Dr Mahathir tells foreign governments to make 1MDB probe public ! So ?

UAE's English daily The National reported as below. 

Razak critic urges 1MDB findings be publicised

The National staff

April 20, 2016 Updated: April 21, 2016 03:56 PM

A leading critic of Malaysia’s prime minister Najib Razak said corruption had reached levels never seen before in the country and urged foreign governments linked to the controversy surrounding a state investment fund to make their findings public.

1MDB, whose advisory board is chaired by Mr Razak, is under investigation in at least five countries including Switzerland and the US over allegations of money laundering and embezzlement.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad, at one time the country’s longest-serving prime minister, said the investigations into the 1MDB fund were not just a problem for Malaysia.

“Being diplomatic isn’t going to help Malaysia or anyone else," he said on the sidelines of the International Conference on Leadership, Innovation and Entrepreneurship organised by the Canadian University Dubai. “They must recognise action needs to be taken and do what is necessary."

Dr Mohamad, who was in his post between 1981 and 2003, said the scandal around the Malaysian fund threatened the Asian nation’s international reputation and hurt foreign direct investment.

“All inquiries should eventually be made public because inquiries that are kept secret are of no use to anyone," he said.

“Eventually things will have to be revealed."

Last week, Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic) said neither itself nor its Aabar unit had any connection to a firm incorporated in the British Virgin Islands that was named in a report into the controversy surrounding the Malaysian fund.

In May 2015, Ipic had agreed to provide the Malaysian fund US$1 billion to meet some of its liabilities in exchange for assets while at the same time taking on interest payments on about $3.5bn in debt.

But the Abu Dhabi fund now says 1MDB is in default on the terms of the agreement. - The National 

I read the above news report more than once, just to allay my concerns that there were pleas and demands for foreign interference in the domestic affairs of Malaysia. 

In fact I read it more than twice, but there were none. The report is there for you to read and interpret but I'm a little amused by the thinly veiled statement from a morally bankrupt politician. 

A cheap statement from a scandal ridden politician who stands accused for a series of crimes in the court of public opinion, but it reveals desperation. 

For someone who has confessed to having received billions of ringgit in personal donations from a foreigner, the 'foreign interference' cry is laughable. 

Channelling billions of ringgit into your personal account from a foreign donor, who 'simply gave it and was not expecting anything in return', would make a good fairytale script. Thank you! We don't buy such bullshit. 

Now, are we Malaysians not concerned about international criminal investigations on 1MDB relating to suspected money laundering and embezzlement ? 

Billions of ringgit are missing and 1MDB's Arul Kanda Kandasamy says it could be fraud. What has 1MDB done to recover the lost billions if at all it was fraud? 

Dear Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib, it has been said again and again that you must be responsible for the failed, scandal ridden 1Malaysia Development Berhad - 1MDB. There are no two ways about it. If it was indeed a scam, you allowed it. 

Even if you are convinced that you have been conned by Jho Low the Penang khia, you still have to stand up and explain. How he did do it? 

Don't run around because this is about a sovereign nation whose interests and livelihood are being compromised due to a host of reasons especially international humiliation for corruption and mounting foreign debts. 

This is not your family business. 

The escalating cost of living in both rural and urban areas are at unhealthy levels.  

"corruption had reached levels never seen before in the country and urged foreign governments linked to the controversy surrounding a state investment fund to make their findings public" - Dr Mahathir said in Dubai.

Dr Mahathir also urged foreign governments to make their investigations public. - "urged foreign governments linked to the controversy surrounding a state investment fund to make their findings public"

Asking investigators and investigating authorities to make their findings public is a crime? 

We cannot tolerate false, unfounded allegations that are part of a conspiracy to topple a democratically elected government. Remember that. Truth matters.

Remember that asking the resignation of a sitting prime minister is not a crime. Otherwise how did Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (now Tun) step aside to allow Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak to take over? 

We have a working moral compass in this country, I'm sure. 

The prime minister must come clean. Begin with the money in the kitty.  

Follow up by suing The Wall Street Journal for proof  to restore Malaysia's badly bruised image and reputation. 

You can follow in Nazir Razak's footsteps and step aside, if you are still able to do that. The window is almost shut. The choice is still yours.

Living in denial cannot go on forever. 

As Dr Mahathir puts it, eventually things will have to be revealed. 

Hope you would come to your senses fast and not be fooled by bootlickers who are hell bent on keeping you within the bubble, and continue destroying yourself in the pretext of fighting a political battle. 

Crime is no politics. 

“When people tell a lie about something, they have to make up a bunch of lies to go with the first one. ‘Mythomania’ is the word for it.” ― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

p/s 

1MDB bukan cerita rekaan Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Kenyataan hutang dan penggadaian tanah serta maruah dek kerana 1MDB terpampang didepan mata. Bukankah kita celik? 

Orang lain kehadapan, kita terkangkang gali lubang. Hutang keliling pinggang. 

Dubai a perfect example of visionary leadership

Do the right thing Prime Minister, you can't go wrong

 

 

 

 

Rethink BR1M aid, say analysts 

By MUHAMMED AHMAD HAMDAN | news@nst.com.my 

REDIRECT: Call to focus on welfare, social programmes

KUALA LUMPUR: THE government's 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M) cash aid programme to help low-income earners  tide over the rising cost of living, should have an exit plan, said some analysts who also believe that it should be given in other forms.

An analyst, who did not want to be named, said the government should shift its focus on improving the services provided by the Welfare Department (JKMM) and other aid agencies rather than continuing with the cash aid.

"BR1M is not the way. We already have various ways to help the poor like through those distributed through JKMM," he told the New Straits Times yesterday.

"I think they (the government) should focus on improving the existing aid agencies, including zakat (tithes) and others, rather than adding another inefficient delivery channel. I would just abolish it and redirect attention and funds to improving the services of JKMM and have more spotlight on it."

The government's BR1M programme has become a hot topic of discussion among Malaysians since it was introduced in 2012, with negative views seeming to outweigh the positive, especially those coming from economists and analysts alike.

They argue that while the cash handout would not have a significant impact on households, it was also not a good mechanism in reducing poverty in the long term.

Universiti Malaya Centre for Poverty and Development Studies economist Associate Professor Dr Fatimah Kari said the cash handout did not provide a holistic social protection programme or provide incentives to get out of poverty.

"As an economist, I don't believe in BR1M. The government must announce an exit policy for BR1M. This can be done by providing comprehensive social programmes that give access to public health, education and jobs."

Similar sentiments were shared by other economists who urged the government to fine-tune the aid programme to ensure it meets the objective of cushioning the impact from the rising cost of living.

Socio-economic Development and Research Institute (SEDAR Institute) executive director Ivanpal S. Grewalin, in a recent report, was quoted as saying that it was only appropriate for the government to refine the method employed, given that the payout amount would increase over the next few years.

Ivanpal added that the aid delivery could be channelled in other forms, including utilities rebate vouchers or even food stamps.

The BR1M money first started as a one-off cash payment of RM500 to households with an income of less than RM3,000 a month.

This year, the government has increased the amount to RM650, which will benefit some seven million people compared with last year's 6.8 million, amounting to a disbursement of RM3.7 billion.

The government also announced its intention to distribute the cash hand-out twice this year to enable recipients to use it within a specified time and in a more careful manner compared with a one-off hand out.

In light of the government's intention to increase the BR1M amount from time to time, economists warned that expanding BR1M or any social safety net might not be sustainable in the long run.

"This may sound cliche, but the government should come out with a more effective mechanism to teach the rakyat to fish rather than feeding them with fish," said another analyst. - NST

 

 

 

 

Maybe some of the Prime Minister's able advisors and apple-polishers may not like to hear this but Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had made it very clear from day one that BR1M was a bad idea.

Do read Dr M's thoughts in Fuel Subsidy (Sept 2013) and the latest BR1M (March 2014). It was crystal clear and some of us are very sure that months before penning his thoughts Dr M had infact relayed his reservations or rather objections to the Prime Minister himself.

Of course when it comes from Dr Mahathir many a consultant and self appointed financial gurus would find it hard to digest the logic, simply due to their bloated ego and misplaced motivation.

Something must be very wrong somewhere if those rating agencies and financial analysts, whom the Government of the day is so fearful of, demand us to do away with fuel subsidy but at the same time silently agree to wasteful handouts like BR1M.

Where is the logic ?

The fact that BR1M is being finally debated openly by the mainstream media, I pray, is a strong indication that the Government has finally come to a realisation that such handouts can't possibly go on. BR1M is absolutely irresponsible and even the handsomely paid foreign consultants and their ilk can't deny this fact.

As the Malay saying goes - Bila sesat dihujung jalan, pulanglah kepangkal jalan.

Just stop BR1M and, as those analysts are saying now (in the NST article above), go back to basics.

P/s I don't think we should appoint another consultant to review BR1M. TQ

 

The porn-STAR

"Tan later described his own heterosexual admiration of a Nigerian inmate's "healthily large" private parts, which was "the most beautiful flaccid penis" that he had ever laid eyes on."

As for Lee, who served one week in the Kajang Women's Prison, Tan described her as "super horny" when they reunited after being released on bail of RM30,000 each.

He also found himself excited at the prospect of her cellmates who experienced similar sexual frustration from lack of male contact: "For days, I had fantasies of being sent to a women's prison to service the girls and ensure that they were sexually satisfied. It's just a dream at the moment, but it would make a damn good porn script for sure."

The Star's online exclusive - 

Alvivi's Alvin Tan bares all

BY MICHELLE TAM

What? Not porn? Ok ok, The softporn-STAR! 

Well this appears like another attempt to push the limits while testing the guts, gumption and certainly the intelligence of our Government. 

If you continue to be a wimp, more such wimps (like the one above and those who promote it, including the super-smart journos in The Star) will surface thinking they possess a 'Nigerian weapon'.