The call for support for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to continue its investigation into the RM2.6 billion transferred into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's personal bank accounts grew louder at a forum in Kuala Lumpur last night.

The forum at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, which attracted a crowd of some 1,000 people, featured leaders from the opposition parties, civil society and a former Umno deputy minister pleading to Malaysians to give their full backing to MACC.

Speaking at the forum titled 'Where do we go from here', DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang read out a full news report on the comment of MACC's head of special operations, Bahri Mohamad Zin, saying he would strive to find out who got the police to disrupt the MACC investigations.

Lim even admitted that he has been critic of MACC, but he feels it is the responsibility of the citizens to protect the institution from Najib and announced that he would be going to the MACC headquarters today to give his support to the officers.

"I always thought that MACC was only chasing ikan bilis, not ikan yu... but when it is attacked, it is our responsibility to defend the institution so that it is not undermined further," the MP for Gelang Patah told the crowd.

The MACC staff even held special prayers (solat hajat) on Tuesday, seeking divine help for them to perform their tasks.

MACC has since asserted that it will question Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak on the RM2.6 billion donation he received in his bank accounts.

"MACC will also ask Najib to give an explanation to the MACC about the donation he received," the commission said in a statement yesterday.

Until now, seven MACC officers have either been arrested or called in by the police and all of them were in a way involved in the SRC International Sdn Bhd investigation and the RM 2.6 billion fund transfer into Najib’s bank accounts.

Another speaker, Ambiga Sreenevasan, hailed Bahri ( photo ) as a hero and asked the crowd to give a round of applause to him and his brave graft fighters.

Ambiga said Umno has reached its lowest point, by attacking the very institution that it always has been counting on, in these latest developments involving 1MDB, which she described as 'frightening'.

"This has been happening for the last one week, not for a year. I think even Umno has its limits, for it wouldn’t touch certain institutions... This is a new low, even for Umno.

"What happens? Arrests of people who are doing their job? This is unacceptable. They don't even care that this is happening to the honest civil servants," she said.

Another speaker, former deputy higher education minister Saifuddin Abdullah, also backed the civil servants for doing their job.

Saifuddin ( photo ), who is chairperson of the Global Movement of Moderates, said civil society and the people would support civil servants who did the right thing, such as the MACC in this instance.

He said it was important for the everybody, especially the civil servants, not to lose the 'Malaysian narrative' the fundamentals that were laid out to make sure that the country prospered.

"We may not be agreeable with everything that every group is saying, but there must be some things that we all agree on with regard to the Malaysian narrative: All of us must agree on the fundamentals.

“This is a special plea to the civil service: It is these institutions that make the nation strong. I used to work with you during my deputy minister tenure. Continue to do your work. And we will support you. The people will support you," Saifuddin said.

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