Red-faced Najib unable to answer S’pore’s “opportunist” label
Mariam Mokhtar, Malaysia Chronicle
The Wikileaks revelations in which Singaporean officials gave damning descriptions on Malaysian prime ministers and the part they played in the ‘decline of Malaysia’ make grim reading but are nothing new. Incompetence, racial conflict and high-profile murder already feature as daily fodder in our Malaysian newspapers.
In spite of how we feel about Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder, whose publications have kept governments on tenterhooks in the past few months, the nature of the content of the documents, cannot be ignored.
Among the most serious and politically charged is when the republic’s senior government officials reportedly said “Malaysia’s decline” was fuelled by incompetent politicians. Naturally, this threatens to destroy the semblance of cordiality that has been achieved by the leaders of the two countries.
Last May, Prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and his Singaporean counterpart met at the Singapore-Malaysia Leaders’ Retreat to reaffirm their commitment towards further strengthening bilateral relations and collaborate in various initiatives.
Today, Wikileaks managed to burst that little bubble of cooperation between the two. Najib is described as “an opportunist”.
Ouch! That hurts.
But most Malaysians have long known that fact. It only hurts because a foreign despatch confirmed it and it is now bandied about around the world.
One wonders what remedial measures APCO will take to limit the damage done to Najib’s image and how much extra it will cost the taxpayer?
Those in Umno who disapprove of Najib’s cosiness with Singapore will probably be saying “I told you so.” They have always believed their neighbours to be ‘calculative and condescending’.
These revelations are like ammunition to the dissenters in the party and will reinforce their views that Najib was seduced by Lee Hsien Loong to set up a joint-venture company to develop land parcels swapped for the prized railway land that cuts through the island state. Many were not satisfied with the outcome of that deal.
Doubtless, the Singaporean officials will be having protracted meetings in damage limitation control, to reduce any fall-out between the two.
Wikileaks disclosed discussions between senior US officials and their Singapore counterparts Peter Ho, Bilahari Kausikan and Tommy Koh which allegedly took place in 2008 and 2009.
Peter Ho told the Americans: “The political knives will be out for Abdullah (Ahmad Badawi’s) son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin, whom nobody likes because he got where he is through family ties…”
