M For Malaysia

On May 9th 2018, Malaysia changed its government for the very first time, after a tense general election that saw the country’s 92-year-old former premier return to office after retirement. Three women captured this historical moment in a feature documentary and shared its impact with Lily Ong

- Lily Ong

DIVISION is a recurring theme in history, which also applies to Malaysia. For six decades, the nation’s previous ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional, maintained a firm grip over the country’s population through alleged use of racial campaigning which favours Barisan Nasional’s leading party— United Malays National Organisation.

SADLY, THIS DIVIDE MASKED A bigger problem. In 2015, news broke that Dato’ Sri Najib Razak, Malaysia’s former Minister of Finance and Prime Minister, received RM2.6 billion into his personal accounts. A year later, Wall Street Journal ran a full exposé on Malaysia’s state-owned fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), scrutinising the company’s suspicious money transactions and indicated evidence pointing to money laundering, fraud, and grand larceny. A lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Justice alleged that at least US$3.5 billion has been stolen from 1MDB.

Dato’ Sri Najib pleaded innocence as calls for him to step down went unheeded. His administration allegedly arranged for the leaders of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and Central Bank of Malaysia to ‘retire’ after rumours broke that the two government agencies were building a case against 1MDB. Draconic laws were used to shut down Malaysian publications that investigated 1MDB. Public anger seethed to a boiling point, fuelled by the unpopular Goods & Services Tax, which many linked to the rising cost of living.