The closing down of The Malaysian Insider and other matters

By MT Webmaster Last updated Mar 20, 2016

And that was when they decided to close down TMI. But of course they are going to try to make it appear like they are closing down because of action by the Malaysian government that does not respect free speech and the independence of the media and so on. The truth is the Chinaman is not going to blow another RM10 million or RM20 million after already blowing RM10 million unless he can get something out of it.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

When The Edge Media Group (TEMG) bought The Malaysia Insider (TMI) in June 2014 (READ HERE), it was with a specific purpose in mind. And that specific purpose revealed itself soon after that when TMI spearheaded the attacks on Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak later that same year.

No doubt, the usual hype is that TMI is an independent news portal that will not take sides and will report the truth without fear or favour and all that usual nonsense that news portals such as Malaysiakini (a.k.a. Suara Anwar Ibrahim), Malaysia Chronicle (a.k.a. Suara Tian Chua) and so on spew out.

The truth is TMI is as independent as Adolf Hitler was a Jew lover and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is a democrat. TMI, at least after June 2014, existed for only one reason and for no other reason other than just that one reason — which was to serve the ANC (Anti-Najib Campaign) in its effort to bring down Najib.

It would have been very profitable for TMI had the ANC succeeded in ousting Najib in July 2015 like they had planned. By then TMI would have been a year in operation and the rewards for just a year’s work would have been very lucrative. And we would have seen that rich Chinaman behind TMI get even richer.

Of course, it did not happen in July 2015 as planned. Instead, Najib axed those who were trying to oust him. So they needed to shift the date to October and then to December. But still Najib did not fall and Malaysia entered the New Year with Najib still as Prime Minister. And that was when TMI realised that Najib was never going to be ousted as planned after all.

By then TMI had blown RM10 million, according to their own admission (READ HERE). That, of course, makes sense since they have been operating for about 20-21 months at a cost of RM500,000 a month. And Tong Kooi Ong, the one-time Anwar Ibrahim crony who became rich with Anwar’s help, did not see why he should continue with TMI and blow yet another RM15-20 million until 2018.

And what happens if Umno-Barisan Nasional wins the 2018 general election and Najib remains the Umno President cum Prime Minister after the 2018 Umno party election? Does TMI then close down after blowing a total of RM25-30 million or does it go on and blow another RM6 million for every year it stays in business post-2018?

So, yes, as Ho Kay Tat said, it is a business decision and a decision that is necessary since they can’t sell off TMI and recover the RM10 million they have lost so far.

To these Chinamen, at the end of the day, it is all about the money. RM10 million is nothing had Najib been ousted in July 2015. They can get back hundreds of millions in government favours and contracts on the RM10 million they had spent. But if that is not going to happen then why continue to spend more money?

Tong Kooi Ong wants to sell TMI for RM20 million so that he can recover his RM10 million plus make a profit of RM10 million on the deal. So he approached Umno to try to get Umno to buy it.

Umno, however, realised that what they would be buying would be an empty shell as all the staff would just resign and go set up another news portal called The Malaysian Outsider. So what is Umno buying for RM20 million?

You mean you really thought that Tong Kooi Ong blew RM10 million so far because of his love from Malaysia and to help the country? If you really believe that then you probably also believe that 8 is a lucky number while 4 is an unlucky number. And what else do you believe: that red ang paus on Chinese New Year is good luck while white ang paus is bad luck?

Hmm…Malaysians so easily believe whatever suits them. No wonder many believe that the 4th March 2016 launch of the Save Malaysia Campaign with the signing of the Citizens’ Declaration is Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s way of seeking redemption and paying back for his sins to the country.

I remember about ten years ago during the PKR annual assembly or party convention in Penang when Azmin Ali lashed out at all those who supported or cooperated with Dr Mahathir in his bid to oust Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Azmin stood on stage and said, “Semua yang bersekongkong dengan Mahathir boleh blah.” This can translate to mean all those who collaborate with Mahathir can fxxx off. ‘Blah’ would be the Bahasa Malaysia equivalent of…well, you know what it translates to.

That was about ten years ago. And when Azmin shouted that, Anwar Ibrahim was sitting beside him and was smirking, just like the cat that had swallowed the canary. Anwar made it very clear that Azmin had his permission to scold us, or maybe he even told Azmin to do it.

Anyway, ten years hence and now Azmin and Anwar both bersekongkong dengan Mahathir. In fact, they even accept Mahathir as the new de facto opposition leader to replace Anwar. How times have changed.

Ten years ago we were told that if we collaborate with Mahathir then we are traitors. Today, Mat Sabu says all those who oppose Mahathir are cowards (READ HERE). Actually, Mat Sabu used the word pengecut. And pengecut means more than just coward. Pengecut comes from the word kecut or shrunk. So figure out what Mat Sabu is referring to when he says ‘shrunk’. Apa dia yang sudah kecut?

And, yes, this is the same Mat Sabu who called Mahathir Mahazalim and Anwar Al Juburi.

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (Ku Li) made a statement in reference to my interview in the NST recently. Basically, Ku Li denies that his chap had met me and had asked me to sign that Statutory Declaration in June 2008.

Anyway, I do not want to say too much on the matter because those who are in the know would know what really happened. I just want to publish this photograph of the person that most likely one million Malaysians know works for Ku Li and is Ku Li’s attack dog.

Beware the Ides of March, Nik Azmi a.k.a. Bul. You can twist and you can turn but you can never avoid the truth finally being revealed. And make sure that people don’t start calling you Nik Azmi a.k.a. Bul a.k.a. Bull…if you know what I mean.

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK