The Wife of MO1 should Return Pink Diamond to Increase Public Investment in Early Childhood Education and Care.
It is amusing to read news report that Rosmah Mansor lamented on the lack of funding for PERMATA [1].
In the latest civil forfeiture suit filing, the Department of Justice (DOJ) of the United States alleged that some of the money misappropriated from 1MDB was used to purchase 22-carat pink diamond pendant, which worth USD 27.3 million, and 27 different 18-carat gold necklaces and bracelets, which worth USD 1.3 million, for the wife of Malaysian Official (MO1).
According to the budget speech made by Prime Minister Najib Razak, the government allocated RM 85 million for PERMATA program in 2017 [2]. The pink diamond itself worth around RM120 million, which is more than one year of PERMATA allocation!
Since Rahman Dahlan has said that MO1 is Prime Minister Najib Razak [3], then it is not difficult to guess who is the “wife of MO1”.
Therefore, if Rosmah Mansor is really sincere to expand Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in Malaysia, then the easiest way to increase allocation to ECCE is for the wife of MO1 to return the pink diamond and all accessories bought with misappropriated monies to the people of Malaysia.
Once again, we would like to reiterate that while we agree that government should invest more in ECCE, Rosmah Mansor role in the agency is not necessary. No one is questioning the need to develop early childhood education in Malaysia, but why do we need a separate agency under Prime Minister Department (PMD) and the wife of the Prime Minister as the patron? Why does the wife of the Prime Minister, who is not elected by the people, have such a big role in government?
[1] https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/391059
[2] http://www.treasury.gov.my/pdf/budget/speech/bs17.pdf
[3] http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/09/01/rahman-dahlan-najib-is-mo1/
