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By Mihar Dias October 2024
Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s recent “unreserved apology” for the 1MDB scandal, coupled with his declaration of innocence, could almost be mistaken for the opening act of a grand Shakespearean tragedy if it weren’t so blatantly Monty Python-esque.
One can almost hear Najib, with a pained expression, crooning in his best Hamlet impression, “O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set this scandal right!”
Tony Pua, bless him, has been quick to bring in a little reality to this tragicomedy, sketching out a handy list of things Najib is, apparently, “not responsible for.” https://newswav.com/article/after-najib-s-1mdb-apology-tony-pua-makes-satirical-list-of-things-ex-pm-no-A2410_zy2bye?s=A_JcBdW4t&language=en
Let’s indulge in the drama of Pua’s list:
First, Najib was not responsible for sacking his Deputy Prime Minister, nor for shuffling out the Attorney-General and a series of heads in MACC and Special Branch like some dark chapter of Game of Thrones. https://newswav.com/article/after-najib-s-1mdb-apology-tony-pua-makes-satirical-list-of-things-ex-pm-no-A2410_zy2bye?s=A_JcBdW4t&language=en
It wasn’t Najib’s choice, obviously, that anyone even thinking of lifting the lid on 1MDB suddenly found themselves removed in a game of musical chairs.
Nothing to see here, folks, Najib’s subtext seems to scream, and we’re to believe that every fired official in sight was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Then comes the cherry on this sundae of irresponsibility: the US$27 million pink diamond for his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor—an unassuming bauble that, as Pua points out, Najib is also definitely “not responsible” for. https://newswav.com/article/after-najib-s-1mdb-apology-tony-pua-makes-satirical-list-of-things-ex-pm-no-A2410_zy2bye?s=A_JcBdW4t&language=en
Oscar Wilde said it best, "Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination," and it seems Najib's capacity for imagination had only one flaw: that it couldn’t foresee jail time.
Rosmah’s sparkling bling, naturally, had nothing to do with her husband’s decisions and was simply, in Najib’s world, an unintended benefit of his trust in others.
As Najib insists he isn’t to blame for 1MDB’s billions lost to dubious deals, luxury goods, and a host of mystery transactions, I can only imagine him wading through a forest of misdeeds like Macbeth with his "I am in blood stepped in so far," unable to return but entirely unready to accept the consequences.
“It pains me every day,” he says, likely as he shifts his prison-issue seat, pining not for Malaysia’s lost billions but for the days when an apology was a press release away from getting off scot-free. https://newswav.com/article/after-najib-s-1mdb-apology-tony-pua-makes-satirical-list-of-things-ex-pm-no-A2410_zy2bye?s=A_JcBdW4t&language=en
Pua’s list keeps going, an endless scroll of “not responsible” items. The bond guarantees. The overpriced deals with Chinese companies. https://newswav.com/article/after-najib-s-1mdb-apology-tony-pua-makes-satirical-list-of-things-ex-pm-no-A2410_zy2bye?s=A_JcBdW4t&language=en
Najib’s mea culpa has all the sincerity of an actor without a script, improvising lines with a wink to the audience who’s well aware of the play he’s putting on.
As the former PM twists the knife of innocence into his apology, one wonders if he doesn’t hear a certain Gollum-like refrain, “I am not to blame, Precious, it was them. They made me do it!” (Tolkien "Lord of the Rings").
It’s a masterstroke of literary escapism, blending Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” with Pontius Pilate’s infamous hand-washing, all the while standing center stage, insisting he could not possibly have been the mastermind.
After all, as Najib seems to assure us, there is no mastermind here—just a good man who was, clearly, too stupid and too slow to prevent the loss of Malaysia’s billions. https://newswav.com/article/after-najib-s-1mdb-apology-tony-pua-makes-satirical-list-of-things-ex-pm-no-A2410_zy2bye?s=A_JcBdW4t&language=en
An innocent “bystander” in his own saga of scandal, imprisonment, and conveniently selective amnesia.
To cap it off, Pua echoes Najib’s repeated refrain: “It’s not my fault. Really.” https://newswav.com/article/after-najib-s-1mdb-apology-tony-pua-makes-satirical-list-of-things-ex-pm-no-A2410_zy2bye?s=A_JcBdW4t&language=en
In the final act of this tragicomedy, Najib casts himself as both hero and victim, asking us to believe that he was nothing more than an unwitting tourist on a luxury cruise of “lopsided deals” and “unfounded accusations.”
This apology tour, much like 1MDB itself, is a mystery wrapped in a scandal, tied up with a Resignation Letter from Reality.
Mihar Dias is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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