Najib's Ingrained Politics Of Lying

[bakr...@juno.com]

 

Najib’s Ingrained Politics of Lying

M. Bakri Musa

www.bakrimusa.com

 

 

“The politics of lying,” Najib dismissed Mahathir’s claim of the tampering of the jet that would have flown him (Mahathir) to Langkawi last Friday, May 27, 2018. This from a man who has yet to explain how the hundreds of millions from Saudi Arabia ended up in his personalaccount instead of the Treasury. 

 

Nor have Najib’s ministers and party leaders bothered to enquire. They were neither inquisitive nor perturbed, as long as they got a piece of the loot, if only the crumbs. Likewise UMNO apparatchiks; a few millions thrown their way, enough for a condo in KL or Singapore, would reduce them into Najib’s puppy dogs, barking at anyone they deemed incurring Najib’s disfavor. Or a parrot, to pick another metaphor, as they repeat and amplify whatever he says!

 

            Najib has never given out any paycheck in his life, not even to his gardener or driver. They were paid for by the government. As such he does not appreciate the value of money or anything else for that matter. Thus he, like many of the Malay elite, are wont to conspicuous display their wealth, as with acquiring Rolls Royce and mansions. Or gaudy shows of obscene ostentations and extravagant gifts, as at his daughter’s wedding. 

 

            A few, like Najib’s stepson, ventured out further to impress the world, as with acquiring luxury properties in London, Manhattan, and Beverly Hills. Malays may be impressed and not bother to ask where the money came from; not so the folks at the US Department of Justice. 

 

It investigated this son of a retired junior army officer as well as his stepfather, now infamously identified as “Malaysian Official 1.” It went further and seized those assets and others, claiming that they were bought with illicit money, stolen from 1MDB.

 

            There was a time not too long ago and certainly within my memory when even Malay sultans lived in wooden stilt “palaces” without electricity or indoor plumbing. Today they and other nouveau riche Malays berlagak, as we say in the village. Apart from luxury properties in Western metropolises, they vacation on fancy yachts in the Mediterranean. Never mind that Malaysian beaches are much more enchanting and the waters considerably warmer!

 

            That says a lot about our culture. Malay society is just emerging from feudalism. As such we have little appreciation for the value of money. Further, we have been but bystanders in the modern money economy. Rich Malays with rare exceptions gained their wealth through “rent seeking” activities. The sultans for example, do nothing productive or creative; they squat at the apex of the special privileges heap.  

 

            In that regard the Malay elite differs from that of the West. The Gates, Bezos, and Zuckerbergs do not need to flaunt their wealth. They are richer than most countries! Instead they donate their wealth. Consider the Dukes, Stanfords, as well as the Rockekfellars and the stellar universities that bear their names.

 

            The Albukharys, Halim Saads, and Daim Zainuddins being the rare exceptions, how many rich Malays including and especially the sultans have worthy causes? The Sultan of Johor, Malaysia’s richest, does not even endow a professorship let alone a university.

 

            Back to that jet’s tempering and Najib’s politics of lying, I believe the pilot more than the Chairman of Aviation or the Chief of Police. The pilot would literally pay with his and his passenger’s life were he to make an error in his assessment. For the Police Chief and Aviation Chairman, it is never a mistake tobodek. As one former favored Bumiputra Tajuddin Ramli (the man who destroyed Malaysian Airlines) put it, you don’t say no to the Prime Minister! On the contrary you would be rewarded, and very generously too, as Tajuddin was!

 

            Ever the bodek, Tajuddin now does not say no to Najib as he is now busy campaigning for him. 

 

            Like all thieves and crooks, lying is Najib’s nature. Ministers and civil servants are so gullible to believe him. I would hate to have them negotiate for Malaysia. Look at 1MDB that had to borrow at over 6 percent at a time when I could secure a mortgage at my neighborhood bank at a mere 2.5 percent. Malaysia is being fleeced by her own greedy and corrupt leaders. 

 

            The rakyat pays for that extra cost. A 0.001 difference in interest rate on a billion dollar loan equates to millions. Even an industrial economics graduate from a third-rate university should appreciate that. 

 

            Najib’s supporters use Mahathir’s excesses as Prime Minister as the excuse to support Najib. Mahathir had the Bank Bumiputra and London Tin fiascoes, they rationalized without realizing that should Najib be re-elected, he would take that as a license to continue his plundering.

 

            Najib’s latest campaign video had him confess to his many mistakes and weaknesses, all attempts to gain voters’ sympathy. As a last desperate resort like the rogue that he is, Najib invoked Allah’s name, with clips showing him praying. At least he did not resort to the cheap Abdullah Badawi’s theatrics, as with having him lead the prayers. The hypocrisy then would be too nauseating.

 

            Admitting and confessing alone would not do it. Najib must explain the hundreds of millions that was in his personal account, and the billions in debt he imposed upon Malaysia. Most of all he must explain the deaths of Alatantuya, Hussain Najebi, and Kevin Morais. May their souls rest in peace. Najib has been silent; voters must boot him out.