Veteran opposition lawmaker Lim Kit Siang has urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to launch a full-scale investigation into the statement from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on the prime minister's "inheritance".

Lim said the PMO had told New York Times recently that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's expenditure, which includes satisfying his wife Rosmah Mansor's apparent appetite for luxury, was from " received inheritance ".

"Neither any money spent on travel, nor any jewellery purchases, nor the alleged contents of any safe are unusual for a person of the prime minister’s position, responsibilities and legacy family assets," the PMO said in reply to a recent article on well-connected Malaysian businessman Jho Low in the NYT.

Lim ( left ) said the phrase "alleged contents of any safe" itself warranted a probe.

"Can the MACC initiate full-scale investigations on Najib's (wealth) or must the MACC first get the 'green light' from Najib himself?" Lim asked in a press statement today.

 

He pointed out that the PMO's statement about inheritance from former prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein had also surprised Najib's four brothers.

 

The brothers, in a rare public statement , reiterated their father was a man known for his frugality and integrity and said such claims tarnished his good name.

 

The DAP veteran said that he too could vouch for Abdul Razak's integrity and frugality when he served as MP during the former prime minister's tenure in 1971 to 1976.

 

Lim added that even Abdul Razak's ( right ) former political secretary, Abdullah Ahmad, had in an essay published in a collection titled ‘Tun Abduk Razak - A Personal Portrait’ in 2005, said his former boss died a "relatively poor man because he did not succumb to the temptations of money".

 

Lim also quoted Kalsom Taib, wife of Razak's  former private secretary Shafee Yahya, who likewise had penned in the same collection of essays about Abdul Razak's frugality. 

 

“Shafee also recalled Tun’s high sense of integrity and accountability.  He remembered one incident when Tun did not allow (wife) Toh Puan Rahah to change the curtains and re-upholster the furniture in the living area of their official residence, Sri Taman, even though the curtains and furniture were showing signs of wear and tear. The simple furnishings in Sri Taman reflected Tun’s thrift and respect for public funds," she had written.

 

Lim said Najib too had testified about his father's frugality in an essay titled ‘A Hard Act to Follow’.

As such, Lim said it was uncharacteristic that the statement by Najib's brothers defending their father was blacked out by the mainstream media and it took Najib a week to endorse it.