FAKE news is such a phenomenon that Putrajaya has formed a task force to look into laws for it, as it could “threaten political stability, and undermine public order and national security”.

Of course, there are already laws regulating information in the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 and Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

But what is fake news? Is it what the government, not just in Malaysia but even the United States, defines as fake news?

And what could be some of the news seen as fake by Malaysia’s task force under Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said?

After all, she said new measures to tackle the dissemination of fake news should be undertaken so people would be more responsible in publishing, disseminating and sharing news, and to ensure the country’s security.

So, what is fake news for now?

1) Anything to do with 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

Prime Minister Najib Razak said yesterday that the losses incurred by 1MDB could be regained, unlike those incurred in the Bank Negara Malaysia forex scandal 30 years ago.

Petaling Jaya MP Tony Pua disagrees, asking whether Najib could publicly state where US$940 million (RM3.65 billion) worth of “units” had gone after the original custodial bank, BSI Bank, was shut down.

If all monies were accounted for in 1MDB, why is it that 1MDB has failed to produce a single audited financial statement since March 2014, asked Pua.

He said it was the US Department of Justice’s (DoJ) highlighting of the missing funds that led Deloitte Malaysia to withdraw its endorsement of 1MDB’s 2013 and 2014 financial accounts.  

So, which is fake news for the special task force?

2) That something is amiss with the transfer of the Felda headquarters’ land in Jalan Semarak.

Berita Harian first reported last December that the Felda land had been lost as it had been transferred to the developers without any money exchanged and also without the board’s knowledge.

This matter was first known in January last year and the prime minister informed a month later. But it was only exposed in December for reasons only known to Felda.

But it later transpired that the developers had actually offered RM500 million for the 16 parcels of land, worth apparently RM200 million, or 10% of the gross development value (GDV) of RM6 billion to RM8 billion.

And now, Felda has retrieved the land titles back, although the legalities of an actual transfer have yet to be done. Was the land ever lost? Which part of the news is fake now?

3) That a sizeable number of Malaysians are hurting and cannot make ends meet because of the rising cost of living and stagnant wages.

Is this true or do people have to spend according to their means?

Putrajaya says the country’s economic growth during 2017’s third quarter was among the fastest in the Asian region.

According to Bank Negara Malaysia, the country’s economy grew at a faster pace of 6.2% in the third quarter of 2017 compared with 4.3%  in the same quarter in 2016.

But sales in the Malaysian retail industry contracted 1.1% in the third quarter in 2017 on eroding Malaysians’ purchasing power, according to a report compiled by Retail Group Malaysia (RGM).

“Despite strong economic performance during the third quarter, a majority of consumers did not receive higher take-home pay,” RGM said in the report.

It added that the rising cost of living has also deteriorated the purchasing power of Malaysian consumers. For the first nine months of 2017, the retail sale growth rate was 1.9%, compared with the same period the previous year.

So, what can one believe, or what does the special task force say? Good year or bad year?

4) That the household debt and country’s debt have reached dangerous proportions.

According to government statistics, Malaysia’s household debt has declined as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) to 84.6% as of September 2017 from 88.4% for 2016. 

But the country’s debts stood at a staggering RM687.43 billion in the last financial year, according to Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who said that the country’s debt situation prevented the government from ensuring universal economic well-being for its people.

“In this regard, the sad reality is that our leadership has failed to keep in check the national debt that our country is in,” the veteran lawmaker said.

The federal debt stood at RM685.1 billion as of June 2017, the Finance Ministry said in November, up by almost a fifth from March 2016, but the debt-to-GDP ratio was 50.9%, or 3% lower, over the same period, likely due to increased projected earnings.

But the government says the debt is manageable, although servicing the debt is getting to be a bigger share of the entire national budget. It is projected to be 13.1% for 2018, although Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming said adding off-budget expenditure and debt servicing could push that figure beyond the mandated 15% threshold.

So, what would be fake news here? That all is well, or that there will be a budget crisis soon that would affect providing for the people?

5) That while the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has been busy picking up civil servants who are living beyond their means, precious little action has been taken against powerful and famous politicians in the country.

The past two years has seen headline reports of civil servants being picked up and their array of possessions, from luxury cars and bags to piles of cash, being presented as evidence of corruption.

But what about the politicians? The powerful and famous who openly flaunt their wealth although they have hardly had professional jobs to finance such a lifestyle?

The few politicians picked up have been released with nothing further on the cases. What are the results of investigations into the Felda land and Mara purchases scandals?

What about the lapses of management in 1MDB? Or are these not under the MACC? 

Politicians and top civil servants were involved in these ventures but nothing has been heard of despite the plethora of headlines and promises of action by the authorities. 

Or are civil servants children of lesser gods? Or news of corrupt politicians just fake news? – February 3, 2018.