NAJIB TRIAL | Najib Abdul Razak passed RM238,914 to prominent businessperson Lim Soon Peng to spend on content and writers for the Ah Jib Gor Facebook, the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard today.
This was revealed by witness Wong Nai Chee, political secretary to Najib from 2011 to 2018, during the latter's ongoing trial for money laundering and criminal breach of trust.
Wong said Lim paid a company known as AD Network to administer the Facebook page, while the balance was spent by Akademi Kewartawanan & Informasi Taima (Akit) to hire "objective" Chinese content writers.
When quizzed by DPP Muhammad Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi, Wong explained that Lim was an influential grassroots Chinese leader and could rally crowds when asked to.
Wong said Lim had no relationship with the two companies and the latter was involved in the payment process to dissociate Najib from such activities.
Under cross-examination by lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah (above), Wong said the Ah Jib Gor Facebook page was designed to influence the Chinese community.
He added the page was designed to portray government policy accurately to the reader.
Shafee: Is (the page designed) to understand the community (better) and to serve them?
Wong: (It is) for the community to better understand the government.
The Ah Jib Gor Facebook page was launched in 2012 and currently has 204,241 followers. The page was last updated on Nov 8, 2018.
On the Chinese content writers, Shafee asked why Wong mentioned that the writers were "objective," to which the witness explained that this was a political strategy.
"We found out that before the general election, many writings in Chinese were negative (towards the government).
"So we wanted to be more objective," he said. - Mkini
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