Colonisation argument ‘specious’, says Kula

The credence Malaysians give foreign media reports on the prime minister’s culpability in the 1MDB affair is less an effect of colonisation than a reflection of the loss in credibility of local institutions.

DAP national vice-chair M Kulasegaran termed as “specious” the argument by Umno lawyer Hafarizam Harun that some Malaysians’ inclination to believe the reports of the Wall Street Journal and other foreign media on Najib Abdul Razak’s culpability over the findings of local investigative agencies which have exculpated the PM as “colonisation”.

“As well claim that the option being offered by some schools to their pupils that they can choose English as their medium of instruction is an effect of the colonisation of the mind of some Malaysian parents and their offspring,” said the MP for Ipoh Barat.

“Just as English is a more efficacious vehicle for the transmission of knowledge, the tendency of Malaysians to believe in the reports of foreign media such as Wall Street Journal is a reflection of those outlets' higher credibility compared to that of local investigative agencies whose independence and findings have been rendered suspect,” remarked Kulasegaran.

“Linguistic efficacy and institutional credibility are not matters that are acquired through ready means,” he asserted.

“These are the effect of solidly gotten gains made over a long period of time and subscription to them cannot be disparaged as evidence of mental colonisation,” argued the federal legislator.

Kulsasegaran said the surest way for the PM to uphold his integrity was to sue foreign media outlets that have run reports undermining the credibility of his claims that he had done nothing wrong in his handling of the 1MDB issue.

The state wealth fund has been immersed in debt and controversy for more than a year, with critics urging the PM’s resignation.

Though attorney-general Apandi Ali has absolved the PM of wrongdoing in the affair, reports in Wall Street Journal and other foreign media continue to cast a pall over the handling of the wealth fund, which has incurred debts close to RM50 billion.

“There is no other recourse than for the PM to sue his detractors in the foreign media,” observed Kulasegaran.

“He has seen fit to sue some of his interlocutors on the home front but thus far has refrained from suing his foreign accusers. This has left him open to suspicion he is unwilling to retrieve his reputation in arenas where the adjudication may not be susceptible to influence,” he maintained. Mkini