Najib Razak is on the ropes and Mahathir knows this. But is he truly concerned about Najib’s scandals?
When does one know if a scatological ship with a cargo of lunatics, modern-day pirates, Ali Babas and scoundrels is sinking? Answer: when its top rats start bailing out into the oil-burning ocean.
The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) ship has been listing for years, careening for decades. The flames now engulfing started in its engine room. The inferno’s worsening, and the bomba (fire department) is nowhere in sight.
That’s just what happened two weeks ago. Lim Kok Wing, the founder and owner of the Lim Kok Wing University of Creative Technology in Kuala Lumpur, who also wears the ubiquitous state-conferred phooey title of ‘Tan Sri’, resigned as public relations strategist to Najib Razak, the scandal-racked Malaysian prime minister.
Lim’s resignation was sudden. His appointment to the position last April had equally surprised. Malaysians hurled brickbats at him – a Chinese crony trying to save his Malay patron’s neck while eating up valuable public funds.
Najib, for his part, would have thought that picking a local to conduct his public relations malarkey would be more palatable to Malaysians, under the circumstances, than conscripting and paying millions of United States dollars to an American PR firm in New York City.
But Najib’s problems are deepening still. The more he vacillates over suing The Wall Street Journal for its exposé of the US$700m that had landed in his personal bank accounts – and what’s more linking the money-trail to the pilfering of state-owned 1MDB – the worse Najib’s guilt seems to be.
He’s growing more frantic about holding on as UMNO leader and prime minister of a country that’s obsessed with practicing racism and bigotry and renowned for its state-sponsored maniacal corruption – popular pastimes for the last 58 years.
When Najib almost lost his ruling coalition’s two-thirds majority to the then opposition Pakatan Rakyat in the 2013 general elections, he turned on the racist spigot. His brilliance almost culminated in national disaster following the Low Yat Plaza petty theft-turned-violent racial conflagration on 11 July.
Najib is no Midas. Everything he touches turns to dust. Or worse. He’s now on the ropes; always looking out for UMNO daggers aimed at his back, front and sides. Lim Kok Wing’s job was meant to win back UMNO’s Malay base before they dump him in droves. Perhaps Lim soon realised that Najib’s too far gone. Even Minerva’s owl has deserted Najib.
Malaysia’s disparate opposition parties are hoping Malays will take it upon themselves to throw out Najib and UMNO, particularly now that Majlis Amanah Rakyat or Mara, the state agency entrusted to advance Malay economic interests, and Tabung Haji, the state agency charged with collecting Malay savings for their lifetime pilgrimage to Mecca, have been found with their snouts in the trough over corrupt business dealings in Malaysia and Australia.
Critics say having failed the sniff test, Najib and his cronies have no place to hide. Wrong. They’ll be given sanctuary from investigation and prosecution by Malaysia’s corrupt and pliant police, judiciary and the other bodies presently investigating 1MDB’s non compos mentis affairs.
Only Lim knows why he dumped Najib. But he won’t soon forget the tongue-lashing he got from Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s former prime minister. Lim had personally advised Mahathir to quit publicly attacking Najib.
Biting the hand that had fed Lim’s business interests for years turned out to be his stupidest mistake. Whether the two will kiss and make up remains to be seen. Rest assured, however, there’ll be none of that between Mahathir and Najib.
Not when Mahathir’s political star is rising – again. It’s well into earth’s stratosphere. Najib’s, by contrast, has drowned in a sinkhole.
No question Mahathir’s going for the jugular, to oust Najib and his toadies sooner than later – before, Mahathir claims, Najib sells out the country. Looks like Mahathir has finally heeded George Soros’s advice to him during the 1990s Asian crisis.
Here’s the rub. In their muted desperation, and after having ripped into him for his overt racism, feudalism and crony capitalism, Malaysians like minions are lofting Mahathir as their new patron-saint, even over the jailed Anwar Ibrahim.
With Pakatan Rakyat dead, Mahathir is their new messiah, their savior from the sordid caverns of the UMNO miscreants and the wholly insignificant Barisan Nasional parties that make up the libertine ‘governing’ coalition.
There’s no irony here. In Malaysia, losers easily morph into demigods overnight. They’re quickly and wholeheartedly embraced as winners, as long as they hymn the same verse. Like Mahathir’s selective amnesia, Malaysians have chosen to not recall Mahathirism, his lording over them, instilling fear in them, and having fathered systematic and official corruption. Then, as now, they are again reverently bowing to the man.
Unlike The Wall Street Journal, The Sarawak Report and the leading local financial daily The Edge and their exposés on state corruption and Najib’s sticky mitts, Mahathir’s modus operandi has been to use his renewed clout – a gift from the gaffe-prone Najib and UMNO – to whack them over the head. His questions are angrier, his attacks on Najib and scattergood wife highly personalised. He has nothing else to offer.
But Malaysians are hugely gullible. They condemn history. And they love a sideshow. At this rate no-one, including the largely pro-opposition media, is likely to question Mahathir’s underlying motives for his salvoes.
For Mahathir’s attacks must, to be sure, be about more than ‘saving’ Malaysia from the corrupt and racist UMNO-BN regime, of which he was president for 22 years. They are equally about ‘saving’ Malaysia from Malaysians themselves.
Manjit Bhatia is head of research at AsiaRisk, an economic and political risk consultancy firm.
Dear Manjit, Malaysians are not that stupid. Najib is only accountable to the Umno Malays, mostly rural ones. No alternative media expose or opposition MPs’ (like Tony Pua) can affect his support base, except Mahathir’s. Yes, many believe worst had happened in Mahatir’s era. Yes, evidence is just a print-out away (by Bank Negara Malaysia). It is obvious nothing meaningful could be done as long as he is in the PM office. What else beside Mahathir?? Street demo with huge non-Malay participation? But no one want to risk another racial confrontation.
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He didn’t say Malaysians are “stupid” and you shouldn’t try putting words in his mouth. The word he used is “hugely gullible”, and his targets are obvious.
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Thank you and job well done with this article. I agree fully, and I still believe that Mahathir had a worse record in rule; from oppression of media, jailing of counterparts, removal of constitutional safeguards. But to Malaysians, 42 bil is all they see right now.
And they still think Proton, mega-projects are things we should be proud of. Let’s just add a number here: RM 972 billion. Petronas’ total revenue since its inception up to end 2013. What’s left? 27 bil. Who lost more money again?
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Some things or most things in Malaysia will never change, especially racism and corruuption.
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Mahathir ? Maybe the Mahdi of Madness, but not any known Messiah, and I doubt he has even heard of Friedrich Handel.
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Mahathir is getting old and desparate. He realise, time is running out for him to get his son to be PM. Too bad he does not really ahve support. The loud noises are made only by his over the hill Indian Muslims gang. A sum total of two persons. (read the news)
Actual events showed that Mahathir so called influence is very limited – eg:
1. mahathir tried to condemn Khairy, while promoting his son to be UMNO Youth chief two UMNO election ago – failed miserably – Khairy won by a landslide
2. Mahathir again tried to get his people, including his son to be in UMNO supreme council / VP positions – failed miserably – all his guys, including his son were defeated soundly
3. Mahathir got two of his “proxy” to be named candidate in the previous General Elections – they both almost lost their deposits, so poor were their votes…
The list actually is quite long… but you guys get the drift – all the noise and bravado is just that noise.
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Neptunian is correct. In fact, Zahid Hamidi, as I predicted long ago, will be the UMNO candidate against Rafizi Ramli (likely PKR candidate and their only real choice, so far). PAS is a joke, Malaysia’s version of the Muslim Brotherhood, under the fanatic, Hadi Awang.
Zahid will play the Mahathir camp for a while, but no way will Mukhriz become PM, and he is as corrupt as Jibby. I lived near Mukhriz’s $2 million CDN mansion in West Vancouver, Canada, one of his innumerable global real estate holdings and foreign bank accounts, which he holds in trust for Papa. Any Mahathir family member will seal Malaysia’s fate as a Third World nation, as would any PAS member getting within 100 ft of Putrajaya. Rafizi has some credibility, as does Surendran and Nizar Jamaluddin (who won’t leave PAS at the moment, sadly, as he really belongs in PKR). Ramli has integrity, at least by Malaysian standards, and while young and inexperienced (a Malaysian Jokowi
perhaps ?), this nation cannot tolerate UMNO and PAS any longer. I have called publicly in Malaysia for the abandonment of the moronic gender registration laws, and I have called for Najib to step down, and Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin to take over as PM. Malaysia has seen it’s share of Malay male Drongos, and Farida is far more accomplished, honest, objective and experienced, than any male politician in Malaysia. It is time Malaysia make a hard choice: Respect the Malaysian Constitution and demonstrate to itself, and the World, that it is a secular mostly Muslim (and moderate) nation. This will only happen with Datuk Noor Farida. Rafizi may be decent, but he will wilt under UMNO and PAS attacks. Farida is no wallflower and she punches way above her weight.
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There’s no way Farida will be PM. Its a dreamer’s idea, way off from reality. Not attacking you, but that’s the way Malaysia works. Ability will get you somewhere, but not anywhere.
UMNO is the patron saint of corruption in Malaysia. The machine needs to keep going. Few realise that the RM 2.6 bil in Najib’s account went straight to the pockets of division heads and trickled down to buy rural votes.
The system has not changed since Mahathir created it and will not change because it provides for too many; thousands of division heads rely on this, and indirectly it bring rural infrastructure in the form of bridges, roads, gov offices and services; albeit with about 70% of the money vanishing.
Malaysia has kept a Malay-educated rural populace, cowering in the UMNO-generated fear of athreat from non-Muslims,that can only survive through election handouts, gov jobs and political patronage. Its systemic and institutional, and until we tackle this very issue, nothing’s gonna change.
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Ollie,
I am from Malaysia. I never said Noor Farida would be PM, I said she SHOULD BE PM. It is not just the way Malaysia works, women are forbidden by Shari’a Law from running for Prime Minister and some in PAS even want to prohibit women, like Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, from even running for Parliament. Nothing you wrote is new to me, I was born in Singapore in 1959, before confederation with North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak. I know Mahathir, as did my cousin, who treated him for kidney stones (unfortunately) in Singapore. Noor Farida becoming PM is not a dreamer’s world at all; it is a failure of the male Malay world to tolerate diversity and the creeping Wahhabi Islamisation of Malaysia. The money from Najib went to buy off informants who knew about the Altantuyaa and (you heard me correctly) Karpal MURDERS.
Malaysians think it all went into UMNO pockets; that’s not technically true. Najib’s first task was to keep anybody away who might have information about Altantuyaa and Karpal. Interesting, both Bala and the lorry driver that “accidentally” hit Karpal’s car have long disappeared. Until Mahathir dies, nothing is going to change. Najib and Pak Lah are mere viruses, but Mahathir is the host and he has parasitized Malaysia for more than 30 years. He has also made Malaysia psychotic and distraught. Najib only worsened what was already a major national problem. Things have been bad before, but certainly took a grave turn for the worse, after Tun Hussein Onn stepped down. You may think Noor Farida is a pipe dream, but there are a lot of open-minded Malaysians (still) who very much think otherwise. Or would you prefer being led by the Fascist Zahid or the young and inexperienced (yet, honest) Rafizi ?
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At least we are on the same page when it comes to Mahathir.
In Farida’s lifetime, it won’t happen. That’s why its a pipe dream. Its too far away from reality.
I agree, though, that things need to change with accepting women as leaders.
Personally, I feel Marina Mahathir is shirking her duty and natural power as daughter of the most influential PM in the Malay mindset. Suu Kyi showed the way in Myanmar with her strength over decades, and Marina is content with just writing her occasional blasts against the administration, along with Nazir Razak, who can be equally influential if he took up the mantel.
The only people who can change the country are the forward-thinking liberal Malays. We have seen Farish Noor and Dina Zaman being outcasts among the common Malay due to their liberal views and perceived isolation from communal reality. Dr Asri of Perlis is a forward-thinking mufti who rejects many uniquely Malay-Malaysian Islamic norms and calls for reform in Malaysian Shariah; all of these people are silenced by mainstream Malay media. Which brings about the argument that mainstream Malay media is intrinsically popular media in the form of Mastika, Harian Metro, Kosmo, and the like.
Nazir and Marina are the only two I can think of who are young enough to connect with mainstream Malay minds and hearts, with the natural power brought by the legacy of their parents. Tunku Abidin Muhriz, a Negeri Sembilan prince, leads IDEAS and is very liberal in speaking out against protectionism and unjustifiable affirmative action policies.
The commonality between Nazir, Marina and Abidin Muhriz is that they write almost exclusively in English (Nazir just does Instagram, I suppose), which keeps them isolated from mainstream Malay thought. They are shirking their responsibilities and the role they could play in changing the Malay.
By mainstream Malay, I’m referring to the 70% of Malays who hold strongly to uniquely Malaysian-Malay Islamic beliefs (such as the role of women in society, moral policing, usage of words, fear-mongering).
On money going to silence informers, RM 10 mil would be more than enough to cover all of them, accounting for the fact that most of them are no longer alive. I stand by my assertion that the money was given to UMNO lackeys as they have done in the past. In the past, much less was needed, hundreds of millions would have won an election. Now, more than RM 2 bil. That is systemic and institutional; UMNO could be considered a segment of the economy, purely on the amount of money spent on patronage and entitlements. Have you seen a middle-class Datuk from UMNO, any division leader in charge of a 30,000 people constituency who’s not endowed with Mercs and Class-C construction contracts? This needs to change, and it would cause a shakeup in the structure of the Malaysian non-urban economy.
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The biggest outcast is Malaysia’s supreme intellectual, Kassim Ahmad, charged with a bogus Terengganu Fatwa (Kassim never lived in Terengganu) and a silly and absurd heresy charge. Kassim was dragged from his home in Kedah, with no writ or subpoena, shuttled between Civil Court and Shari’a Court, like an punching bag, His family disgraced. Luckily, he has one of the few honest, competent and sincere lawyers, Mr Dahlan (Surendran would be the other decent lawyer).
Mahathir used Kassim to trash the Muslim clergy, which he very well could do himself (and has done repeatedly), the result being PAS is stronger than ever. Once Mahathir saw Kassim falling and subject to legal jurisdiction, Mahathir did what Mahathir always does, like Judas he stabbed Kassim in the back and dropped him like a hot pisang
goreng. Kassim has been treated like an animal, but the Press remains obsessive-compulsive about the vain chameleon, Anwar, who has done very little for Malaysia other than talk endlessly at Malay Ceramahs (where he says things that are 180 degrees from what he says to the NYT, WSJ, Forbes and the Asia Society in New York).
This is how Malay politicians treat one another, with venality, corpulence, corruption, obnoxiousness, petty bickering,
and the favourite Malay Sandiwara of the week. If you are lucky, and there is a large
supply of C-4 and lead, they may kill you, which in the end, is quite possibly the best outcome.
I have seen Malaya from 1950s until Malaysia today, and very little of the British tradition exists, totally replaced by faux Malay Royal pomp and circumstance, phony Daulat, and a judicial system that could be run better and more objectively, by baboons.
Most of the money went to pay off those who know Najib’s involvement with Altantuyaa and
the murder or Karpal Singh. Probably, about 2 million RM. The rest did go to UMNO lackeys, many in Sabah (buddies of FM Anifah Amin) and Sarawak. East Malaysia is worrisome to UMNO, as the Kadazan and Dayak that UMNO bought earlier are not so readily bought now; “Twice bitten, third time, shy”.
Malaysia has been ruined by a Malay class that has no empathy for anyone but themselves. For the 44 years, I have spent in Malaysia, over the course of 56 years, I have seen a promising nation, with a proud citizenry and a superlative leader, Tunku, go down hill very fast, especially since 1982. It is repugnant, reprehensible and, mostly, just sad.
As for Mukhriz and Marina; the durian never falls far from the tree. I would say interview Marina’s ex-husbands, but it probably isn’t worth the time.
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Peter, Karpal murdered? That is a serious allegation. Where did you hear that from? We Malaysians are an ignorant lot, I must say.
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[…] importantly, he is also unable to listen, hear, read or see the signals coming from within UMNO. This could be fatal. Powerful segments within UMNO are genuinely concerned that Prime Minister […]
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