By KINIBIZ
The “Nothing2Hide” forum, which was supposed to go some way towards restoring public confidence in the prime minister, has turned out to be a major public relations disaster instead.
He did not show up after saying he would. The excuse was “security concerns”, tweeted by the police chief, on grounds that there was some scuffling outside the hall.
Now, KINIBIZ was there and can attest to the reasonable number of security personnel present, as we can expect for a venue so close to the Umno headquarters. Nor was there anything remotely threatening about the overall atmosphere, which felt more like a dull annual general meeting gathering of retired investors and enthusiastic yuppies in suits and ties.
But perhaps there is more intelligence on this “security risk” to which we do not have access, such as how dangerous the overall smartly dressed crowd of uncles, aunties, and young adults lounging outside the hall, denied entry because they did not receive an invitation card to a reportedly “open forum” that turned out to be closed-door instead, really were.
And of course the presence of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, his chief critic, had no part in the no-show. Right? A 90-year-old man can’t be any sort of security risk after all…
After all, the prime minister’s blood is no ordinary blood – by his own admission his blood belongs to the line of Bugis warriors, despite a former finance minister’s remarks that the Bugis were probably more piratical than heroic. He must have been raring to go, to take on his doubters and critics head-on but for the police chief’s last-minute instruction to cancel.
One can easily imagine him having to be physically restrained by well-muscled Special Branch officers, while advisers try to talk him out of attending this forum to which he must have been looking so very much forward to attending.
Because surely he would never otherwise shy away from a fight, much less a simple forum where all he needed to do was take to the microphone and field questions. Surely just stating facts and giving straight answers in a nothing-to-hide forum would not be too taxing nor pose unnecessary risks to his wellbeing, being the vigorous and brave “warrior” he is.
Indeed, he said later that he is always prepared for a dialogue but it must be in a “calm and good manner so that it can lead to a discussion beneficial to all of us”. While the situation at PWTC looked calm and well to KINIBIZ, we defer to the dear leader’s judgment on these things given the self-proclaimed extraordinary blood coursing through his veins.
Anyway, I wonder how the new public relations chief strategist is doing these days…
In any case, here’s a selection of our best news, analyses and comments this past week for you to catch up on once your outrage and disbelief from this latest incident starts dissipating:
Pick 1 – Malaysia and money laundering. Money laundering is not only a global problem but also a growing issue. So are we doing enough about this issue? In a three-part series KINIBIZ looks at how money laundering works and who benefits, among others, in pursuit of the answer. Read all about it here.
Pick 2 – 1MDB’s explanation that wasn’t. This week controversial 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) issued a clarification of how its RM42 billion debt was used. However, the explanation falls short as part of the amount remain missing since no actual proof has been given to show they exist. Read here.
Pick 3 – Now, Bank Negara probes 1MDB. On the same day 1MDB attempted to explain its RM42 billion debt, Bank Negara Malaysia said it has begun a formal enquiry to see whether the company has breached any rules and legislation under the central bank’s purview. 1MDB said it will cooperate fully. Read here.
Pick 4 – Mueller makes the right noises at Malaysia Airlines. The ailing carrier’s new CEO Christoph Mueller spoke to the media for the first time this week, outlining his plans to turn things around. So the new chief has a plan, but can he execute it? His biggest hurdle is to win the staff, opines our resident cat here.
Pick 5 – 11MP: Where are the equity distribution figures? A core issue in any Malaysia Plan is the table on equity distribution figures among ethnic groups. But this is missing in the 11th Malaysia Plan, the latest plan which was tabled in May. Why is this, asks University of Malaya Professor Terence Gomez. Read here.
Pick 6 – What does middle income really mean? As a nation we have talked much about the middle-income group and the supposed middle-income trap we are in. But putting aside economist definitions and abstract income figures, we don’t quite know who really belongs to this group. Read more here.
Pick 7 – Greece, Argentina, and the middle-income trap. Greece and Argentina have at least two things in common: an established tradition of bad macroeconomics and that they were the world’s longest-held captives of the so-called middle-income trap, writes Andrés Velasco, a former finance minister of Chile here.
Pick 8 – The inflation puzzle. The low rate of inflation in the US is a puzzle especially to economists who focus on the relationship between inflation and changes in the monetary base. From 2005 onwards, this relationship was severed, writes Martin Feldstein, professor of economics at Harvard University here.
Pick 9 – The business case for sustainability. Investors worldwide increasingly want environmental and social benefits too from their investments. If this continues, it will add further to growing commitment to sustainability among businesses worldwide, writes Laura Tyson, former US President’s Council of Economic Advisers chair here.
Pick 10 – When buzzword creation goes overboard. We love buzzwords, we really do. Right? We create them virtually overnight, they spread like wildfire and then disappear to buzzword heaven once the hype dies out, making cameos from time to time. But when will this end, asks our resident cat here.
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— by Khairie Hisyam Aliman, News Editor
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