Higher the call, so is the fall!

Man On The Run (Documentary, Netflix; 2023)

Director: Cassius Michael Kim

We all know the drill. We have heard it all before. The Government started a novel project selling government bonds to buy oil fields in Central Asia. With the returns, the Government, via its subsidiary, 1MDB, would pour money into the country, which would help improve the living conditions of its citizens.

The trouble was that the same who applied for the money from the Government approved the loan, executed the loan, received the loan and received the returns were all the same person. Najib Razak is the 1MDB Chairman, Minister of Finance and the honourable Prime Minister of Malaysia. And there were no oilfields that were bought. Still, the whole exercise saw many people making loads of money, enjoying obscenely decadent parties, and the Malaysian taxpayers paying exorbitant amounts of money as interest to international players.

Even though the local journalists kept crying foul and were brave to publish the shenanigans, the powers that be managed to keep a tight lid. People in enforcement and investigation positions were hushed. A young prosecutor was even buried alive in a concrete can. Things only started moving when the US Department of Justice charged Goldman Sachs with foreign bribery.

With a provocative title like 'Man on the Run', I would like to find new scoops on Malaysia's most infamous fugitive, Jho Low. Nothing. He was nowhere to be found, without an interview or anything new about his whereabouts. With extensive narration from The Edge owner Ho Kay Tat, ex-MP Tony Pua, former AG Tommy Thomas, Clare Rewcastle of Sarawak Report and whistleblower Xavier Andre Justo, nothing new actually surfaced. Perhaps the most ridiculous interview was given by the big kahuna himself, Najib.

In an interview three months before his guilty verdict, he is comically seen lamenting the fact that he had been victimised. In a system where he is supposed to be protected, the system lets him down. He griped that the officials appointed to protect people like him did not do their job well. They, instead, should be the accused, not him. I thought Najib was losing the plot. He is not a monarch who inherits the post by birth. For heaven's sake, he is a leader of a democratically-elected government selected by the people to serve the people. The power that was wielded to him comes with specific responsibilities. A politician only lasts until the next election. Can he be so naive? Does he don the Emperor's clothes? Is he surrounded by sycophants who boated his ego so much that he thinks he need not be accountable? The whole 'speech' reeks of entitlement. Accountability and responsibility do not fall into the equation. It is mind-boggling to see so many who still think he is innocent and is a victim of political sleight of hand.

The whole imbroglio paints a very bleak picture of the Malaysian democratic process. It is as though we are a banana republic where law and order are only for show. The high-heeled can scoot off with millions right under everybody's noses. There is a glaring lack of checks and balances in the system. Too much legislative powers are given to the ruling party. The executive powers are too timid to carry out and enforce laws. The national coffers are made to be like the leaders' kitty. The judiciary arm and even the fourth estate are toothless.

The presentation needs to be more comprehensive in its coverage. Many of the key players and beneficiaries of 1MDB refused to be interviewed. That would include the self-proclaimed First Lady of Malaysia, Rosmah Mansur, representatives from Goldman Sachs, and the makers and cast of the movie 'Wolf of Wall Street', who were paid from proceeds of 1MDB.

Is this the watershed moment of Malaysian politics? Will its citizens awake from their slumber to ensure such blatant abuse of trust does not repeat? From the recent turn of events after the last elections, I seriously doubt it. Too many schisms and fractures have developed in the country, once earmarked as another Asian tiger. Look at it now. It is just a paper tiger lantern that could be engulfed by the fire ignited within its confines.

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Corrupted to the core?

Nile Hilton Incident (Arabic/Egyptian; 2017)
Written/Directed: Tarik Saleh

Every time a new law comes into force, guess who the happy people are. No, not the law-abiding citizens or the patriots who want to see rule and order respected in this country. It is the lowly local enforcers - the front-liners who are there to ensure that the law is respected. There are the first to detect any wrongdoing at the ground level and could squash a ticket, at a nominal fee, of course. 

Everyone is happy. The poorly paid constables and local council employees get on by tying up loose ends - maybe a child's birthday present or that emergency trip to the hometown. 

The problem is that this kind of 'closing an eye' or 'I scratch your back, you scratch mine' attitude has infiltrated all strata of the civil service. What we see now are the accusations of so-and-so of the higher pecking order being charged for siphoning off funds and dishonestly performing their civil duties. Invariably, these events will merely turn up to be a storm in a teacup.

Fearing a backlash to the whole government machinery, the powers-that-be would hush everything. After all, the foxes appointed to guard the coop feel it is the ordained right to benefit from their post after years of hard work and sacrifice. With the increasing cost of living and exposure to the high life, they have only a few more years to ensure continued prosperity in their retired life and their offspring. Whatever is said and done, the rot is across the board. The words integrity, efficiency and civil service cannot be strung in the same sentence.

If we remember the early years of the 21st century in the Middle East, this catalysed the Arab Spring movement. What started as a jobless graduate failing to secure a hawker site in Libya and immolating himself in protest, the governments raised up to get their acts together. So, for a short while, at least.

In Egypt, in 2011, in Tahrir Square specifically, the people's power managed to oust Hosni Mubarak, the undisputed strongman of Egypt. Using this event as a build to the climax, this film showcases the widespread corruption and culture of protecting the high-heeled and politicians in the law enforcement units in Egypt.

Noredin, a police officer obviously not at the highest of the virtue scale, is called to investigate the death of a singer at Nile Hilton. Noredin has no qualms about pocketing extra cash from his dead victims and looking the other way if offenders are willing to dole out a little spare money. 

Slowly he realises that the whole force is corrupt to the core. Many of his superiors are on the take. Many high-level politicians are linked to the crime he is investigating, and he is helpless in completing his investigations. Vice is widespread, and pimps are kings. 

A Sudanese housekeeping assistant who witnessed the murder, meanwhile, is on the run from the corrupt police and colluding thugs. The film climaxes at the Tahrir Square demonstrations. The whole debacle leaves a horrible aftertaste. The demonstration gives the image as if all the slime brewing in the trenches just bubbles over.

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Money to be made in chaos

The Night Manager (S1E1-6, TV series; 2016)

Adapted from a novel by John le Carré

The more we read history, the more we realise that things remain the same. If, during the era of imperialism, colonial powers took all it took to pin down their subjects into economic hopelessness and total dependence on their masters. Slowly the natives wised up and reclaimed the place in the sun. Just when they thought the world had turned into a level-playing field, the reality finally hit them right smack on their faces. The rapaciousness of the West to subjugate their former colonies continues.

If during British Raj, the British used Indians as proxies to fight with each other. Unknowing to both of them, the skirmishes weakened both parties, making them vulnerable to foreign powers to exert their influence. These powers just walk in, shake their heads in the devastation and trap the savaged into various debt traps. The next step is to dictate terms of how to rule and handle the economy.

Look around. We see this happening to countries (and citizens) with differing views on how their country should be run. Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Turkey and Pakistan and even India are testimony to this. Even though these countries struggle with a future, their warring factions are armed to their teeth to annihilate their fellow countrymen. Thanks to the monetary support from the West, who incidentally are makers of arms.

The Night Manager is an exciting miniseries with the good old story of espionage and international arms dealings. It tells about the corruption of officials at all levels who make deals like this possible. We only talk of third-world civil servants being inefficient and corrupt. The web of dishonesty goes all the way to the West, whose government has no qualms about letting it go unchecked. There is money to be made in chaos.

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Money changes everything!

FIFA Uncovered (2022)
Miniseries (Netflix; 4 episodes)
Direction: Daniel Gordon.

It is the same story all the time. Something starts small with noble intentions but ends up filled with filth so much that it hits the ceiling so high that its stench fills up to high heaven.

We are aware of the Indian Congress Party, which the British Raj established to give the natives a false sense of control of their administration, who steered the nation towards self-rule and have, over the decades, become a self-destructive political party. In the 21st century, its place in society is suspect. 

In the same vein, UMNO (United Malay National Organisation), which had a pivotal role in claiming independence from the British, is now a power-hungry, corruption-ridden tyrant out to mill the country. 

Of course, naysayers would insist that these parties were connivingly handed the rein of the country purposefully. The British still wanted to hold the purse strings of their former colonies and exert a stronghold on how their economies should be steered whilst ensuring their own interest.

In the same way, FIFA started as a genuinely non-profit entity with the noble intention of wanting to improve football standards around Europe. Over the years, when money got intertwined in the equation, it grew too big for its boots. Soon everything had a price, from advertising to sponsorship to hosting to even a vote for a seat in the executive committee.

The path to hell is paved with good intentions. In 1974, a Brazilian industrialist, João Havelange, decided to incorporate business into this body. Their bank accounts became fatter and fatter. Other governing bodies (CONCACAF, AFC, OFC, CONMEBOL) from different parts of the world soon joined suit. With an obedient general, Sepp Platter, promoting the game to the remotest part of the world, their coffers grew. Contribution from the sponsors did not reach their intended targets but allegedly lined the FIFA officials. 

In their zest to stay in power in FIFA, officials were bribed to buy votes. Over the years, investigative journalists exposed their shenanigans in the open. The coup de grace came to light with the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 hosting of the World Cup by Russia and Qatar, respectively. One by one, the ugly crimes of the heads of various soccer bodies were uncovered. FBI came into the picture. James Warner of the Carribeans, Charles Blazer of the USA and 14 executive committee members of FIFA were implicated in vote buying and widespread corruption within organised games. 

FIFA is run like a Mafia-like establishment. Sepp Platter is portrayed as the godfather of what is supposed to be a charitable body to genuinely promote the game of soccer. At one point, Platter is even accused of having narcissistic tendencies, harbouring the intention of wanting to receive the Nobel Peace Prize!

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Laundromats, Laundering and World Cup!

I used to be fascinated with the term 'money laundering'. At face value, it looked simple enough - to cleanse money obtained via unsavoury means and to put them in circulation whilst giving them a legitimate source of origin. Was it a coincidence that Al Capone used a laundromat to store and 'cleanse' his ill-gotten gains during Prohibition? 

As the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup is in progress, another word frequently mentioned is 'sports washing'. Traditionally sports have been utilised to cement friendships between nations. It has also been used to spur nationalism among its own citizens. For years despotic regimes whitewash their sins with the glamour of sports. During the 1936 Olympics, Hitler tried to paint a new image of a rejuvenated Germany after the humiliating defeat in the trench War and to prove his supremacist Aryan race theory. Sadly, Jesse Owen's achievement simply threw dirt on Hitler's face. Then it was the Argentinan junta who tried to whitewash their political witch hunts and extra judicial killings by organising the 1978 FIFA World Cup. For a moment, the world thought the world of Argentina had risen from ashes. 

Is Qatar following in the footsteps of the above?

From the word get-go, Qatar has been hogging the headlines for all the wrong reasons. True, the media giant was established with free-flowing Arab petrodollars to paint a more accurate picture of the Arabic and Islamic world; no paint brushing can hide the ugly truth. How it won the bid to host the pinnacle of the world's favourite sport is suspect. How the hell did the FIFA Executive representatives feel that Qatar, with its desert heat and a summer temperature of 50 degrees C was a better choice than Australia and the United States? 

Even before the coin toss or kick-off, the death toll and abuse of its migrant workers had hit the ceiling. The narration of non-payment of wages and non-compensation for injuries sustained during its many infrastructure constructions is common knowledge.

Now that the game has commenced, more and more of their shenanigans have come to light. The Wahhabi-infused Qatari royalty has decided to showcase how a halal football tournament should be carried out. Revellers who flew in to join the merriment of their winning teams in style had to contend with non-alcoholic beverages. They are also strictly told not to display their sexual preferences on their sleeves.

Migrant worker death toll at 1,400

So when someone told me that he was excited that the first two preliminary matches revealed unexpected results. Saudi Arabia, which had a 251 to 1 odds of beating Argentina, did precisely that. And who is the right kind would have thought the minion Japanese who have ousted the four-time world Cup winners Germany? The bookies would have thought so, too, since they would ensure the best returns. Nothing is surprising anymore in this money-raged world of moolah and how businesses control every aspect of our lives. 

In the organisers' zeal to showcase how an Islamic country has a 'secular' event, they decided to use the occasion to proselyte fans. Who can be the best evangelist with an incredible track record to prove this than the fugitive Dr Zakir Naik? He had been specially flown in for the occasion from Malaysia.

Interestingly, Qatar insists that Dr Naik is not on the invitees' list.

Is the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar's way of sport washing its world image as the premier sponsor of terror? Do they expect the world to forget all about the state-sponsored madrasahs and ulamas after organising a memorable display of world-class football? Villains become valiant defenders of truth?

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.