Kadir: Two flee country, ‘innocents’ held back

One possibility is that these individuals might get their hands on even more material, all damaging of course, on 1MDB.

KUALA LUMPUR: A veteran newsman thinks it’s ironic that the authorities concerned have imposed travel bans on several “innocent” individuals, probably in connection with the ongoing investigations into the scandal-ridden 1MDB, but at the same time ironically could not prevent two other individuals – certainly on the wanted list — from fleeing the country. “We cannot rule out that the bans on the ‘innocents’ were related to the conspiracy to topple the Prime Minister.”

“The other possibility is that these individuals might get their hands on even more material, all damaging of course, on 1MDB.”

Former New Straits Times Group Editor in Chief Kadir Jasin, taking to his blog for a piece well past the 1,000 mark, named the duo who apparently has fled the country as lawyer Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil and Suboh Mohd Yassin, a former high-ranking civil servant.

Others, not so lucky, could have been barred for any number of “other” reasons as well including the need to promote the durians now in season, save on the ringgit which has dived south on the forex market, conserve on forex reserves, ensure that Visit Malaysia year is a success under the Cuti-Cuti Malaysia programme of activities, and ensure that no one joins the Islamic State (IS).

“Last night, I had tea with one of those not allowed to leave the country, an Opposition MP,” confessed Kadir. “I have been able to do things like these since June 26 since I am no longer aligned with any political party.”

Also, since he has been jobless since July 1 after having worked for a salary for 46 years from June 16, 1969, he implied that he was no longer dependent on anyone and could therefore afford to be non-partisan in politics.

On a more serious note, said Kadir, while enjoying the light moments to ease the difficulties even in breathing under the circumstances, it’s high time to ponder over who can best head the government. “That’s all we can do and give our opinion. We don’t have the power to appoint anyone.”

“We only have the power to vote when elections come.”

The bottomline is the choice would be to get the best of the worst, he said. “We can only get a human being, not an angel. Someone who knows what moral values are, and is familiar with religion, not too controversial, not too rich and where the wife and the children know their place.”

Resuming on his tea session with the Opposition MP, Kadir revealed that the MP recently visited Sulawesi for two weeks to study how the people there resolved bloody Christian-Muslim conflicts.

“He learnt that the Bugis were not pirates as commonly thought but people who lay great stress on holding on to the truth,” he related. “Of course no Bugis these days would admit to being pirates but that was in the old days. Nowadays, most pirates are from off Somalia. In fact, wherever there’s sea, there are pirates.”

On land however, he said, there are thieves, robbers, and the like, the latest being white collar criminals. “In any case, to borrow from the lingo of the Gen-Y, it’s important not to be too emo (emotional).”

Otherwise, he warned, one gets too stressed and has sleepless nights, no meals on time, goes into hysteria or even gets into epileptic fits, becomes disoriented and directionless, bathing but not getting wet. “There’s no medication for all these. If we get into difficulties, no one will care about us.”

Kadir delved into history from the French Revolution and recalled that when Queen Marie Antoinette learnt that the people had no bread, she suggested that they could eat cake. “The end result of course was she and Louis KVI, the King, were beheaded by the people.”

Likewise, 20 years ago nearer home, Marcos of the Philippines fled the country when he was hunted by the people. “Lucky for him, Washington was willing to help smuggle him out.”

“Today, there’s a museum in Manila which displays all the pairs of shoes that Imelda, the First Lady, owned.”