The search for Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) in Malaysia is over. MO1 was mentioned 32 times by Department of Justice, USA in a lawsuit related to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) on money laundering in the USA. The excitement of searching for MO1 ended way before the appeal of PokemonGo faded. It was United Malay National Ogarnisation (Umno)'s very own Abdul Rahman Dahlan, holding the position of communications strategist in Barisan Nasional (BN), a coalition dominated by Umno, who spilled the beans to British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
Why did Abdul Rahman admit that MO1 is prime minster of Malaysia, Najib Razak? He had refuted endlessly in Malaysia that the reference by Department of Justice in the USA to MO1 was indeed a reference to Najib Razak. His change of heart took many Malaysians by surprise. Political observers scrambled to come out with sensible explanations.
One could argue that Abdul Rahman, who grew up in Umno regime, had a soft spot for British. It is commonly known as 'colonial mentality'. He got weakened in the presence of his 'colonial master'. Britain once colonized Malaysia and ruled it for more than two hundred years.
On the other hand, Abdul Rahman could be plotting against his own political boss. Abdul Rahman is known to have 'no spine'. He could swing and support whoever that would benefit him financially or politically. While Abdul Rahman denied any wrongdoing by his boss, the damage was done by officially linking MO1 to Najib Razak.
Since the revelation by Abdul Rahman, business was still as usual for Umno and Malaysian prime minister. The Malaysian Inspector General of Police, Khalid Abu Bakar regarded a money laundering case of this scale, implicating the prime minister of Malaysia, as just Umno politics. It was incomprehensible that a few billions of US dollars, that were siphoned out of Malaysia to benefit a few personalities, would seem to him to be merely politics. Ordinary Malaysians would be able to see all the red flags of corruption and money laundering, but not the IGP of Malaysia. The attorney general of Malaysia has equally turned a blind eye and declared 'no case' against Najib Razak.
This 1MDB scandal has taken several damaging turns. One would have thought Najib's position might be weakened. This was apparently not the case. Najib Razak is still firmly in power. He controls Umno which is the dominant party in the ruling coalition, BN. In Umno, you can always get support if you have money. Najib Razak has plenty of that from 1MDB. With gerrymandering, vote buying and rigging of polls, Umno looks set to lead and win the next general election of Malaysia. Money speaks louder than democracy in Malaysia. Surely this was not what the British intended when they handed independence to Malaysians in 1957.
