Yoursay: The Economist, welcome to the ranks of ‘false news’ purveyors

YOURSAY | ‘All this diatribe from the high commissioner is just smoke and mirrors.’

M'sian envoy raps Economist for publishing opposition's 'lies'

Kim Quek: There is a popular local Chinese saying: “If you don’t open your mouth, people don’t know you are dumb.”

And that saying befits you nicely, Malaysian high commissioner to the United Kingdom Ahmad Rasidi Hazizi.

You missed by a mile the two issues you harped on. On PM Najib Razak’s involvement in 1MDB: MO1 (Malaysian Official 1) was mentioned 36 times in the US court documents and is undoubtedly the central figure in the alleged grand theft of the fund.

As minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan said, everyone who knows about the issue would know MO1 is Najib, and only an idiotwouldn’t know. Rasidi, are you an idiot, since you appeared not to know that?

On the redelineation issue: You don’t seem to understand that The Economist is not criticising the redrawing of boundaries per se, but the atrocious and unconstitutional malapportionment and gerrymandering to tilt the balance in favour of the ruling coalition. Sadly, Rasidi, you don’t seem to know that.

I am flabbergasted that our envoy to such an important country as UK should write this kind of rubbish to defend our PM. Such a fiasco reflects very poorly indeed on the entire country.

Vijay47: Your Excellency Ahmad Rasidi, if the British harboured any doubts as to the quality of our political leaders or senior government officials, your letter to The Economistremoved them.

In fact, Rosmah Mansor's aide Rizal Mansor, Najib's lawyer Hafarizam Harun, or even current champion minister Salleh Said Keruak would have been hard put to top that letter.

The Malaysian opposition must be one of the most powerful and influential groups in the world - with just a dainty wave of their hand, Tony Pua, Rafizi Ramli, Lim Kit Siang and gang managed to get not one, not two, but eight countries including the US to institute court action based on their falsehoods.

Maybe this was achieved with the aid of two coconuts and a bamboo pole.

Next, enter the unnamed admirer. Originally, he was explained to be an Arab gentleman, until it discovered that he was no more, as they say in India, on the material date though the demise of anyone has no bearing since our talented DPM Ahmad Zahid Hamidi affirmed that he had met the donor.

Najib claimed that he received a donation of US$681million but bless the man’s soul, he generously returned US$620 million, perhaps to feed the hungry in Somalia and Pahang.

Finally, our Election Commission (EC), verily a creation of Solomon, which boasts of such equality of matching electorate as Kapar’s 144,000 voters and Putrajaya’s 15,000.

Sorry, you say that this occurs in the West also? Maybe you can name a single country where there are complaints against their elections-managing bodies.

I would suggest that you send your letter to the Wall Street Journal and Washington Postalso. Why deprive the Americans of some humour? Oops, don’t forget Rachel.

Slumdog: True to form, the Malaysian ambassador to Britain has taken the persona of a fiction writer in his ardent defence of Najib. It will only be a matter of time before the US Department of Justice (DOJ) names Najib as one of the masterminds involved in the plunder of 1MDB.

Any independent observer of the EC’s recently redrawn boundaries will conclude that the commission has breached the constitution and further entrenched gerrymandering. All requests for review by the opposition and affected voters was rejected, rushed or dismissed by either the EC or the court.

The EC is just another mouthpiece beholden to Najib and the whole delineation exercise was a farce. In attempting to defend the judiciary’s independence, Rasidi went further to claim the falsehood that it frequently rules against the government and senior ministers.

Cogito Ergo Sum: Indeed, if the redrawing of electoral boundaries is in keeping with the practices of the West, why are objections by the very constituents not heeded by the EC? Why do they have to take the matter to court which has decided against the wishes of the people?

Mr Ambassador, gerrymandering has gone on for far too long to ensure certain candidates win. If you are displeased with the accusations by The Economist, why don’t you demand an apology. If they fail to apologise, sue them on behalf of all Malaysians for slander and defamation.

This will stop such foreign publications from printing lies and half-truths. And Malaysia can regain the dignity we once enjoyed.

Newday: Is this letter really the best our highest official in the colonial kingdom we can come up with? Going on and on about gross national income and jobs - we know how adept BN are at spinning statistics.

The crux of this matter is whether MO1 is a thief. It has nothing to do with the country's economy - apart from the fact we could be in a much better off position without thievery, wastages and leakages.

The Economist is a well-established, respected and independent journal that is not persuaded by anybody, least of all politicians or their representatives from some piddling ex-colonial outpost (pun) at the edge of the world.

The Economist makes up its own mind on matters - it reviews the available information and publishes them. You, high commissioner, spin that fancy fairy tale that RM2.6 billion was a gift from Saudi.

We know that this is clearly not the case. Is The Economist going to take your BN party line word for it? I think not. The paper trail is clear for everyone, including deniers, to see.

Ongoing gerrymandering of electoral boundaries is real and blatantly overrides any constitutional rights of citizens to query or formally protest these changes. Half-built army camps full of fictitious soldiers - taken to court and citizens overruled.

There are many other objections rejected by the judiciary. Established western democracies would never allow this blatant disregard of a person’s right to be heard when the law is in place to allow that.

So, all this diatribe from the high commissioner is just smoke and mirrors and blatant lies. As others have said - sue The Economist if you are so sure of your facts. -Mkini