Billion dollar bombshells: Leissner testifying in a US court as a key witness in the 1MDB corruption trial of his former Goldman Sachs colleague, as shown in this court sketch. – Reuters

IT must have been a week when most Malaysians cringed in embarrassment. Tough times, indeed, for trying to find a place to bury our heads knowing that the world was reading about the level of corruption that has plagued our country.

It’s not just the politicians either, but top-level officials and bureaucrats, and even their spouses and mistresses, who seem to be inextricably involved in one way or another.

Yes, it’s just a claim by Tim Leissner, a man with questionable intentions, who took money from 1MDB, but he has now turned prosecution witness.

Based on records, he has poor credentials, but we must admit his testimony is damning.

Leissner, a former Goldman Sachs banker, has been described as a “serial liar” and “cheater”, and these are the more polite terms used on him.

After all, billions have been siphoned off by Jho Low and his partners in crime, whether at corporate or political levels.

While Leissner has testified in court that he was allegedly blackmailed by his lover into buying a RM43mil (US$10mil) house in the posh Knightsbridge area in London, one wonders what the relevance was in naming his affairs with the other women, who have no role in the 1MDB scandal.

While these women were politically connected because of their families, it hints at how desperate Leissner is to boast about his conquests with “the natives”, so to speak. While the mainstream media didn’t name them, social media did, and unfortunately, their identities and pictures went viral.

It has been reported that former Astro chief executive officer Datuk Rohana Rozhan has been called up by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) because if 1MDB money was used to buy her a house, it will involve possible money laundering as well as failure to report the hideous crime.

The alleged relationship between Rohana and Leissner first surfaced in the book, Billion Dollar Whale by Tom Wright and Bradley Hope, albeit indirectly. She was mentioned as the former chief financial officer of Astro, but in Leissner’s words, their liaison was an open secret.

The writers described Leissner as “a good talker,” who grew up in the northern German town of Wolfsburg, close to Hanover, who talked his way into the upper echelons of Malaysia’s elite.

But while the pillow talk and seduction make for juicy reading, it’s the missing money and the links that should remain our focus. These are the missing pieces in the jigsaw puzzle.

Those implicated will or have to come out with denials. It’s unlikely they’ll want to refute him in open court. The reality is that their credibility is in shambles, even if unfair.

Malaysians are likely not going to subscribe to their denials and would want the authorities, including the MACC, to take it up.

The truth is, our institutions including Bank Negara Malaysia and well, the MACC itself, have lost their credibility. More than just simple denials are needed to restore their image.

That amounts to a serious revamp if it means allowing these agencies to move forward. Perception is everything and surely, we don’t have to tell the government that.

We mustn’t send the wrong message that there are different sets of rules for the rich and powerful, what with their connections. If they have committed a crime, they should not get away with it.

Incredibly, we now see corrupt and even convicted politicians being feted like celebrities or honourable personalities, and their leadership unfathomably “missed.”

Well, unfortunately, that’s also because their successors are worse in terms of expectations and performances, and the lack of leadership has led to some segments of Malaysia longing for a time when there was hope, stability and purpose. Yes, it’s an irony when some of us pine for the leadership of crooks, but we have come to that stage.

I’m afraid that some of us Malaysians are also sending that kind of signal to these tarnished politicians.

Malaysia is indeed in a sorry state as we struggle to solve that conundrum. It looks like more dirt will surface to complete the inside story of one of the biggest financial heists in history.

Long wait: Loh with her children during an outing few years ago. Last week, she finally got to see her children for the second time in three years. – Photo provided

IT’S a tragedy, really. Common sense, compassion, legality and fair play all seem to be absent in the recent alleged conversion of three children to Islam.

The children – a pair of twin girls aged 14 and their brother aged 10 – are minors. Their father, who is in jail for a drug offence, had purportedly taken them to an Islamic religious office and had them converted.

Apparently, the children agreed to the conversion even though they are minors.

Their father had told officials that he wasn’t aware of their mother’s whereabouts, and amazingly, they were immediately converted.

The children were then placed in a welfare home because their father was about to begin a jail term for drug abuse.

To be fair to the officials, here was a father who needed his children to be cared for and he didn’t know where their mother was.

They did what they felt was right – ensure the three had food and a roof over their heads at a children’s home. This could just be an instinctive reaction of plain compassion and attending to an urgent need.

But the mother, Loh Siew Hong, has now showed up and has told the media alleging that she has been prevented from seeing her children. And in a likely act of desperation, she has conceded to converting to Islam if that’s the only way for her to reunite with her kids.

Here’s where the confusion and suspicion begin. The father claimed he had no idea where his ex-wife was, and this was taken at face value. It would have helped if some form of investigation was done to trace the mother.

It appears the welfare department was unaware the court had granted custody of the kids to the mum.

The religious council now arguably looks like it was in a rush to convert the minors.

But to be clearer, it is the religious office – and not the National Registration Department – that registered them as Muslims. So, there are no legal implications yet.

It has been reported that after converting to Islam, their father handed his children over to an Islamic study centre and then went to prison.

Let’s put it this way – the 35-year-old mother was not consulted and the impression we’re getting now is that she was denied all rights to her own children.

The Islamic centre, which is taking care of the children, seems to have more authority than the mother. Loh has now, supposedly, ended up having to seek permission from Rumah Sinar Harapan children’s home in Jitra, Kedah, to see her children.

With them being minors, it seems unusual for the mother to accept the claim that the kids had agreed to convert without her knowing the circumstances – emotional or otherwise – to their decisions.

Last week, after days of painstakingly waiting, Loh finally got to see her children for the second time in three years.

According to her, she was denied meeting her children for days, apparently over Covid-19 fears.

She had, in fact, won custody of her children in the High Court last year, and saw them for the first time in three years outside the Kangar district police headquarters.

Perlis has a state Constitution allowing either the father or mother to convert the child. The question is: do the state laws override the court decision?

Any form of natural justice would have clearly adhered to the overwhelming circumstances that Loh should be taking care of her children as the biological mother.

She earns a steady income as a chef in Genting Highlands. Her ex-husband, Nagashwaran Muniandy, is serving a jail term, and that says enough of him.

Instead, the High Court’s decision has been over-ridden by Nagashwaran’s simple act of unilaterally converting the children into Muslims.

This echoes the case of M. Indira Gandhi, who has not seen her daughter Prasana Diksa for 11 years. She has no idea where her 12-year-old daughter is.

Nothing has changed despite the Federal Court ordering the police in 2018 to find and return Prasana, who was taken by her ex-husband just before he converted to Islam in 2009. The High Court had also issued an arrest warrant in 2014 for the Muslim convert, who now goes by the name Muhammad Riduan Abdullah.

The High Court ruling in 2010 had granted full custody of all three children from their marriage to Indira.

Islam is a compassionate religion. There’s no coercion or obligation in Islam, but only ignorant people who manipulate it in the name of the religion.

Likewise, most of us non-Muslims would also object if our children embraced Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism or other faiths, without knowledge or consent if they’re still minors. When they become adults, it’s their right to embrace any religion they choose.

Faith is between a person and God. It must be respected and not used as a tool to win custody of a child, especially after the law has decided otherwise.

It’s a travesty when there are parties who support such an act. Let’s not allow religion to cloud common sense and fair justice.

It’s more important for Islamic officials to ask this question – are these opportunistic husbands using Islam to gain custody of their children because of their marital squabbles and ignoring court decisions?

Likewise, politicians shouldn’t come into the picture to score political points, especially since that won’t help the mother or children.

New mode: Political parties will have to change their campaigning strategies to keep safe and attract the new voters.

IT’S unchartered waters for almost all the political parties, but perhaps much more for the established ones when they must grapple with the 750,000 new voters in the upcoming Johor state polls.

If big rallies with fiery speeches worked out effectively previously for the opposition parties, it unfortunately won’t happen again though.

Such huge gatherings have been banned in the Sarawak and Melaka state polls because of the strict standard operating procedures to prevent another explosion of coronavirus infections.

House to house visits is preferred by the older parties in the Barisan Nasional, but this is urban Johor. It could work better in a rural setting, but many parts of Johor are guarded properties or in condominiums.

Like it or not, with the Covid-19 pandemic raging again, not many voters would be jostling to meet politicians.

In any case, even without the dreadful virus, not many Malaysians will welcome and embrace politicians who have suddenly reappeared and are asking for our votes again.

The average young voters are expected to be a crucial factor. We can assume that they have made up their minds on who they want to vote for, but the choice of candidates will still make a huge difference.

Younger candidates, even untested, could be more successful than the older and more experienced ones, especially those with baggage.

These politicians like to think they are better known, but the harsh reality is most Malaysians don’t know their elected representatives.

Who can blame the electorate as many of them disappeared after getting elected. In fact, the last known contact was the photo opportunity visit to the market to thank their voters.

From the point of election, try getting them on the phone. The Yang Berhormat suddenly has a changed persona and developed amnesia for his pledge to be available to serve his constituents. Suddenly, he carries six phones.

Many of us in the press, including this seasoned journalist, have a list of Ministers and politicians who no longer return calls or texts to the media. If we can’t reach them, the chance for the unknown voter is probably nil.

Well, they know they must beg the millennials with a limited attention span for votes. Forget about talking to them, as it will be seen as another classic tiresome case of preaching and lecturing.

Please forget about calling them directly. This is the social media era. Just text them. Learn how to use Tik Tok, Instagram and if you must depend on YouTube, please keep your videos short.

Any video, on whatever platform, will see the viewership nosedive if the audience gets bored. The splendid social media – you can tell how much time they indulge in your political pitch.

Boy, will these narcissist politicians be in for a rude surprise when they check on the data and find they have hardly been inspiring to these young voters, who would rather switch to more entertaining content.

These young voters won’t be reading print, that’s for sure. If the news reports online are too long, they will either gloss over or skip them entirely.

Their consumption method for information or news will be on their mobile phones. That means the political parties will need plenty of help from campaigners who understand the effectiveness of social media influencers.

It’s not a magic wand as it doesn’t mean if you have a million followers, you will get a million votes automatically.

But these followers will share the messages and videos of their preferred candidates swiftly.

The additional numbers will bring the state’s total voters to about 2.5 million, compared with 1.8 million in the 14th General Election. The bulk of the new voters comprises those aged above 21 years and are not the result of Undi18.

Of the 750,000 new voters, not all are aged 18 to 21 – most of them are 21 and above.

In Johor, there are 17,000, aged between 18 and 20 years, who are on scholarships, and how they vote would also be interesting. The perception of youths being pro-opposition may not be accurate.

The test will also be for Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, the youthful president of the Malaysian United Democratic Party (MUDA).

While he has a huge following among those who share his ideals of a progressive and multi-racial approach, politics in Malaysia is also complicated because there are many layers of conservative and religious politics, even among the younger set, who disagree with his approach.

But the opposition see him as a “wow factor” in the Johor state seats, but he may have to fend off PKR as well and not just the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Nasional. Certainly, talks on compromise between MUDA and PKR have failed.

The things that matter most to the young voters are jobs, cost of living, opportunities and hope for the future.

Most voters want the economy to be rebooted. It has been tough for everyone to meet the daily demands with reduced wages pitted against the increasing cost of living.

Many of us, including the young, find the constant bickering of politicians sickening. In fact, many of these politicians should have retired long ago.

Incredibly, these expired politicians still think they are relevant to the young, when they don’t even have the basic skills to operate their computers and mobile phones.

Johor is set to be the curtain raiser for the next general election. The MOU between the various political parties ends by July and like it or not, it’s time Malaysians decided on a more defined and clearer government.

The present federal government has been helmed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, and it has brought stability. However, he doesn’t have a mandate.

Worse, the various key players in the federal government can no longer see eye to eye. For Malaysians, we don’t even know who is in charge anymore. For investors, they may just stay away and put their money elsewhere.

Let the Johor voters set the tone and pave the way for a general election, by this year, hopefully.