On May 25, 2016, Deputy Finance Minister Johari Abdul Gani informed Parliament that 1MDB was based on a "wrong business model." He also said the government "never claimed it was a good investment".
These were all facts the government should have known well before 1MDB started on the sucidal spiralling debt-accumulating misadventure.
What is unforgivable and totally irresponsible is the fact the federal government had been well forwarned of the impending high failure risks by a state government that refused to morgage its future away no matter how much arm twisting was applied.
History shows that Terengganu Investment Authority - TIA, was set up through the initiative of the federal government under Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak as a soveriegn fund vehicle.
The intention was to pledgeas collateral future earnings of Terengganu's oil and gas revenue with no other known assets or projects in hand.
The government of Terengganu, which was then headed by Ahmad Said, realised it was a very high-risk concept which will compromise Terengganu's future.
The unknown figure, a businessman by the name of Jho Low who appeared to be part of the scheme, caused furthur doubts in the minds of Terengganu's government.
Their fears were justified as history also showed that Low proved to be a controversial figure and the oil price crashed to below US$30.
Eventually TIA became 1MDB, but even before any project was launched it was learnt some hundreds of millions was paid out as commisions to certain individuals.
The big question is, how is it the federal government with all the facilities and expertise at its disposal could not forsee the great risks that a small state government like Terengganu had the foresight and wisdom to avoid?
Is it negligence, irresponsible attitude or pure greed that lead to the mess Malaysia is in today?
These are questions being asked by Malaysians and the international community.
Foreign countries are proceeding to investigate and prosecute those proven to have broken laws in 1MDB scandal. These include Switzerland and Singapore.
Malaysia proved to once again be a unique country with crimes being commited but no criminals to be found.
Some may ask what's new? In the mean time, in the world view, Malaysia is seen in a very skeptical way and not very well regarded in terms of integrity and good governance.
1MDB was not based on a "wrong business model" as said by the deputy minister, but it was set up on a "known flawed business model" rejected by the government of Terengganu.
The federal government had been warned about its unworkability by the state government. Everyone could see it is a highly risky model but the government decided to proceed and accumulated more than RM40 billion in debt.
The Terengganu stakeholders in 1MDB predecessor TIA were wise enough to dump the load but the federal government was irresponsible and greedy enough to amass billions of ringgit of debts at the nations expense.
As long as Malaysia continues to have large crimes with no criminals caught Malaysia will continue to be a fast-failing state.
RAJA KAMARUL BAHRIN SHAH RAJA AHMAD is Parti Amanah Negara's MP for Kuala Terengganu.- Mkini
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