Suspending the permit for The Edge to publish is the height of arrogance. It is a cavalier, despicable act. It reflects on the very character of the perpetrators.
The reason given for the suspension is so flimsy as to be total poppycock.
According to Bernama , a statement from the Home Ministry's secretary-general said, “The two publications were found to contain articles which violated Section 7(1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (amended 2012) which are prejudicial or may be prejudicial to public order, or may alarm public opinion or jeopardise public order and national interest.”
It does not take a genius to figure out that the report that has frightened the p**s out of the guilty parties is the one published by The Edge on July 20 and entitled ‘How Jho Low & PetroSaudi schemed to steal money from the people of Malaysia via 1MDB’.
Since July 20, there has been no rioting occurring as a result of the report. There has not even been a minor fracas reported.
For sure there must have been an inordinate amount of tumultuousness, agitation, hurly-burly and bedlam. But, doubtless, all this has been occurring till this very moment only but only in the minds of those in possession of massive wealth, the source or sources of which have never been made known to the enquiring public. No prize for guessing who they are.
Therefore, the contention that the particular report was prejudicial or might be prejudicial to public - let’s cut out all the cow dung in the mass of inane, puerile phrases and simply say ‘peace’ - peace has absolutely no merit whatsoever.
The party that has caused disquiet or discomposure in the public is, in fact, the very same one that has accused the report of being the cause.
Next, the report is said to have raised questions and created negative public perceptions of 1MDB, and also implicated the government and national leaders.
The negative perception of the quite un-strategic so-called wealth fund began to germinate, develop and flower months before the particular report was published.
The opaqueness and alleged outright lying of the government and national leaders as well as the obstinate reluctance on their part to do the appropriate thing are the reason they have been implicated. When you are evasive, untruthful or, worse, silent, your innocence is seriously suspect; you are automatically deemed guilty.
Then we have the contention that the report was based on “doubtful and unverified information, which might alarm public opinion and could/might be prejudicial to public order and national interest”.
If the owners of 1MDB hold that the information disseminated or published is erroneous, then they ought to have rebutted it by presenting unassailable facts and figures. Until this very day, they have not.
Finally, we have the contention that “the 1MDB issue is being investigated by an investigation team that has been set up. Therefore, it is inappropriate for the reporting (on the issue) to create negative perceptions and done continuously, and it is unfair for 1MDB and consequently for the government and national leaders”.
Impartiality is suspect
The impartiality or even the credibility of the investigation team is suspect. The leaders on it are all answerable to the main suspect. The terms of reference of the team is unknown. Even the identity of the party that has set up the team is unknown.
All that is known is that it is to, among other things unknown, verify whether the prime minister has used the money channelled into his private bank accounts for his personal benefit. The team’s finding on this aspect of the investigation can be guessed at accurately. And it is not going to make us jump for joy.
The issue is of public interest. It involves public money - massive amounts of it. Hardly any information has been forthcoming from both the government and the investigation team to ease the doubts in and to answer the questions from the thinking public.
And when is the investigation supposed to be completed? Ah, like the auditor-general’s probe, it seems an open-ended exercise.
To the minds of the thinking public, the suspension has been effected only to suppress the message and penalise the messenger. This act more than contradicts what the urban well-being, housing and local government minister has said - ignore the messenger, just focus on the message.
All right-minded citizens are demanding that the suspension be lifted. But as we all know, the lifting will not happen in a million years. The demand is falling on ears totally deafened by the high-decibel sounds of ill-gotten money crashing into the bank accounts of the owners of those organs.
The only feasible thing to do is to bury the owners of those organs at the next general election.
And to make damn sure they won’t turn out to be the living dead.
