruptly before the media could ask any questions for clarification.

It is a powerful testimony that Zahid himself knew that he was defending the indefensible, and he did not want to expose himself to the multitude of questions of the waiting reporters.

Malaysia’s international reputation has been sullied enough by Zahid’s infamous letter to FBI and the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak must step in to clean up the mess or he would be no different from “Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burns”.