FOR MALAYSIA

M

On May 9 last year, Malaysian voters

ousted their government for the first

time in six decades after former prime

minister Mahathir Mohamad came

out of retirement to rally opposition

against the corruption-tainted rule of

Najib Razak. Three women captured

all the drama of the historic campaign

in a feature documentary

y

D

ivision is a recurring theme in history, and so

it has been for Malaysia. For the six decades

since the country won independence, the ruling

Barisan Nasional coalition maintained its grip on

power through racial campaigning that favoured

the dominant party of the coalition, the United

Malays National Organisation (UMNO).

In2015,newsbrokethatthepersonalbankaccountsofthe

then-primeminister,NajibRazak,hadreceivedsuspiciousdeposits

ofRM2.6b(morethanUS$620m).Ayear later, the Wall Street

Journalrananexposéonthestate-owned1MalaysiaDevelopment

Berhad(1MDB)fund,exposingsuspiciousfinancialtransactions

anduncoveringevidenceofmoneylaundering,fraudandthefton

a grand scale. A lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice

alleged that at least US$3.5b had been stolen from 1MDB.

Najibdeniedanywrongdoingandrejectedcallsforhis

resignation.Hisadministrationallegedlyarrangedforthe

leadersoftheMalaysianAnti-CorruptionCommissionand

the CentralBankofMalaysiato“retire”afterrumoursbroke

that thetwo government agencies were building a case against