PAKATAN Harapan is having a “two-night special” in Penang next weekend for its 1Malaysia Development Bhd roadshow.

The ceramah will be held at the Simpang Tiga JKKK multipurpose hall in Sungai Acheh, Nibong Tebal, on Saturday; and Dewan Balora in Kongsi, Balik Pulau on Penang island  the next day. Both events start at 9pm.

This will be PH’s second and third ceramah on 1MDB in Penang, and in Umno-held rural seats. The first was in Penaga, Kepala Batas, earlier this month.

Penang Bersatu information chief Yaakob Osman said the Sungai Acheh state seat and the Balik Pulau parliamentary seat were won by Barisan Nasional with small majorities in the last polls.

“These are areas where many rural folk rarely get information from social media or the alternative media. This is why we have to take the 1MDB issue deep into the Malay heartland.

“We will vigorously promote the two events, persuading everyone –regardless of whether they support PH or BN – to come and listen,” he told a press conference at the Penang DAP headquarters today.

In the last general election, Umno’s Mahmud Zakaria retained Sungai Acheh with just 808 votes in a three-cornered fight with PKR and PAS. It is the only state seat in Nibong Tebal won by BN, while PKR and DAP took the other two state constituencies.

Balik Pulau and all three of its state seats were won by BN in the last polls with slim majorities. 

Umno’s Dr Hilmi Yahaya took the parliamentary seat with a majority of 1,539 votes, while Bayan Lepas state seat was secured by Umno’s Nordin Ahmad by 458 votes. Muhamad Farid Saad (Umno) took Pulau Betong with a majority of 395 votes, while Shah Headan Ayoob Shah (Umno) claimed Teluk Bahang with a majority of 801 votes.

Yaakob, a Nibong Tebal local, is one of the speakers who will join DAP’s “1MDB expert” Tony Pua, PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, Amanah Youth deputy chief Faiz Fadzil, Penang PKR chief and Nibong Tebal MP Mansor Othman, and DAP’s Jawi assemblyman Soon Lip Chee in the Sungai Acheh ceramah.

For the Balik Pulau event, Pua, Nurul and Faiz will be joined by Penang Bersatu chief Marzuki Yahya and DAP’s Air Itam assemblyman Wong Hon Wai.

Penang DAP vice-chairman Zairil Khir Johari said the organisers hoped to repeat the Penaga ceramah’s success in Sungai Acheh and Balik Pulau.

The first ceramah drew more than 200 people in the small town. PH encountered some problems while promoting the event, when its banners and party flags were “mysteriously” taken down by unknown persons soon after they were put up to inform locals of the ceramah. Many locals did not know of the event until the last minute.

“We hope that all who want to know about 1MDB and its impact on the people will come and listen, especially to see the presentation by Pua. It will help them understand the scandal in more detail.

“We want to explain to the people what the scandal is and what the diamonds mean to all Malaysians in the villages and the cities, and what we can do about it,” he said.

The 1MDB roadshow was announced by opposition leader Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail last month, following the latest civil suit by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) to recover billions of ringgit worth of assets bought with money allegedly stolen from 1MDB. 

Among the assets bought with the allegedly stolen money were jewellery, including a rare pink diamond set in a necklace for the wife of “Malaysian Official 1”, who has been confirmed to be Prime Minister Najib Razak by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Rahman Dahlan. – July 21, 2017.