MP SPEAKS How reckless can the opposition be when it comes to making wild accusations which could jeopardise economic stability?

Consider this.

A few years ago, just before the 2013 general election, Tony Pua wrote several articles in his blog with regard to the dangers posed to the economy and taxpayers by Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary's business empire.

Pua ( photo ) wrote in his blog on June 23, 2012, that the Syed Mokhtar business empire's debt of RM34.3 billion could "genuinely cause fears of bailouts with taxpayer money".

He said this fear was "especially real in the light of a global economic slowdown and a fallout from the Eurozone financial crisis".

He warned the government that "in the event of default, the rakyat's monies would not be made to pay for the follies of BN cronies".

Pua did not just write the articles in his blog but he also spoke about it spiritedly in Parliament and peddled his doomsday prophecy in his ceramah. Of course, DAP's machinery relentlessly amplified this message to the nation.

It was quite clear that this self appointed bearer-of-bad-news wanted people to believe that Syed Mokhtar's ( photo ) debts would cause systemic risk to the financial system and might lead to collapse of the economy.

He wanted to paint a gloomy picture of the economy to give Malaysians the jitters.

There were a lot of people who asked Pua to be rational with his wild allegation which might affect the stability of the economy. Unfortunately, this particular prophet had hearing problems.

That was in 2012, just a few months before the general election in May 2013.

Now is 2015.

After three years, the economy is doing better. The banking system is not only healthy and intact but stronger. Syed Mokhtar's business empire has not collapsed due to its debts and no rakyat's money was used for its bailout. All these despite what Pua had gleefully prophesied.

If you had believed this prophet of gloom and doom three years ago, you would have probably sold off your stocks, deferred your investment, and postponed expansion of your business.

All of which would cause you to lose potential profits and deprive ordinary Malaysians of jobs and economic opportunities. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if some of you had decided to uproot and pack up your families and migrated to another country from this 'horrible' country.

But it may surprise you that this was not the main objective of the prophet of gloom and doom.

What was the main objective then?

The main objective was, of course, for you to eventually despise and be angry at the government. Hopefully by the time the 2013 general election came, you would be angry enough to vote against BN even if it meant spreading jitters which could undermine the economy. The prophet of gloom and doom almost succeeded.

Back then it was Syed Mokhtar; now it seems it is 1MDB's turn. I don't know about you, but I do remember this proverb 'once bitten, twice shy'. Look it up!

ABDUL RAHMAN DAHLAN is Urban Well-being, Housing, and Local Government Minister, and the Member of Parliament for Kota Belud.