IT is no surprise that Putrajaya will form a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate foreign exchange losses amounting to billions of ringgit in the 1980s. After all, the Sidek Task Force does not have much power beyond gathering statements from those involved in that scandal.

A Prime Minister’s Office statement yesterday said it agreed to the RCI as the task force found there was a prima facie case, meriting in-depth investigation into the losses suffered by Bank Negara Malaysia.

What was interesting was the task force, headed by former chief secretary to the government Mohd Sidek Hassan, found that the losses were larger than what was reported to the then cabinet and Parliament. 

And thus, the proposed RCI would be able to identify the actual losses resulting from the foreign exchange transactions.

Great. Malaysia needs to look back at past financial scandals and figure out what when wrong. But does it need to take two decades to do that? 

But is this RCI coming up because major figures in the forex scandal, such as Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was prime minister then, have now become arch critics of the current government? 

That is the speculation. So how about nipping that speculation and look into the big elephant in the room, the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal that is again a summer blockbuster, thanks to a second suit from the US Department of Justice (DoJ).

Yes, Malaysia can deny all the allegations from around the world and denounce it as another plot to overthrow the government. That excuse is as old as scandals from the Mahathir government.

The issue is this. The United States DoJ has twice called Malaysia a kleptocracy. The Swiss authorities are investigating cases related to 1MDB, as is Singapore and apparently other countries, too, such as Italy.

Do we bury our heads in the sand and say everything is all right, no monies were lost or siphoned off from 1MDB and everything has been settled? 

If settlement is 1MDB selling off land it acquired cheaply and utilities it acquired in a pricey manner to pay off its debts, what did Malaysia gain? A transformational way of losing money?

The fact is this. Some countries are accusing Malaysia of one of the largest scams in the world. And we do nothing except deny it, or say it’s a plot drawn up by the opposition despite the reams of statements filed in an American court.

Isn’t the government any bit curious to know the reasons these countries think there is a scam? Isn’t this government brave enough to investigate whether there has been any wrongdoing?

Perhaps it needs a bit more time than an Idris Jala probe into the Felda Global Ventures Berhad boardroom tussle. Perhaps it needs more heft than a lone investigator. Perhaps another RCI.

Or do we have to wait for at least two decades before looking into a scandal that has brought us to the level of banana republics and despots who find solace in diamonds, art pieces and opulent mansions?

An RCI is needed in the 1MDB saga, to get to the bottom of it and if need be, punish those who have made Malaysia synonymous with kleptocracy. – June 22, 2017.