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Key Highlights
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When your ‘friends’ give you an ‘F’
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Manhunt 101: Lawyer gives IGP masterclass
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It’s raining videos again in November
When your ‘friends’ give you an ‘F’
In the past, civil society groups such as C4, Bersih, and Suaram were viewed as “friends” of Pakatan Harapan – or at least were accused of being so by BN – when they condemned the ruling coalition’s corruption and abuse of power. Few could have foreseen that Harapan and BN would one day become partners, with Anwar Ibrahim as the prime minister of that very arrangement.
Fast forward to November 2025, and these once “friends” have handed Anwar‘s Madani administration an “F,” citing a string of scandals ranging from corruption to document falsification for imported footballers. This is further compounded by the DNAAs, the hat-trick reappointment of Azam Baki as MACC chief commissioner, and Federal Court Judge Ahmad Terrirudin Salleh’s appointment to the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC).
The trigger for this scathing indictment, however, was the revelation by businessperson Albert Tei – the central figure in the Sabah mining scandal – that he allegedly spent over RM620,000 on Anwar‘s former senior aide, Shamsul Iskandar Akin.
Although the prime minister pledged that the matter would be investigated without fear or favour, C4, Bersih, Suaram, Persatuan Pemangkin Daya Masyarakat (Rose), the Society for Equality, Respect and Trust for All Sabah (Serata), along with independent scholar S Munirah Alatas, political economy professor Terence Gomez, and investigative filmmaker Mahi Ramakrishnan, remained unconvinced.
They argue that both the government and the MACC are plagued by a deep trust deficit – ironically, the very accusation that Harapan politicians once levelled at their rivals not so long ago.
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Manhunt 101: Lawyer gives IGP masterclass
Soon after Inspector-General of Police Khalid Ismail pledged to ramp up its manhunt for M Indira Gandhi’s former husband Riduan Abdullah, he was given a lesson on distinguishing between fact and fiction while another legal eagle has hired a private investigator to do the job.
What irked Indira’s counsel Rajesh Nagarajan was the police chief’s appeal for the public to refrain from speculating on the matter, which has not been resolved for years.
Putting it bluntly, he said: “After 16 years of broken promises, the police cannot continue asking the public ‘not to speculate’ when speculation is all they themselves have offered. It is time for the police to stop issuing excuses and start producing results.”
Rajesh accused the IGP of making “deeply troubling” speculations on unverified details, without providing factual evidence to support his claims.
He said that instead of presenting proof, the IGP is now suggesting that “someone else” may have used Riduan’s identity, without showing that any proper investigation has been conducted.
“Basic steps, such as reviewing CCTV footage and tracing transactions, should have been completed weeks ago,” the lawyer said in relation to the claim that Riduan had accessed government benefits, such as the Budi95 petrol subsidy and the Rahmah Necessities Aid (Sara).
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It’s raining videos again in November
After last November’s “video monsoon” that drenched Sabah in corruption allegations, the downpour returns this November, as the same businessperson behind the lightning and thunder delivers yet another “caught on camera” moment.
After Albert Tei accused Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s former senior political aide Shamsul Iskandar Akin of fleecing him of over RM620,000, a video surfaced on Facebook in which a woman claimed that Anwar had given his blessings for Tei to use his camera pen to record his political allies in Sabah.
Just twenty-four hours later, another video emerged. In it, the same woman alleged that MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki was aware that Anwar knew about the recordings.
The woman, accused of acting as a proxy for Shamsul, then posted her own video on Facebook. Sofia Rini Buyong claimed that Tei was spreading lies and slander, and denied being Shamsul’s proxy.
Tei later fired back, noting that Sofia neither disputed the video’s authenticity nor explained the statements she made during their conversation.
The videos have surfaced ahead of Saturday’s Sabah election, where Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) – whose politicians Tei alleges accepted bribes from him in exchange for mineral exploration licences that were later cancelled – and Pakatan Harapan are both vying to retain control of the state.
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