Over the weekend, former prime minister Najib Tun Razak took to his Facebook page once again, informing his followers that he was seeking donations from the public using a fund set up by his daughter Nooryana Najwa Najib and an NGO named Gerakan Belia Sejagat.
The reason behind this fund was to help alleviate some of the financial burdens him and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, are currently under after being charged a total of RM6.5 million in bail after they received their charges in court.
On top of that, Najib clarified in his post that the fund was also to help other activists who are allegedly being persecuted for criticising the Pakatan Harapan government.
Anak saya, dengan kerjasama sebuah NGO bernama Gerakan Belia Sejagat menubuhkan sebuah tabung,dalam usaha mereka untuk…
Posted by Najib Razak on Saturday, October 13, 2018
A translated excerpt from his post reads,
“In all honesty, we are going through financial pressure from the legal fees and bail. Currently, we have received financial help from our generous close friends and relatives, but if possible, we do not want to burden them any longer.”
“If it is not too much to ask, it would mean a lot if the public could help us out by donating to this fund. However, if you have other financial priorities already in place, then you don’t have to donate.”
Najib’s post received a large number of responses from Malaysians on different social media platforms, many of whom gave him tips on how to save money during this tough financial period. We’ve briefly translated the comments as below!
Source: Twitter
“Eat curry rice with turmeric fried chicken. One pack is RM4; eat it for dinner and you’ll be full till tomorrow morning!”
Source: Facebook
Source: Twitter
“Change your lifestyle, lah. Eat water spinach; find RM1 chicken.”
Source: Twitter
“You can start applying for BR1M. Otherwise, eat water spinach that you plant yourself. Otherwise, you can start working two jobs a day, instead of relying on the people. Now you know the meaning of “the sky is high and low”. (This is) karma.”
Source: Twitter
“Are you for real? Last time when the people were in hardship, you told them to work two to three jobs. Now, let’s work part-time with Dato.”
Earlier in September 2018, the former prime minister was detained by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and slapped with 25 additional charges related to money laundering and abuse of power involving the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds. He was later charged RM3.5 million bail. He was also arrested earlier in July and paid RM1 million in bail.
Meanwhile, his wife, Rosmah Mansor, was also more recently detained by the MACC in October and received 17 charges involving money laundering and tax evasion. She was subsequently charged RM2 million bail.
Najib’s daughter initially announced the set-up of the fund on Saturday (13th October) on Facebook, asking the public to help her parents get through legal proceedings.
What are your thoughts on this fund? Let us know in the comments below!
Also read: Najib Asks 17 Questions About LGE’s ‘Manipulative’ Statements on M’sia’s Economy
