The Fetish

The waves of uprisings by citizens of Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain, Algeria and Libya that is also holding the breath of other regime leaders in other parts of the world is most noticeable.

What is also an obvious pattern is that the leaders of the affected countries are said to have stashed away exorbitant sums of money in banks across the globe - out of their own countries - J. D. Lovrenciear

Why do they do it? Is it a Fetish with money? Do they go into an orgiastic frenzy, while counting the dollar bills with their grubby hands? And like squirrels they faithfully stash it away for winter.

And the amounts siphoned off are exorbitant. Hosni Mubarak reportedly stashed away USD70 billion (MYR210 billion), does he not hear the whimpering of the people, outside his stately mansion? Are their ears deaf to the cries of the people crawling on their bellies, begging for their next meal? Does he not deserve to be booted out?

Do they really need that much money? Mubarak is close to 83 years old. They must believe in reincarnation. They can’t possibly spend all that money in one life time! With what he’s got, it will be about 360 thousand years before he can finish spending it.

What about the RM888 billion, outflow from Malaysia. Our Deputy Minister does not see it fit for the Government to comment on this. Why not? Doesn’t the Rakyat have a right to know?

We hear that the Government has instructed Bank Negara to investigate this anomaly. Are they going to issue a statement anytime soon? Who are these people involved? Are they just a handful or are there at least 880 of them? Is RM880 billion a lot of money? If you were to spend modestly, RM1000 a day every day, you would need 3000years just to finish spending a modest RM1 billion.

Well, the RM2.5billion Perwaja Scandal, RM3.5billion BMF scandal, the RM8billion MAS scandal, and the mother of all scandals which shocked the nation at a whopping - RM12billion PKFZ scandal actually pales in comparison to this latest scandal.

If divided equally, 888 thousand people in this country will become instant millionaires, making Malaysia one of the only countries in the world with the most millionaires by per capita of the population.

Rumour, has it that there is a timber town in Sarawak, where the town’s population of 5000 are all millionaires. Their leaders are reputedly richer than the Sultan of Brunei. Bill Gates billions is mediocre in comparison. Are Malaysians that rich?

If Malaysia did not have such scandals like the above, and if this RM888 billion were still in the country: wouldn’t Malaysia be a First World Economic Power, overshadowing that little island down south, with absolutely no natural resources of its own? Isn’t it embarrassing, that this little fry, casts a bigger shadow than us?

Most of the country’s wealth is supposed to be centred in the Klang Valley where Executives’ average salaries hover around RM3000 –RM20000. These same executives, however still can’t balance their check books at the end of each month. Consistently behind in mortgage payments, and the occasional call from Citibank. “Hi there, we are calling from CITIBANK credit card centre!. For security can you please tell us your birth date?

And at the end of a long day, after fighting massive traffic jams, and finally and wearily crawling on to bed, we hear the soft music on the radio belting...It’s been a Hard Day’s Night. I’m feeling like a dog!!!

... and then the frustration sets in. - Malaysia Chronicle