Draw rural folk with simple 1MDB stories, not jargons

DAP leaders may appear to be experts in the 1MDB narrative, armed with powerpoint presentations of charts and statistics at the ceramah Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptokrasi (Love Malaysia, Rid Kleptocracy) in Penaga, Penang, last night.

But the audience remained subdued, probably due to the barrage of jargons and figures of the complicated 1MDB trail thrown at them at such a late hour.

Attended by about 300, the event, the first to be held in a rural Malay area, an Umno stronghold, and part of a bigger rally which is slated for September, started at 9pm and ended two and half hours later.

Eventually, it was PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail who had the crowd in stitches with his short speech, targeting individuals who allegedly bought “illegal assets with stolen money” from the state fund started by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Starting with Penang-born businessman Low Teak Jho or Jho Low, the central figure of the 1MDB fiasco, Saifuddin warned "as long as Umno or BN is in power, this person will be protected”.

"But the moment we (Pakatan Harapan) declare victory in the coming polls, as soon as we take our oaths and form a new government, we will order all airports closed to Jho Low," Saifuddin said, drawing laughter from the crowd of mostly senior citizens.

Globally, the embattled fund’s dealings abroad are currently under probe in several countries, while the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has embarked on a civil suit to recover the stolen assets, including luxury homes, hotels, paintings and jewelleries worth more than US$ 1billion (RM4.5 billion).

Saifuddin stunned the simple kampung folk when he showed them the image of Najib's wife, Rosmah Manor, with the now infamous 22-carat pink diamond necklace, saying the DOJ files alleged that the jewelleries were purchased for the wife of Malaysian Official 1 (MO1).

Umno minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan has identified Najib as the MO1 although the prime minister has vehemently denied any wrongdoings, saying there will be no more statements on the 1MDB as many had been issued about it.

"But when she (Rosmah) goes down to the ground and meet with children from the villages, she appears very simple and loving," said Saifuddin.

When the former MP finally showed a photo of Islamic leader PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, whose party has declared war on former allies DAP and PKR, the crowd burst into laughter.

But Saifuddin had a serious message for Muslims when he said that it was wrong for Umno to have dragged the ulama and mufti into the ring, to defend "theft, robbery and crime" committed by perpetrators of the 1MDB scandal.

He appealed to the religious side of the Malay folk by reminding them that "protecting such crimes (kemungkaran), stealing billions and enjoying it” were totally against Islam.

"Does he (Hadi) even know what is happening in the 1MDB scandal, how much was stolen and laundered, how much was used to purchase jewelleries by Jho Low for his girlfriend (Australian model Miranda Kerr)?”.

"All he can say is that there is foreign interference to win elections in the country, but these are the assets we want to recover so we can channel back the money to small traders, for scholarships and for the poor," he added.

Others who gave speeches last night included DAP MPs Tony Pua (Petaling Jaya Utara), Zairil Khir Johari (Bukit Bendera), P Kasthurirani (Batu Kawan), Parti Amanah Negara deputy chief Faiz Fadzil and Penang Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia information chief Yaacob Osman.- Mkini