{"id":13300,"date":"2015-07-29T15:41:11","date_gmt":"2015-07-29T07:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/?p=13300"},"modified":"2015-07-29T15:41:11","modified_gmt":"2015-07-29T07:41:11","slug":"open-letter-to-uk-prime-minister-david-cameron-from-dap-pju-mp-tony-pua","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/open-letter-to-uk-prime-minister-david-cameron-from-dap-pju-mp-tony-pua\/","title":{"rendered":"Open letter to UK Prime Minister David Cameron from DAP PJU MP, Tony Pua"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Dear Mr Prime Minister,<\/p>\n

<\/u>\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Welcome back to Malaysia.\u00a0 It is an honour that you have decided to return to my country so soon after your last trip in April 2012.<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
Let me first take this opportunity to congratulate you on the recent successful re-election of your government.\u00a0 For all its oft-cited shortcomings, the British democratic system remains among the most free and fair in the world, with the Westminster an institution most countries like ours look up to.<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
I am also extremely encouraged by the increasing assertiveness of UK\u2019s foreign policy which seeks not only to serve the British national interest but equally to establish a minimum moral and ethical standards in a world increasingly dominated by greed and self-interest.<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
At a forum entitled \u201cBuilding the world we want by 2030 through transparency and accountability\u201d during the 69th UN General Assembly on September 24th 2014, you highlighted the fact that \u201cthe more corruption in your society, the poorer your people are.\u201d You admonished those who refused to deal with corruption. \u201cSome people don\u2019t want to include these issues in the goals. I say: don\u2019t let them get away with it,\u201d you said.<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
\u200bJust last month, you wrote in the Huffington Post to implore the G7 to place priority on fighting corruption, using the FIFA scandal to provide the impetus. You argued eloquently that<\/span><\/u><\/u><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
\u2026at the heart of Fifa is a lesson about tackling corruption that goes far deeper. Corruption at Fifa was not a surprise. For years it lined the pockets of those on the inside and was met with little more than a reluctant sigh.<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
The same is true of corruption the world over. Just as with Fifa, we know the problem is there, but there is something of an international taboo over pointing the finger and stirring up concerns\u2026 But we just don’t talk enough about corruption. This has got to change.<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
You have since 2013 led a mission to ensure Britain’s network of overseas territories and Crown dependencies, like Cayman and British Virgin Islands, signed up to a new clampdown on tax evasion, aimed at promoting transparency and exchange of information between tax jurisdictions.<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
As you said, “we need to know more about who owns which company – beneficial ownership – because that is how a lot of people and a lot of companies avoid tax, using secretive companies in secretive locations.\u201d<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
Yesterday, your speech in Singapore was pointed and direct.\u00a0 You told the listening Singapore students that \u201cLondon is not a place to stash your dodgy cash\u201d.<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cI want Britain to be the most open country in the world for investment. But I want to ensure that all this money is clean money. There is no place for dirty money in Britain. Indeed, there should be no place for dirty money anywhere.\u201d<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
You rightly pointed out that \u201cby lifting the shroud of secrecy\u201d, we can \u201cstop corrupt officials or organised criminals using anonymous shell companies to invest their ill-gotten gains in London property, without being tracked down.\u201d<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
We, Malaysians need you to make the very same points in our country.\u00a0 Making the above points in Singapore is good, but it is like preaching to the converted as our neighbour is ranked 7th<\/sup> in the 2014 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index.<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
The leaders of the Malaysian government on the other hand, are embroiled in a financial scandal of epic proportions.<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
In particular, our Prime Minister Dato\u2019 Seri Najib Razak, whom you are to meet has been recently accused by the Wall Street Journal that he has received in his personal account cash deposits amounting to nearly USD700 million in 2013.\u00a0 It is a damning but substantiated allegation which he has steadfastly refused to deny.<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
Some, if not all of the money could be linked to state-owned 1MDB which is crippled by USD11 billion of debt, requiring billions of ringgit of emergency bailout funds by the Malaysian tax-payers.\u00a0I am certain that you have been briefed on leaked documents clearly points to an incriminating trail of plunder and international money-laundering across Singapore, the Middle East, the United States, Switzerland and yes, the United Kingdom.<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
The New York Times and other media outfits have also raised questions about how his family owns properties, in New York, Beverly Hills and London worth tens of millions of dollars. These properties were purchased with the same opaque \u201cshell companies\u201d which you have rightly censured.<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
The sheer scale of the sums involved makes the FIFA bribery scandal look like child\u2019s play.\u00a0 This is the very reason for the drastic iron-fisted actions Dato\u2019 Seri Najib Razak has taken over the past two weeks.\u00a0 As you would have found out by now, he has sacked the Attorney-General who was leading the investigating taskforce on the above scandals.\u00a0 He has also sacked the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for questioning the 1MDB shenanigans in a Cabinet reshuffle designed to stifle inquiries into the subject matter.<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
The newly promoted Deputy Prime Minister, Dato\u2019 Seri Zahid Hamidi who is also the Home Minister, acted to suspend the country\u2019s leading business papers, The Edge Weekly and The Financial Daily last week because they played a leading role in uncovering the multi-billion dollar scam to defraud Malaysians.\u00a0 Can you ever imagine the UK Financial Times being suspended?<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
I have on the other hand, been in a relentless pursuit to uncover the conspiracy to defraud the country at the very highest levels since 2010.\u00a0 Earlier in March this year, I became the first Member of Parliament to be sued for defamation by a Prime Minister in the country in a blatant attempt to muzzle my strident criticisms.<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
When that failed, I have found out last week that I\u2019ve also become the first Member of Parliament ever to be barred from travelling overseas, without any reasons, valid or otherwise, being provided.\u00a0 The only plausible reason for such a drastic action against my right to travel is that I will soon be arrested for my troubles to expose the truth and highlight the staggering size of embezzlement, misappropriation and criminal breach of trust.<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
If the local media\u2019s police sources were to be believed, I am most ironically being investigated under the recently amended Criminal Penal Code for \u201cactivities detrimental to parliamentary democracy\u201d.\u00a0 It is a \u2018heinous\u2019 crime which carries up to a 20-year jail sentence.<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
Mr Prime Minister,<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
You have written that you \u201cneed to find ways of giving more support and encouragement to those in business, civil society and the media who are working to fight corruption\u201d.\u00a0<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
Malaysians need your \u201csupport and encouragement\u201d today.\u00a0 While we do not need your interference over our sovereign affairs, we also do not need any pretentious praise embedded into polite diplomatic speak which will lend any legitimacy desperately sought by Dato\u2019 Seri Najib Razak\u2019s administration.<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
We also hope that the worthy mission to increase trade relations between our two countries with great historical links will not relegate your goals to \u201cmake the global business environment more hostile to corruption and to support the investigators and prosecutors who can help bring the perpetrators to justice.\u201d \u00a0<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
We pray for your wisdom to speak resolutely on Britain\u2019s zero tolerance against corruption and money laundering.\u00a0 For Malaysia, the fa\u00e7ade of a moderate Westminster-like democracy masks many ugly truths of social injustice, political oppression and extensive corruption.<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
Like you, I\u2019ve had the immeasurable privilege of completing my degree in the best university in the UK, which ranks among the best in the world (if not the best).\u00a0 We completed the same course in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) but I was 6 years your junior.\u00a0<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
While you received a first class honours and I missed the cut, I hope that our alma mater has embedded in us the moral fortitude to play our little roles in building a better world.\u00a0<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
I will end my letter with a quote from our fellow alumnus and PPE graduate, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who most pertinently said, \u201csometimes I think that a parody of democracy could be more dangerous than a blatant dictatorship, because that gives people an opportunity to avoid doing anything about it\u201d.<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
Thank you for listening, Mr Prime Minister.<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
Tony Pua<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/u>\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Mr Prime Minister, \u00a0 Welcome back to Malaysia.\u00a0 It is an honour that you have decided to return to my country so soon after your last trip in April 2012. \u00a0 Let me first take this opportunity to congratulate you on the recent successful re-election of your government.\u00a0 For all its oft-cited shortcomings, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[274],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13300"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13302,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13300\/revisions\/13302"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therocket.com.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}