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Yoursay: Hold Arul-Guna debate and we’ll see who’s the coward

YOURSAY | When has Arul ever had the guts to debate anyone on 1MDB?

Let's have a public discussion on 1MDB, says writer after Arul calls him 'coward'

Varuna: To some, 1MDB chief Arul Kanda Kandasamy seems perhaps an opportunist. To others, he might be seen as a nationalistic entrepreneurial guru trying to redeem the esteem of an atrociously scandalous national sovereign fund entity.

However, going by some of his publicly known initiatives he has demonstrated in connection with 1MDB, whether it is in auditing, equity, shareholder, debt burden, debt restructuring, reacting to international exposure to money laundering, etc, he has to date not been able to convince critics of 1MDB of his capacity, competence and even his truthfulness in transparently resolving the problems of 1MDB and by extension, the PM/MOF (Ministry of Finance).

This request from a reputed business writer (P Gunasegaram) for a debate on 1MDB is perhaps another good occasion for Arul to speak well of his work in 1MDB.

Why call the writer a coward and at the same time spurn his request? This not gentlemanly, is it not?

Rupert16: I have no doubt who the real coward is. Let’s see what excuse Arul will give this time for not daring to take up Malaysiakini columnist Gunasegaram’s offer.

With DAP leader Tony Pua, his excuse was that he (Arul) is not a politician.

Anonymous_b3cdcd05: What else is new with Arul? When has he ever had the guts to debate anyone on 1MDB?

Arul claims to be many things and a debater but his only known credential is his 1MDB monologue, talking to a selected audience.

And trying to make a case for himself at the Malaysiakini interview is pathetic and laughable. That was a tame indoor chatter where Arul was given the freedom to ride his favourite merry-go-round.

Gunasegaram is a different kettle of fish and an open debate is Arul’s phobia.

Anyway, engaging Arul is a waste of time. To him, it is an exercise to defend the indefensible for his masters and he will adamantly cling on to parroting his scripted answer that does justice to none.

JayWai: Come on, Arul. Take Gunasegaram on his offer to have a public discussion and let the people decide who's the real coward.

Ipohcrite: I believe all of us can tell who the two-bit hustler is here, and it ain't Gunasegaram.

One moment he is beating his chest but offers vague and evasive answers in an interview, and at another moment he is dripping yellow and declining a face-to-face with his critic whom he condemns as a coward for not attending his interview.

Arul Kanda is ‘god-sent’ to 1MDB

Anonymous_aa3bc2d5: Gunasegaram, excellent article. It captures the essence of the allegedly bald-faced lies told by Arul and of course, MO1 (Malaysian Official 1).

This is the country Najib and 1MDB's Arul have delivered to Malaysians, especially taxpayers of yesterday, today and long into the future, who will be paying through their eyeteeth for at least a decade for the folly, alleged theft and total stupidity of our leaders in this great Malaysian misadventure.

Anonymous_b3cdcd05: Aptly put. Arul is the wrong man to sort 1MDB's problems. And he is 'god sent' for the opposition.

Every time he goes on a spin to cover up the gaping holes in 1MDB, he is so amateurish and unconvincing that he has the opposite effect, far from his intended object of changing people's adverse views on 1MDB. 

Is this why Arul evades open discussions like a disease?

But he is not all bad. On the positive side, he has fitted in well with closed-door sessions for establishment underlings. A plus point. He must seriously consider that calling.

SusahKes: Arul’s replies to Malaysiakini’s interview reminded me of executives doing their sales/promo pitch using colourful PowerPoint slides.

The complex details and graphics in those slides are meant to impress audiences as though what is being presented is truly an authentic deal.

But after a while, everybody sees through the glitz. When questioned about the substance of their product and delivery, the executives would then “refer to their notes and get back to you”. Sounds familiar?

Any first-year accounting graduate could punch holes through Arul’s techno-ridden gibberish. And so, we - the taxpayers - remain frustrated.

Apologise for what, Rafidah asks Arul Kanda over Equanimity seizure

Gerard Lourdesamy: Arul, why should former minister Rafidah Aziz apologise to you or this caretaker government since both denied any links to Jho Low or the yacht? Has the yacht been released to Jho Low or his nominee Cayman Islands shelf company?

The yacht is still impounded in Bali, Indonesia, because the US has a California court order in their favour to take possession of the yacht and bring it to the US.

The Indonesians are not going to breach their treaty with the US on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters and offend the Department of Justice (DOJ) by handing over the yacht to Low, who is the subject of investigations in the US, UK, Hong Kong, UAE, Switzerland, Singapore, Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands.

Oxymoronictendencies: 1MDB has denied that any of its funds are missing. And therein lies the rub. With so much evidence globally that money has gone missing from 1MDB, the constant denial that anything is missing by the likes of Najib and Arul make little credible sense.

The complete lack of transparency and the complete lack of any explanation of the global evidence of malfeasance related to 1MDB just makes that evidence all the more believable and Najib and Arul looking like liars and people with something to hide.

As the adage goes, “Eventually the truth will come out.” And if I was a betting person (which I’m not), my money would be squarely on the global evidence as opposed to the vacuum of denial from Najib and Arul.

Anonymous 2413471460628504: Yes, apologise for what? The Indonesian court's decision only stated that the proper procedure to seize the yacht was not followed, not that the US has no cause to seize nor that the yacht is not implicated in the 1MDB debacle.

Why should anyone apologise for the fact that the US did not follow the proper procedure?

Arul should stop harping on the tiny "victories" relating to 1MDB because it only makes the huge "losses" more glaring and his silence on them even more deafening.


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