COMMENT | Are the people at 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) for real? Or are they a bunch of super-rich kids who have enough expensive toys that one cannot think of any suitable presents to give them for their next birthdays?

Or do they have a special gizmo called One-Em-Dee-Bee which they keep under their beds and take it out occasionally to play with to humour lesser mortals like us when and if they decide?

Or do they have a modern-day Aladdin’s lamp whereupon rubbing it, a genie appears and says: “Master, your wish is my command”? The genie then goes on to process a stirring statement which it believes will appease the state, which it verily believes is a nation of fools?

Whatever said and however described, 1MDB’s latest comments in its on-going spat with DAP lawmaker Tony Pua make citizens puke and debunk the theory that “the days of the government knows best is over”. No, the politicians still know best and their diktat remains the order of the day. We, the earthly people of the land have to absorb every word and figure they churn out as if they are being delivered by the Almighty who has descended on Mother Earth.

Yesterday, the company issued yet another statement with no names or identities of those behind it. However, it must be admitted that this is accepted in journalistic practice. But on an important issue like this, wouldn’t the big boys want to face professional journalists instead of maintaining anonymity and avoiding questions?

The key phrase in its statement is “economic sabotage” - supposedly the cause of all the woes of the company and the country. But wasn’t it the same phrase which was used to arrest two innocent journalists who had the gall and gumption to pursue the truth in the 1MDB case?

Weren’t they subsequently vindicated when the whole world watched the drama being played out, thanks to the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and financial regulators all over the globe? Weren’t these nameless people who hid and continue to hide and issued statements identified by name and listed on various indictments on bankers and agents?

Anyone with common sense can succeed with the self-proclaimed 1MDB’s business model - obtain assets or be gifted with assets at a fraction of the price and re-sell them in the open market for a hefty profit. If you are given land worth RM2,000 per square foot (psf) at a discounted price of RM100 psf, unless your stupidity has hit the bottom, you’ll become a millionaire or billionaire overnight, depending on the size of the plot. You don’t need Einstein or people of his brains to come up with such money-making prowess. Where did these assets originate? From us, the taxpayers.

In the past, we have been bombarded with technical and legal jargon like “offence predicate” and the like. For a change, in simple language and with matching figures, and without couching it with any jargon or gobbledygook, please tell us:

• How much did 1MDB take in loans and the purposes for which they were used;
• How much has been repaid;
• How much interest has been incurred;
• The amounts outstanding; and,
• Other financial commitments and obligations.

The answers to these questions will at least be a consolation that the ordinary rakyat knows how much he and his children will have to contribute to the follies of a few...