“... is that it is possible for foreign people to influence people in the country, agitate them, and cause them to overthrow the government.” - Mahathir Mohamad in May 1998, on the lesson he'd learned form the fall of Indonesia's President Suharto
Now, Ugaz: "Msia facing corruption crisis"
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| Then, Gore: "Msia = Cronyism, corruption and nepotism" |
Contrary to Ugaz’s claim, (Transparency International's own) Corruption Perception Index 2014 had ranked Malaysia 50th among 175 countries, second within Asean behind Singapore, and ninth in Asia Pacific after New Zealand, Japan and South Korea. Ugaz is wrong, says Ali, The Star 5/9/15
When trigger-happy Jose Ugaz, the Transparency International chairman, accused Najib Razak of grand corruption h e r e, the fact of the matter was that investigation into the US$700 million Middle East donation was still on-going.
The MACC had, as of a month ago, verified that the money in the PM's personal accounts was not from 1MDB as alleged earlier [although Dr M still believes 1MDB funds went into Najib's account, TMI 28/8]. The MACC also said that the PM would be called to explain the donation.
In short, Jose Ugaz had jumped the gun. And so it was fitting that Tunku Aziz himself, the man who helped found Transparency International-Malaysia in 1998, got to tick off Ugaz for being such a moron.
“I think that this statement (by Ugaz) is ill-advised, it was an ill-informed statement. It’s just an opinion which is based on unconfirmed reports ... It’s a one-sided statement, he should have taken the trouble to give a balanced view by asking people who are informed about this.” - Tunku Aziz accuses Transparency International of bias, MalayMailOnline, 3/9
I wasn't at all surprised by the statements by Ugaz and several others at the International Anti-Corruption Conference. Some of these organisations are funded and controlled by entities and people that promote change of governments in selected regions. Entities and people who disagree with Middle Eastern donations to fellow Muslims countries, too.
And it's not like we've not been through this way before. In 1998, the US sent its Vice President Al Gore to KL to send the same message that Ugaz tried to last week.
Gore gave open support to Anwar Ibrahim's Reformasi movement and encourage them to topple their democratically-elected prime minister. Unlike Ugaz, Gore had the satisfation of spitting out those insults right in the face of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was playing host. In front of the other leaders of APEC, Dr Mahathir was accused of cronyism, nepotism and corruption.
Excerpts:
GORE, IN MALAYSIA, SAYS ITS LEADERS SUPPRESS FREEDOM
By MARK LANDLER
Published: November 17, 1998
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Nov. 16— Vice President Al Gore today rebuked the Malaysian Government for suppressing freedom and championed the growing protest movement here as tensions between the United States and Malaysia boiled over at a meeting of Pacific Rim countries.
Standing in for President Clinton at the annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, Mr. Gore praised Malaysians who have rallied against Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad as brave people.
''Democracies have done better in coping with economic crises than nations where freedom is suppressed,'' Mr. Gore said in a speech. ''Democracy confers a stamp of legitimacy that reforms must have in order to be effective.
''And so, among nations suffering economic crises, we continue to hear calls for democracy and reform in many languages -- people's power, doi moi, reformasi,'' he said, referring to the slogans of reform movements in the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia. ''We hear them today -- right here, right now -- among the brave people of Malaysia.''
''Reformasi,'' or reform, is the rallying cry of protesters who are demanding the resignation of Dr. Mahathir. The Prime Minister has been under searing criticism for ousting and imprisoning his reform-minded deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, who is on trial on corruption and sex-related charges.
Read on, H E R E, New York Times, 17/11/98.
Read also:
Interesting link from the past: