“If you’re writing something that doesn’t offend anyone, then you’re probably writing bad work.”

- Lionel Shriver, New York Times bestselling author

COMMENT | Like Shriver, many scribes perfected into an art, saying what many others were too afraid to say, especially when 1MDB and then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak were making headlines around the world.

When news of his involvement in the 1MDB was reported by foreign news organisations in 2014, labels were attached to Malaysian media outlets and journalists who quoted them or were followed up upon.

It was a case of you're damned if you do and damned if you don't...