YOURSAY ‘MACC no 2, please stop recycling your reply on the RM2.6 billion.’
MACC: Not all donations are bribes
Odin Tajué: Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission deputy commissioner (prevention) Mustafar Ali, in English, a donation is a gift (in whatever form) given not to reciprocate a present (in whatever form) previously received, neither to recompense a favour previously enjoyed, nor to induce the recipient to do you a favour or give something in return at some point in time after the giving of the gift.
As you may find that difficult to follow, let me give you an example.
Where I come from, we have a body called the Salvation Army. The body takes into its care orphans who do not have any close relatives to look after them. It depends on funds from the government and donations from the public.
Some time ago, I donated some new toys for the younger children to play with. The body in question has never done any favour for me nor given me anything. And I do not expect it to do me any favour nor to give me anything in future. I just bought the toys, donated them, and that was it. You follow now?
Dishonest people, crooks and con men may describe a bribe, a kickback, a share of loot or any illicit funds as donation, but none of those is a donation.
As far as we are concerned, the money that PM Najib Razak received was simply not a donation. It was dirty money.
In the first place, no one would make such an astronomical donation. Furthermore, no one except he knew about the money until after the now well-known exposé made by a foreign party.
Why do you fellows - Najib, included - persist in insulting the intelligence of your audience, which comprises not only Malaysians, most of whom are in possession of at least an average IQ, but also foreigners who follow Malaysian news? And we can safely assume all of the latter are also in possession of at least an average IQ.
If the money that Najib has received was really a donation, then get the supposed donor to come out to reveal his or her identity and to explain why he or she made the supposed donation.
Warning: Remember that your audience comprises people who are at least reasonably intelligent, have been following the reports on the alleged grand scam, and are doubtless eminently capable of putting two and two together. They will be able to tell if the reason given is apodeictic, acceptable, believable.
Anonymous 2358311441466692: Yes, MACC, not all donations are bribes. However, you must look at the magnitude of the donation and who it comes from to determine if they are bribes.
In assessing magnitude, an amount of extraordinary proportion is more than likely a bribe since only your mother or father will love you enough to give you RM2.6 billion. No one unrelated would.
Consequently, the deposit in the PM's account would prima facie be a bribe as his father didn't have that kind of money and he said it came from an Arab country.
Of course, if it isn't a donation, we then believe that the money mostly likely could have come from 1MDB, which made it theft or embezzlement.
MyView: Mustafar, it seems like you talk like amateur instead of a professional holding a high post in MACC.
Yes, giving gifts is a tradition in Malaysia but to receive a RM2.6 billion as a gift or donation is no way a normal practice for any occasion. If the entire MACC team shares the same view as you, it would be the end for our country.
Drngsc: Mustafa, you are indeed pathetic. How can you be making excuses before investigating? That shows that you are already bias.
The MACC Act is quite clear. However, if you think that this is an exception, you must first ask the person accepting the RM2.6 billion the relevant questions.
Now that we know that you are making excuses for the PM, you cannot be tasked with this investigation. Who will give anyone US$700 without strings attached?
Hytan: It is reported that Saudi Arabia has provided about US$700 million in humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees.
Even the richest country in the Middle East has barely contributed a similar amount for a more compelling cause.
Anonymous #21828131: Mustafar, why are you so afraid of Najib? Do your job without fear or favour. After all that has passed, including the transfer of your staff, it appears that you are working under duress.
Only fear God. And should you be also transferred out, at least you have carried out your job with a clear conscience.
Why should the attorney-general (AG) be terminated abruptly? Why were members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) taken out? Why were your officers transferred? Why was the special task force to probe 1MDB dismantled?
Don’t all these indicate that the money wasn't a donation and there could be an element of corruption?
Justine Gow: It may be true that a political donation may not be a bribe if it goes to the bank account of a political party.
But no one with a clear mind can seriously regard a large sum of money deposited into the private bank account of a leader of the country as a donation.
Clongviews: MACC no 2, please stop recycling your reply on the RM2.6 billion. In your analogy of a gift, you indirectly defended the donation and in your next breath you state that it is still being investigated. What nonsense.
When are you going to interview Najib, an event which the rakyat have been waiting for over one month.
Headhunter: Just when we thought we have some hope in MACC, they let us down again. It's politics as usual and nothing is going to change in spite of some brave officers who dare to stand up against tyranny.
MACC, stop giving your own definition of ‘donation’
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