For the past several years, the 1MDB corruption scandal has dominated headlines both at home and abroad.

However, economist Jomo Kwame Sundaram now warns that the focus on 1MDB has allowed other excesses to go relatively unnoticed.

As an example, the former United Nations assistant secretary-general for economic development pointed to Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd’s (FGV) low stock prices.

“Felda settlers were encouraged to buy shares in this thing called FGV. They paid for it, and now the value of those shares are slightly over a third of what they paid for.

“They have been taken for a ride. Given that elections are imminent, they are given reassurance that they won’t lose their money, et cetera, et cetera, but clearly this is one example of abuse. Whether you call it corruption or not, we can get into those details later,” Jomo told a forum in Petaling Jaya...