Najib, can you listen to us instead?

Stephen NgPublished: Jul 11, 2015 8:48 AM | Updated: Jul 11, 2015 2:20 PM

COMMENT Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, in his speech on Thursday night (July 9), said that there is too much nonsense in the social media about him and his family.

My question is: Why is it that, apart from Dr Mahathir Mohamad, only Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor are getting so much negative publicity across the globe?

COMMENT Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, in his speech on Thursday night (July 9), said that there is too much nonsense in the social media about him and his family.

My question is: Why is it that, apart from Dr Mahathir Mohamad, only Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor are getting so much negative publicity across the globe?

Why were, for example, neither Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali nor Endon Mahmood attacked by the opposition, but Rosmah has become the spectre that everyone is pointing fingers at.

Even Najib’s mother the late Rahah Noah was never ‘attacked’ in the same manner that Rosmah is being placed under the spotlight. Why does Nazir Razak, Najib’s younger brother, not come under as much attack although they came from the same family?

From one allegation after another, Najib has been the subject of scorn. A few years ago, it was over the purchase of the Scorpene submarines; thereafter, it was the murder of the Mongolian lass Altantuya Shariibuu.

Before Altantuya’s case came to a conclusion, another major volcanic eruption took place with the expose by The Wall Street Journal ( WSJ ) about RM2.6 billion being funnelled into Najib’s private accounts.

This is, in fact, the first time in Malaysian history that a sitting prime minister is being implicated in such a major scandal, if I may use the word.

Most of us know the saying ‘there will not be any smoke without fire’. While it may be true that there will not be a fire unless someone like Dr Mahathir has been fanning it, but the smoke cannot blame the fan for the fire.

The fire started because there is already firewood to be burned. If the fire stove is empty, how would a fire even start?

The truth is, unless there are skeletons in the wardrobe, no one will be able to drum up an allegation against you. If you prove yourself to be sincere, no allegations against you would survive.

The truth is, RM2.6 billion is a huge sum of money. Najib may not have used all the money for himself or his family, but it is mind-boggling even to think that such a huge amount could be transferred into personal accounts belonging to the prime minister himself without the alarm being raised in Bank Negara.

Listen here instead

Mr Prime Minister, you have said that the day has come that the government no longer knows all the answers.

Former cabinet minister Zaid Ibrahim ( photo ) has written his open letter to you, and I am doing my part as well out of concern for the future generation of Malaysians.

If what is written by both WSJ and Sarawak Report is true, then you are worse than your nemesis, Dr Mahathir. You are subjecting the financial system of our country to much ridicule worldwide.

Others have written about it but I wish to merely say it in two sentences. Are we allowing our financial system to be used for money laundering? Even if the money is used for the last general election as some had alleged, it is raising alarm about our democratic system. Period.

By expressing your intention to sue WSJ in Malaysia, although you may win all the way to the Federal Court, would this help to restore the confidence of the international community towards our nation or towards you as a person? I doubt it.

This is because a lot of doubts have been cast on our system of government, which is supposed to be bipartisan, but over the years, abuse of power has become too rampant.

Whether it is through social media or on online portals, or even the Western media, Najib cannot deny the fact that every Tom, Dick and Harry is talking about 1MDB, and now the WSJ report.

I can assure you that the next topic that will be added to the conversation is the expose by Sarawak Report that RM2 million has been deposited into the accounts of one Datin Sri Rosmah Mansor.

It no longer matters to most of us, if even Dr Mahathir was the one who masterminded your downfall. Yes, he may know the system better than members of the opposition, but we know that Dr Mahathir is no angel at all. We are only grateful, and salute him, that he has done a great job at kicking up the dust and at least done some justice for the sake of all Malaysians.

So, whether you like it or not, nearly everyone is now talking about it. Everyone is saying that there is really something amiss about your explanations, after WSJ and Sarawak Report made the expose. This is not only on the social media, but in coffee shops, at airports, and even on Skype or Facetime conversations between a Malaysian and someone abroad.

Everyone is concerned that if money of such magnitude could be transferred into your private accounts, is this just the tip of the iceberg? I wonder if the people who benefited from the gravy train would allow you to take the fall alone, or still keep you in the office and face even more exposes, themselves being included in the myriad allegations.

The wrath of the people

I can fully understand that when such a fiasco as huge as this has been kicked up, it is easy to just deny it.

Many leaders in the past have tried to deny that they did what they did, even by telling half-truths, but no one survived the wrath of the people.

A good example is when former US president Bill Clinton ( photo ) denied that he had had sex with a 21-year-old unpaid intern, Monica Lewinsky. In the end, Clinton was impeached. He, too, was democratically elected by the people.

On the other extreme, both Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were executed by the peasants who took France into its next course of history.

God willing, we do not have to reach this stage, if Najib would listen to the people’s voices and resign instead, for the sake of Malaysia.

To allow another Umno leader to continue the legacy of Dr Mahathir would spell disaster to the country.

Najib has to allow the younger generation of Malaysians to take over the helm of Malaysia and amend the ways of the corrupt in order to move Malaysia into the next height of economic success. As former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim put it, “It is now or never.”

The longer Najib tarries, the more exposes will be made, not forgetting that Dr Mahathir may have yet his next trump card in former police commando Sirul Azhar Umar, who is probably under high level security for a good reason. Mere denial no longer works, Najib.

Be a man and resign, and you will be respected as a wise Bugis warrior!

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.

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