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Thursday, April 23, 2015

Malaysians knowledgeable and outraged about 1MDB

“Daylight robbery” was how one woman characterised the 1MDB furore.
VIDEO INSIDE
1mdb malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR: A recent interview shows that Malaysians are fairly well-informed about current affairs, in particular the recent furore surrounding 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
In a series of questions by Free Malaysia Today reporters, a number of people were asked what they knew offhand about 1MDB — and without inhibition — showed themselves to be knowledgeable about recent events.
This is despite the issue being a fairly technical and complex one, and points to effective media coverage of the issue.
The first question was what 1MDB was really about. Most had a good grasp of the idea with largely critical impressions.
“1MDB is a development company owned by the government and has been said to have incurred debts of billions of ringgit,” said one woman.
“1MDB finances a lot of…not to say a lot, but a few of the Tun Razak Exchange programmes. It is currently in a really, really bad debt – around RM42 billion that we know of. God knows what we don’t know of,” said another.
“It’s an investment project by (Prime Minister) Najib, based on the Tun Razak Exchange projects.”
One man was more overtly critical of 1MDB, calling it just “another way for the politicians to siphon money out of the government”.
“That’s one thing I know. There’re also the issues about the joint venture between 1MDB and PetroSaudi which was done in such an unprofessional way,” he said.
Another man called it a “liability to the future of the country’s sovereignty”.
“It’s a huge government conglomerate. Another GLC (government-linked company) that is debt-ridden, about RM42 billion at least (has) so far (been) revealed by Opposition lawmakers,” he said.
The second question focused on who had been particularly vocal in highlighting 1MDB issues.
Most interviewees were quite clear.
“The Pandan MP, Rafizi Ramli, was the one who raised the issue of 1MDB. He didn’t agree with 1MDB because though it was supposed to encourage the country’s economic growth, it did the opposite and increased the country’s debt burden,” said one man.
“As far as I’ve seen through the press, usually it’ll be the Opposition leaders. Even Tun Dr Mahathir has criticised this 1MDB,” said one woman.
“Tony Pua and Rafizi Ramli have both done very good jobs. It’s not an easy subject to understand, this 1MDB issue. Even for a person like me who constantly keeps myself (sic) in the know and updated about current issues, I find this issue a very difficult one to follow and understand in the first place.”
One man though got it slightly off the mark. “Normally Opposition. From DAP. Anwar Ibrahim. Yeah, mostly.”
The most openly critical interviewee added his opinions, largely positive, about Opposition MPs Tony Pua and Rafizi Ramli.
“YBs Tony Pua and Rafizi were constant and consistent in bringing up the issue in Parliament as well as giving awareness to our people.
“…They don’t resurface the problem, what’s going to happen is that they’re just going to get off with the funds. Which is a big sum. RM42 billion is not a small sum. And it’s the people’s money.”
Another woman agreed, adding that Pua and Rafizi were instrumental in increasing public awareness of the situation.
“Tony Pua. Rafizi. It’s good that they’re playing the whistle-blower role… without them the people wouldn’t know what is going on,” she said.
“So once it’s been exposed to the media, I think the people should pay attention to it, because it’s a debt that actually involves the nation.”
The third question was what they themselves thought about 1MDB.
“I think they’re not transparent enough. They just deny all the allegations but never reveal their accounts fully to the public. Like what have they been investing in?” asked one young girl.
Another woman called the huge sums lost by 1MDB “daylight robbery”.
“It’s bad, the management of funds. To lose a few thousand, that’s fine, but to lose a few million, that’s bad. And to lose a few billion? 42 billion? That’s crazy. It’s outright daylight robbery.”
Yet another woman went further, suggesting that Prime Minister Najib Razak step down from his role in 1MDB.
“Totally not transparent. There’ve been allegations of corruption and embezzlement and all. And I think the board of directors’ chairperson, who is our Prime Minister, should step down for that,” she said.
“They’ve always said that the financial status is stable, but I think that it was only last week that the second Finance Minister admitted that the (1MDB) financial position is not sustainable at the moment,” pointed out one man.
“That in itself speaks volumes,” he said.

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