This Sunday’s cover story in UMNO-owned newspaper Berita Harian (BH) proudly declared, “harga kereta turun” (car prices decrease), reporting that car prices had dropped 13.1% as a result of the government’s automotive policies as well as the strengthening ringgit.
To further drive home the point, the accompanying full-page reports in the paper carried the headline “Menepati Janji Manifesto BN” (fulfilling the promises of the BN Manifesto. It was accompanied by an infographic comparing prices between 2013 and 2018 for different models of cars owned by Malaysians. The graphic suggested that prices for the various local, Japanese and European cars had decreased significantly between 2.25% and 20.77% since 2013.
However, a lengthy report on specialist automotive blog paultan.org showed just how misleading the report by Berita Harian was. They noted that the comparisons made by Berita Harian compared different variants for the same model and used inaccurate pricing information.
For example, the BH article had compared the 2013 Perodua Alza’s 1.6 SE Manual model with the 2018 Standard model to show a 14.18% reduction in price.
For the Proton Exora, the newspaper had even used an inflated price for its 2013 comparison to further exaggerate the decrease. Instead of using the original price at 2013, it used the 2016 price, which came after price increase across the range. Worse, the report even included insurance for its ‘2013’ price whereas the current price stated does not include insurance.
The comparisons provided were at best between apples and oranges, and at worst, comparing fake apples with real oranges.
In the last elections, one of Barisan Nasional’s key manifesto points was that car prices would decrease 20-30%. The Berita Harian report was unabashly singing praises of the BN Government’s purportedly successful delivery of this promise.
However, the findings by paultan.org proved the complete opposite.
Here’s a simple question for the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Azalina Othman who has been given the responsibility to table an anti-fake news bill in the next parliamentary sitting – will she instruct MCMC or even the Home Ministry to take action against BH for publishing the outrageous fake news? If she doesn’t, then it is clear that she is not sincere in ensuring an anti-fake news bill which is fair, and which will not be abused by the BN government to punish opposition critics and whistleblowers.
Showing posts with label Fake news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fake news. Show all posts
Thursday, February 08, 2018
Tuesday, January 09, 2018
Did 1MDB resort to carefully leaked fake news to The Singapore Straits Times to cover up the fact that the Ministry of Finance forked out another RM2.4 billion to foot the bill for 1MDB’s debt to IPIC?
1MDB proudly announced that they had made their final US$602.7 million or RM2.4 billion settlement payment to Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Company (IPIC) on 27 December, four days ahead of their deadline.
The problem is, we all know 1MDB is completely insolvent. So Malaysians are rightly concerned as to how 1MDB paid its latest instalment of their debt. All that is stated in the official 1MDB statement is that the payment is funded through its “on-going rationalisation programme”.
No one of course, has a clue as to what the “rationalisation programme” entails.
What is more interesting is the carefully planted leaks to The Singapore Straits Times (SST) to reveal that the funds to repay IPIC came from the sale of investments in financial instruments and stakes held in two 1MDB-related entities that own tracts of land in Penang and Pulau Indah, Selangor. The report merely identified the anonymous buyers as “concerns ultimately controlled by Chinese state-owned enterprises”.
This is not the first time SST had carried out a hatchet stories which helped cover up some of the 1MDB’s financial shenanigans. When the Bandar Malaysia sale to an Iskandar Waterfront-led consortium was terminated out-of-the-blue by the Ministry of Finance, it was SST which created a media maelstorm by reporting on 9 May 2017 that “Government officials and financial executives close to the situation told The Straits Times that negotiations with the Dalian Wanda Group to take a central role as master developer have reached an advanced stage…”
“Malaysian government officials noted that the new deal would be substantially higher than the previous RM12.3 billion valuation tag for the entire project. According to financial executives familiar with ongoing talks, Wanda has proposed to use half of the development for tourism and entertainment-related ventures valued at roughly US$8 billion,” the Singapore paper added.
The above proved to be a hoax of course, because when Dato’ Seri Najib Razak met Wanda a week later, he came home empty-handed – without even a face-saving “Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)” signed.
The current SST report is similarly couched in the same language. SST claimed that “Malaysian government officials declined to identify the buyers in the real estate transactions but one financial executive close to the situation said that the equity interests in the 1MDB real estate entities were acquired by "concerns ultimately controlled by Chinese state-owned enterprises". The executive declined to elaborate.”
The SST report was inevitably picked up by nearly all local media outfits. This clearly served the interest of 1MDB which would want to avoid prickly questions on how they found the funds to repay IPIC.
The question really is, if 1MDB has really succeeded in disposing of its controversial properties in Pulau Indah and Penang to China-owned state enterprises, why is there absolute silence from official sources? Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and 1MDB would have been carrying out victory parades for proving their critics wrong, as they did in the past.
Surely if the companies owning these parcels of land were sold for billions of ringgit to foreign investors, from China or otherwise, official transactions would have taken place and the information would be publicly available.
More curiously, these parcels of land in Selangor and Penang were purchased by 1MDB for RM294 million and RM1.1 billion respectively. Critics were aplenty in citing that both parcels were purchased at inflated prices. However, even so, the combined purchase amounted to less than RM1.4 billion.
Hence if the SST report were to be true, then it begs the question as to which Chinese state-owned enterprises would pay an outrageous RM2.4 billion for these parcels, which in-turn allowed 1MDB to repay its second loan instalment to IPIC? Or is it more likely that it is another hoax to evade disclosing the fact that it was really the Ministry of Finance, which directly or indirectly, repaid both instalments amounting to US$1.24 billion to IPIC?
The problem is, we all know 1MDB is completely insolvent. So Malaysians are rightly concerned as to how 1MDB paid its latest instalment of their debt. All that is stated in the official 1MDB statement is that the payment is funded through its “on-going rationalisation programme”.
No one of course, has a clue as to what the “rationalisation programme” entails.
What is more interesting is the carefully planted leaks to The Singapore Straits Times (SST) to reveal that the funds to repay IPIC came from the sale of investments in financial instruments and stakes held in two 1MDB-related entities that own tracts of land in Penang and Pulau Indah, Selangor. The report merely identified the anonymous buyers as “concerns ultimately controlled by Chinese state-owned enterprises”.
This is not the first time SST had carried out a hatchet stories which helped cover up some of the 1MDB’s financial shenanigans. When the Bandar Malaysia sale to an Iskandar Waterfront-led consortium was terminated out-of-the-blue by the Ministry of Finance, it was SST which created a media maelstorm by reporting on 9 May 2017 that “Government officials and financial executives close to the situation told The Straits Times that negotiations with the Dalian Wanda Group to take a central role as master developer have reached an advanced stage…”
“Malaysian government officials noted that the new deal would be substantially higher than the previous RM12.3 billion valuation tag for the entire project. According to financial executives familiar with ongoing talks, Wanda has proposed to use half of the development for tourism and entertainment-related ventures valued at roughly US$8 billion,” the Singapore paper added.
The above proved to be a hoax of course, because when Dato’ Seri Najib Razak met Wanda a week later, he came home empty-handed – without even a face-saving “Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)” signed.
The current SST report is similarly couched in the same language. SST claimed that “Malaysian government officials declined to identify the buyers in the real estate transactions but one financial executive close to the situation said that the equity interests in the 1MDB real estate entities were acquired by "concerns ultimately controlled by Chinese state-owned enterprises". The executive declined to elaborate.”
The SST report was inevitably picked up by nearly all local media outfits. This clearly served the interest of 1MDB which would want to avoid prickly questions on how they found the funds to repay IPIC.
The question really is, if 1MDB has really succeeded in disposing of its controversial properties in Pulau Indah and Penang to China-owned state enterprises, why is there absolute silence from official sources? Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and 1MDB would have been carrying out victory parades for proving their critics wrong, as they did in the past.
Surely if the companies owning these parcels of land were sold for billions of ringgit to foreign investors, from China or otherwise, official transactions would have taken place and the information would be publicly available.
More curiously, these parcels of land in Selangor and Penang were purchased by 1MDB for RM294 million and RM1.1 billion respectively. Critics were aplenty in citing that both parcels were purchased at inflated prices. However, even so, the combined purchase amounted to less than RM1.4 billion.
Hence if the SST report were to be true, then it begs the question as to which Chinese state-owned enterprises would pay an outrageous RM2.4 billion for these parcels, which in-turn allowed 1MDB to repay its second loan instalment to IPIC? Or is it more likely that it is another hoax to evade disclosing the fact that it was really the Ministry of Finance, which directly or indirectly, repaid both instalments amounting to US$1.24 billion to IPIC?
Monday, December 18, 2017
So now MCA President Dato’ Seri Liow Tiong Lai and PAS President Dato’ Seri Hadi Awang sings the same desperate broken racist tune to fish for votes?
Just when you think that MCA could not sink any lower, MCA President Dato’ Seri Liow Tiong Lai beats all expectations by jumping on the bandwagon to demonise Lim Kit Siang as a potential Prime Minister.
His statement recycles the same fake news that is being peddled by UMNO and PAS that Lim Kit Siang will become Prime Minister if the Opposition wins the next election. Kit Siang has already said time and time again that he has no intention of becoming Prime Minister, yet the government seems to have run out of ideas to promote itself that it is relying on its tired propaganda of portraying him and the DAP as the only party in the Opposition.
It has long been the weapon of UMNO President, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and his merrymen to threaten the Malays with losing power. During the ruling party's Annual General Meeting earlier this month, Wanita Umno Chief Dato’ Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil warned that voting for Pakatan Harapan would lead to rule by “Emperor Lim”.
It is a weapon to diminish the importance the Malay voters will place on the outrageous scandals and misdeeds which have been carried out against Malaysians. These would include tens of billions of ringgit worth of shennanigans in government ministries and state-owned enterprises like 1MDB, FEDLA, MARA and Tabung Haji. The diversionary lie is also to distract voters from feeling the pain of rising prices, the Goods & Services Tax (GST), weak ringgit and a stagnant economy.
Most uncannily, Liow Tiong Lai’s statement comes right after PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang took a similar position to support UMNO last weekend.
“In fact, for DAP leaders to become the prime minister if the opposition front wins the 14th general election (GE14) goes against the reality in Malaysia, where the concept of an Islamic country means Islam must be in power. This is important. We want to maintain the leadership of Muslims in this country,” Hadi was reported telling Berita Harian in an interview.
Perhaps it should not have come at a surprise that MCA is now so desperate that it felt the need to peddle the same fear mongering rhetoric as PAS. Liow Tiong Lai also said that Lim Kit Siang was clever at sowing racial discord. In echoing the PAS President’s calls, has is Liow now admitting that there should never be a Malaysia for all Malaysians?
The MCA President must have finally realised that it has no hopes of recovering support from the non-Malay community. He is now hoping that by demonstrating subservience to UMNO and PAS, it can receive higher Malay support. This will ensure that MCA might be able to hold on the the handful of remaining seats it possess – such as his own in Bentong where he won with a wafer thin 379-vote majority.
There could not be a greater irony than a political party founded on the need to protect the interest of the Chinese community is now parroting the racially-tainted lies and propaganda espoused by the ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ extremists in UMNO and PAS.
His statement recycles the same fake news that is being peddled by UMNO and PAS that Lim Kit Siang will become Prime Minister if the Opposition wins the next election. Kit Siang has already said time and time again that he has no intention of becoming Prime Minister, yet the government seems to have run out of ideas to promote itself that it is relying on its tired propaganda of portraying him and the DAP as the only party in the Opposition.
It has long been the weapon of UMNO President, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and his merrymen to threaten the Malays with losing power. During the ruling party's Annual General Meeting earlier this month, Wanita Umno Chief Dato’ Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil warned that voting for Pakatan Harapan would lead to rule by “Emperor Lim”.
It is a weapon to diminish the importance the Malay voters will place on the outrageous scandals and misdeeds which have been carried out against Malaysians. These would include tens of billions of ringgit worth of shennanigans in government ministries and state-owned enterprises like 1MDB, FEDLA, MARA and Tabung Haji. The diversionary lie is also to distract voters from feeling the pain of rising prices, the Goods & Services Tax (GST), weak ringgit and a stagnant economy.
Most uncannily, Liow Tiong Lai’s statement comes right after PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang took a similar position to support UMNO last weekend.
“In fact, for DAP leaders to become the prime minister if the opposition front wins the 14th general election (GE14) goes against the reality in Malaysia, where the concept of an Islamic country means Islam must be in power. This is important. We want to maintain the leadership of Muslims in this country,” Hadi was reported telling Berita Harian in an interview.
Perhaps it should not have come at a surprise that MCA is now so desperate that it felt the need to peddle the same fear mongering rhetoric as PAS. Liow Tiong Lai also said that Lim Kit Siang was clever at sowing racial discord. In echoing the PAS President’s calls, has is Liow now admitting that there should never be a Malaysia for all Malaysians?
The MCA President must have finally realised that it has no hopes of recovering support from the non-Malay community. He is now hoping that by demonstrating subservience to UMNO and PAS, it can receive higher Malay support. This will ensure that MCA might be able to hold on the the handful of remaining seats it possess – such as his own in Bentong where he won with a wafer thin 379-vote majority.
There could not be a greater irony than a political party founded on the need to protect the interest of the Chinese community is now parroting the racially-tainted lies and propaganda espoused by the ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ extremists in UMNO and PAS.
Thursday, May 18, 2017
Why is Dato’ Seri Najib Razak making up the plans for Bandar Malaysia as he goes along?
Over the past 2 weeks, the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance have been making a whole series of announcements, varying them along the way.
First, the Ministry of Finance surprised the markets with the sudden temination of the sale of 60% interest in Bandar Malaysia to the consortium led by Iskandar Waterfront Holdings (IWH) for RM7.41 billion. According to MoF, IWH and it’s partner, China Rail Engineering Corporation (CREC) failed to fulfil their financial obligations under the agreement despite more than 10 extensions granted.
However, despite the purported breach of contract by the IWH consortium which should have led to an event of default requiring the forfeit of the 10% deposit paid, the MoF decided to refund the RM741 million deposit paid in full.
Then the markets were fed “rumours” from official sources that the agreement was terminated as the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak was expected to sign an agree with China’s Dalian Wanda, owned by China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin for Bandar Malaysia. The expected agreement was purportedly worth more than US$8 billion.
However, during the Beijing meet between Dato’ Seri Najib and Wang on 13th May, the latter offered nothing other than polite, diplomatic and measured praise for Malaysia. The Prime Minister had to return home empty-handed, not even with a perfunctory, non-committal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as is typically signed during such high-profile events.
Suddenly with the embarrassing failure by the Prime Minister to secure any deal with Wanda, The Star reported on 15th May that according to a government source in Beijing, “Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang told Najib that China hopes the deal on Bandar Malaysia stays unchanged. Najib may have to take the Chinese wishes into consideration.”
It was further reported that Najib said then that the formula for equity stakes in Bandar Malaysia would be changed and that foreign participants would not be just Dalian Wanda Group alone. “We will take into account the position of CREC and other groups that are interested, including Wanda,” he said.
However, yesterday, back in Malaysia, the Prime Minister appeared to have changed his tune again. He said, contrary to some erroneous reports, the termination of the previous agreement with IWH CREC Sdn Bhd is final, and will not be reinstated.
"The selection process for the master developer will involve very strict criteria, including a proven track record, speed of delivery, content creation, and the financial capability to deliver a project of this scale. The highest possible value will be sought to ensure the best deal for the taxpayer is obtained," he added.
It appears very clear that the Bandar Malaysia development lacked any direction, and Dato’ Seri Najib Razak is making up plans has he goes along. And as policies got varied by the day, the market reaction can only be best encapsulated by the wild gyrations of the Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd over the past two weeks.
Such ad-hoc policy making pronouncements are completely detrimental to the MoF’s objective of snaring a new investor for the project. Instead, potential buyers will only be frightened off by the policy flip-flops which can take place in Malaysia, providing them with little confidence and certainty over their investment in the country.
We call upon the Ministry of Finance to deliberate in-depth the developments over the past 2 weeks carefully before making any more vacuous decision announcements. Dato’ Seri Najib Razak must not forget the fact that the original sale to the IWH consortium was finalised only after a 6-month global hunt for investors by C H Williams, Talhar & Wong, the 1MDB-appointed real estate brokers, in 2015.
The offer by IWH consortium, despite their apparent inability to fulfil their financial obligations was the then highest offer on the table. Instead of making empty promises of selling Bandar Malaysia at substantially higher prices which may in turn cripple the viability of the proposed economically beneficial projects, the MoF must study in-depth the types of development in Bandar Malaysia which will generate the most economic multiplier effects for the country, with an emphasis of supporting competent local developers and businesses.
First, the Ministry of Finance surprised the markets with the sudden temination of the sale of 60% interest in Bandar Malaysia to the consortium led by Iskandar Waterfront Holdings (IWH) for RM7.41 billion. According to MoF, IWH and it’s partner, China Rail Engineering Corporation (CREC) failed to fulfil their financial obligations under the agreement despite more than 10 extensions granted.
However, despite the purported breach of contract by the IWH consortium which should have led to an event of default requiring the forfeit of the 10% deposit paid, the MoF decided to refund the RM741 million deposit paid in full.
Then the markets were fed “rumours” from official sources that the agreement was terminated as the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak was expected to sign an agree with China’s Dalian Wanda, owned by China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin for Bandar Malaysia. The expected agreement was purportedly worth more than US$8 billion.
However, during the Beijing meet between Dato’ Seri Najib and Wang on 13th May, the latter offered nothing other than polite, diplomatic and measured praise for Malaysia. The Prime Minister had to return home empty-handed, not even with a perfunctory, non-committal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as is typically signed during such high-profile events.
Suddenly with the embarrassing failure by the Prime Minister to secure any deal with Wanda, The Star reported on 15th May that according to a government source in Beijing, “Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang told Najib that China hopes the deal on Bandar Malaysia stays unchanged. Najib may have to take the Chinese wishes into consideration.”
It was further reported that Najib said then that the formula for equity stakes in Bandar Malaysia would be changed and that foreign participants would not be just Dalian Wanda Group alone. “We will take into account the position of CREC and other groups that are interested, including Wanda,” he said.
However, yesterday, back in Malaysia, the Prime Minister appeared to have changed his tune again. He said, contrary to some erroneous reports, the termination of the previous agreement with IWH CREC Sdn Bhd is final, and will not be reinstated.
"The selection process for the master developer will involve very strict criteria, including a proven track record, speed of delivery, content creation, and the financial capability to deliver a project of this scale. The highest possible value will be sought to ensure the best deal for the taxpayer is obtained," he added.
It appears very clear that the Bandar Malaysia development lacked any direction, and Dato’ Seri Najib Razak is making up plans has he goes along. And as policies got varied by the day, the market reaction can only be best encapsulated by the wild gyrations of the Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd over the past two weeks.
Such ad-hoc policy making pronouncements are completely detrimental to the MoF’s objective of snaring a new investor for the project. Instead, potential buyers will only be frightened off by the policy flip-flops which can take place in Malaysia, providing them with little confidence and certainty over their investment in the country.
We call upon the Ministry of Finance to deliberate in-depth the developments over the past 2 weeks carefully before making any more vacuous decision announcements. Dato’ Seri Najib Razak must not forget the fact that the original sale to the IWH consortium was finalised only after a 6-month global hunt for investors by C H Williams, Talhar & Wong, the 1MDB-appointed real estate brokers, in 2015.
The offer by IWH consortium, despite their apparent inability to fulfil their financial obligations was the then highest offer on the table. Instead of making empty promises of selling Bandar Malaysia at substantially higher prices which may in turn cripple the viability of the proposed economically beneficial projects, the MoF must study in-depth the types of development in Bandar Malaysia which will generate the most economic multiplier effects for the country, with an emphasis of supporting competent local developers and businesses.
Friday, March 31, 2017
Dato’ Seri Najib Razak undisputed King of Obfuscation, carefully wording parliamentary replies with selected choice facts
Meanwhile, crucial details are deliberately omitted, calculated to present an alternate reality for the media and the rakyat.
At first, I was both amused and bemused by yesterday’s headline on Malaysiakini story, “PM: 1MDB has cleared its bank debts, short-term debts”. The headline is factually correct, although it needs an alert and informed reader to read between the lines.
Later however, I was stumped and stupefied by the headlines of The Star and The New Straits Times (NST), screaming “Najib: 1MDB is now debt free” and “1MDB now debt free: Finance Ministry”.
I immediately sought out my colleague, Member of Parliament for Bakri, Er Teck Hwa for a copy of Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s parliamentary reply to his question, which was the basis for the above news stories.
He had asked the Finance Minister to state, among other things, “debts and assets of 1MDB in and out of Malaysia for the years, 2015 and 2016”.
Dato’ Seri Najib Razak responded that 1MDB made full settlement amounting to RM229.5mil for a revolving credit facility to Affin Bank in November, 2015.
Last year, 1MDB has also successfully repaid a RM950mil in a standby credit facility from the Federal Government, a RM2bil term-loan facility from Marstan Investments N.V and a US$150mil term financing facility from Exim Bank.
With the RM3.8 billion worth of debts repaid, the Finance Minister further added that 1MDB no longer have any borrowings with banks, nor any other short-term debts.
As if on cue, knowingly or unknowingly, The Star and The NST fell for it hook, line and sinker by declaring that “1MDB is now debt free”, painting most beautiful alternate reality which the Prime Minister would like you to believe.
Except the reality is so exceedingly different, that you can only conclude that Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s reply was deliberately designed to obfuscate the truth to achieve the effect convincing Malaysians of the biggest lie of them all, that “1MDB is debt free”.
Dato’ Seri Najib has conveniently and mischievously failed to disclose the multiple elephants squeezed into the room - that 1MDB still have outstanding
(i) a 30-year RM5 billion bond which is guaranteed by the Federal Government
(ii) two 10-year US$1.75 billion bonds which was guaranteed by Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC) but have since been indemnified by the Ministry of Finance, Incorporated (MoF Inc)
(iii) a 10-year US$3.0 billion bond, guaranteed with a “Letter of Support” issued by the Minister of Finance
(iv) a US$1.0 billion advance by IPIC, indemnified by MOF Inc
(v) at least US$230 million worth of interest payments by IPIC on behalf of 1MDB, indemnified by MOF Inc.
Hence, the total amount of 1MDB debt still outstanding, and directly or indirectly guaranteed by the Federal Government are RM5.0 billion and at least US$7.73 billion, or a total of more than RM39 billion!
This is despite the fact that the Federal Government has already bailed out 1MDB’s real estate division by assuming 1MDB’s RM2.4 billion worth of sukuk and another RM800 million borrowed from SOCSO.
In addition, the RM39 billion is still outstanding despite the fact that 1MDB has already disposed of its power plant assets for a total of RM9.83 billion.
Hence it complete defies belief that Dato’ Seri Najib Razak was less than truthful with the material omission of more than RM39 billion worth debt in his reply to my Bakri colleague. Instead, the Prime Minister chose to extol 1MDB’s RM3.8 billion repayments, barely a-tenth of the scandal-ridden fund’s total debts.
He even carefully worded his happy conclusion, that 1MDB no longer owes any bank any money or any other short term debts, to skew the impression and perception of those who are not alert or informed. If this does not crown Dato’ Seri Najib the devious King of Obfuscation in Malaysia, then I certainly don’t know what would.
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Instead of making the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia the bastion of truth and integrity, Datuk Seri Salleh Keruak has made it the Ministry of Fake News and Miscommunications
There cannot be greater irony when the Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Seri Salleh Keruak warned in his blog exactly a month ago against posting “fake news”:
However, the Minister seems to have picked up a different lesson from the above analysis that he cited. It appears that the prevalence and popularity of “fake news” which helped President Trump with the American elections is the exact approach he would take to help Dato’ Seri Najib Razak defend his kleptocratic administration.
Two days ago, I have countered Datuk Seri Salleh’s attempt to shrivel 1MDB’s scandal into a peanut-sized RM1 million. The Minister even presented the alternative fact that 1MDB was in possession of RM51 billion in assets and hence is a healthy “going concern”.
I’ve detailed the Auditor-General’s findings that the Federal Government has guaranteed, directly and indirectly, RM39.8 billion of 1MDB’s monster debts of which the Ministry of Finance wholly-owned subsidiary has no ability to repay.
I’ve also cited the fact that even 1MDB’s auditors, Deloitte have renounced the 1MDB March 2013 financial statements which provided the RM51 billion asset figure. This was after various international agencies, including the US Department of Justice (DOJ) provided documents demonstrating that at least US$5.6 billion have been stolen and laundered from 1MDB via fraudulent transfers and fake companies.
Despite the Minister’s normally quick responses, Datuk Seri Salleh Keruak has failed to respond to the cited facts, much less provided any shred of evidence to counter the allegations.
Instead, the above only proved that the Minister has corrupted his position to become the official Ministry of Fake News and Miscommunications, consistent with many of his earlier statements defending the indefensible Prime Minister and 1MDB.
The award of the fakest news of all perpetrated by Datuk Seri Salleh Keruak has to be his continued insistence, even after the mountain of evidence presented by the US DOJ on US$731 million finding its way into Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s personal bank account in Ambank, that “after comprehensive investigations by many authorities, it has been confirmed that the funds were a donation from the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia”.
The problem is, Datuk Seri Salleh Keruak is learning from the best, Nazi Hitler who wrote, “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.” The Minister presented not an iota of proof to continue asserting that the siphoned funds actually originated from “the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia”.
It is the sacred task and duty of all right-thinking Malaysians to stand up for the truth and defeat the ‘big lies’ of the Najib administration to protect our country from crooked dictators, and ensure that our children do not pay for our indifference.
I’ve said this before and I will say it again – verify before you vilify your source of news information. It is very unfortunate to know that many people still cling on to mistaken beliefs and theories that could even be decades old!
Fabricated news stories and irresponsible online news sources spread misinformation in order to mislead and/or make money when others click on the site or article. This makes fake news much more insidious than real news.
According to an analysis by BuzzFeed, a leading independent digital media company, hoaxes about the US politics were among the top-performing fake news content on Facebook in 2016. BuzzFeed News Media Editor, Craig Silverman said that twenty-three of the 50 top-performing fake news hoaxes found on Facebook, were focused on US politics.
However, the Minister seems to have picked up a different lesson from the above analysis that he cited. It appears that the prevalence and popularity of “fake news” which helped President Trump with the American elections is the exact approach he would take to help Dato’ Seri Najib Razak defend his kleptocratic administration.
Two days ago, I have countered Datuk Seri Salleh’s attempt to shrivel 1MDB’s scandal into a peanut-sized RM1 million. The Minister even presented the alternative fact that 1MDB was in possession of RM51 billion in assets and hence is a healthy “going concern”.
I’ve detailed the Auditor-General’s findings that the Federal Government has guaranteed, directly and indirectly, RM39.8 billion of 1MDB’s monster debts of which the Ministry of Finance wholly-owned subsidiary has no ability to repay.
I’ve also cited the fact that even 1MDB’s auditors, Deloitte have renounced the 1MDB March 2013 financial statements which provided the RM51 billion asset figure. This was after various international agencies, including the US Department of Justice (DOJ) provided documents demonstrating that at least US$5.6 billion have been stolen and laundered from 1MDB via fraudulent transfers and fake companies.
Despite the Minister’s normally quick responses, Datuk Seri Salleh Keruak has failed to respond to the cited facts, much less provided any shred of evidence to counter the allegations.
Instead, the above only proved that the Minister has corrupted his position to become the official Ministry of Fake News and Miscommunications, consistent with many of his earlier statements defending the indefensible Prime Minister and 1MDB.
The award of the fakest news of all perpetrated by Datuk Seri Salleh Keruak has to be his continued insistence, even after the mountain of evidence presented by the US DOJ on US$731 million finding its way into Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s personal bank account in Ambank, that “after comprehensive investigations by many authorities, it has been confirmed that the funds were a donation from the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia”.
The problem is, Datuk Seri Salleh Keruak is learning from the best, Nazi Hitler who wrote, “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.” The Minister presented not an iota of proof to continue asserting that the siphoned funds actually originated from “the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia”.
It is the sacred task and duty of all right-thinking Malaysians to stand up for the truth and defeat the ‘big lies’ of the Najib administration to protect our country from crooked dictators, and ensure that our children do not pay for our indifference.
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