Sept 20, 1998: Anwar Ibrahim will never forget the date. Sacked as deputy prime minister, he was dragged from his Damansara home by balaclava-clad commandos.
Nine days later, he reappeared with a black eye - clenched fist raised - a photograph that became the icon, galvanising reformasi, the symbol of resistance against BN/Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s iron grip.
Fast forward 27 years. Anwar is now the prime minister. The balaclavas are back. But this time, the “victim” was no politician or terrorist - he was Albert Tei, a businessperson turned informer who had been charged with giving bribes to politicians for licences.
Video clips show MACC operatives in full tactical gear storming Tei’s Puchong home, cuffing him, and bundling him into an unmarked sedan. The optics were unmistakable: a commando raid against a man who, until weeks ago, was just another faceless dealmaker.
Tei’s crime? Exposing Sabah politicians on video, casually discussing cash-for-licences. His revelations escalated into a bombshell implicating Anwar’s now-former chief political secretary, Shamsul Iskandar Akin.
Tei alleged he spent RM629,000 on Shamsul, backed by a 300-page dossier of WhatsApp screenshots and receipts. They are said to contain WhatsApp messages, photographs, and even Iskanar’s suit measurements,
Tei - now on trial for two counts of bribery linked to the Sabah mining scandal - recently appeared in a video with a woman alleged to be Sofia Rini.
In the clip, she claimed to act as Shamsul’s proxy and said Anwar had authorised Tei to record discussions with Sabah politicians over mineral exploration licences, a claim which she subsequently denied.
Damage control
The fallout was swift. Shamsul resigned, but the spin machine whirred into action. Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming insisted the resignation was not about corruption, merely “letters of support” for a hospital project.
Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng dismissed a video linking Anwar to Tei’s sting as “not evidence of anything”. Damage control, textbook DAP.
Yet the question remains: Why the cloak-and-dagger raid? MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki had already scheduled Tei’s testimony for Dec 1.
Former deputy law minister Hanipa Maidin criticised MACC’s full tactical gear raid and questioned if such a “heavy-handed” tactic was necessary, especially after Tei’s lawyer had fixed a date to appear before the anti-graft body.
But Azam said the date was brought forward, and Tei’s refusal to appear three days earlier was cited as “non-cooperation”.
Hollow reasoning. Does declining an earlier date amount to obstruction? Or was MACC acting on “intelligence” that Tei had another bombshell primed - more explosive than the last - implicating more politicians?
Or was the raid simply about seizing his dossier before it reached the public?
After the raid, Tei’s wife lodged a police report, alleging officers pointed guns at both her and Tei, confiscated phones, and deleted videos. Azam denied it.
The absurdity
Lawyer Zaid Malek accused the authorities of “high-handed and unlawful” conduct, breaching constitutional rights.
More damning still, lawyer Mahajoth Singh pointed out the obvious conflict: Azam himself was named in Tei’s exposé.
“Azam is implicated, Azam is investigating, and Azam will be the one making decisions.”
Here lies the absurdity: the man under suspicion is the man in charge.
Not since the death of Teoh Beng Hock in 2009 has MACC faced such a credibility crisis. How does the MACC escape this ignominy? By coming clean, by being generous with the truth - which, in Malaysia’s political theatre, is asking the impossible.
Another “committee” or “task force” rubber-stamping that everything was “above board” will be an exercise in futility.
Reformasi was born from a black eye. Today, MACC risks being defined by black ops. For now, MACC staggers on, carrying a millstone around its neck inscribed with three damning phrases: No credibility. No integrity. No honesty. - Mkini
R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist who tries to live up to the ethos of civil rights leader John Lewis: “When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something.” Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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