Ladies and Gentlemen,
I present to you the deputy prime minister of Malaysia, the Right Honourable Zahid Hamidi.
Zahid was visibly nervous during his speech. He looked to the left and right way too often. He was a kind of robotic and uneasy through out his speech. He probably could not cope with the solemn nature of the international forum in the United Nations (UN) or the presence of the political personalities in UN.
Alternatively, Zahid might still be stuck in his country's pre-independence colonial mentality- a mentality that one must be inferior to his colonial boss, the British people or 'white people', who are always more superior. Having said that, Zahid was not in Britain. He was delivering a speech in the UN, New York, USA, and not in the British parliament. UN is an international organisation and not purely a superior 'white people' organisation. Perhaps, Zahid was indeed fearful of intellectuals from the rest of the world. His appearance was in total contrast to his attitude at home in Malaysia.
He is known by Malaysians to have a fierce personality. It has been reported that he did not hesitate to punch someone deemed to have offended him. His supporters in his home-town and electoral constituency, Bagan Datoh, Perak, Malaysia, apparently have gangster-like behaviour too.
In his several governmental positions, he has been known to make use of his position to harass ordinary citizens, organisations, social activists and opposing leaders.
Government institutions, such as police, attorney-general chambers, Malaysian anti corruption commission, immigration deparment, are tools for Zahid to achieve his political objectives. You can see that Zahid is no stateman. While he may be experienced and skilled, he is not a respected political figure. He is however a Jaguh Kampung or Village Conqueror. He could not even confidently carry himself in the global forum, and yet he acted like a feudal lord in Malaysia. He is no match to his political master, Najib Razak, the prime minister of Malaysia.
Najib is renowned world-wide. The United States, Department of Justice (DOJ) aptly nicknamed him MO1. The acronym is an abbreviation of Malaysian Official 1. Najib is synonymous with 1 in Malaysia. His '1Malaysia' term is known in money laundering; cash handouts to buy votes; corruption re-branded as donation; property development; and other smaller items like free milk and laptops. The originally touted idea of 1Malaysia concept to foster racial harmony has been long forgotten and lost.
The most outstanding 1Malaysia creation by Najib is 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Najib's behind the scene team members, namely Jho Low, Li Lin Seet Jasmine Loo, Casey Tang and Riza Aziz, have caused ripples in banking, property purchase, art pieces, high society entertainment, charitable and political donations, etc., across the globe; and left their footprints all over the world.
Najib made Swiss private bank, BSI bank with 143 years of history, came to its knees by convincing its staff in Singapore to help his 1MDB 'donation' course. He was reported to turn a decision of the justice minister of his neighbouring country by giving 'donation'- monetary pressure. Several Hollywood celebrities, eg Leonardo Dicaprio and Robert DeNiro, have been shamed by their connection to Najib and his 1MDB team. Najib's 1MDB team is under investigation for money laundering, corruption and other criminal charges in the US, Switzerland, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Luxembourg, the UK, Australia and Hong Kong. Najib is linked to criminal investigations in at least 4 continents of the world. You can imagine how he has made his presence felt globally. Malaysian prime minister, Najib is probably the most criminally implicated leader of a country in the modern history.
[Updates: Another Swiss bank, Falcon Private Bank's Singapore branch has since ceased operating because of 1MDB. Singaporean banks, DBS and UOB were also fined for breaches in anti-money laundering law pertaining to Najib's transactions. British owned Coutts Bank, popularly known in the UK as ‘The Queen’s Bank’, with 325 years of history, was reported to have been involved in the 1MDB affair. It is likely to receive regulatory sanctions for its role in the 1MDB deals soon. As you can see whether Americans, Arabs, Australians, English, Singaporeans or Swiss, they could not escape Najib's charm. No one could resist Najib. Najib is the one and the only world champion of its kind.]
In comparison to Najib, Zahid pales in his international reputation. Zahid is after all just a Jaguh Kampung while Najib is truly the world champion. Zahid could not confidently handle the political players from around the world. On the contrary, Najib has made the politicians, Hollywood celebrities, international bankers, law enforcers, and others from all over the world go round and round with his mastery of corruption (aka donation), abuses, and money laundering.
(If you have extra time to spare, you can watch the 7 minute version below:)
