COMMENT | Open letter to Najib's daughter, Nooryana

COMMENT | Dear Nooryana Najwa Najib: You posted a photograph of your father looking so distraught and miserable, believing that the scene would warm the cockles of Malaysian hearts.

If that was your intention, you are sorely mistaken. Every time you remind the public of the plight of your father, you are not going to win sympathy and affection.

You uploaded the photograph to coincide with the 1MDB court case where the judge has ordered your father to enter his defence.

You and your family members still cling to the illusion that your father did not get a fair trial. But the people at large do not think so.

In the court of public opinion, Najib Abdul Razak was embroiled in this humongous scandal that had rocked the country to its core.

But that’s for the court to decide when your father returns to the dock yet again to try to convince the court and the unforgiving public that he is innocent of the crimes he was accused of.

You told your papa to keep his hope alive and never to lose it. That’s a good morale-boosting bit of advice. He definitely needs some uplifting doses of support.

Najib’s troubles far from over

But assuredly, the storm engulfing your daddy will not blow away anytime soon. It is unlikely that your father will emerge stronger because he is already broken in spirit and body as he faces a bigger storm boiling ahead.

You and your family believe he is suffering from political persecution, and therefore, he is fighting for his life and justice. You are all mistaken. 

Unlike genuine political prisoners, he is in jail now because he is a plain criminal who had committed grave offences in the SRC International case.

And now, he is even in deeper trouble as the tide of evidence against him in the 1MDB case is seen as overwhelming, and he is staring at a longer jail term.

Do not ask Malaysians to pray for him either, to lighten his heavy burden. We only pray for those who are jailed unjustly for exposing corruption and abusing power.

Ask yourselves why

You and your family members must do a great deal of soul-searching. Why is the head of the family behind bars? He was once the most powerful man in the country, but now he has fallen from grace. Why?

The day your father was toppled from power was the day Malaysia rejoiced, and the day he went to prison was the cause of justice served.

Make no mistake about where Malaysians stand in this matter. They do not stand by his side. Your father has no more friends. He’s cast adrift in the vast ocean of darkness, and he’s all alone.

This whole sordid narrative in which your father played the role of a very bad man will live in Malaysian history as one of shame and infamy.

PHLIP RODRIGUES is a retired journalist.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

Zaid: Umno pretends to care about Najib, must find cause of 1MDB scandal

Najib still considered Jho Low 'legitimate' after 1MDB scandal exposed: KJ

No 'cotton' prize because case was weak, Hanipa tells Shafee

1MDB: Full summary of judge's ruling ordering Najib to enter defence

Najib's daughter on storms, Zahid on real culprits, Zaid on cooking eggs

Court decision ordering Najib to enter defence welcomed - Bersih