INTERVIEW | Tycoon Lee Kim Yew had likened the 1MDB issue to a plague, which needs to be dealt with by the government despite the insistence by the latter that the scandal was merely "poor company administration".

In an interview with Malaysiakini on Saturday, the Country Heights Holdings Bhd founder called on the government, which is formed after the May 9 general election, to resolve the fiasco so that the country can once again stand tall.

“Its magnitude is like a plague affecting Malaysians and neighbouring countries, (particularly) Singapore," he said.

Conceived in 2009 soon after caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak assumed office, 1MDB quickly racked up RM42 billion in loans.

By 2015, the company was struggling to pay back its creditors, and many of its assets had to be hastily sold off as part of what Putrajaya termed as "rationalisation exercise".

There have been allegations, including by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), that 1MDB's funds were subjected to gross abuse.

Among others, the DOJ accused an unnamed top-ranking official, identified as "Malaysian Official 1" (MO1), of receiving US$731 millions in funds allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB.

1MDB has denied that any of its funds were misappropriated.

Najib confirmed Wall Street Journal’s report in 2015 that he received RM2.6 billion in his personal bank account, but disputed the publication’s claim that it originated from 1MDB.

Najib claimed the money was a “donation” from a member of the Saudi royal family.

Attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali had cleared Najib of wrongdoing and said the money had been returned to the “donor”.

Lee said that the government, or Najib (photo) himself, have failed to make sufficient efforts to defend the sanctity of the official post of the prime minister, by not acting against those calling the bearer of the position, names.

"I cannot understand why in the past three years our prime minister had never taken up any (legal) suits against anybody who called him a thief.

"When you remain silent, you are acknowledging (the accusations), and not doing justice to the official post you hold.

"Moving forward, we cannot let the prime minister (position holder) be called a thief, a criminal and do nothing," said 62-year-old Lee, who is a life member of MCA.

Emulate China in handling crisis

Lee cited how Singaporean authorities had swiftly moved to close down banks to protect the country's status as Asia's financial hub, in dealing with 1MDB.

Lee also said China stood tall in handling its own crises, citing how the country had dealt with the outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), as well as a large-scale clampdown on corruption, back in 2003.

That is what Malaysia should emulate when eliminating corruption, he added.

Lee is known to be a close associate of Pakatan Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad (photo).

The campaigning period in the run-up to the election on Wednesday has seen former ministers - Rafidah Aziz, Daim Zainuddin and Rais Yatim - speaking in favour of the nonagenarian.

Lee denied that the timing of his interview had anything to do with the election, saying he was merely exercising his constitutional right to express his opinion.

"I'm not here to help any party win," he said, adding that he was friends with both Mahathir and Najib, but refused to endorse any one of the leaders.

As a friend, Lee advised Najib to remain as Umno president, but not to continue as prime minister, or even hold any cabinet posts.

"As the Umno president, you can still control the game, you can still nominate your prime minister. Well, I think the moment he does that, BN will win big," he said.

According to Lee, he was closer to Mahathir now, as compared to when the time the latter was the premier, for 22 years.

He recalled his annual gathering with Mahathir during Chinese New Year, and how during his premiership, his cabinet colleagues, including Najib, had dined with Lee.

Lee, who admires Mahathir's working attitude, said: "At the age of 93, he is putting himself back in a 'jail', where you have to call a cabinet meeting every week. You are burning yourself as a politician."

This was in reference to Mahathir being named as Harapan's prime ministerial candidate, should the coalition win the general election.

"He (Mahathir) said that he had made mistakes and he wanted to correct (them), I believe he is sincere."

Lee called on voters to vote out the bad politicians and elect the good ones.

"(Remember), your country comes first, everything (else) come second."

According to Lee, a lot of the country's "illness" can be cured if one were to refer to the Federal Constitution and Rukun Negara.

Any law passed in Parliament, that contravenes the constitution, should be considered null and void, he said, adding that the recently passed Anti-Fake News Act 2018, which is "too general that it may touch on the constitutional rights of an individual".

Let the public judge EC

Lee also spoke about the Election Commission (EC), which he said, as a body appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong upon consultations with the Rulers' Council, should enjoy public confidence.

He urged media outlets, including Malaysiakini, to conduct surveys to get feedback from the public if the EC had performed its duty well.

"We have seen on the internet about vote buying being done openly, where RM25,000 was offered to a voter (in Sekinchan)," he noted.

Survey findings on whether EC enjoyed public confidence can then be submitted to the Rulers' Council, he said.