Malaysia set to let UAE off the 1MDB hook

Closed door settlement could result in a hugely diminished payout without scandalous details ever aired in an open court

When the Malaysian government announced a US$3.9 billion settlement deal with Goldman Sachs in July, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin used the opportunity to reiterate his administration’s commitment to recovering assets linked to the sprawling multi-billion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.

Prominent detractors, though, panned the deal, despite it paving the way for the largest yet recovery of pilfered state funds, with Goldman committing to a $2.5 billion cash payout and a guarantee to return at least $1.4 billion in assets linked to three bond transactions worth $6.5 billion that the US investment bank had structured and arranged for 1MDB.

Leaders of Malaysia’s previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) government, which oversaw charges brought against Goldman and its executives, have suggested that Malaysia was shortchanged in the settlement, which also saw pending criminal charges against the bank dropped. To critics, the outcome amounted to a veritable slap on the wrist.

Reports indicate that another such settlement is in the works, this time with an Abu Dhabi state investment fund over 1MDB-related transactions linked to a legal challenge filed by Malaysia in a London court. Observers say the settlement could lead to a smaller-than-expected payout without details of the controversial case ever being aired in an open court.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Malaysia’s shapeshifting politics signal trouble ahead

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's tenure could be brief with shifting political winds and snap polls on the horizon

Six months since his appointment as Malaysia’s premier, Muhyiddin Yassin now finds himself between a rock and a hard place. With his ruling coalition of convenience mired in internecine strife, a new party launched by his bitterly estranged predecessor, Mahathir Mohamad, threatens to weaken further his standing ahead of anticipated snap polls.

Though a general election is not due until late 2023, speculation is rising that a vote could be held within the next six months. Electoral considerations have already forced Muhyiddin to find new footing within a tangle of overlapping political alliances as he seeks a racially inclusive strategy to broaden his party’s appeal.

While Muhyiddin’s popularity has grown on his perceived as competent handling of Covid-19, open divisions in his informal Perikatan Nasional (PN) governing pact, the pandemic’s economic fallout and discontent over controversies involving ministers flouting virus control measures have ended his political honeymoon.

With a mere two-seat parliamentary majority, Muhyiddin found himself up against a wall when leaders from the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the largest bloc in his coalition, said they would not formally join the PN coalition following the sentencing to jail of former UMNO leader and ex-premier Najib Razak for corruption in late July.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Singapore’s migrants still captive to Covid-19

Migrant workers ringfenced in overcrowded dormitories continue to bear the brunt of the city-state’s viral outbreak

Passing their days within a ringfence, Singapore’s foreign workers have spent the past four months coping with fears of contracting Covid-19 and the associated dread of being quarantined in perpetuity.

Confined to the cramped living conditions of their dormitories, signs abound that the pandemic has taken a heavy toll on the mental health of low-paid laborers in the island republic, which nonetheless has earned global praise for its comprehensive coronavirus handling.

Mass dormitories housing some 323,000 foreign workers emerged as the epicenter of the city-state’s outbreak after being put on lockdown in April when clusters were first identified. While cases remained low among the population at large, infections in the dormitories rose dramatically and pushed Singapore’s caseload to one of the highest in Asia.

Singapore’s total number of Covid-19 cases now stands at 56,099, with dormitory infections accounting for around 95% of the total caseload. The asymmetric impact of the outbreak, moreover, has spotlighted the need for broader reform of dormitory standards and the uncomfortable realities of severe inequality in the wealthy city-state.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Cause for contempt of Malaysia’s politicized courts

Malaysia's politics descends into duel of tit-for-tat corruption charges that threatens to strain judicial credibility

When Najib Razak became the first former Malaysian prime minister ever to be convicted for corruption, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) opposition coalition that brought the charges against him while in power hailed the verdict as a “big victory” for Malaysians.

Sentenced to 12 years behind bars and fined nearly US$50 million in the first of several cases linked to multi-billion-dollar corruption allegations at the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state fund, the landmark ruling vindicated those who had spoken out against rampant graft as Najib’s scandal-plagued rule lurched toward authoritarianism.

By ostensibly allowing the judiciary to operate independently under his watch, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin managed to allay concerns that charges against Najib and other senior leaders from his United Malays National Organization (UMNO) – a linchpin in the premier’s fragile ruling coalition – would be dropped or subverted.

Opposition lawmakers, however, are raising new questions about Malaysia’s legal process following the August 7 arrest of former finance minister and senior opposition leader Lim Guan Eng, with PH leaders labeling bribery charges leveled against him in connection with a $1.5 billion China-linked infrastructure project as barefaced “political persecution.”

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Why Malaysia’s Muhyiddin fears a free press

Malaysia's new government is harassing and intimidating journalists in a fierce new clampdown on media freedoms

Advocates are sounding the alarm over a rapid deterioration of press freedom conditions in Malaysia following a series of police raids, arrests and interrogations of whistle-blowers and reporters who risk being jailed for years under draconian legislation often used to target the media.

Six journalists from Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera are among those currently under criminal investigation for alleged sedition, defamation and transmitting offensive content after the network aired on July 3 a documentary chronicling Malaysia’s controversial treatment of undocumented migrants during the coronavirus pandemic.

In a separate case, Steven Gan, the editor-in-chief of the news organization Malaysiakini, widely considered the most popular independent media portal in Malaysia, faces contempt of court charges in connection with reader remarks posted in the comments section of an article that authorities said had threatened public confidence in the judiciary.

“We are already seeing a pattern where media freedoms are really being affected purely through the way certain media outlets or journalists are being targeted,” said Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) executive director Wathshlah Naidu. “This pattern can already show that there is a certain concerted effort by the government.”

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.