The reason the forex RCI haunts Mahathir so badly
“Not only are they aware that the RM31.5 billion forex scandal has eclipsed the RM42 billion ‘controversy’, they’re worried that voters will go to polling booths convinced that Mahathir is the real criminal, not Najib. In one sense, I really can’t blame them. I mean, which catchphrase would you rather hum as you make your way towards the voting booth? Are you going to hum about the “RM42 billion that Najib allegedly dissipated into thin air,” or will you hum the one about “RM31.5 billion in foreign reserves being gambled away through the forex market?”
THE THIRD FORCE
Recently, there have been a spate of theories floating around the internet that appear to give exact reasons why Dr Mahathir Mohamad is displeased with the outcome of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the Nineties Forex Scandal (NFS). These theories, many of which are of tedium, range from him being dissatisfied with the RCI report to how bitter he is that the spotlight is no longer on the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak.
Now, at this point, you’re probably accustomed to me telling you that it’s a little of this and a little of that. But that’s not what I’m here to say. Today, I’m going to highlight a reason that seems to have been ignored by many, one that may be the mother of them all. And I’m referring to the fact that the RCI more or less confirmed that RM31.5 billion was gambled away by Bank Negara through speculative trade in the forex market.
What about the RM31.5 billion?
In 2015, Mahathir undertook in an agreement with George Soros to cripple the administration of Najib Razak. The duo planned to accuse Najib of defrauding Malaysian taxpayers by making viral two sets of financial figures purportedly misappropriated by the Prime Minister in collusion with officials from the wealth fund.
The first set, which totalled RM42 billion, was assigned to Mahathir himself, who undertook with his accomplices to implicate Najib of criminal misfeasance in public office. The second set was delegated to Clare Rewcastle Brown, whose job was to trump up charges of conspiracy involving government linked companies and charitable organisations to funnel RM2.6 billion into the Prime Minister’s personal account.
Now, what do you get when you have a firebrand journalist who not only is white, but purports to walk in truth and champion justice? Well, here in Malaysia, you actually get nincompoops worshipping anything and everything that journalist says. And this is not make belief. There are just that many people in this country who’d rather spend hours upon hours entertaining a white milkman from the United Kingdom (UK) than they would a dark-skinned nuclear scientist from Seremban.
These qualities along with her white skin tone won half the battle. The other half was won through the ink of guile and persuasion that she penned her articles with. When members of the opposition began holding up placards reading RM2.6 billion at every other juncture, they helped print that ink onto the conscience of sceptics, meaning, you now had a bulk of Malaysians believing that the Prime Minister stole RM2.6 billion from 1MDB.
And once you have people believing that, there is no reason for them not to believe that he dissipated more billions into thin air. And that is how RM42 billion tagline became “a thing.” Today, however, it is no longer “a thing” – people have begun to open their eyes and realise how Pakatan Harapan has been taking them for rides. What they’re more concerned with is the reason Mahathir allowed Bank Negara to gamble away RM31.5 billion through the forex market.
And in today’s currency, that’s worth a staggering RM157.5 billion!
