Category: Najib Razak

The greatest tribute that the Federal Cabinet could pay to the Adenan Satem legacy is to uphold both the word and spirit of the Malaysian Constitution, the Malaysian Agreement 1963 and the Rukunegara principles of an incorruptible, secular and harmonious multi-racial and multi-religious nation.

I call on the Cabinet at its meeting next Wednesday to take concrete steps to uphold both the word and spirit of the Malaysian Constitution, the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the Rukunegara principles to establish an incorruptible, secular and harmonious multi-racial and multi-religious nation, for it is precisely because we have deviated from the bedrock principles enshrined in the Malaysian Constitution, Malaysia Agreement 1963 and Rukunegara that the country has lost its way and entrapped in a swamp of political, economic and nation-building scandals.

Instead of building greater unity among the diverse races, religions, languages and cultures which have made Malaysia their home, we have allowed irresponsible and reckless people to create even greater disunity by aggravating racial and religious polarisation in the country. Continue reading “Cabinet’s greatest tribute to Adenan legacy is to uphold both word and spirit of Malaysian Constitution, Malaysia Agreement 1963 and Rukunegara principles of an incorruptible, secular and harmonious multi-racial and multi-religious nation”

The new year has been a bumpy one for Malaysia, with the international multi billion dollar 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal continuing to make waves and headlines worldwide.

The Australian Federal Police has announced that they are working with international law enforcement agencies to investigate companies associated with the 1MDB scandal – joining at least half a dozen countries, including Switzerland, Singapore and the United States, which have initiated criminal or legal actions concerning the international 1MDB money-laundering scandal.

In Singapore, the fourth banker had been convicted by Singaporean courts in relation to 1MDB-related accounts – Jens Fred Sturzenegger, a Swiss national and branch manager of the Falcon Private Bank in Singapore who pleaded guilty to six charges related to Singapore’s probe on 1MDB.

Sturzeneggar was sentenced to 28 weeks jail and fined S$128,000.

Falcon Private Bank is owned by Abu Dhabi’s International Investment Company (Ipic) and its Singapore operations was shut down by Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in October last year for failing to fulfil anti-money laundering controls and improper conduct by the bank’s senior management.

Singaporean prosecutors had told the court Malaysian businessman Jho Low had control over four accounts with the bank.

According to Channel News Asia, Sturzenegger pleaded guilty to charges of failing to report potentially criminal transactions involving billions of dollars and for lying to authorities to protect Low’s financial interest.

He was also charged for lying to MAS officers to distract them from probing bank accounts controlled by Low by claiming that the accounts were “beneficially owned” by Eric Tan Kim Loong, a known associate of Low’s.

Sturzenegger was said to have lied to investigators about never having made contact with Low. Continue reading “Should Malaysia emulate China and have an Operation Fox-hunt and Sky-net to bring economic or corruption fugitives like Jho Low and others back to justice in Malaysia?”

by Andrea Tan
Bloomberg
January 11, 2017

Sturzenegger is first foreigner charged in Singapore’s probe
Former Falcon Bank branch manager charged with 16 counts

Jens Sturzenegger, a former branch manager at Falcon Private Bank Ltd. in Singapore, became the first foreigner convicted in the city’s probes linked to a Malaysian state investment fund.

Sturzenegger, 42, pleaded guilty to six charges, including failing to report suspicious transactions, and was sentenced to 28 weeks in jail and fined S$128,000 ($89,000). Prosecutors had sought a jail term of as long as 32 weeks. His lawyer Tan Hee Joek said in court that Sturzenegger is remorseful and didn’t gain financially from the offenses. Tan said after the hearing his client won’t appeal the sentence. Continue reading “Swiss Banker Latest Conviction in Singapore’s 1MDB-Linked Cases”

By P.R. VENKAT
Wall Street Journal
Jan. 11, 2017

The former branch manager is the fourth person to go to prison in the city-state’s probe of a Malaysian state investment fund

A Singapore court Wednesday sentenced a former branch manager of Switzerland’s Falcon Private Bank AG to prison for crimes connected to the alleged multibillion-dollar misappropriation at Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB.

Jens Sturzenegger, 42, a Swiss national who managed Falcon’s Singapore unit, was charged last week with 16 offenses under various laws, including one that requires banks and their officers to enact due-diligence checks on clients to prevent money laundering.

The court Wednesday handed a 28-week prison sentence and a fine of 128,000 Singapore dollars (US$89,000) to Mr. Sturzenegger after he pleaded guilty to six offenses. These include three counts of providing false information to police and central bank authorities, and three counts of failing to report suspicious transactions. The remaining charges were taken into consideration in his sentencing but won’t be pursued separately by the prosecution.

While the charges didn’t directly link Mr. Sturzenegger to fund flows at 1Malaysia Development Bhd., Singapore’s central bank and regulator had said in October that the branch manager had been arrested that month in connection with the city-state’s probe into the alleged misappropriation of billions of dollars from the Malaysian fund. Prosecutors have called the investigation Singapore’s largest-ever probe of alleged money laundering. Continue reading “Falcon Bank’s Former Singapore Manager Sent to Prison in 1MDB Probe”

Will Malaysia slide down to its lowest ranking and score in 22 years in Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2016 which will be released in a fortnight’s time?

I do dread the TI CPI 2016 release, as the past year had been one of the worst years on the corruption front for Malaysia.

Malaysia which dropped four places in the TI CPI 2016, falling from No. 50 to No. 54, and the CPI score slipped from 52 in 2014 to 50 in 2015, would have fallen lower in ranking in TI CPI 2015 if five countries, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Puerto Rico and St Vincent – which had been ranked higher than Malaysia – had not been excluded due to technical reasons like not meeting three minimum secondary sources for research.

The TI CPI 2015 had not taken into account the last bad news on the Malaysian corruption front on the last few days of the 2015, when Malaysia was rated third in international website, foreignpolicy.com’s “worst corruption scandal in 2015”. Continue reading “Will Malaysia slide down to its lowest ranking and score in 22 years in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2016 which will be released in a fortnight’s time?”

ABC News
10th January 2017

1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), founded by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, is the subject of money laundering investigations in at least six other countries including Switzerland, Singapore and the United States.

Civil lawsuits filed by the US Department of Justice allege more than $US3.5 billion ($4.76 billion) was misappropriated from the fund.

The lawsuits seek to seize $US1 billion ($1.36 billion) in assets allegedly siphoned off from 1MDB and diverted into luxury real estate in New York, Beverly Hills and London, valuable paintings, and a private jet.

Mr Najib, who also chaired 1MDB’s advisory board, has denied wrongdoing and said Malaysia would cooperate with international investigations.

“The AFP is aware of allegations relating to companies associated with 1MDB and have assisted our foreign law enforcement partners with their investigations in relation to a number of these matters,” the AFP told Reuters. Continue reading “1MDB scandal: Federal Police assisting probes into Malaysia’s wealth fund”

Events in the first ten days of the new year have given both hope and dejection about the future of Malaysia.

Standing head and shoulders above all other events in the first 10 days is undoubtedly Penang footballer Mohd Faiz Subri’s clinching of the Fifa Puskas Award for the most beautiful goal of 2016, putting his name on the same list as past winners such as famed football stars Christiano Ronaldo and Neymar.

The 29-year-old Penang striker has indeed brought joy to millions of Malaysians thousands of kilometres away when Mohd Faiz was handed the award for his spellbinding free kick at a glittering ceremony in Zurich yesterday.

Mohd Faiz created history as the first Asian to be bestowed the gong named after Ferenc Puskas, the Hungarian football legend who enjoyed huge success with Real Madrid during the 1950s and 60s as well as his national team.

Last year Harith Iskander won the Funniest Person in the World competition in Finland while Malaysia won two gold medals in the Rio Paralympics, one by Mohamad Ridzuan Mohamad Puzi in men’s 100m T36 and the other by Ziyad Zolkefli in the men’s F20 shot putt.

On the dark side, Malaysia ascended the world chart to become a “global kleptocracy”.

Mohd Faiz’s success is an inspiration to all Malaysians to regain confidence in themselves and the nation to aim to be among the best in the world – not to be mediocre or worse, heading towards a failed and a rogue state.

Let Mohd Faiz, Harith Iskander, Mohd Ridzuan and Ziyad Zolkein be exemplars of world-beaters for Malaysians. Continue reading “Let Mohd Faiz, Harith Iskander, Mohd Ridzuan and Ziyad Zolkein be exemplars of world-beaters for Malaysians”

Leslie Lopez Regional Correspondent In Kuala Lumpur
Straits Times
JAN 7, 2017

The Malaysian government is laying the groundwork to shut down 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), the state investment firm mired in a scandal that has become the most serious blight on Prime Minister Najib Razak’s administration at home and abroad.

Under a plan spearheaded by a high-level government unit called the Budiman committee, the assets of the state development fund will be transferred in the coming months to two companies owned by the Finance Ministry.

These valuable assets are two massive plots of land in Kuala Lumpur and one on Penang island. Continue reading “Malaysian government prepares to wind up 1MDB amid scandal”

I will be surprised if 99% of the civil servants at the Prime Minister’s Department monthly assembly this morning were not thinking of three things, Malaysia’s ill-repute as global kleptocracy, 1MDB and “MO1” when they heard the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s speech this morning.

In his speech, Najib said the recent arrests made by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) are a reminder to civil servants against wastage.

Najib said wastage “is equal to taking away what belongs to the people,” and he reminded those in government that they cannot take away the people’s rights.

The founder of Center to Combat Corruption & Cronyism (C4), Cynthia Gabriel and Bersih chairperson Maria China were spot-on when they responded to Najib’s speech by urging the Prime Minister to lead by example on his reminder to civil servants this not to take what rightfully belongs to the people. Continue reading “I will be surprised if 99% of the civil servants at Prime Minister’s Department monthly assembly today were not thinking of three things, Malaysia’s ill-repute as global kleptocracy, 1MDB and “MO1” when they heard Najib’s speech this morning”

The launching of the Pakatan Harapan Sabah this morning is one of the three mini political earthquakes to lead to the major political earthquake in the 14th General Election expected this year to peacefully and democratically change the government in Sabah and Putrajaya.

As Mat Sabu, the President of AMANAH, said just now, the issue is not whether one is a Sabahan or not, but whether the political leaders asking for popular support are men and women of integrity.

The next general election should be a choice between democracy or kleptocracy; good governance or injustices and abuses of power.

In the past year or so, Malaysia had become a global kleptocracy – which I said in Parliament is a government of 3Ps, Pencuri, Perompak and Penyamun. Equally shocking, Sabah has emerged as the most kleptocratic state in Malaysia.

In the last few days, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) arrested a Federal Ministry Secretary-General and a few millions of ringgit were found in his possession – but this was small fry compared to the tens and hundreds of millions of ringgit which the MACC found when it raided two top officers of the Sabah Water Department in October during the Sabah Watergate scandal!

China has caught and imprisoned “tigers” and Indonesia “crocodiles” in their anti-corruption campaigns but the Malaysian MACC has still to net and jail a single “shark”, and unless the MACC can net the “political sharks” in the fight against corruption, the focus on civil servants will not take Malaysia’s anti-corruption campaign very far.

There must a clean, honest and dedicated political leadership, both at the national and state levels.

Sabahans are entitled to ask why with Sabah’s vast wealth and natural resources, poverty in Sabah is so acute and abject with Sabahans among the poorest in the country. Continue reading “Three mini-political earthquakes in Sabah and Malaysian political landscape to lead to the major political earthquake in the 14GE to change the government in Sabah and Putrajaya”

There is a rule of thumb in political exchanges that personal attacks or character assassination is the last resort of political opportunists and scoundrels who have run out of arguments based on facts and reason, and this is what the MCA President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai resorted to when he launched a ferocious personal attack on me, accusing the DAP as a privately-owned “Kit Siang & Son Sdn. Bhd” and not a political party.

I can understand Liow’s frustration and exasperation, but it is no justification nevertheless for him to resort to personal attacks and character-assassination.

What was Liow frustrated and exasperated about?

The latest incident was the MCA leadership’s total inability to respond to my statement on Thursday catching Liow “red-handed” in saying one thing to the Chinese but giving a totally different impression to the Malays – which is the height of political dishonesty and chicanery at work in plural Malaysia. Continue reading “Liow should explain how MCA could reconcile its public stand to oppose Hadi’s private member’s bill with Najib’s announcement that Barisan Nasional government will vote in support of Hadi’s private member’s bill motion in March Parliament and government take over Hadi’s bill?”

Banyan
Economist
Jan 7th 2017

The opposition has a chance to strike

A ROUND of applause, ladies and gentlemen. Any typical leader of a typical democracy, when found with nearly $700m of ill-explained money from an unnamed foreign donor in his accounts, would experience a swift and fatal fall. Yet, nearly two years after news first broke that Najib Razak’s bank balance had been thus plumped up, his high-wire act continues.

You could even argue that the Malaysian prime minister, who denies any wrongdoing, is at the top of his game. Mr Najib appears to command the unstinting loyalty of the party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which leads the coalition that has ruled the country since independence in 1957. He has undermined a fractious opposition, not least by peeling an Islamist party away from it. And as investigations proceed in several other countries into the alleged bilking of colossal sums from 1MDB, an indebted state investment-fund whose advisory board Mr Najib once chaired, the prime minister himself remains untouched. Staying in power helps stave off any risk he might face of international prosecution. A general election is due by late August 2018, but perhaps Mr Najib will call a snap poll in the next few months to give himself several more years’ rule. Continue reading “Najib Razak appears secure, but looks can deceive”

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s hint to the first Cabinet meeting of the year on Wednesday that 2017 is going to be an “interesting year” has already been more than fulfilled in the first five days of the year.

The new year in the past five days started not just with a double whammy but a multitude of whammies, including:

1. The Malaysian ringgit currency starting the new year with a new record low of RM4.5002 against the US dollar since the 1998 Asian financial crisis, signifying very tough economic year for Malaysians;

2. The gutting of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) although it was already quite impotent to fighting grand corruption. No “tiger” or “crocodile” had been caught by the MACC,but there seems a “devil’s bargain”: that the MACC is given the green light to go after civil servants so long as they leave the politicos and their “favourite” civil servants alone.

Continue reading “Malaysia starting the new year not just with double whammy but a multitude of whammies!”

When I received on the WhatApps a poem “Cry my Beloved Country” by “Alwi Jantan, Perth, 1st January 2017”, I wanted to be sure that it was penned by Tan Sri Alwi Jantan himself, and not a “fake”.

I took pains to check its veracity and I was vindicated when I spoke to the 81-year-old former top civil servant himself, and he confirmed that he had himself written the poem.

Born in Dungun, Terengganu on 16th April 1935, Alwi had a long civil service career belonging to the first Merdeka generation of public servants, starting in the civil service in August 1958, and who went on to serve as Director-General of National Archives and Library Malaysia in 1971; Selangor State Secretary (1972-76); Secretary-General of three Ministries, namely Local Government and Federal Territory, Health and Agriculture; Deputy Secretary-General of Prime Minister’s Department (1981-1984), ending his public service career as Director-General of Public Services Department (PSD) (1987-1990).

Alwi’s mournful poem “Cry my Beloved Country” to ring in the New Year of 2017 for a very troubled Malaysia is the plaintive cry of all patriotic Malaysians who love Malaysia and grievously hurt at the harm we have done to ourselves.

This is Alwi’s “Cry my Beloved Country” on behalf of Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region – a cry deep from the heart of grieving Malaysians in the run-up to the 60th anniversary celebrations for the Proclamation of Merdeka on August 31, 1957:
Continue reading “Tan Sri Alwi Jantan’s mournful poem “Cry my Beloved Country” is the plaintive cry of all patriotic Malaysians who love Malaysia and grievously hurt at the harm we have done to ourselves”

Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed has claimed that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is entitled to use the government jet to gallivant around the world with his family.

I am not convinced and I challenge Nur Jazlan to produce the papers and documents to prove Najib has such entitlements as Prime Minister.
Let Malaysians have a full accounting of the Australian end-of-the-year holiday trip of the Prime Minister, his family and whoever were on the junket, the destinations and the costs of the jet-abouts involved.

Since the Prime Minister had the use of the government jet before the Australian trip, as he was in Kuantan, Kuching and Tawau attending the Pahang Federation of Chinese Association dinner in Kuantan, the Batang Sadong bridge launch in Kuching and the launching of the Sabah section of the Pan-Borneo Highway in Tawau, Najib should explain why he could not slot into his itinerary to attend the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) Christmas High-Tea so that he would not be absent from such a significant function in a multi-religious Malaysia for three consecutive years in a row. Continue reading “Nur Jazlan should produce the papers to prove that Najib is entitled to use government jet to gallivant around the world with his family”

It is indeed supreme irony that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, should kick off the new year warning about “fake news” and “false stories” as a grave problem in the country, when it is the UMNO leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers and the country’s mainstream media like New Straits Times and Utusan Malaysia which are the worst culprits in concocting and disseminating fake news and false stories about critics and the Opposition.

Their action befits the Chinese saying about “Thief shouting thief” which basically means to divert the attention of others so as to cover up one’s misdoings

In the fifth day of the new year, we already have several examples of such “fake news” and “false stories” perpetrated by UMNO leaders, propagandists, cyberbtroopers and sycophants and I shudder to think of the mountain of lies, “fake news” and “false stories” that will be concocted this year in the run-up to the 14th General Election, which can be held anytime between May and October.

Najib gave the “official launch” for the UMNO/BN campaign of “fake news” and “false stories” – a classic “thief shouting thief” act reminiscent of the Nazi “Big Lies” propaganda offensive – in his UMNO Presidential Speech on Nov. 30, telling three “Big Lies”, viz:

1. That the 14th General Elections will be a contest between UMNO and DAP;

2. That the DAP is anti-Malay or anti-Islam.

3. The “nightmares” Malay will suffer if UMNO loses power in the next general elections.

Najib’s three “Big Lies” would make Hitler’s Propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels, green with envy as it was Goebbels who gave the following definition of Nazi’s Big Lies offensive: “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it”.

There no need to repeat my rebuttal of Najib’s Three Nazi-style “Big Lies” which the Prime Minister and his propaganda team had not been able to refute. Continue reading “Who is Najib’s Goebbels? Is he prepared to emerge from the darkness and come into the light to identify himself and explain why he is masterminding so many “fake news” and “false stories” about critics and the Opposition?”

REVIEW 2016

PAULINE NG
Business Times Singapore
Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Kuala Lumpur

TO many, 2016 was a year of diminishment for Malaysia.

Not only has the ringgit’s value declined considerably, public confidence and consumer sentiment have waned noticeably. Meanwhile, the 1MDB financial scandal has also diminished Malaysia in the eyes of the international community.

Unless credibility is restored, the regression is expected to continue in 2017 amid great uncertainties – one of which are the policies of the mercurial Donald Trump who will be sworn in as US president later this month.

New leaders could also emerge in Europe as Germany and France head to the polls in the coming months. Continue reading “Diminished in 2016, what lies ahead for Malaysia?”

It is the irony of ironies.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, kicked off the new year warning about “fake news” and “false stories” as a grave problem in the country, loyally echoed by his propaganda lieutenant, the Communications and Multimedia Minister, Datuk Seri Said Keruak Salleh who dutifully warned “a most unpredictable and probably ‘dangerous’ year” because of “fake stories” being spread about Malaysia, but it is the UMNO leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers including the country’s mainstream media like New Straits Times and Utusan Malaysia who are the worst culprits in concocting and disseminating fake news and false stories about critics and the Opposition.

Their action befits a Chinese saying about “Thief shouting thief” which basically means to divert the attention of others so as to cover up one’s misdoings. Continue reading “UMNO leaders and propagandists as well as mainstream media are the worst culprits in concocting and disseminating fake news and false stories about critics and the Opposition”

And some of the headaches they face in 2017.

by David Tweed | Bloomberg
December 29, 2016, 7:07 AM GMT+8

In a year dominated by Brexit and Donald Trump’s surprise U.S. election win, Asia felt like a relatively stable part of the world. A closer look shows that the region endured its own seismic events in 2016, from a Philippine leader embracing China to massive street protests in Seoul to the elimination of 86 percent of India’s hard currency.

Here we look at how key leaders performed. They are listed in order of the size of their economy. Continue reading “Who’s Had the Worst Year? How Asian Leaders Fared in 2016”

The end of the year underlines one important aspect about the anti-corruption campaign in Malaysia – the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is only allowed to net ikan bilis but not the ikan yus (sharks) in Malaysia, or the MACC itself will be targeted by the powers-that-be in the country and those responsible will be punished and disempowered.

This was highlighted by the end-of-the-year corruption news of the “transfer out” of the six senior officers in the MACC Special Operations Division (Bahagian Operasi Khas – BOK) who were directly involved in the SRC International investigations.

As reported by Malaysiakini, the six who were transferred out included Tan Kang Sai, the division’s deputy.

The special division was formed in 2010 to handle high-profile cases as well as cases involving corruption of more than RM1 million.

Two from the team were transferred out in October, while the rest, including Tan, were removed this month. Some of the posts vacated by those transferred out of the special unit have not been filled.

According to Malaysiakini, four of them had been transferred to MACC’s investigation division, while others were transferred to state MACC offices and other government agencies. Continue reading “MACC is only allowed to net ikan bilis but not ikan yus (sharks) in Malaysia”