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Tag: Mahathir Mohamad

  • Mahathir Attacks Singapore’s Handling Of 1MDB Issue

    Mahathir Attacks Singapore’s Handling Of 1MDB Issue

    Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has attacked Singapore’s handling of alleged money-laundering linked to Malaysian state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhard (1MDB), accusing the Republic of not targeting those accused of siphoning off more than billions from the fund.

    “Notice that the Government of Singapore is very reluctant to pinpoint the people involved in this corruption,” Dr Mahathir said in an interview with The Financial Times. “It affects Singapore’s reputation as a financial centre. It is not doing the right thing. The people who accepted the bribes are not the people who are laundering the money.”

    1MDB is the subject of investigations in six countries. Last month, the United States’ Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit to seize more than US$1 billion (S$1.35 billion) in assets bought with money it said was embezzled from the firm — by people close to Prime Minister Najib Razak, who has denied any wrongdoing and said that Malaysia takes good governance seriously and will fully cooperate with investigators.

    A day after the DOJ lawsuit, Singaporean authorities announced that they had seized bank accounts and properties worth S$240 million in a probe on possible money laundering linked to 1MDB.

    The assets belonged to Malaysian financier Jho Low, alleged by US prosecutors to have played a central role in the operations of 1MDB, and his family.

    The Monetary Authority of Singapore has vowed to fix lapses in the financial sector with tougher controls and industry supervision and is creating a dedicated money-laundering unit, after taking the rare step of ordering the closure of a Swiss bank’s branch in Singapore earlier this year.

    “Appropriate actions will be taken against those who have broken Singapore’s laws,” FT quoted a spokesperson for the Singapore attorney-general as saying. “As investigations are still ongoing, we are not able to comment any further.”

    Dr Mahathir, a former mentor turned critic of Mr Najib, recently announced that he was launching a political party that aims to be a rallying point for disaffected members of the ruling United Malays National Organisation.

    “It is quite obvious that the party that is being led by Najib is being used by Najib to cover up,” Dr Mahathir told FT. “The FBI (US Federal Bureau of Investigation) and DoJ have exposed the wrongdoing.”

    He added in the interview that the primary goal of his new party was “to get rid of Najib”. “For that purpose it will work together with other opposition parties, on this issue alone.”

    Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak recently claimed that Dr Mahathir’s allies were behind the US’ lawsuit, an accusation Dr Mahathir denied on Monday (Aug 1).

    “I didn’t make any such report,” he wrote in his blog.

     

    Source: TODAY Online

  • A Guide To Being The PM’s Wife By Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali

    A Guide To Being The PM’s Wife By Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali

    KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 — A prime minister’s wife is there to support her husband in his duties and must resist competing with him for attention, according to Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali.

    In words that epitomised her position as arguably the most recognisable wife to a Malaysian prime minister despite her low profile, the spouse to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said such virtues were among those needed to perform the unofficial role, in an interview published by Malaysiakini today.

    “As the prime minister’s wife, do not compare (yourself with anyone). Generally, you have to support your husband, you have to be knowledgeable, you have to know what is happening around you and you have to make sure that you are together with your husband to meet with the people,” she said in the interview.

    “People like to know that this is the PM’s wife and that they are together, they are family-oriented. So you have to support your husband, definitely. But don’t compete with him,” she advised.

    The soft-spoken medical doctor by training explained that the wife of the prime minister was often an unofficial intermediary between the public and the head of the government.

    But despite the seeming power this conveyed, Dr Siti Hasmah said it was imperative that a prime minister’s wife avoid taking an active role in matters that are within her husband’s powers to decide.

    “They (the people) cannot see the PM. So, they want to see the wife, and then for no reason, they will ask for anything. Never promise anything. Just say that you will convey the message to your husband to consider.

    “You have no part in telling people that ‘yes, I will make sure you get this, you get that, you get the contract’,” she said further in the interview with the news portal.

    As part of her general tips, which she insisted was not directed at any person in particular, Dr Siti Hasmah pressed on the need to be humble, regardless of one’s station in life.

    She said she learned this lesson during her days as the first female Malay doctor in Kedah, where she treated the poor.

    “You may be a doctor or you may be a minister’s wife but if you are arrogant, they (the people) won’t accept you,” she said.

     

    Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

  • Dr Mahathir: Sad At Demise Of Lee Kuan Yew, Marks End Of Era of Independence Leaders

    Dr Mahathir: Sad At Demise Of Lee Kuan Yew, Marks End Of Era of Independence Leaders

    No matter how friendly or unfriendly we are, the passing away of a man you know well saddens you.

    I cannot say I was a close friend of Kuan Yew. But still I feel sad at his demise.

    Kuan Yew became well known at a young age. I was a student in Singapore when I read about his defence of labour unions.

    I first met Kuan Yew when I was a member of Parliament in 1964 after Singapore joined Malaysia in 1963. We crossed swords many time during the debates. But there was no enmity, only differences in our views of what was good for the newborn nation. He included me among the ultra Malays who was responsible for the racial riots in Singapore. Actually I never went to Singapore to stir up trouble. Somebody else whom I would not name did.

    The Tunku attended the inaugural meeting of the PAP and was quite friendly with Kuan Yew. He believed Kuan Yew was a bastion against Communism. But when the PAP contested in the Malaysian elections in 1964 with Malaysian Malaysia as its slogan, Tunku felt that the PAP’s presence in Malaysia was going to be disruptive for the country.

    When I became PM in 1981, I paid a courtesy call on Kuan Yew. It was a friendly call and he immediately agreed to my proposal that the Malaysia and Singapore times which had always been the same should be advanced by half an hour. I explained that it would be easier adjusting our time when travelling as we would fall within the time zones fixed for the whole world at one hour intervals.

    I am afraid on most other issues we could not agree.

    When I had a heart attack in 1989 and required open heart surgery, he cared enough to ring up my wife to ask her to delay the operation as he had arranged for the best heart surgeon, a Singaporean living in Australia, to do the operation. But by then, I had been given pre-med and was asleep prior to the operation the next day.

    My wife thanked him but apologised. She promised to ring him up after the operation. She did the next evening.

    When he was ill, I requested to see him. He agreed but the night before the visit, the Singapore High Commissioner received a message that he was very sick and could not see me.

    Still when he attended the Nihon Keizai Shimbun annual conference on the Future of Asia in Tokyo, which I never failed to attend, I went up to him at dinner to ask how he was. We sat down together to chat and the Japanese photographers took our pictures promising not to put it in the press. I wouldn’t mind even if they did. But I suppose people will make all kinds of stories about it.

    Now Kuan Yew is no more. His passage marks the end of the period when those who fought for independence lead their countries and knew the value of independence.

    Asean lost a strong leadership after President Suharto and Lee Kuan Yew.

    * Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is former prime minister of Malaysia. This article was originally posted on his personal blog at chedet.cc

     

    Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

  • IS Is A Result Of The Atrocities Of Israelis And The Failure Of Muslim Governments

    IS Is A Result Of The Atrocities Of Israelis And The Failure Of Muslim Governments

    The emergence of militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) is caused by Israeli atrocities which oppress Muslims and the Muslim governments’ inability to solve their problems, says Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

    During an interview with Sky News presenter Adam Boulton early this morning, the former prime minister said the evolution of terrorist groups such as Isis was due to their frustration over the state government’s failure to defend Muslims.

    “From what they see, the governments of Muslim countries have not been able to do anything about their problems, particularly over Israel, for example.

    “So, people tend to take law in their own hands,” he said.

    Dr Mahathir, an outspoken critic of the Zionist state, added that it did not mean he supported Isis.

    He acknowledged that the group’s violent reactions were caused by the cruelty shown by the Israeli regime itself.

    “No, it is not justifiable at all. It is all about frustration that is resulting in violence,” he said when asked whether it was fair for Isis to be set up because of the Israeli establishment.

    Dr Mahathir described the struggles of Isis as not in accordance with Islamic teachings but rather due to mere dissatisfaction, especially in the face of powerful countries.

    “I know it is very unfortunate. But it is not the teaching of Islam. It is the expression of their frustration over something that they find themselves unable to resolve, because they are up against a powerful nation,” he said.

    Dr Mahathir (pic, left) said Muslims around the world feel they were oppressed and under attack.

    “But the main thing is, there is this feeling that Muslims generally are being oppressed, their countries are being invaded, and thousands of their people have been bombed and killed. So how do they react to this?” he added.

    Isis was formed in 2013 in Iraq.

    Its members comprise thousands of local and foreign jihadists and former military men who served under the reign of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

    Media reports say Malaysians have also joined their struggle and some were killed during the battles in both Syria and Iraq.

    Malaysian authorities are actively keeping an eye on the activities of those who visited the Arab countries to join Isis.

     

    Source: www.themalaysianinsider.com

  • ‘Corruption’ is First Word When Malaysians Think of Their Government, survey says

    ‘Corruption’ is First Word When Malaysians Think of Their Government, survey says

    KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 — Most Malaysians immediately think of “corruption” the moment they are asked to talk about their government, while “profit” comes to mind when thinking about corporations, an international survey has revealed.

    In the Corporate Perception Indicator 2014 survey jointly carried out by CNBC and Burson-Marsteller,1,076 Malaysians were asked the open-ended question of “What is the first thing that comes to the mind when you think of the government?”.

    The resulting answer from both Malaysia’s 1,001 general public and the 75 executives polled was “corruption”, which was also the most popular word in most of the 25 countries surveyed.

    This puts Malaysia in the company of the India, US, Brazil, Mexico, Columbia, UK, Spain and South Africa, while only the general public in neighbouring Indonesia, China, South Korea, Canada, Russia, UAE immediately linked “government” to “corruption”.

    In a similar open-ended question on corporations, the top answer for the 1,076 Malaysian respondents was “profit” – a word similarly shared by most Asians polled including those in Indonesia, India, Japan and executives in Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea.

    Malaysians polled in the survey also felt that small businesses were profit-driven.

    The general public in Malaysia trusted the government the most to steer the local economy at 33 per cent, while executives here placed their trust in corporations instead at 31 per cent.

    Most Malaysians also believed that the most important role for corporations is to strengthen the economy, with 44 per cent polled saying businesses had “just the right amount” of influence over the economy as opposed to firms wielding “too much” influence at 29 per cent.

    A high number or 59 per cent of Malaysians polled said it was good for corporations to be influential as this would help drive economic growth, with a whopping 70 per cent pointing to businesses as a “source of hope” for them.

    Out of all 25 countries, the Malaysians showed the strongest preference for multinationals at 43 per cent, while 37 per cent said it did not matter to them, with both those supporting domestic companies and who did not indicate a preference standing equally at 10 per cent.

    Malaysians polled also believe the news media to be the most socially responsible industry, with many saying that firms should direct their corporate social responsibility efforts towards social welfare.

    Malaysians picked heads of government out of 10 professions as both the most powerful and most respected people in society.

    The Corporate Perception Indicator 2014 survey was jointly carried out by CNBC and Burson-Marsteller through online questionnaires answered by over 25,000 people between June 28 and August 15 this year.

    The margins of error for the sample size in Malaysia of 1,001 members of the public and 75 high-ranking executives at companies employing more than 50 people are 3.10 per cent and 11.32 per cent respectively.

    Source: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/corruption-is-first-word-on-malaysians-minds-when-thinking-of-government-su