Ask Taib, Chong tells reporters

Kuching (Dec 16, 2011): "You got to ask the chief minister. He should be in the knowledge. He is the chief minister and finance minister," Sarawak DAP secretary Chong Chieng Jen replied when reporters asked him whether anyone from Sarawak were among those who had contributed to the staggering RM150billion illicit outflow of capital from Malaysia in 2009.

Chong, the Bandar Kuching MP and Kota Sentosa State Assemblyman, said Malaysia is known world-wide for the wrong reason.

"The outflow of RM150 billion just in 2009 alone is a very serious matter. In South-east Asia, Malaysia is top and the next country from the region is very far behind," he said when commenting on the statistics released by the Global Financial Integrity (GFI) yesterday.

Chong said between the years 2000 and 2008, about RM889 billion was illegally siphoned out of the country, mainly the proceeds of bribery, theft, kickbacks and tax evasion.

Malaysia (US$338b) is fifth after China (US$2,500b), Mexico (US$453b), Russia (US$427b) and Saudi Arabia (US$366b) among the countries with the massive outflow of illicit capital.

Chong said inspite of the what Prime Minister Najib Razak was doing in his transformation plan, the national debt continued to escalate.

"The reasons are that he (Najib) was concerned with the superficial reform, but not going into the fundamentals, like getting rid of corruption and leakages," he said.-Sematong Express