Dear Minister Paul Low,

It is with a heavy heart that I have to write to you again.

I hold no malice against you as a human being. My contention from the beginning of my writing to you has been and will be for your well-being first.  I would have not bothered to write to you, if you have not confessed publicly that you follow Jesus Christ as your Lord. Moreover I was told you are an elder of a church in Kuala Lumpur and a leader of a Christian community.

I do not write to correct and admonish non-Christians as it is not my business to do so.

It is a presumption that holders of any public office will always be subjected to a circumspect scrutiny of both their integrity and honesty. However, by virtue of the fact that you are a leader of a Christian church and community, your actions, words and deeds are scrutinised much more closely.

Since my open letter to you dated Aug 1, 2015 here , I had been hoping and praying that you may have been earnestly seeking in your prayer's closet (as it should be, between you and God) as to what you should do about your untenable position as a minister in the Najib's cabinet.

The fact is you hold two ministerial positions, one as a minister in Najib’s administration for Malaysia and the other as a minister for God in His Kingdom. I hope you realise that the latter position as a minister in God’s Kingdom is far more superior than the first. I had hoped that your stand will become unequivocally clear for all to see.

Recent events in the past days since my letter of Aug 1 should have confirmed in your mind, as they have certainly to the wider apolitical general public, the further erosion of law and order in Malaysia which are notably as follows:

1. The unwarranted arrest and detention by the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officials who were tasked to carry out an impartial investigation of the 1MDB fiasco.

2. The transfer of two senior MACC officials from MACC to the Prime Minister’s department on Friday Aug 6 who were in the forefront of the 1MDB investigation.

3. The official closure of the task force comprising the Attorney-General’s Office, PDRM, Bank Negara and MACC to probe the debacle of 1MDB before the release of any outcome of the investigation make a mockery of the whole system of accountability and transparency of which you are the minister in charge.

4. The sudden and perplexing news that the head of MACC, Abu Kassim Mohamed, is on ‘official’ annual leave at this crucial time certainly bring to one’s mind the use of intimidation tactics similar to that of despotic rulers when their mandate to rule is but over. It brings to mind of Libya’s Gaddafi, Egypt’s Mubarak, the Philippines’ Marcos and Germany’s Hitler, etc, regimes - you may chose to interpret this in whatever way you wish.

5. The MACC’s recent, incomprehensible and incoherent ‘official’ statement, even before the official outcome of the investigation of 1MDB is completed, that the money transferred to Najib’s bank account is a political donation from a wealthy Arab. There is no ‘official’ confirmation as to who signed and released the press statement by MACC.

Country is running on auto-pilot

You do not need to be a rocket scientist to conclude that the motive for the above is to neutralise them and prevent them from completing their work of investigating 1MDB,"

The country is running on auto-pilot without the rule of law,  transparency and integrity in the public administration of the nation. In effect the points that I alluded to clearly demonstrate that Putrajaya is now rudderless and most concerning of all, lawless.

There is now no longer any protection for senior government officials tasked with carrying out their duties independently. Instead there are stand-over tactics, fear-mongering and intimidation used by despotic dictators against those brave and bold enough to stand up for righteousness.

You must know the whole world is watching the unfolding of this drama and laughing in bemusement at Malaysia. In particular, at the free fall and breakdown of law and order and the gravest situation of all, of unbridled abuse of power.

Therefore in my opinion, there are three important questions before you, Low, as a Christian leader in the cabinet.

Question 1. Does your standing as a Christian in Najib Abdul Razak’s cabinet bring honour to God as a minister of God or honour to Najib as a minister of Najib’s administration?

Question 2. What is your conviction that you can continue in your current ministerial portfolio having seen and witnessed the rule of law being disregarded with contempt in your presence?  

Question 3. How are you able to carry on in the cabinet as if nothing has happened when the complete disregard for the law of the land, has been evidenced in the arrest and disgraceful detention of MACC’s officials and their transfers? As minister, you had publicly and repeatedly promised to uphold the principles of integrity and good governance.

Thomas Jefferson the founding father of the United States of America once said, “The enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the constitution so the second will not become the legalised version of the first.”

Sir, having presented you with the evidence of the erosion of the rule of law brought about by the greed and power of Najib’s administration, it would seem the honourable thing for you to do now is to resign from the cabinet and the Senate so as not to cast any further aspersions on yourself, your family and your Christian faith.

As I said, I hold no malice against you and hope you will see that your participation and collusion in the evil that are in Najib’s administration who are intent to stay in office at all costs even to the extent of destroying the very fabric of democracy in Malaysia. The so-called government transformation initiatives by the Najib administration are but a smokescreen to stay in power.

May you be guided by wisdom which can only be found in God alone.

Do the right thing for Malaysia by resigning as a cabinet member and as a senator and hold your head high after you have done that.

ROBERT HUM is a retired accountant.