Documentary “Kleptocrats” about the 1MDB scandal making world premier in New York while the Supreme Kleptocrat in Malaysia continues in his bubble to deny existence of 1MDB scandal

Former UMNO Minister and UMNO Wanita leader, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz has asked a most important and pertinent question about education in Malaysia at the Nurture, Engage, eXchange Leadership Conference in Penang yesterday: “What are you bringing up? Kleptos (thieves) and bullies?”

She said Malaysia has no need to come up with reports on the education system, as by the time the reports are written, the rest of the world would have already moved ahead.

“So many studies, so many reports, but nobody looks at them. So no need”, she said.

Just consult the private sector and ask industry players, both local and foreign, what they need in terms of human capital and skills – was her recipe for educational reform in Malaysia.

Although I do not fully agree with her, I must say that Rafidah’s sharp-tongued criticism of the flaws of the educational system resonates with the majority of Malaysians who are worried about the education of their children.

Her question, “What are you bringing up? Klepptos (thieves) and bullies” is very relevant in Malaysia six decades after Merdeka in 1957 and the formation of Malaysia in 1963 – whether despite Islam as the official religion of Malaysia and the country being the confluence of the great religions and civilisations in the world, our schools and universities are producing a generation completely devoid of moral compass or religious values, who can be very comfortable with the infamy, ignominy and iniquity of being a global kleptocracy?

And horror of horrors, where a political party based on political Islam like PAS could even embrace kleptocracy, which is denounced by Islam and all religions and moral systems in the world – the unwritten agenda for the joint UMNO-PAS gathering in Perak this weekend.

Malaysia’s greatest moral dilemma six decades after nationhood is vivdly highlighted by the following three images:

• Former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and those in his cohoots being hauled to court in the country to answer scores of criminal charges of corruption, criminal breach of trust and money-laundering in the 1MDB scandal; while overseas,1MDB conspirators like former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner pleaded guilty of 1MDB criminal and corruption charges, and with another Goldman Sachs banker, Roger Ng, agreeing to forfeit some RM300 million of ill-gotten gains in the 1MDB scandal. Meanwhile, the international manhunt for 1MDB mastermind Jho Low, who has been indicted in Malaysia and the United States, continues.
• Najib shooting off numerous statements in his Facebook every day to distract attention from the 1MDB noose closing in on him, while continue to live in his bubble and to deny the existence of 1MDB scandal.
• The 84-minute U.S. documentary “The Kleptocrats” making its world premier in New York, with the following script accompanying the documentary:

“In one of the world’s biggest financial crimes, 3.5 billion dollars were stolen from a Malaysian government fund. Investigative reporters from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Hollywood Reporter follow the money as it travels across the globe, financing everything from luxury real estate and decadent parties in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street. Capturing white-collar crime at its greedy best. The Kleptocrats is tale of embezzlement, scams and greed run amok.”

Like Tom Wright and Bradley Hopes’ Billion Dollar Whale book, The Kleptocrats puts added emphasis on the role of fugitive financier Jho Low in the corruption scandal spanning at least 10 countries.

It tracks Low’s movements as he criss-crossed the world between Malaysia and Hollywood, playing up his lavish lifestyle that led to his playboy image.

Directors Sam Hobkinson and Havana Marking also included interviews with Malaysian personalities such as MPs Tony Pua and Maria Chin Abdullah to help convey the damage the scandal wrought on Malaysia.

Both the documentary The Kleptocrats and the harvest of books on the 1MDB scandal, like Billion Dollar Whale, reinforce the question asked by Rafidah yesterday - “What are you bringing up? Kleptos (thieves) and bullies?”