As I indicated yesterday, I planned to take a Hiatus from socio-political writes for an indefinite period. I feel tired and overworked just tracking the 1MDB issue, and it really saps a writer's energies. I have been recalcitrant on that "novel" I was supposed to make into an international best-...., but it's again being distracted by the greatest MalSian SCANDAL OF THE DECADE -- the 1MDB.
Reading again the SUN daily at BF this morn, I liked Citizen Nades' column, so it's just retitling a Post from two weeks back as PART II; it's just C&PAstry, so I'm not really doing a socio-political post of my own.
IF TOMORROW, I post somethin', I may revisit my BLog's initial specialised subject: desiderata.english. -- YL, Desi
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Citizen Nades - Answers first, closure next
Posted on 24 April 2016 - 07:18pm
A WEEK is a long time in politics because a lot can
happen in a short time. The Liberal politician Joseph Chamberlain is
recorded in 1886 as having said: "In politics, there is no use in
looking beyond the next fortnight."
How true! Although it is only indirectly related to politics, within a fortnight of the release of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), there have been so many twists and turns.
Claims by certain parties made in the report have been found to be unfounded; the PAC chairman chose to delete certain key elements without the consent of its members; a bogus company registered in the British Virgin Islands ended up being recipient of billions of ringgit from 1MDB; and the mother of it all is 1MDB head honcho claiming that the company could have been a victim of fraud.
In between, the statement made by the Saudi foreign minister that "he was aware of the donation" was interpreted in different ways.
This saga will never see its end in the near future and suggestions by leaders to "put it behind and move forward" are increasingly difficult to accept.
What appeared to be "expurgation" of a few lines in the report has now turned out to be a complete omission of crucial facts which would have presented the affairs of 1MDB in a totally different perspective.
The edited lines concern Bank Negara's information that Good Star Ltd, in which US$1.03 billion from 1MDB's joint venture with PetroSaudi International was diverted to, was owned by an individual and not linked to the PetroSaudi group as claimed.
"This finding is crucial to the entire investigations of 1MDB because the company and its executives have testified to PAC that Good Star is a subsidiary of PetroSaudi.
But more importantly, the MP for Petaling Jaya Utara and PAC member Tony Pua has made a stark and serious accusation against the PAC chairman saying that the latter was adamant in his refusal to call up Bank Negara officials for clarification during the PAC proceedings.
Further, Pua made a damning denunciation of the PAC boss, he charged that at the final meeting of the PAC, all members approved the final draft that included the information. So, does the chairman have arbitrary powers to remove crucial information which was agreed by the committee?
"If he is questioning the findings of Bank Negara, then why did he persistently, as recorded in the Hansard on at least five occasions, refuse our request to call Bank Negara to testify?" asked Pua in a media statement.
Why did the PAC chairman reject the requests which would have resulted in the central bank's officials testifying the flow of money from 1MDB to various sources?
The PAC is supposed to be a bi-partisan body made up of members from both sides of Parliament. But Pua's indictment of his own chairman now shows otherwise.
The chairman's response was that the deletion of two sentences in no way affects the final report and justified it by saying that the sentences were deleted because of their unclear status or being investigated and were not for public consumption.
Malaysians, especially those who have closely followed the ups and downs of 1MDB, will certainly find similarity in the lyrics of the Vengaboys' hit song – Up and Down:
Your words, your face, they confuse me;
You leave traces (shake shake shake shake);
Pretending it's not there;
Pretending you don't know, playing games with me.
The fact that Malaysians were not provided adequate and accurate information on the 1MDB to make an educated judgment is an understatement. The PAC report offers several glimpses.
For example, the second finance minister told us last year that the company's auditors were rotated as it is normal practice. But we now know they were sacked.
Right-thinking Malaysians want to see a closure to this saga which has been in the news for far too long. To do so, they need answers. The contradictory answers from our leaders make it even more difficult.
So many questions have been asked and the answers have not been helpful. Instead, they raise even more doubts. Like I said earlier, we need closure so that we can concentrate our efforts in other areas especially in containing the spiralling prices of consumables and the economy. We cannot go on with disclosures on a daily basis which distract us.
We need the people involved to put all the cards on the table and clear the air once and for all. There may be dire consequences as a result of such a move but the bullet has to be bitten. This is the only way we can put these issues behind and move on as suggested by our leaders. If we continue dragging our feet on this matter, it will be a long and winding road to come out of the woods.
R. Nadeswaran says that there has been an ****overdose of 1MDB matters and only the truth will put an end to the speculations, conjectures and assumptions. Comments: citizen-nades@theswundaily.com
PS: I feel the same about this **** marked above, but we can't not write about 1MDB because we love our country; yes, we care enough to want to build a BETTER MALAYSIA for ourselves and our children and their children to follow. O LOrd, help us "Save Malaysia" from UM-oh-No and the Clueless Ones! -- Amen
How true! Although it is only indirectly related to politics, within a fortnight of the release of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), there have been so many twists and turns.
Claims by certain parties made in the report have been found to be unfounded; the PAC chairman chose to delete certain key elements without the consent of its members; a bogus company registered in the British Virgin Islands ended up being recipient of billions of ringgit from 1MDB; and the mother of it all is 1MDB head honcho claiming that the company could have been a victim of fraud.
In between, the statement made by the Saudi foreign minister that "he was aware of the donation" was interpreted in different ways.
This saga will never see its end in the near future and suggestions by leaders to "put it behind and move forward" are increasingly difficult to accept.
What appeared to be "expurgation" of a few lines in the report has now turned out to be a complete omission of crucial facts which would have presented the affairs of 1MDB in a totally different perspective.
The edited lines concern Bank Negara's information that Good Star Ltd, in which US$1.03 billion from 1MDB's joint venture with PetroSaudi International was diverted to, was owned by an individual and not linked to the PetroSaudi group as claimed.
"This finding is crucial to the entire investigations of 1MDB because the company and its executives have testified to PAC that Good Star is a subsidiary of PetroSaudi.
But more importantly, the MP for Petaling Jaya Utara and PAC member Tony Pua has made a stark and serious accusation against the PAC chairman saying that the latter was adamant in his refusal to call up Bank Negara officials for clarification during the PAC proceedings.
Further, Pua made a damning denunciation of the PAC boss, he charged that at the final meeting of the PAC, all members approved the final draft that included the information. So, does the chairman have arbitrary powers to remove crucial information which was agreed by the committee?
"If he is questioning the findings of Bank Negara, then why did he persistently, as recorded in the Hansard on at least five occasions, refuse our request to call Bank Negara to testify?" asked Pua in a media statement.
Why did the PAC chairman reject the requests which would have resulted in the central bank's officials testifying the flow of money from 1MDB to various sources?
The PAC is supposed to be a bi-partisan body made up of members from both sides of Parliament. But Pua's indictment of his own chairman now shows otherwise.
The chairman's response was that the deletion of two sentences in no way affects the final report and justified it by saying that the sentences were deleted because of their unclear status or being investigated and were not for public consumption.
Malaysians, especially those who have closely followed the ups and downs of 1MDB, will certainly find similarity in the lyrics of the Vengaboys' hit song – Up and Down:
Your words, your face, they confuse me;
You leave traces (shake shake shake shake);
Pretending it's not there;
Pretending you don't know, playing games with me.
The fact that Malaysians were not provided adequate and accurate information on the 1MDB to make an educated judgment is an understatement. The PAC report offers several glimpses.
For example, the second finance minister told us last year that the company's auditors were rotated as it is normal practice. But we now know they were sacked.
Right-thinking Malaysians want to see a closure to this saga which has been in the news for far too long. To do so, they need answers. The contradictory answers from our leaders make it even more difficult.
So many questions have been asked and the answers have not been helpful. Instead, they raise even more doubts. Like I said earlier, we need closure so that we can concentrate our efforts in other areas especially in containing the spiralling prices of consumables and the economy. We cannot go on with disclosures on a daily basis which distract us.
We need the people involved to put all the cards on the table and clear the air once and for all. There may be dire consequences as a result of such a move but the bullet has to be bitten. This is the only way we can put these issues behind and move on as suggested by our leaders. If we continue dragging our feet on this matter, it will be a long and winding road to come out of the woods.
R. Nadeswaran says that there has been an ****overdose of 1MDB matters and only the truth will put an end to the speculations, conjectures and assumptions. Comments: citizen-nades@theswundaily.com
PS: I feel the same about this **** marked above, but we can't not write about 1MDB because we love our country; yes, we care enough to want to build a BETTER MALAYSIA for ourselves and our children and their children to follow. O LOrd, help us "Save Malaysia" from UM-oh-No and the Clueless Ones! -- Amen
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