Yes, that will be what matters in the end. 1MDB, Rosmah’s “pink diamond”, and all those other lies and spin are no longer of concern because they cannot help put food on the table. And this will be when Mahathir will leave the scene and will allow his successor to take over and attempt to solve the mess they are going to inherit with no solution on the table.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Cogito, ergo sum is a Latin philosophical proposition by René Descartes usually translated into English as, “I think, therefore I am”. Descartes said, “From time to time I have found that the senses deceive, and it is prudent never to trust completely those who have deceived us even once.”

Descartes’ argument is: you must never trust your senses because your senses tend to deceive you.

And this was how Pakatan Harapan won GE14 a year ago: by applying deception.


If you can make people believe that Moses met God in the burning bush to receive the “Ten Commandments”, or that Jesus died on the cross and came back to life three days later to save the world, or that Muhammad flew up to heaven to meet God and to receive the commandment for his followers to pray five times a day, then you have yourself a religion and converts or followers to come with it.

Hence all you need to get followers is to make people believe you or believe what you claim. And truth does not apply here. You only need to create a perception.

From three years from 2015 to 2018, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Pakatan Harapan played the perception game. And they used 1MDB as the tool in this game of perception. Get enough people to say the same thing and get them to keep repeating it many times and lies eventually become the truth. This was how Joseph Goebbels did it.

The problem is not that Mahathir or Pakatan are good at this game. The problem is Umno and those within Najib’s inner circle or the PMO failed to counter the lies and spin. Many preferred not to be seen as too pro-Najib (even today) in case Najib falls and drags them down with him. So it is better they not get involved but be seen as neutral.

It is quite normal for people to look after their own interests first. Why support Najib or try to help Najib and then suffer the consequences if Najib falls? If Najib has to fall then let him fall alone. And that was why Najib practically had to fight these lies and spin regarding 1MDB all on his own without any help from others (save maybe blogs such as Malaysia Today).

Today, it is becoming clearer that the 1MDB stories were mainly lies. There may have been some hanky-panky in 1MDB but evidence is beginning to emerge that it is not as bad as what Mahathir, Tony Puah, Hannah Yeoh, Rafizi Ramli, etc., say (which is RM50 billion of 1MDB’s money has disappeared into thin air). And it may not have been Najib who stole 1MDB’s money after all but people entrusted with managing 1MDB.

Yes, even the bank admits that they noticed something fishy but chose not to inform Najib about it so as to not tip him off. And the bank also admitted that Najib’s claim that the RM2.6 billion came from the Saudi Royal Family and that he had returned most of the unused money to them is also true.

So which part of the 1MDB story is true and which part is false? We are still discovering new things every day but it appears like there is more false than true in the 1MDB story. Once the truth is discovered, will all those who voted for or support Pakatan Harapan change their mind?

You might as well ask whether the Jews will abandon Moses or the Christians will abandon Jesus or the Muslims will abandon Muhammad. Once you believe it is almost impossible to unbelieve. And the DAP Chinese and Pakatan Harapan supporters believe Najib stole probably as much as RM50 billion of 1MDB’s money.

And DAP and Pakatan Harapan will keep repeating this story (like Lim Kit Siang did today) to make sure no one changes their mind about the matter and continues to believe the story that Najib stole RM50 billion of 1MDB’s money.

Eventually, people will no longer care about 1MDB. They will no longer bother whether Najib did steal 1MDB’s money — and whether it was RM42 billion or RM50 billion or RM60 billion. They will just care about what Pakatan Harapan promised a year ago and how much of those promises have been met.

When the peoples’ pockets are empty, and when they find it hard to put food on the table, this is the only thing they will think about.

So the US has returned RM1.35 billion of 1MDB’s stolen money. So the government has filed a RM711 million forfeiture suit against Najib. What other ‘good news’ is the Pakatan Harapan government going to tell us on this first anniversary of GE14?

The good news that the rakyat want to hear is that the cost of living has come down. The good news that the rakyat want to hear is that the minimum wage is now RM1,500 a month and will increase to RM2,000 by or before GE15. The good news that the rakyat want to hear is that racism and religious conflicts are a thing of the past and no longer exist in Malaysia. The good news that the rakyat want to hear is that the Ringgit is now 2.8 to the US$ or 3.8 to the Pound Sterling. The good news that the rakyat want to hear is that all the election promises made by Pakatan Harapan have been delivered in full.

Yes, that will be what matters in the end. 1MDB, Rosmah’s “pink diamond”, and all those other lies and spin are no longer of concern because they cannot help put food on the table. And this will be when Mahathir will leave the scene and will allow his successor to take over and attempt to solve the mess they are going to inherit with no solution on the table.