Perhaps in-directly or directly linked to 1MDB –

RM is not stable- Foreign investors are getting jittery- UMNO is in disarray with internal power jostling/bickering-

so is the main Opposition party-

Societal tensions along Race/religious lines are being played up to distract the damming controversies-

Malaysia is slowly losing international credibility and stature to be taken seriously
And domestically -the country as a whole is feeling the reverberations of a Goverment that is in a very alarming Crisis of Confidence and a Huge Trust Deficit to the Leadership.
And common Rakyat ,feeling the pinch of austerity policies implemented haphazardly – forming an impression of

what  a Goverment running short of funds -will resort to-

GST -subsidies removal- freezing of civil service jobs- not to mention dipping into other GLC financial resources to service a sovereign loan,( 1MDB debt.) e.g -T.Haji , EPF, Income Tax- IPP over-valuation schemes etc etc

All this factors by themselves alone is enough justification for many democratic Goverments to remove /replace their leaders -who seem  unable to steer the country away from such dire situations with so many scandals- what’s worst ,the very same  leaders are responsible for creating them !.

Scandals that any Govermental administrations can ill afford- because it affects/dis-figures the credibility and effectiveness of a Goverment’s image and hence ability to Govern a nation that’s supposed to prioritize the best interests of all citizens !

But in Malaysia,???

In backdrop of these events that has resulted – that may have bearing to the 1MDB controversy -therefore-.even if there is finally a resolution of the 1MDB fiasco .

Will it make any difference? What significance will it have?

The 1MDB scandal has been allowed to fester too long..If it had been nipped in the bud years ago.-when allegations of the questionable dealings started surfacing- of the off-shore accounts etc .

Then things may not have been so dire as it is now.,But like a beast on a rampage that has broken free from shackles.

1MDB has gotten so big and  relevant to many other issues of transparency in Governance .

It seems to have assumed the role of highlighting the importance of accountability in Goverment and what the definition of “arrogance of power that corrupts absolutely” means .

It is no longer simply whether it had been a conspiracy to topple the Administration of PM Najib,by dis-crediting his premier-ship..

As more get revealed, on the multi tentacled 1MDB beast that is extending it’s sinister reach to all within it’s grasp.

And doing so out of increasing desperation to source funds from whichever Goverment entity  they can scheme and feel they can get away with it .

In order to survive and keep its head above water -dragging the Goverment’s and  GLC’s   involvment into what is basically the doing of a few in the High and  Mighty.!

Begs the question, will lines be crossed on what is sacred and not to be touched –

Putting at risk ordinary citizens hard earned savings or investments and confidence in public institutions without them knowing?

Or unfairly pressuring financial institutions for assistance in the form of loans or what  bail-out schemes in one guise or another.That may have some impact on the financial volatility of the country?

Where does it all end?

It is no longer a question that is only focused on 1MDB and the 42 billion debt and ability to repay or service it -or even if it is proven to be a conspiracy..

That doesn’t make the debt go away nor makes it clear how the nation got into this mess in the first place!

Neither does it soften the impression of gross irresponsibility of dragging our country’s many financial obligations into this one singular quagmire-ish position ,that defies convention of how a nation’s debts are accrued.

“A “Sovereign backed loan”  means-as all well know – the country’s assets is used to guarantee the loans – but in the 1MDB instance ,considering the factors that is public knowledge – it means to gamble with the country’s money..

The ramifications of 1MDB has become much more than a mere national debt .

It is a topic that involves the credibility and trust worthiness of the scruples of the powerful in our Governance.

And the sense of arrogant invincibility they seem to have -not answerable to anyone.

And just how extreme they will go in abusing that power in commandeering the nation’s financial resources -on personal whims based on vested interests .

Without consultation but knowing that they can do so un-checked,because that’s how our system works!

Using the Power entrusted to them by the electorate-  In any way they see fit !

So even now,if the 1MDB scandal and questions can be deflected and addressed.

It doesn’t pacify the public who have manifested all the feelings of revulsion that 1MDB has generated in their psyches,as they recognize the obvious mis-use of power in mis-appropriating public tax-payers funds that could have beeen channeled to so much more better purposes,like infra-structure development , education funding or alleviation of hard ships /poverty – creating jobs ,etc etc.

In essence all that a responsible Goverment is supposed to be doing.

Instead of acquiring a 42 billion debt that benefits no one but puts the average citizen in debt,which they have no part of- nor asked for.,nor were they consulted vis their elected parlimentary representatives.

And most damming are the evasive ,procrastinating half truths and at times aggresiveness in postulating rhetorical mumbo-jumbo that is a slight to intelligent queries – when PM Najib’s camp is prompted for acceptable answers on yet another  of the continuous 1MDB allegations that puts it in a very negative light.

Can the public be blamed for not getting the reasonable answers they are asking for on the 1MDB fiasco,that can appease their logical reasoning and clears the doubts – which they have been screaming for – so many years..?!

Many of them actually wish for any small acceptable response that can give them a reasonable “Benefit of Doubt” that they will like to extend to their PM.

But,as if -the more they ask-the more incriminating are the non-responses and evasiveness.

Those who question mis-conduct and perceived power abuse of Govermental administration do so on the Moral high ground-be it voices from the Opposition or even from within  the Ruling coalition-

These are voices of conscience and protest or genuine concerns representing the ordinary people who are unable to have their sentiments of revulsion aired.because many are wary of  the draconian laws -clearly designed to silence detractors from highlighting the perceived abuse/mis-use of the powerful- that seem to have complete disregard for public opinion and sentiments- that stems from arrogance of power.!

That dodginess only serves to re-enforce what suspicions and concerns these segment of the public has of impropriety/mis-conduct and blatant mis-use of Tax payers funds for self-interests of the High and Mighty.

The most worrying on the minds of many is –

If all the allegations of deceit and mis-conduct of the powerful turn out to be warranted and based on hard facts.

But without conclusive evidence pin-pointing the real Culprits then – .

How Far Will the Powerful Go to Cover their Tracks and Deny all Accusations?

A high profile blogger has this to say about Bugis warrior Pride and Ego or Arrogance  ,in effect .means “Pirates and their Captain may rather sink their entire vessel in stormy seas and drown the entire crew – than to sail to safety of a harbour.”

Really hope this worst case scenario will not come to past,esp when the “crew ” can be thought of as a metaphoric reference to 30 million citizens of a country..
And of course “the Captain and the Pirates” don’t need to stretch the imagination to figure out Who is being alluded to!

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From Anil Netto’s site….

The publicity surrounding the arrest of a PetroSaudi IT executive smacks of a public relations exercise intended to divert attention from the major questions surrounding 1MDB.

Pro-Najib internet shrills and trolls are using this arrest to claim that all is well with 1MDB and related issues and its critics have misled the public.

But wait, the arrest of one executive in Thailand (and even if emails were tampered with – though it remains unproven whether the contents were materially altered) has done nothing to answer the following  major questions (which may or may not be related to 1MDB):

  1. It hasn’t answered the allegation made in the Wall Street Journal regarding the purchase of an (overpriced?) power plant from Genting and the alleged link to GE13 expenditure.
  2. It won’t explain who ultimately financed all those pre-GE13 free dinners in Penang and other pre-election payouts in Penang. It won’t explain who financed the post-election payouts to a large number of people in Penang over three whole days witnessed by a special investigation team from social reform group Aliran, Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin and former Penang Speaker Abdul Halim.
  3. It doesn’t explain why 1MDB needed to incur so much debt in the first place. In fact, we still want to know how much debt 1MDB has as at 31 March 2015.
  4. It doesn’t answer the questions swirling around the Cayman Islands and BSI funds/money/”units”. Why did money have to be parked in Cayman Islands? What about all that controversy regarding BSI?
  5. It doesn’t satisfactorily answer how much of those large ‘investments’ made by 1MDB in little-known entities is actually recoverable. Why is 1MDB struggling to service its loans if it has all these large “investments”?
  6. It doesn’t explain why 1MDB had to pay so much to for power plants from a concessionaire whose concession period was drawing to a close.
  7. It doesn’t explain why the government had to sell land so cheaply to 1MDB and in the process lose billions of ringgit that could have gone straight to public coffers. If the government had sold the land to 1MDB at market value, there would have been little need for GST any time soon. Who were the main players behind these outrageous land deals?
  8. It doesn’t explain what Jho Low’s precise role in this whole affair was, who he was answerable to, and if there was indeed a link with UBG.
  9. It doesn’t explain why auditors had to be changed twice and why the financial statements were persistently slow to be released.
  10. All the above questions are important. But the No 1 question everyone should ask is: Why was an entity like 1MDB necessary in the first place (when we already have Khazanah, TNB, etc), other than to remove the management of billions of ringgit of funds (borrowed on the strength of government guarantees) from parliamentary and other regulatory scrutiny and instead place decision-making of how this money was going to be spent in the hands of a tiny group of individuals? Who were the real hands – hidden or otherwise – behind 1MDB?