Posted on

First step to Save Malaysia from global kleptocracy is to end “global pretence” that 1MDB scandal has been resolved and ceased to be an issue

The first step to Save Malaysia from global kleptocracy is to end the “global pretence” that the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal had been resolved and ceased to be an issue.

This was what the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had promised more than a year ago.

In his meeting with some 1,000 UMNO divisional leaders and selected representatives of NGOs on 14th June 2015, Najib gave an assurance that the controversy surrounding the state investment arm 1MDB will be resolved by year-end.

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

Najib could not be more wrong, as illustrated by the decision yesterday of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) ordering Coutts & Co., which is owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland, to surrender 6.5 million francs (RM29.1 million) in illegal profits from transactions linked to 1MDB. Continue reading “First step to Save Malaysia from global kleptocracy is to end “global pretence” that 1MDB scandal has been resolved and ceased to be an issue”

Posted on

Coutts ordered to pay back SFr6.5m of profits over 1MDB

Jeevan Vasagar in Singapore
Financial Times
3rd Feb 2017

Swiss financial supervisor sanctions bank over lapses linked to Malaysian fund

Swiss authorities have accused Coutts, the private bank, of repeatedly ignoring internal warnings over its dealings with a businessman who has been linked to a plot to loot billions of dollars from 1MDB, the Malaysian state investment fund.

Numerous “high-risk” transactions were processed through a Coutts account opened by the Malaysian businessman in Zurich, including the use of $35m for visits to casinos and the purchase of luxury services such as chartering yachts, according to the Swiss inquiry.

Finma, the Swiss financial regulator, ordered Coutts to pay back profits of SFr6.5m, which were allegedly generated unlawfully. It is also considering enforcement proceedings against bank employees.

The Swiss action is the latest step in a global regulatory crackdown against banks involved in the 1MDB scandal. Continue reading “Coutts ordered to pay back SFr6.5m of profits over 1MDB”

Posted on

Save Malaysia Roundtable on Tunku’s 114th birthday anniversary next week best forum for Najib to start process to free Malaysia from the millstone of global kleptocracy

The Save Malaysia Roundtable of political and civil society leaders to save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state on Tunku’s 114th birthday anniversary in Kuala Lumpur next week is the best forum for the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Cabinet to start the process to free Malaysia from the millstone of global kleptocracy.

This will make the Save Malaysia Roundtable doubly significant, not only on the occasion of the114th birthday anniversary of Bapa Malaysia, but to send out the clear message that the 2017 Chinese New Year of the Fire Rooster will be the only kleptocratic Chinese New Year in the history of Malaysia and that in the next year, the Chinese New Year and other national festivities would not be celebrated under a cloud of global kleptocracy!

Almost everybody is saying that it is impossible that Najib will attend the Save Malaysia Roundtable.

I agree that it appears to be quite inconceivable that Najib would attend the Save Malaysia Roundtable to save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state, as it would involve Najib’s preparedness – not seen up to now – to open up the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal to national and international scrutiny to prove that it is not a scandal at all, although the 1MDB scandal is making international waves and world headlines almost every other day.

The issue is whether Najib and his Cabinet are prepared to start the process to free Malaysia from the millstone of global kleptocracy, or whether they will go down in history as being responsible for Malaysia’s millstone of global kleptocracy and not prepared to do anything to remove such a millstone. Continue reading “Save Malaysia Roundtable on Tunku’s 114th birthday anniversary next week best forum for Najib to start process to free Malaysia from the millstone of global kleptocracy”

Posted on

Najib’s Window Dressing Can’t Hide Malaysia’s Woes

By Luke Hunt
The Diplomat
January 31, 2017

The embattled premier’s cosmetic measures cannot conceal economic realities in the country.

The Malaysian economy has been put through the hoops. In spite of reassurances from the country’s beleaguered premier Najib Razak that the current economic turbulence is only a temporary affair caused by offshore factors, the evidence does point to the contrary.

Najib’s government knows this. It has side-stepped long-held promises to win Malaysia recognition as a developed country by 2020. And it has announced a string of statements and measures designed to either distract from these economic realities or aim to address them.

One revenue-raising initiative announced was charging Thai vehicles a fee for simply crossing their land border. That move has angered the Thai transport ministry which is now mulling a reciprocal tax. Continue reading “Najib’s Window Dressing Can’t Hide Malaysia’s Woes”

Posted on

Najib is consigning his initiative of a Global Movement of Moderates to the grave if he is not prepared to be part of the global outrage at US President Trump’s cruel and inhumane executive order against refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries

It is now more than 58 hours since US President Trump, at 4.42 pm Friday Washington time, with a stroke of a pen signed the cruel and inhumane Executive Order against refugees and immigrants, creating world-wide turmoil and reverberations, with chaos and confusion in US airports and capital cities all over the world.

What is disturbing is that the Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his government are not part of this global outrage at the inhumanity and insensitivity of Trump’s executive order.

It cannot be that Najib and the Malaysian Foreign Ministry had been overtaken by complete surprise by such an executive order, as Trump had in fact been talking about such an inhumane measure since the GOP primary campaign last year, and Trump’s executive order against refugees and immigrants had in fact been leaked to the media several days before Trump signed the executive order.

Najib cannot blame anyone for asking why he acted with such alacrity when he lashed out at Myanmar and Aung San Suu Kyi on the Rohingya issue but is so tame and tardy when the Muslim world is revolted and outraged by Trump’s executive order against refugees and the 130 million people from seven Muslim-majority countries, viz: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen.

As a sign of growing political intimacy and collaboration between Najib and the PAS President, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, there is also conspicuous silence from the PAS leadership on Trump’s cruel and inhumane executive, completely out of character of PAS leadership which would have been the first to denounce Trump’s executive order.

Is this a sign of growing maturity and responsibility of the Hadi PAS leadership or just of closer political collaboration with Najib’s UMNO leadership? Continue reading “Najib is consigning his initiative of a Global Movement of Moderates to the grave if he is not prepared to be part of the global outrage at US President Trump’s cruel and inhumane executive order against refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries”

Posted on

The Most (And Least) Corrupt Countries In The Middle East

Dominic Dudley
Forbes
JAN 26, 2017

Transparency International has released its latest rankings of corruption around the world and, as ever, there is little to cheer about in the Middle East, with five of the world’s ten most corrupt countries coming from the region.

The worst performer is Syria, which is ranked 173rd out of 176 countries, followed by Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Iraq. It is no coincidence that all of these countries are poor and war-ravaged, but even in the wealthier and more peaceful corners of the region the problem of corruption is generally getting worse rather than better. Continue reading “The Most (And Least) Corrupt Countries In The Middle East”

Posted on

Indonesia has spoken. Why is Najib still silent more than 38 hours after Trump signed the executive order banning 130 million people from seven countries from United States?

Indonesia has spoken. The Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has said that Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, deeply regrets US President Donald Trump’s executive order to ban more than 130 million people from seven countries from the United States and to deny entry to all refugees.

Why is Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who mooted the proposal for a global movement of moderates, still silent about Trump’s executive order which had caused world-wide reverberations, with chaos and confusion in US airports and capital cities all over the world.

Trump’s seismic ban was enacted with a stroke of a pen at 4.42 pm Friday Washington time. More than 38 hours have elapsed, as it is now past 6.42 a.m. Sunday Washington time. Why is Najib still keep silent?

It is not that Najib and the Foreign Ministry had been overtaken by complete surprise by such an executive order, as Trump had in fact been talking about such an inhumane measure since the GOP primary campaign last year.

Has Najib’s dilatory response anything to do with US Department of Justice (DOJ)’s largest kleptocratic lawsuit relating to the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal? Continue reading “Indonesia has spoken. Why is Najib still silent more than 38 hours after Trump signed the executive order banning 130 million people from seven countries from United States?”

Posted on

Save Malaysia Roundtable of political and civil society leaders on Tunku’s 114th birthday anniversary to save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state

Wednesday, February 8, 2017 is the 114th birthday anniversary of Tunku Abdul Rahman, Bapa Malaysia and the first Prime Minister of the country.
I believe Tunku would be horrified that Malaysia has become a global kleptocracy and heading towards a failed and rogue state.

In fact, the second and third Prime Ministers, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein, would have been horrified by the trajectory of the nation under the sixth Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The fourth Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir, one of the two surviving former Prime Ministers, has already made his horror about Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy and hurtling towards a failed and rogue state clear and obvious to all Malaysians.

I think there can be no better way to commemorate Tunku’s 114th birthday anniversary than to convene a roundtable of political and civil society leaders to save Malaysia from a global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state.

All political and civil society leaders will be invited to attend this Roundtable to Save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state. Continue reading “Save Malaysia Roundtable of political and civil society leaders on Tunku’s 114th birthday anniversary to save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state”

Posted on

Let’s keep our focus on things that matter

By TK Chua
Free Malaysia Today
January 27, 2017

We should stay focused on the big picture and, instead of harping on past problems, be more realistic and practical about issues such as racism, graft, and massive development projects.

There are just too many incongruous arguments going on in Malaysia today. I consider all these deliberate distractions and diversions from the more fundamental problems confronting us.

The first distraction is the assertion that Lim Kit Siang will become deputy prime minister should the opposition take federal power. There is nothing wrong in Lim Kit Siang becoming DPM if the situation warrants it. Why would the race of a person become an issue unless it is the embedded racism being voiced? Has racism become so entrenched in Malaysia today that even the racists are not consciously aware of their own behaviour?

We must not get distracted; fight we must against racism and bigotry before it is too late. Continue reading “Let’s keep our focus on things that matter”

Posted on

Let 2017 be the only kleptocratic Chinese New Year in the history of Malaysia

Chinese New Year Message
27th January 2017

The Chinese New Year of the Rooster in 2017, like all the national festivities in the country, will be celebrated under the cloud of Malaysia as a global kleptocracy.

The appellation of “global kleptocracy” is a stain and slur on the reputation and integrity of Malaysia and 30 million Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, gender or age, and it must be the common resolve of all self-respecting and patriotic Malaysians in the coming year to purge and cleanse Malaysia of the ignominy and infamy of being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy.

I wish all Malaysians, and just not confined to Malaysian Chinese, a Happy Chinese New Year with the resolution that 2017 is the only kleptocratic Chinese New Year in the history of Malaysia. Continue reading “Let 2017 be the only kleptocratic Chinese New Year in the history of Malaysia”

Posted on

Not surprised in the least that Liow and Mah not prepared to save Malaysia from kleptocracy as their entire political future hinge on not rocking Najib’s boat like raising awkward issues concerning the 1MDB money-laundering scandal

Up till noon today, on the expiry of my 72 hour offer to meet MCA President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and the Gerakan President Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong, together or separately, any place any time to discuss how we can co-operate in the larger national interests to save Malaysia from a global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state, I have not been contacted, either directly or indirectly, by Liow or Mah.

I regret this although I am not in the least surprised that Liow and Mah are not prepared to save Malaysia from kleptocracy as their entire political future hinge on not rocking Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s boat like raising awkward issues concerning the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal.

I also regret that the PAS President, Datuk Hadi Awang had spurned my offer of co-operation to save Malaysia from becoming a global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state, as there had been complete silence from him in the last six days apart from puerile, ridiculous and malicious responses from his subordinates in PAS.

What the issue in the past six days had shown is that I am prepared to co-operate with Najib, Hadi, Liow, Mah and the other Barisan Nasional leaders in Sabah and Sarawak on an overriding national agenda – to save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state – but unfortunately, Najib, Hadi, Liow and Mah are not prepared to reciprocate.

Of course, it will not be easy for them to reciprocate my offer for what does saving Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state mean? Continue reading “Not surprised in the least that Liow and Mah not prepared to save Malaysia from kleptocracy as their entire political future hinge on not rocking Najib’s boat like raising awkward issues concerning the 1MDB money-laundering scandal”

Posted on

Was the MACC chief directing his “Just You Wait” warning to MO1, and if not, what credibility is there that the MACC will break jinx of just going after ikan bilis while ikan yus continue to go scotfree, unlike “tigers” in China and “crocodiles” in Indonesia who are brought to justice and jailed?

Was the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Chief Commissioner, Datuk Dzulkifli Ahmad, directing his “Just You Wait” warning to MO1, and if not, what credibility is there that the MACC will break the jinx of just going after ikan bilis while ikan yus continue to go scotfree, unlike the “tigers” in China and “crocodiles” in Indonesia who are being caught, brought to justice and jailed?

Dzulkifli should know that Malaysians have had enough of excuses why “grand corruption” involving top political leaders continue to be a protected “species” and no amount of belly-aching about inadequate budget or staffing is acceptable as an excuse for MACC’s failure to break the back of the problem of grand corruption in Malaysia – as evident by another drop in Malaysia’s ranking and score in the Transparency International (TI)’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2016!

For 2016, Parliament allocated a budget of RM250 million for the MACC, which is more than six times the budget allocated to its predecessor, Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) for the year 2000.

Can Dzulkifli produce a report to demonstrate that the MACC today is six times more effective than ACA in 2000 in fighting corruption, in arresting and jailing the corrupt especially in terms of netting ikan yus and ikan bilis by bringing them to justice, whether “grand corruption” or “petty corruption”?

Malaysia’s ranking in the TI CPI 2001 was No. 36 out of 91 countries and the score was 50 out of 100, but in the 2016 TI CPI, Malaysia was fallen to No. 55 out of 176 countries with a below mid-point score of 49 out of 100.

Is this the six times’ improvement in performance and KPI of the MACC as compared to the ACA in year 2000? Continue reading “Was the MACC chief directing his “Just You Wait” warning to MO1, and if not, what credibility is there that the MACC will break jinx of just going after ikan bilis while ikan yus continue to go scotfree, unlike “tigers” in China and “crocodiles” in Indonesia who are brought to justice and jailed?”

Posted on

Liow and Mah seem to have an unwritten agreement with Hadi that they will not rock Najib’s boat and will not raise any issue about the 1MDB money-laundering scandal even if Malaysia is known as a global kleptocracy

I can report that in the second day of my 72-hour proposal to MCA President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and the Gerakan President Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong for a separate or joint meeting to discuss how we can co-operate in the larger national interests to save Malaysia from a global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state, I have received no contact from either one of them.

I have also received no response from Datuk Seri Hadi Awang to my statement in Penang on Sunday during my “Jelajah Desa” at Sungai Gelugor in Penang that I am prepared to co-operate with the PAS President to save Malaysia from becoming a global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state – apart from negative statements from his subordinates in PAS.

It would appear that Liow and Mah have an unwritten agreement with Hadi that they will not rock the boat of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and will not raise any issue or question about the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal even if Malaysia is as a result regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy.

Am I wrong? We will know when my 72-hour offer to Liow and Mah expires at noon tomorrow!

Actually, there is no better time than now for all the political leaders, whether in government or opposition, to demonstrate their patriotism and love of the country by uniting on a common national agenda to save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state, especially with the release of the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2016 in Berlin yesterday which showed that Malaysia is hurtling downwards in a unchecked decline in national and international perceptions about integrity, good governance and the war against corruption. Continue reading “Liow and Mah seem to have an unwritten agreement with Hadi that they will not rock Najib’s boat and will not raise any issue about the 1MDB money-laundering scandal even if Malaysia is known as a global kleptocracy”

Posted on

A week ago, Google returned 255,000 results in 0.42 seconds on “1MDB” search – today it returned 4.41 million searches in just 0.32 seconds!

I wish to report that in the first 24 hours from 12 noon yesterday till 12 noon today, neither MCA President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai nor the Gerakan President Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong had contacted me in response to my public offer yesterday that I am prepared to meet with them, individually or collectively, any place any time in the ensuing 72 hours to discuss how we can co-operate in the larger national interests to purge and cleanse Malaysia of the infamy and ignominy of being regarded world-wide as a global kleptocracy.

I had asked whether Liow and Mah would have to get UMNO approval before responding. We will wait and see what happens in the rest of the 72-hour offer.

Already, there is a strange political phenomenon. In yesterday’s press, I was the target of massive attacks from all the top MCA and Gerakan leaders for offering during my “Jelajah Desa” at Sungai Gelugor in Penang on Sunday to co-operate with PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang to save Malaysia from becoming a global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state.
Continue reading “A week ago, Google returned 255,000 results in 0.42 seconds on “1MDB” search – today it returned 4.41 million searches in just 0.32 seconds!”

Posted on

Fund-scandal fallout keeps Malaysia on its toes

By Una Galani | HONG KONG
Reuters
Jan 23, 2017

(Reuters Breakingviews) – Malaysia is still struggling to put its sovereign-fund scandal behind it. Prime Minister Najib Razak was not named in lawsuits filed last year by the U.S. Department of Justice after billions disappeared from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, and he has deftly avoided a legal tangle on his home turf. Nonetheless, the fallout is keeping Malaysia’s leader on his toes.

The scandal at the fund Najib championed has left a dark mark on sentiment around the country. Money from the fund found its way into financing the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street” and allegedly into Najib’s personal bank account, something he denies. But mud sticks. One recent survey by FT Confidential Research found 71.5 percent of respondents had a negative view of the prime minister. Malaysia must hold an election by August 2018 at latest, but even with the redistricting of constituencies, it will be a slog to win more votes than in 2013 which saw the worst-ever performance for the Barisan Nasional ruling coalition. Continue reading “Fund-scandal fallout keeps Malaysia on its toes”

Posted on

Why is Najib leading the UMNO/BN charge and campaign of fear, hatred and lies in the run-up to the 14GE unless he feels that this is the only formula to save himself in the next general election?

I am surprised by the speech by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Kedah on Tuesday night that regardless of whether DAP has the top government post, the party will still “call the shots” and run the show if UMNO/BN is defeated in the 14th General Election.

Najib said: “Democracy and politics are a game of numbers. Who has the most seats, wins. Even if the top post of the government is not given to it, the party with the most seats will effectively rule.”

My surprise at Najib personally leading the charge and campaign of fear, hatred and lies in the run-up to the 14th General Election is for two reasons:

Firstly, has Najib such poor strategists among his election and propaganda advisers that he is personally leading the UMNO/BN charge and campaign of fear, hatred and lies in the run-up to the 14th General Election instead of leaving such “dirty work” to his subordinates, which will give him leeway for deniability of personal approval or even knowledge as Prime Minister and UMNO/BN President for such “gutter politics”, which are most unworthy of the Prime Minister of the nation?

Secondly, has Najib become so desperate that he might lose the 14th General Election requiring him to move out of Putrajaya to the Opposition benches in Parliament, that he has now thrown scruples to the winds by leading the charge and campaign of fear, hatred and lies in a last-ditch effort to save his political office in Putrajaya so as to pack the maximum amount of explosives into such wild and baseless charges?

The ordinary laymen and women in Malaysia can see through Najib’s gambit as evident from the following typical reactions to the Prime Minister’s speech in Kedah: Continue reading “Why is Najib leading the UMNO/BN charge and campaign of fear, hatred and lies in the run-up to the 14GE unless he feels that this is the only formula to save himself in the next general election?”

Posted on

Jet, mansions figure in $232 million foreign trust case to be heard in Auckland court

Matt Nippert, business investigations journalist.
New Zealand Herald
Jan 18, 2017

An Auckland courtroom will on Friday become a battleground over Manhattan penthouses and a private jet amid allegations that they are the proceeds of a globe-spanning mega-fraud.

The High Court at Auckland is set down to hear a request from relatives of controversial Malaysian financier Jho Low who oppose the seizure of assets worth $230 million alleged by the United States Department of Justice to be the proceeds of crime.

US court filings said the relatives are beneficiaries of a number of New Zealand trusts that are claimed to directly own a number assets caught up the probe of a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund known as 1MDB.

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in July when the DoJ first filed its seizure claims that $5 billion had been misappropriated from the Malaysian state with payments by 1MDB diverted into private Swiss bank accounts and then laundered into artwork, Hollywood films and real estate.

“We are seeking to forfeit and recover funds that were intended to grow the Malaysian economy and support the Malaysian people. Instead, they were stolen, laundered through American financial institutions and used to enrich a few officials and their associates,” she said.

Financier Low is one of three individuals named in the DoJ action as receiving the proceeds of the alleged fraud. The others are a Hollywood producer and step-son of Malaysia’s current Prime Minister, and a former government official from the United Arab Emirates. Continue reading “Jet, mansions figure in $232 million foreign trust case to be heard in Auckland court”

Posted on

Mustapha not speaking the truth or in his true self when he said Malaysia must “move on” from 1MDB scandal when the law in Malaysia is neither taking its course nor the authorities in Malaysia allowed to go after those responsible for creating the international money-laundering scandal

The Minister for International Trade and Industry, Datuk Mustapha Mohamad had discovered that wherever he went, even at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he would be pursued, hounded and haunted by the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal which would not leave him in peace.

Mustapha is as wrong as the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak who declared in his 2016 New Year Message on Dec. 31, 2015 that his RM55 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion donation twin mega scandals had been resolved and were no more issues when the International Trade and Industry Minister said Malaysia must “move on” from the 1MDB scandal.

AFP quoted Mustapha saying “We’ve learned many lessons and we are moving forward” from the scandal, and said:

“Essentially we have to move on and we have confidence that a number of issues that came to limelight as a result of 1MDB will at some point, be behind us.

“We have the authorities to go after those responsible for creating the mess. The law is taking its course.”

Mustapha is not speaking his true self as he should know more than anybody else that it is not true that the Najib government had “learnt many lessons” from the 1MDB scandal and that “the law is taking its course” and that the “authorities” are going after “those responsible for creating the mess”.

Mustapha’s statement in Davos needs an important qualification as the law in Malaysia is not taking its course, and the authorities in Malaysia are not going after “those creating the mess”. Continue reading “Mustapha not speaking the truth or in his true self when he said Malaysia must “move on” from 1MDB scandal when the law in Malaysia is neither taking its course nor the authorities in Malaysia allowed to go after those responsible for creating the international money-laundering scandal”

Posted on

Generation of “false news” and “big lies” about DAP by UMNO leaders and cybertroopers an index of their growing desperation about loss of credibility and public support because of rampant corruption, economic crisis and worsening racial and religious polarisation

It is ironic but true – the generation of “false news” and “big lies” about the DAP by UMNO leaders and cybertroopers are not a reflection of confidence and hope, but the contrary, an index of their growing desperation about loss of credibility and public support because of rampant corruption, economic crisis and worsening racial and religious polarization – particularly among the Malays in the country.

Just before I came to this dialogue, I was reading about the latest UMNO cybertrooper attack on me – ridiculing the statement by the Deputy Amanah Youth Leader Faiz Fadzil “yang berkata DAP yang hanya bertanding di 51 daripada 222 kerusi Parlimen tidak mampu menerajui kepimpinan negara jika pembangkang menang dalam pilihan raya umum ke 14” by twisting what I said on 31st December that “I expect DAP to double the number of Parliamentary and State Assembly constituencies to be contested in the 14GE as compared to 13GE”.

Yes I did say about expecting the DAP to “double” the number of parliamentary and state assembly seats to be contested in the 14GE, but I was not talking about Malaysia as a whole but specifically about Sabah state, where DAP contested in four parliamentary and eight state assembly seats in the 13GE.

A person who is honest, sincere, pious and God-fearing would not have twisted what I said, for it was very clear that I was referring to doubling the seats contested in Sabah and not Malaysia-wide, unless the UMNP cybertrooper has a very low IQ – but this is the quality of UMNO leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers attacking the DAP who have to be liars to tell downright lies and falsehoods about DAP leaders which cannot stand scrutiny or challenge at all! Continue reading “Generation of “false news” and “big lies” about DAP by UMNO leaders and cybertroopers an index of their growing desperation about loss of credibility and public support because of rampant corruption, economic crisis and worsening racial and religious polarisation”

Posted on

WHY PRESIDENT TRUMP IS BAD FOR FREEDOM … IN MALAYSIA

BY SHERIDAN MAHAVERA
South China Morning Post
15 JAN 2017

Civil activists in the country enjoyed US support under Obama, but the incoming president’s anti-China stance may require him to turn a blind eye to Najib’s domestic agenda

After eight years with an influential friend in the White House, Malaysian civil society groups are bracing for the worst when Donald Trump takes over on January 20.

During outgoing President Barack Obama’s two terms, human rights advocates, democracy groups and anti-corruption activists had cultivated warm relations with US officials in Kuala Lumpur, even meeting the 44th US president on his visit to the capital last year – the first by any sitting US president.

In that time, Washington’s tacit support for their causes had been a crucial morale booster during a period of regular clampdowns by the administration of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who himself was eager to curry favour with the US leader.

But now they fear a shift in US priorities by a Trump administration that is likely to view Malaysian civil liberties as of relatively low diplomatic priority. Or even worse, that a US, which no longer champions democracy and human rights, might provide moral cover for Najib to further suppress freedoms. Continue reading “WHY PRESIDENT TRUMP IS BAD FOR FREEDOM … IN MALAYSIA”