COMMENT The biggest joke was when Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was awakened by his wife, Rosmah Mansor in the middle of the night to make an important phone call to the US president-elect, Donald Trump.

It is hard to believe any story these days coming from either Najib or Rosmah. After all, we have heard too many far more incredulous stories in the past 10 years.

You cannot blame us, ordinary citizens, for simply being sceptical, especially since Najib’s explanation that he did not know some RM41 million been transferred into his account has been debunked by DAP parliamentarian Tony Pua; while Rosmah’s story of saving enough money from young to afford herself a diamond ring worth RM2 million has been talked about even by a pakcik taxi driver and a staunch Umno supporter himself whom I met in Tapah recently.

Who would believe the latest story about Trump wanting to speak to Najib urgently, since the generous Arab prince seemingly never existed in the first place. His identity has never been revealed, because according to an international economics magazine article which I have read, there is simply no Arab prince who is that rich to be able to donate that amount of money to an individual.

And, who would be able to save a million ringgit, even if the saving had started from one’s birth? One would have to save RM20,000 per annum from birth to the age of 50 just to have RM2 million, not taking into consideration the miserable bank interest.

Civil suit by US Department of Justice

Put it in another way - the civil suit filed by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has blown a hole in our confidence with the prime minister.

The whole world has already heard about the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, and the money trail involving US$1 billion that ended up being laundered in the United States.

Even golf buddy President Barack Obama did not stop the DOJ from bringing the case into broad daylight. I doubt Trump would stop the investigation from going on. Trump has his own reputation to protect. He has the American interest in mind when he becomes the next US president.

Blame it on no one else other than himself for the way some of us now think of Najib these days. We have been subjected to too many stories which we find it hard even to convince ourselves to be true. These stories are not only coming out from the opposition leaders, but even within Umno’s rank and file.

Otherwise, why is there a split in Umno now? Why, for example, in Sabah, the response to former minister Shafie Apdal’s Warisan recently appears to be so overwhelming?

By now, Najib should realise that he has used the wrong people to protect his own dignity. People like Jamal Md Yunus have created more unhappiness even amongst the Malays themselves (see this video clip).

What credibility does one still have when the word ‘kleptocracy’ is used by the DOJ of another country when pointing to the Malaysian Official 1 (MO1)?

Although Najib has denied that he has used the money for his personal gains, it was Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan, another of Najib’s generals, who proudly told the world that MO1 refers to none other than Najib himself.

The use of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) against a civilian like Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah has also brought disrepute to Najib’s own reputation as a reformist.