Press Statement
12th August 2020
Yesterday, former Prime Minister Najib Razak raised some questions on his Facebook account regarding the case of Betty Chew, wife to Lim Guan Eng, former Chief Minister of Penang.
Najib questioned Betty’s income, as if there were elements of wrongdoing involved. Such allegations against her are utterly baseless as the facts of the case are worlds apart from that of Najib’s and his family members’.
Firstly, Betty is a fully certified lawyer and has every right to offer her services in a legal capacity. Therefore, any income she receives is payment for her being a legal consultant. What’s even more important, her income has been recorded and taxed accordingly.
In other words, Betty’s income is perfectly legitimate and is not some under-the-table transaction that is concealed. This is completely different from Najib who has already been convicted and sentenced to 12 years in jail along with a RM210 million fine.
Secondly, the two companies in question – be it Excel Property Management & Consultancy Sdn Bhd or Magnificent Emblem Sdn Bhd – failed to win the tender. The project was awarded to another company. In short, there wasn’t a single element of “You help me, I help you” involved, let alone any corruption.
Najib need not concern himself with another’s affairs, what more victimize individuals who have absolutely nothing to do with government administration. Clearly, Najib’s actions are born out of sheer political revenge.
Instead, Najib should explain how Malaysians lost billions upon billions of ringgit through the 1MDB scandal. In fact, the prosecution just filed an appeal to extend Najib’s jail sentence and increase his fine over misappropriating RM42 million worth of SRC Sdn Bhd funds. His offence is so grave to the extent that the prosecution does not consider a 12 year-jail term and RM210 million in fines a sufficient sentence.
Syerleena Abdul Rashid
ADUN Seri Delima
DAP Penang Assistant Publicity Secretary
