At the time when Nazir Razak made his decision to disburse US$7 million on behalf of his brother, he probably did not have the gravity of information on 1MDB nor was able to foresee what was coming. This is what most people say, hindsight is always perfect.

I like Nazir’s statement which emphasised that “At that time, I [Nazir] did not think it was wrong.” I think this sentence alone has provided us with good insights into his mind. At that time (when he extended the help to his brother before the 13th general election), was he saying he did not know it was wrong? Now, with more information unfolding, was he saying perhaps it was not so right?

As reported, many have commended his decision to take leave of absence to facilitate investigations into the processes of his involvement in disbursing the US$7 million. The purpose was to protect the integrity of the bank, so to speak.

Be that as it may, what difference would his leave of absence and the internal review do to the event that has already taken place, i.e. US$7 million (real sources unknown at that time) that was channelled into his account for disbursement to certain politicians/party workers just before the general election?

I think there is a lot of difference between US$7 million funnelled through his account as “nothing wrong” and US$7 million funnelled through his account that he thought would not have become a “protracted” problem someday.

I am writing this with the benefits of hindsight of course. When US$7 million was given to him for disbursement, did he not ask certain fundamental questions, given his status as a very experienced and respected banker?

First, was US$7 million a large or small figure, given the number of people he has to give the money to? How many were getting it and the amount each? Would this per se be the red alert?

Second, if this was legitimate political funding for general election, why didn’t the leaders use the official party channels to disburse the money? Would this be another red alert?

Third, would he have helped if the request has come from another government leader who was not his brother?

I think in life there are many things we do which we rarely think of the consequences if the likelihood of consequences haunting us is low. I guess we will only learn when the s**t hits the fan, me included.