PATRIOT registers its grave concern over the finance minister’s recent statement in Parliament with regard to the opening of offshore banking accounts that demands a thorough investigation in response to the allegations that have surfaced with the publishing of the Pandora Papers where several Malaysian VIP figures are implicated.
Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz raises more than eyebrows over his declaration that there is nothing wrong for individuals to hold secret bank accounts outside our shores.
The fact that he is also one of the alleged individuals reported to be storing his wealth in offshore accounts raises a serious element of conflict of interest.
As an illustrious personality in the banking circuits prior to his appointment as the finance minister by the deposed prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, he would have been the best person to give a more ethically reassuring response to the expose in the Pandora Papers.
A man who had the silver-spoon opportunity to start his academic life pursuing his A-Levels overseas and completing his string of qualifications in the United Kingdom and Beijing, Tengku Zafrul could have been more sensitive to public perception over the breaking news on the Pandora Papers, which governments around the world have summoned for immediate investigations.
Further, for someone who has bagged a string of prestigious business and leadership awards, the finance minister could have unequivocally placed ethics above and over the right to amass hidden wealth.
In his response to questions in Parliament over the Pandora Papers, the finance minister did confirm that while existing laws in Malaysia allow for anyone to open offshore accounts, one must also abide by the fair business practice of customer due diligence given our existing Anti-Money Laundering Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001. However, his green-lighting of such operatives without making a stand on the Pandora Papers is alarming.
As the man charged with the guarding of the nation’s wealth and purse strings, his very name being implicated in the expose raises questions, while his statement in Parliament is being widely perceived as protecting the seemingly dubious and secretive offshore account holders.
Has he dumped the fact of how, despite the financial sector being regulated by a number of legislations, we are still trapped in the world’s biggest case of kleptocracy that has robbed this nation of people of an even better livelihood?
What assurances are there that all those personalities allegedly implicated in the Pandora Papers are saintly cases of exemplary financial successes who we should celebrate with accolades?
Patriot demands transparent, independent and wholesome accountability from the current government. The public cannot be pushed into a corner to accept statements by those who themselves have yet to clear their names in response to the Pandora Papers and the ongoing investigations here – if any.
Patriot takes particular objection to Tengku Zafrul’s statement because he has been tasked to assist the people and industry in the implementation of the Prihatin economic stimulus package in the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic economy battles.
The ethical parameter demands that the people have a right to know why wealth earned and amassed in this country should not be kept within our shores for the betterment of our nation but hidden away in secret accounts elsewhere.
To state that the laws permit such secretive and hidden wealth is not good enough. We demand transparent investigations with speed. If our national response to the Pandora Papers is going the same way as the 1MDB roulette, then even the public’s trust in the Keluarga Malaysia mantra of the current prime minister is headed for another shipwreck.
As patriotic citizens who champion national harmony, National Patriots’ Association members and our associates will defend our beloved nation against anyone who steals from the people. Tengku Zafrul immediately owes the public an explanation to reinstate public trust. – The Vibes, October 21, 2021
Brig Gen (Rtd) Datuk Mohamed Arshad Raji is president of the National Patriots’ Association
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