Some news events from Malaysia

[Mr.Cyan]

Couple of news events from Malaysia today; one tragic, and one strange that could possibly be a "fire in the sky" event. The tragic story was equally strange, as the fire and rescue responded to call, where a teenager had fallen into a disused mining pool. 6 divers got involved in the rescue to find the boy, and tragically they all drowned and the teenager has not been found yet.

Is it a bomb? Is it a ... ? Mysterious loud bang jolts locals in Ipoh
Is it a bomb? Is it a ... ? Mysterious loud bang jolts locals in Ipoh - Nation | The Star Online

IPOH: A mysterious loud bang was heard in most parts of the city, as citizens question its source.
The noise, which was akin to the sound of an explosion, was heard at 11.20am.

The noise could be heard by locals at Tambun, Ipoh Garden, Old Town and at Station 18.
Folk in Tambun and Ipoh Garden were also said to have felt some tremors during the incident.
Members of the public are speculating on its source, where some believing it to be from a bomb test by the Royal Malaysian Air Force, an accident at a construction site, or aftershocks caused by the volcano eruption in Indonesia.
A shopkeeper, Mel Lim, in her 50s, who heard the noise near Old Town, thought it came from a construction site nearby.
“I just thought it was an accident at the construction site.
“But people on the streets are talking about it, with many thinking it was a bomb,” she said.
According to the state Fire and Rescue Department, a spokesman said there had been a rock blasting exercise at a quarry in Simpang Pulai at about the same time.
“We are also trying to determine and confirm the main cause of the noise,” he said.
Ipoh Deputy OCPD Supt Abdul Rani Alias said the police are investigating the matter.


Six Bomba divers drown in disused mining pool while trying to rescue teen
Six Bomba divers drown in disused mining pool while trying to rescue teen - Nation | The Star Online

SERDANG: Six Fire and Rescue personnel drowned while trying to rescue a teenager from a disused mining pool in Taman Putra Perdana near here.
A Department spokesperson said in the 9pm incident Wednesday (Oct 3), all six personnel, who were part of the rescue diving unit, were dragged away by strong currents.

The personnel were searching for a 17-year-old boy who is believed to have fallen into the mining pool at around 5.50pm on Wednesday.
It was learnt the boy and two others were fishing at the mining pool when he fell in.

The two frantically sought help from residents nearby to rescue their friend.
Selangor Fire and Rescue Department director Azmi Osman said they managed to retrieve the six personnel and administered CPR in an attempt to resuscitate them.
"The personnel however did not respond and were pronounced dead.
"Two of them are from the Shah Alam fire station while the other four are from the Port Klang fire station.
"The bodies have been sent to the Serdang Hospital for post-mortem examination," he said.

p.s trying to change the title of the thread from "new" to "news" but I can't seem to edit it. Sorry for the typo

 

[angelburst29]

Occasionally but not often, do I come across a news article on Malaysia. Thought this might be of interest?

October 29, 2018 - Super yacht linked to Malaysia's 1MDB scandal goes up for Auction
Superyacht linked to Malaysia's 1MDB scandal goes up for auction | Reuters


Seized luxury yacht Equanimity, belonging to fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, is brought to Boustead Cruise Terminal in Port Klang, Malaysia August 7, 2018. REUTERS/Lai Seng Sin

A $250 million luxury yacht linked to a multi-billion dollar scandal at Malaysia's state fund 1MDB has gone up for auction, a government lawyer said on Monday, the first sale of a major asset seized by investigating authorities.

The Equanimity is among $1.7 billion in assets allegedly bought by fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, and his associates with funds taken from 1MDB, the U.S. Department of Justice has said.

Malaysia and the United States are investigating how billions of dollars went missing from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), with some of the money used to buy a private jet, Picasso paintings, jewelry, real estate and a super yacht.

A Malaysian court in August approved the sale of the 300-ft (91 m) Cayman Islands-flagged Equanimity, which was impounded months earlier near the Indonesian island of Bali and handed over to Malaysia.

The Equanimity, which according to U.S. court documents was bought by Low for $250 million, has been appraised for the auction. But its estimated value will only be disclosed after the bidding process ends on Nov. 28, said Jeremy Joseph, a lawyer for 1MDB and the government.

“If the highest bid matches or exceeds the appraised value, then it can be accepted by the court,” Joseph told Reuters.

The proceeds will be held by the court for 90 days to allow time for any potential claimants to come forward, he said.

A representative for Equanimity (Cayman) Ltd, a company which claims ownership of the yacht, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The firm said in August that Malaysia’s move to sell the yacht was a violation of due process and international law.

Malaysian police have issued an arrest warrant and filed criminal charges against Low, but his whereabouts are unknown.

A representative for Low, who has maintained his innocence, did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Monday.

Low said through a spokesman in August that the seizure and planned sale of the yacht was “illegal and costly.”

The Equanimity’s interior was designed “using a variety of exotic materials,” according to a website listing by Burgess, a yacht brokerage appointed to oversee the bidding process.

The vessel can accommodate up to 22 guests and 31 crew, with amenities that include a swimming pool, a beauty salon, a massage room and sauna, medical facilities and a helicopter pad, the listing said.

 

[angelburst29]

December 3, 2018 - In 'New Malaysia", race continues to cast a long shadow
In 'new Malaysia', race continues to cast a long shadow | Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR - Just months after a stunning election victory, Malaysia’s prime minister has had to step in to mollify the country’s majority Malay Muslims in recent weeks, underlining a weighty challenge confronting his multi-ethnic, reformist coalition: race.

When riots erupted at a Hindu temple outside the capital, Kuala Lumpur, last week, 93-year-old Mahathir Mohamad spared no effort to scotch speculation that tensions with Malays were to blame.

Just a few days earlier, his government reversed its pledge to ratify a U.N. convention against racial discrimination following a backlash from groups who argued that it would dilute privileges Malays have enjoyed for decades.

The two incidents illustrate the predicament confronting Mahathir as euphoria over the May election fades: curbing racial divisions, carrying out reform and reassuring Malays that affirmative-action policies favoring them in business, education and housing are not about to disappear.

And Mahathir’s unlikely alliance - known as Pakatan Harapan, or Pact of Hope - has to do that without upsetting the delicate balance of its constituent parties.

“The problem with Pakatan Harapan as a multiracial coalition is that it is not seen as championing the Malays,” said a deputy minister, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

He said opposition parties are successfully fanning a perception that Malays, about 60 percent of the country’s 32 million people, are being abandoned in what some have called ‘New Malaysia’.

Malaysia’s ethnic Chinese are estimated at 23 percent while mostly Hindu ethnic Indians comprise about 7 percent, government data shows.

Mahathir ousted the long-ruling coalition led by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which has pushed positive discrimination for Malays to avoid a repeat of bloody Chinese-Malay riots in 1969. Mahathir was prime minister for two decades at the head of UMNO, before he fell out with his successors.

In the May election, Mahathir’s coalition won overwhelming support from ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities, but it secured the votes of only 30 percent of Malay voters, according to estimates by independent polling firm Merdeka Center.

About 40 percent of Malays backed the beleaguered government of former Prime Minister Najib Razak, an UMNO grandee who is now facing multiple graft charges, and the rest voted for Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), a conservative Islamic party.

A Merdeka poll in August showed that concerns over ethnic issues and religious rights had grown since the election, with about 21 percent citing those issues as a concern compared with 12 percent in April.

WHICH CROWD TO PLEASE?
For many Malays, the ouster of Najib over the multi-billion-dollar corruption scandal that had swirled for years around the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) sovereign wealth fund was fair enough.

But some have been dismayed by moves made by the government of Mahathir - himself once a champion of the Malay ‘bumiputera’, or ‘sons of the soil’ policy - such as the appointment of non-Malays as minister of finance and attorney general.

A lawmaker in the ruling coalition said the initial plan to ratify the U.N. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination fed a narrative pushed by UMNO and PAS that the government is out of touch with the Malay community, especially the working class.

“The Malays are more focused on socio-economic issues, and if you don’t focus on their poverty and hardships, obviously they’ll get worked up,” said the lawmaker, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Mujahid Yusof Rawa, minister in charge of religious affairs, conceded that the coalition is struggling to convince Malays that its policies will benefit them and protect Islamic values.

“We have had some success in reaching out to them, but if we fail to build on that, it will affect support from Malay voters,” he said.

Mahathir, who was prime minister from 1981 to 2003 and is now the oldest elected leader in the world, remains a sharp political operator: many expect he will take steps to shore up Malay support for his government.

It was Mahathir who snuffed out controversy over the U.N. treaty by dropping it, and amid the Hindu temple unrest he promised action to keep the peace, acknowledging that “such incidents ... can lead to bigger problems involving racial harmony.”

His administration has also refused to deport an Indian Islamic preacher, Zakir Naik, who is popular among conservative Malay Muslims but is being investigated by Indian authorities for alleged hate speech. Naik began a five-day speaking tour in a northern state last week.

But steps that pander to Malays could create rifts within Mahathir’s alliance, which includes the Chinese-led Democratic Action Party and the pro-reform party of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim. There is an understanding that Mahathir will eventually hand power to Anwar, but the two men have fallen out before.

“As things currently stand, the Malay opposition are saying the government is being dominated by the Democratic Action Party and weak on Malay interests and that it is delivering far less than promised,” said Ibrahim Suffian, director of pollster Merdeka. “The danger is that if they try to please one crowd, they push away the other.”

 

[Mr.Cyan]

Great to know that Putin and the Malaysian PM Mahathir and his wife have a good personal relationship. He has also visited their personal home when Mahathir was not in power; and recently they also met in Singapore:

Siti Hasmah regales with stories of Putin and Imran
Siti Hasmah regales with stories of Putin and Imran - Nation | The Star Online

KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali shared how she managed to hold hands recently with two handsome world leaders while on official functions abroad with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The Prime Minister’s wife related the incidents in a light-hearted manner where she held the hands of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“My daughter-in-law saw the reports online and she teased me that she was ashamed of me flirting with Putin.
“Putin was one of the leaders who came to our humble house during an official visit to Kuala Lumpur years ago.

“He came to visit during the 10 years when we were sidelined,” she said, adding that Putin insisted on visiting them at home when Dr Mahathir met him at the hotel.
“So he came to our house, which was the smallest with no fence and not like other palaces.”
Dr Siti Hasmah said that Putin invited them to visit his house when they went to Moscow.

Earlier, Dr Siti Hasmah attended a cheque presentation ceremony by Global Doctors Malaysia to three NGOs here yesterday evening.

During the 33rd Asean Summit in Singapore last month, Dr Siti Hasmah recalled further that Putin insisted on meeting up again.
“We were all staying in the same hotel. He had over 100 security personnel protecting him.
“Eventually the guards let us in. After shaking his hand and meeting him, of course, we had to take pictures, right?
“I had to hold someone’s hand, so I held his. Why are you so envious? What’s wrong with that?” she asked in jest, leaving the crowd in stitches.

Dr Siti Hasmah, who won hearts globally after the video of her gleefully asking to hold Imran’s hand went viral, said she did that because Imran also visited their home.
“He was another illustrious son who came to our humble home. Twice he came to Malaysia and twice he came to our home.
“That’s the reason why. They treat me as their mother.
“So what’s wrong with that? Why are you jealous?” she said, as the crowd erupted in another round of laughter.
Revealing that she has poor eyesight, Dr Siti Hasmah said: “I can’t see your faces. In most instances, I don’t even recognise my own children until I hear their voices when they come and kiss my cheeks.”

She also related an embarrassing incident where she mistakenly held the hand of another man while on an official visit in Tokyo with Dr Mahathir.
“I was so ashamed. I scolded my husband and told him that’s what happens when you’re not beside me.
“So take care of your eyesight and hearing so that you don’t end up in embarrassing situations like this,” she added.
Meanwhile, a total of RM111,000 was presented to three NGOs – the National Autism Society of Malaysia, Malaysian Rare Disorders Society and Childline Malaysia.
It was presented by Global Doctors Group chairperson Datuk Dr Sharifah Fauziah Alhabshi while Dr Siti Hasmah witnessed the handover.
The sum was raised during a charity dinner held on Nov 16.

 

[angelburst29]

December 4, 2018 - Singapore makes strong protest to Malaysia over Port extension plan
Singapore makes strong protest to Malaysia over port extension plan | Reuters

SINGAPORE - Singapore has made a “strong protest” to Malaysia over its plan to extend the limits of a port in its southernmost state, saying it encroached the territorial waters of the wealthy city-state.

The assertion, which Malaysia called inaccurate, is the latest development in the neighbors’ spats over parts of the Singapore Strait, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

Singapore’s transport ministry said it had asked Malaysia to reverse its steps on the port limits to reflect Singapore’s sovereignty over the waters in question, and refrain from further unilateral action.

“We note with grave concern that Malaysia has recently purported to extend the Johor Bahru port limits in a manner which encroaches into Singapore territorial waters off Tuas,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.

“In response, Singapore has lodged strong protest with the Malaysian government.”

It added that Malaysian vessels had repeatedly intruded into Singapore’s territorial waters over the past two weeks off Tuas, in the city-state’s west.

“Singapore has protested the unauthorized movements of, and purported assertions of sovereignty by, these vessels, which are inconsistent with international law,” it said.

Singapore will not hesitate to take firm action against such activities, it said, adding that it was ready to try and resolve matters amicably, in line with international law.

On Wednesday, Malaysia’s transport minister, Anthony Loke Siew Fook, called Singapore’s claims inaccurate, saying the altered port limits had not encroached any part of the city state.

“The altered port limits of Johor Bahru port are in Malaysia’s territorial sea and it is well within Malaysia’s right to draw any port limit in our territorial sea,” he said in a statement.

In a previous territorial dispute between the neighbors, over remote rocky outcrops off Malaysia’s southeastern shores, the International Court of Justice awarded rights to a formation to each in 2008.

In another dispute, Malaysia told Singapore it intends to take back control of airspace managed by the city-state since 1974, amid friction over a flight path to a secondary airport in Singapore.

Singapore was once part of Malaysia but they separated acrimoniously in 1965, clouding diplomatic and economic dealings for years.


December 4, 2018 - Malaysian Fugitive Jho Low, four others hit with fresh 1MDB charges
Malaysian fugitive Jho Low, four others hit with fresh 1MDB charges | Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian police filed fresh criminal charges and issued arrest warrants for fugitive financier Low Taek Jho and four others wanted in connection with a multi-billion-dollar scandal at state fund 1MDB, officials said on Wednesday.

Low, popularly known as Jho Low, has been identified by Malaysian and U.S. investigators as a central figure in the alleged theft of about $4.5 billion from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Low, whose whereabouts is not known, has denied any wrongdoing through a spokesman.

Last month, U.S. prosecutors charged Low and two former Goldman Sachs bankers with conspiracy to launder 1MDB money and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

On Tuesday, Low and four others were charged with 13 money laundering and criminal breach of trust offences involving losses of 1MDB funds totaling $1.17 billion or 4.2 billion ringgit, based on foreign exchange rates at the time of the offense, Malaysian police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun said in a statement.

Arrest warrants were issued against the five who have left Malaysia, Mohamad Fuzi said.

“If they are found to be in any other country, police and the Attorney General’s Chambers will take action to request their extradition so that they can be brought back to Malaysia to face charges in court,” he said.

1MDB was founded by former Malaysian premier Najib Razak in 2009 and is the subject of money-laundering probes in at least six countries, including the United States, Switzerland and Singapore.

Najib was ousted in a general election in May by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who reopened investigations into 1MDB and Najib’s involvement at the fund.

Najib is now facing nearly 40 money laundering and corruption charges related to losses at 1MDB and other government entities. He has consistently denied wrongdoing.

MONEY LAUNDERING CHARGES
Low was charged with five counts of money laundering involving transfers totaling $1.03 billion into a Swiss bank account between Sept 30, 2009 and Oct 25, 2011.

Along with his aide, Eric Tan Kim Loong, Low faces two more money laundering charges for receiving $126 million in a Singapore-based bank account, Mohamad Fuzi said.

The new charges are in addition to eight counts of money laundering already filed against Low in August.

A spokesman for Low said the latest charges were a continuation of “trial-by-media”.

“As has been previously stated, Mr. Low will not submit to any jurisdiction where guilt has been predetermined by politics and there is no independent legal process,” the spokesman said in a statement.

Also charged were 1MDB’s former general counsel Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, its former business development director Casey Tang Keng Chee, and former finance executive director Terence Geh Choh Heng.

Loo and Tan have also been named as key figures in U.S. civil lawsuits seeking to seize more than $1.7 billion in assets allegedly bought with stolen 1MDB funds.

Unlike Low who has said he is innocent, Tan and the other three others charged have not made any comment about the 1MDB case, and their whereabouts is also unknown.


December 5, 2018 - Indonesian Soldier killed in separatist attack in Papua
Indonesian soldier killed in separatist attack in Papua | Reuters

JAKARTA - A soldier has been killed in Indonesia’s eastern province of Papua where security forces are hunting for a separatist group suspected of killing at least 19 workers building a bridge, a military spokesman said on Wednesday.

The killing of the workers is one of the worst outbreaks of violence in years in Papua, home to a simmering separatist conflict since it was incorporated into Indonesia after a widely criticized U.N.-backed referendum in 1969.

Colonel Muhammad Aidi said the number of workers killed in the attack had been revised down to 19 from 24, based on the latest accounts from four survivors.

The survivors were followed by separatist militants to a military post where a soldier was killed in a gunfight, Aidi said by telephone from Papua.

“The TNI (Indonesian military) post was attacked on Monday morning by a significant number of the armed group using military grade weapons, as well as spears and arrows,” he said.

Aidi said on Tuesday a construction worker who took a photograph of separatists celebrating what they consider their independence day appears to have sparked the killings.

Some Papuans regard Dec. 1 as their independence day from Dutch colonial rule and hold rallies or raise separatist flags banned by the Jakarta government.

The military arm of the separatist group, the Free Papua Movement (OPM), said on its Facebook page on Wednesday it viewed the workers as members of the military and casualties of a war against the Indonesian government.

Indonesia officials say the workers were civilians employed by state construction firm, PT Istaka Karya, which is building bridges for the Trans Papua highway.

Since coming to power in 2014, President Joko Widodo has pledged to hasten development and open up access to the resource-rich province, including the Trans Papua road project to link remote areas.

Widodo said on Wednesday security for construction projects in Papua would be addressed by his government.

“The construction of the Trans Papua road needs to be continued and will never be stopped,” he told reporters.

While separatists have been blamed for carrying out attacks, Indonesia’s human rights commission has also urged Widodo to end rights violations by security forces in Papua.

 

[angelburst29]

Legally and by mandates set forth by International Law - Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is correct in his assessment.

December 16, 2018 - Malaysia's Mahathir says No Rights to recognize Jerusalem as Israeli Capital
Malaysia's Mahathir says no rights to recognize Jerusalem as Israeli capital | Reuters

Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks during the APEC CEO Summit 2018 at the Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 17 November 2018. Fazry Ismail/Pool via REUTERS

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Sunday criticized Australia’s move to recognize West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, saying countries had “no rights” to do so.

Australia’s move follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv in May, which infuriated Palestinians and the wider Islamic world and upset Western allies.

“Jerusalem should remain as it is now and not the capital of Israel,” Mahathir told Reuters on the sidelines of an event in Bangkok.

“Jerusalem has always been under Palestine, so why are they taking the initiative to divide Jerusalem not belonging to them, but to divide the Arabs and the Jews? They have no rights,” he added.

Malaysia is a majority-Muslim country and has long supported a two-state solution in the Palestine-Israel conflict.

The status of Jerusalem, home to sites holy to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian faiths, is one of the biggest obstacles to a peace agreement between Israel and Palestinians who want East Jerusalem recognized as the capital of a Palestinian state.

Israel regards all of Jerusalem as its capital, including the eastern sector that it annexed in a move not recognized internationally, after the 1967 Middle East war.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison reversed decades of Middle East policy by the country but said there are no immediate plans to move the Australian embassy from Tel Aviv.

 

[angelburst29]

2018-12-29 - Mahathir Mohamad Confirms 2019 Visit With Imran Khan in Islamabad as Malaysia-Pakistan Ties Deepen
Mahathir Mohamad Confirms 2019 Visit With Imran Khan in Islamabad as Malaysia-Pakistan Ties Deepen - Eurasia Future

Veteran Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has confirmed a three day visit to Pakistan to take place in March of 2019. During his visit, Mahathir will call on Prime Minister Imran Khan and other Pakistani officials. Both nations look to increase trading relations as well as working together to strengthen bilateral ties in areas ranging from security to human development. In addition to discussing issues of vital importance to bilateral relations, Mahathir with be one of Imran Khan’s guests of honour during the annual Pakistan Day celebrations on the 23rd of March.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan completed an official visit to Malaysia in November, during which time he held lengthy conversations with veteran Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. At the age of 93 and back in office after fifteen years of what most thought was a retirement, Malaysia’s longest serving Prime Minister looks to continue to build upon his decades of experience in economic and social reform.

First elected in 1981, Mahathir’s governments were characterized by a drive for economic openness after Malaysia had fallen far behind neighbouring Singapore which broke off from Malaysia in 1965. While Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew become south east Asia’s major success story, in spite of having not dissimilar demographics, the same climate and the same historical experiences, Malaysia was unable to catch up.

Mahathir set about changing this by pursuing policies of economic openness designed to attract foreign direct investment and global innovators to the country. Through a combination of cutting taxation and regulation on the one hand and investing in modern infrastructure creating initiatives on the other – all the while carefully monitoring economic development to ensure an even distribution of prosperity, Malaysia became transformed by the end of the 1990s even in spite of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Today, the capital Kuala Lumpur is a modern metropolis that remains a key business and tourist destination thanks largely to the transformative policies of Mahathir.

During his visit to Malaysia, Imran Khan said the following regarding learning from Malsyia’s economic growth and vast reduction of poverty under the governments of Mahathir:

“We look up to him [Mahatir] – a leader who transformed his country. We have followed Malaysia’s progress and my party wants to learn from your leadership. How Malaysia transformed its economy, developed and raised per capita and gross domestic product”.​

[URL='https://twitter.com/PTIofficial']PTI ✔ @PTIofficial
https://twitter.com/PTIofficial/status/1065114163783979008
Prime Minister Imran Khan and Prime Minister of Malaysia Dr Mahathir Mohamad discussing issues of bilateral interests in Perdana Putra, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. #PMIKinMalaysia

00:26 - 21 Nov 2018

While both Imran Khan’s PTI Party and Mahathir Mohamad’s Pakatan Harapan coalition came to power this year, when it comes to experience in government Imran and Mahathir greeted 2018 from very different positions. Mahathir formed his first Malaysian government in 1981 while he remained in the country’s top political office until the year in 2003. During his time in power, Mahathir helped to open up the Malaysian economy leading to a transformational economic miracle beginning in the 1980s. Throughout his time in power Mahathir also presided over a loosening of the affirmative action policies of positive discrimination in favour of the ethnic Malay population while he also saw his country through the Asian financial crisis of 1997. At the age of 93, he returned to power in 2018 at the head of a new coalition which for the first time since the modern founding of Malaysia ousted the legacy party UMNO (Mahathir’s old party) from power.

While Mahathir is the world’s oldest head of government with decades of experience in government, Imran Khan entered government for the first time in the summer of 2018. While PTI found success in the erstwhile “ungovernable” Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the 2013 election, at a national level, PTI which was founded by Imran in 1996 remained a consummate opposition party. It was only in 2018 when PTI managed to secure a victory over both the incumbent PML-N and legacy PPP to form its first government.

Although Imran and Mahathir’s experience is incredibly divergent, their purpose in government and the reasons underlying their popularity remains much the same. First of all, both men share a similar background in terms of political thought. Both are advocates of economic modernization, progressive nationalism with Islamic characteristics and geopolitical non-alignment. Both men have also won acclaim due to their total opposition to all forms of endemic corruption.


PTI Islamabad ✔ @PTIOfficialISB



[ وزیرِاعظم عمران خان صرف ہمارے نہیں پورے دنیا کے آئیڈیل ہیں ]

اِس سے زیادہ عزت کی بھی کوئی توقع کر سکتا ہے؟؟ وزیرِاعظم عمران خان سے خاتونِ اول پوچھتی ہیں کہ کیا میں آپکا ہاتھ پکڑ سکتی ہوں؟؟ جب کپتان نے ہاں کہا تو خاتونِ اول کی خوشی دیدنی تھی۔#PMIKinMalaysia
01:19 - 22 Nov 2018

In both cases, 2018 saw each man sweep to power (in the case of Mahathir seep back to power after a fourteen year absence) by riding an anti-corrupt tide that was characterised by mercilessly critical rhetoric directed to their main predecessors – Najib Razak in Malaysia and for all intents and purposes Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan. While Najib was a member of the party whose seemingly unbreakable hold over Malaysian politics Mahathir helped to secure beginning in the 1980s and while Nawaz once spoke of how he would like to have the then cricket hero Imran Khan on his side politically in the early 1990s, both Mahathir and Imran campaigned against the crony capitalism of their predecessors and their penchant for economic and political nepotism.

Just this week the wife of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and current PML-N opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif were arrested on charges relating to their role on facilitating the corruption of their former Prime Ministerial family relations. Interestingly, these arrests occurred within twenty-four hours of one another. While these arrests were clearly not internationally coordinated, the optics do help to illustrate the similarities between Imran and Mahathir.

Perhaps though the most crucial element regarding the similarities of Imran and Mahathir is their policies towards China – policies which remains mutually misunderstood and at times openly lied about by the wider international media. Unlike Malaysia, Pakistan is known to be an all-weather friend of China. That being said, recent years have seen increased Chinese trade among both nations while both nations also stand to benefit from the international Belt and Road initiative.

Both Mahathir’s government and Imran’s government have recently received attention due to statements allegedly signalling a distancing of both states from Belt and Road. The reality is very different. Both men’s commitment to a pro-national, non-aligned foreign policy has led to frequent criticisms of the United States from both Mahathir and Imran. As both Malaysia and Pakistan have given more than they have received in practical terms from past partnerships with America, both men have come to represent a pro-sovereignty minded stance in opposition to neo-imperial hegemony.

While both men have embraced multiple elements of Belt and Road, Mahathir has recently paused and revised some joint Sino-Malaysian projects. The key to understanding Mahathir’s motivation lies in the realisation that these pauses and revisions were inspired not by any concept for China but based on the fact that these projects were in enacted under the leadership of his corrupt predecessor. While China is known for its policy of non-interference in the domestic affairs of its partners, this ethical position cuts both ways. On the one hand, China will not seek to manipulate the domestic governance of foreign partners as the US is infamous for doing, but on the same token, China expects all of its partners to take their share of responsibility throughout the course of the execution of any and all joint projects. Because of this, China is not prepared to act as the ethics nanny of its partner nations. The decisions such nations take whether with China or any other multipolar partner will be decisions that the nation in question must ultimately be responsible for and take ownership of.

As such, the vanity projects of Mahathir’s predecessor were viewed as distasteful by the current Malaysian Premier not due to their linkage with China but due to their linkage with a Malaysian economic culture that Mahathir was specifically elected to stamp out. Likewise, when Imran Khan’s government speaks about revising certain aspects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), it is done in this same spirit. Imran Khan has made his positive position towards Pakistan’s Chinese partnership absolutely clear. Likewise, in the case of both Pakistan and Malaysia, Chinese officials have made it unambiguously clear that they look forward to revising past deals on a win-win basis due to their respect for the reformist positions of Imran and Mahathir’s respective governments. While the US and certain European states have a tendency to take business matters personally, China’s long term strategy prohibits such fits of hysteria through the course of any and all evolving and growing partnerships.

In this sense, Pakistan and Malaysia’s different roles within the Belt and Road system are not only secure but healthy. By stamping out the corruption of their predecessors, Imran Khan and Mahathir Mohamad are both ensuring that the long term sustainable development goals implicit in Belt and Road will be all the more successful on both a national and bilateral basis.

While Imran Khan is at the beginning of his first period in office while Mahathir’s advanced age has led the veteran politician to signal that he will eventually resign and hand power to his reconciled partner Anwar Ibrahim, at a time when both men share power on the world’s stage, it is helpful to understand the parallel paths that both have charted for their Asian nations as the similarities are both striking and mutually instructive in more ways than one.

Imran’s statements regarding his desire to learn from the experience of Mahathir prove that he is on the right path when it comes to modernising Pakistan’s economy in such a way that works for rather than against the interests of the people.
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U.S. prosecutors on Thursday handed over the first of 1 million evidentiary documents to the lawyers of Roger Ng, a former Goldman Sachs banker facing criminal charges linked to a multibillion-dollar scandal at the Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB.

U.S. starts giving documents to lawyers of ex-Goldman banker Ng in 1MDB case

FILE PHOTO: Ex-Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng (center) and his lawyer Marc Agnifilo leave the federal court in New York, U.S., May 6, 2019. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo

The U.S. Department of Justice handed over to Ng’s lawyers a “small subset” of more than 1 million documents the government is relying on to prosecute the case, said Assistant United States Attorney Drew Rolle during a hearing at a Brooklyn federal court.

The United States accused 46-year-old Ng last year of conspiring to launder money and bribe government officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi through bond offerings that Goldman Sachs Group Inc handled. He was extradited on May 3 to New York from Kuala Lumpur, where he had been jailed since November.

Ng pleaded not guilty to the charges on May 6 and was released in exchange for a $20 million bond.

Prosecutors are working on how to best format and organize the remaining documents, which they will likely send to Ng’s lawyers on a rolling basis, Rolle said.

Prosecutors and Ng’s lawyer, in a May 6 court document related to the case, had requested delaying the trial date for Ng because they believed plea negotiations “are likely to result in a disposition of this case without trial.”

Government lawyers have said they hope to avoid a trial by reaching a plea deal though Ng’s attorney.

“I’m not ruling anything out,” said Marc Agnifilo, Ng’s lawyer, to reporters after the hearing about a possible plea deal. “There is a full range of possibilities for a criminal defendant, and there are still options.”

Ng, who left Goldman Sachs in 2014, faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of the three charges based on alleged violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Malaysia’s home minister wanted Ng to face criminal charges there first, but agreed to temporarily surrender him to the United States for 10 months, Malaysia’s attorney general, Tommy Thomas, said in a statement.

The period may be extended, Thomas has said. But that issue is for the U.S. and Malaysian governments to discuss, Agnifilo told reporters.

“Given the complexity of the case, it’s going to require us to do a lot of work up front and as soon as possible,” Agnifilo said to reporters about the 10-month period.

Malaysia has said it was seeking up to $7.5 billion in reparations from Goldman over its dealings with 1MDB, set up in 2009 by then-Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Najib, who lost a general election last year, faces 42 criminal charges related to losses at 1MDB and other state entities. He has pleaded not guilty.

Malaysian police raid Deloitte office for 1MDB-related documents: sources

Malaysian police raided the Kuala Lumpur office of audit firm Deloitte on Thursday as part of a widening probe into a multibillion-dollar scandal at state fund 1MDB, two police sources told Reuters.

Investigators seized documents and records related to the firm’s dealings with 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), one of the sources said.

“Deloitte Malaysia is not the subject of the investigation and is cooperating fully with the authorities in their investigation,” the firm said.

Deloitte was 1MDB’s third auditor after the fund fired its earlier auditors, KPMG and Ernst & Young, authorities have said.

It resigned as the fund’s auditor in early 2016.

 

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The incoming leader pledged to strengthen the unity of all nationals irrespective of their ethnic or religious background.

Malaysia crowns its new Supreme Head

King of Malaysia Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah and his spouse, Tunku Azizah © Malaysia Information Ministry via AP

TASS, July 30, 2019 - Supreme Head (King) of Malaysia Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah has been crowned in the official monarch's residence in Kuala Lumpur, the BERNAMA Malaysian National News Agency reported on Tuesday.

In his throne speech, the crowned king promised to make every effort to strengthen the unity of all Malaysian subjects irrespective of their ethnic or religious background. "I will put [the well-being] of people above everything else," the monarch underlined.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Bin Mohamad pledged loyalty to the new king. "I assure Your Majesty that the [Malaysian] government will never stop at what’s been achieved," he said.

On January 31, Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah was sworn as the Malaysian monarch, succeeding Sultan Muhammad V, who had abdicated. The Malaysian media was pointing to the fact that the previous king was pressured to leave the throne by the Conference of Rulers who opposed his marriage with Russian model Oksana Voevodina.

King’s powers
The Malaysian Supreme Head is majorly a ceremonial and symbolic figurehead of the country. Despite the fact that the Malaysian Constitution entrusts the government to make decisions on behalf and upon consent of the monarch, in reality he makes decisions in accordance with recommendations of the government and the parliament, although he might have his own stance. The king approves laws passed by the government, the candidacy of the prime minister and the composition of the Supreme Court, holds the power to grant pardons and is the Commander-in-Chief.

The monarch is elected by a secret ballot of the Conference of Rulers, which includes the hereditary sultans of nine out of thirteen states of Malaysia. The Malaysian ruler ascends to the throne for five years ineligible to be re-elected for a second term.

 

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Malaysian ministers say Indian Islamic preacher should be expelled

Malaysia's cabinet discussed the permanent residency of Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Naik on Wednesday, with three ministers demanding his expulsion for allegedly making racially sensitive remarks in the multi-ethnic nation.

Malaysia to question Indian Islamic preacher over remarks on religion
Malaysian authorities will summon Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Naik for questioning after he allegedly made racially sensitive remarks in the multi-ethnic nation, the government said on Thursday.

France opens criminal probe into death of Irish girl in Malaysia

The Paris prosecutor's office has opened a criminal probe into the death of an Irish-French girl, whose body was found near a jungle stream in Malaysia, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

Malaysian police say no foul play in Irish girl's death

Malaysian police on Thursday ruled out abduction as a motive in the disappearance of an Irish girl found dead near a jungle stream after a 10-day search, saying they had found no signs pointing to foul play.

Prosecutors seek sale of luxury homes linked to stepson of Malaysian ex-PM

U.S. prosecutors are seeking to sell three luxury homes linked to the stepson of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, court documents showed, in the latest effort to recover money allegedly stolen from Malaysian fund 1MDB.

 

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Malaysia set to begin biggest 1MDB trial involving ex-PM Najib

Malaysia's former prime minister, Najib Razak, on Monday faces the biggest of five trials linked to a multi-billion-dollar scam at state fund 1MDB, although lawyers are seeking a delay to allow time for the completion of a previous trial.

 

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Malaysia court postpones biggest 1MDB trial involving ex-PM Najib

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak leaves Kuala Lumpur High Court in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 19, 2019. REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng

A Malaysian court on Monday postponed for a week the biggest of five trials linked to a multi-billion-dollar scam at state fund 1MDB and allegedly involving former prime minister Najib Razak.

Najib, who lost a general election last year, has been hit with 42 criminal charges of graft and money laundering at 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and other state entities.

He has pleaded not guilty and says the charges are politically motivated.

The hearing will now begin next Monday to allow time for the completion of a previous trial that revolves around former 1MDB unit SRC International, a Kuala Lumpur High Court judge said. “If you need more time, I can stand down or adjourn ... but for now we will proceed on Monday and check again on (this) on Thursday,” Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah said.

1MDB, founded by Najib in 2009, is being investigated in at least six countries. The U.S. Department of Justice says about $4.5 billion was misappropriated from the fund.

In the trial in Kuala Lumpur, Najib will have to fight 21 charges of money laundering and four for abuse of power for receiving illegal transfers of about 2.3 billion ringgit ($550.8 million) between 2011 and 2014.

 

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At start of 1MDB trial, prosecution paints a tale of excess and abuse

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak walks to a courtroom after a break at Kuala Lumpur High Court in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 28, 2019. REUTERS/Lai Seng Sin

Malaysian prosecutors on Wednesday said former Prime Minister Najib Razak abused his power to cover up the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars from the state fund 1MDB and used the fund for self-gratification.

On the opening day of the biggest trial in the 1MDB financial scandal, prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram said Najib used his position to evade justice, especially after news of the scandal broke in July 2015.

“He interfered with the course of investigation of the case which has come to be known as the 1MDB scandal,” Gopal told the Kuala Lumpur High Court in his opening statement. “He took active steps to effect a cover-up of his criminal acts.”

Malaysian and U.S. authorities have alleged that about $4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), co-founded by Najib in 2009.

Najib was voted out of power last year amid widespread public anger over the scandal, and has since been charged with 42 criminal offences linked to losses at 1MDB and other state entities. He has denied any wrongdoing and says the charges against him are politically motivated.

In his second trial on Wednesday, Najib faces 21 charges of money laundering and four charges of abuse of power for allegedly receiving illegal transfers of at least 2.3 billion ringgit ($550.8 million) between 2011 and 2014.

The prosecution said Najib used 1MDB as a vehicle “to obtain gratification for himself”.

MAN IN THE MIRROR
The prosecution argued that Najib had not acted alone, colluding on numerous occasions with fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, to set up and carry out abnormal financial transactions “with undue haste”.

Low, who faces criminal charges in Malaysia and the United States over his alleged central role in the 1MDB case, has consistently denied wrongdoing and his whereabouts are unknown.

“If you place the accused before a mirror, you will see Jho Low. And if you place Jho Low before a mirror, you will see the accused,” Gopal said.

Najib’s defense team has argued that he was misled by various individuals, particularly Low, in dealings related to 1MDB.

“He (Low) misled the bank, he misled 1MDB...so to say my client is the alter ego, I’d like to see them prove it,” Najib’s lawyer, Shafee Abdullah, told reporters outside the court.

Shafee also contested the prosecution’s argument that Najib and Low had fabricated documents to state that $100 million in donations had come from an Arab donor, saying Najib “believed honestly” that the money had come from the king of Saudi Arabia.

GOLDMAN SACHS DEALS
Gopal told the court that Najib and Low had colluded to raise more than $5 billion to fund the acquisition of two energy companies, though part of the sum went to accounts linked to Low while Najib was paid more than 90 million ringgit ($21.48 million).

The funds raised include two $1.75-billion bond issuances arranged by Goldman Sachs, which netted the bank a total payout of $302.5 million in arranger’s fees.

Goldman earned another $279 million as arranger of a $3-billion loan to fund a “sham” joint-venture project between 1MDB and Aabar Investments PJS to build the Tun Razak Exchange tower. Gopal said Najib ultimately received $681 million from the deal.

Goldman has appointed a team of Malaysian lawyers to monitor the trial, which continues on Thursday.

After the shock election loss, Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor were barred from leaving Malaysia and scrutiny of their luxurious lifestyle uncovered nearly $300 million worth of goods and cash at properties linked to him.

Rosmah, known for her designer handbags and jewelry, has also been charged with corruption. She has pleaded not guilty.

Wednesday’s proceedings began a day after the prosecution wrapped up its case in Najib’s first trial, where he is accused of illegally receiving $10 million from SRC International, a former 1MDB unit.

Lawyers are expected to submit closing arguments in that case in October, with the judge to rule by Nov. 11.

Slideshow (8 Images)
At start of 1MDB trial, prosecution paints a tale of excess and abuse

 

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Malaysia had plan to use Chinese money to bail out 1MDB, court hears

FILE PHOTO: Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak leaves Kuala Lumpur High Court in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia August 28, 2019. REUTERS/Lai Seng Sin

September 4, 2019 - Malaysia's former leader Najib Razak approved a plan to bail out troubled state fund 1MDB by offering stakes in several big infrastructure projects to Chinese firms in 2016, a former aide told a court on Wednesday.

Najib, who was voted out of power last year amid public anger over alleged graft at 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), is on trial for allegedly receiving hundreds of millions of dollars from the state fund he set up in 2009. He has pleaded not guilty.

Former special officer Amhari Effendi Nazaruddin said Najib sent him to China in June 2016 on a “secret mission” to reaffirm economic ties and investments between the two countries.

The talking points prepared for his meeting with Chinese officials showed there were plans to use Chinese investments to help pay off the debts of 1MDB and its former unit, SRC International, Amhari told the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

“The phrase ‘while simultaneously completely resolving 1MDB and SRC debts’ clearly meant that Najib intended to send the message that this cooperation would aid 1MDB and SRC International through the bailout of 1MDB’s debts,” Amhari said, referring to the talking points.

China has denied reports that its officials had offered to bail out 1MDB in 2016, saying it never attaches political conditions to its cooperation with other countries.

Amhari said among the deals offered to Chinese companies to fund the bailout were two pipeline projects and the $20 billion East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), a major part of China’s Belt and Road initiative.

The pipeline projects were later canceled and the cost of the railway project nearly halved to $11 billion after Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad took over last year.

Mahathir, who swiftly reopened probes into 1MDB, has said investigators are looking into whether a $2.3 billion loan from the Export-Import Bank of China for the two pipeline projects was used to repay 1MDB debts.

China Communications Construction Co. Ltd, the lead contractor for the ECRL project, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Amhari’s testimony.

Amhari said his talking points were prepared by fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, who attended the meeting with Chinese officials as a translator.

Low, who faces charges in the United States and Malaysia over his alleged central role in the 1MDB scandal, has denied wrongdoing. His whereabouts are unknown.

“In summary, based on the situation that had unfolded and the documents prepared by Jho Low, I believe that Najib had knowledge and had given the mandate to Jho Low to plan and manage efforts to bail out 1MDB and SRC from its losses and debts,” Amhari said.

Malaysian and U.S. investigators say that at least $4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB by Low and other high-level officials of the fund and their associates. Najib’s trial continues on Thursday.

Malaysia aims to recover nearly $1 billion paid out by former 1MDB unit

Malaysia is pursuing civil action to recover about 4 billion ringgit ($954.65 million) of funds disbursed by a former subsidiary of 1MDB, a now-defunct state fund under investigation for money laundering, the finance minister said on Wednesday.

 

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Malaysian prosecutor: Najib orchestrated graft like an 'emperor'

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak acted like an "emperor" who orchestrated massive fraud at a former unit of scandal-linked state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), the country's attorney-general said at his trial on Tuesday.

Malaysia, Goldman discuss smaller penalty over 1MDB scandal: Bloomberg

Malaysia has discussed a $2 billion to $3 billion settlement with Goldman Sachs over the U.S. bank's alleged role in the 1MDB scandal, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, less than half the sum the Southeast Asian nation had demanded earlier.

Malaysia’s Najib clueless about millions banked in his account, lawyers say

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak did not know that millions of dollars transferred into his personal accounts came from scandal-linked state fund 1MDB, his lawyers said on Wednesday as prosecutors wrapped up their first case against the ex-premier.

Freed of 1MDB taint, Malaysia's tallest tower opens its doors

Malaysia's tallest skyscraper is ready to take in tenants from December, its developer said on Wednesday, looking to move past its links to the 1MDB scandal and focus on making headway in an oversupplied property market.