Tag Archives: News

The Ongoing Jho Low Saga

For my little but lovely group of friends who read my usual insignificant

ramblings here (and I thank you for it) perdóneme, this is one of those more er ..

‘heavier’ ones which has a little connection with my job as a journo.

This is one for those who keep coming back for that Malaysian millionaire

who apparently, can’t keep out of the spotlight.

.

It is the month of July.

Am sure you have read all the latest, necessary reading about Taek Jho Low,

also known as Joe Low, who has been keeping in very rich & blonde company.

Am sure you have seen this all out and about from

- http://www.fadedyouthblog.com/197536/paris-hilton-strikes-a-pose-for-malaysian-millionaire

- http://rockybru.com.my/2010/07/paris-hiltons-majestic-masterpiece.html

and so on.

Newcomers to the Jho Low saga would only now be discovering things that have

been somewhat public knowledge here &  in grand city of New York last year.

November, to be exact.

I wrote about him last year, and if you still are a bit lost as to how it all

started, perhaps you could begin with that.

.

As you would probably be reading other recent updates in the blogosphere like:

Who Is This Young Millionaire, Taek Jho Low?

Our ‘favourite’ millionaire cavorts with Paris and

Low Taek Jho, Paris Hilton, Rosmah & RM 11 billion ,

I will not repeat what it being said in these blogs, twitterverse etc.

I’m going to assume you know lah what has been said, reported on thenutgraph,

and that I have kind of spent many hours lah researching all this.

.

.

And going through all of it these past few months, I think I could say this:

  • It would be very easy to assume Jho Low is using public money to party with Paris Hilton. It is not easy in the slightest to prove that this is true.
  • It would be very easy to assume that Paris Hilton is only hanging out with him for the money. It is not easy to imagine that, like his Middle Eastern friends, she could just genuinely like hanging out with him? You know, cause er .. he is rich? He could be … hilarious, or … er nice, for all we know?
  • It would be very easy to say Jho Low is ‘fat’, or ‘tubby’, and this and that. It is not easy to find actual, solid, reasons to validate why we are criticising him, to justify why we are actually calling him such names. Besides, you got no bigger-size friends meh yang kau adore? Suddenly the argument is about fat people is it? Do people realise that when you resort to ad hominem attacks (Your mother bodoh, your muka hodoh), you effectively sully & blotch painfully researched info?
  • It would be very easy to say because Jho Low knows/interacts/is close to Rosmah, it automatically makes him … suspicious or dodgy. It is not easy for us to explain how that we can even ascertain/explain that reasonably. In public. On the record. If he is friends with her son, is that … bad, or illegal, or dodgy, in any way?

.

.

And oklah while I’m at it … I guess I’ll also put it in there that it is also very easy

to present somebody’s trails and links as your own as if you came up with it, and

not so easy to spend hours & hours destroying your eyes in front of the computer,

making those connections. Tidak apa, you know, I know lah Misters. Minus

respect points lor.

.

Anyway, I am not writing a In Defence of Jho Low piece.

I guess this is more about journalism versus gossip/rumour.

.

.

BUT …

Despite all the things I have pointed out above,

we can say these things for sure:

1- We already know he definitely is well connected to the upper echelons.

2- We know, from all sources, everywhere, that he really. likes. hanging.

out. with. stars. And drinking champagne. And living the high life.

3- We also know for a certainty that he has real influence and power. He makes

money from that.

.

A friend and I were laughing one day when we saw this

http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1221007/+40 ,

where someone spoke quite emotionally in defence of JL.

More specifically, we laughed out loud when we read “i sense Joe Low in ACTION! icon_rolleyes.gif“

implying of course, that the man was defending himself anonymously.

The thing is that:

For months and months and months, the activities of Low have been a hot topic

among so many circles, whether business folks, diplomats or politicians.

This is fact.

Because Klang Valley is very small and incestuous (and Klang Valley-ites know

this), there is only one or two degrees of separation between many of us and

the famous Mr Low.

I can also say this as a matter of fact because I am in the same generation as him,

and there are many people out there who personally know/knew him, or his friends.

Even people from London tell me things about him, so it is not just here that he is

being talked about.

There is one thing that is constant. The tone is always … one that is unimpressed.

Most of it … basically kind of sneering.

.

Bear with me here. What I am saying is that people don’t necessarily hate or

resent rich people.

I am quite sure when people think of Tony Fernandes or the YTL family [correction:

Sorry, I was thinking of the Low Yat Family - sleepy mistake] etc they

don’t immediately sneer at their wealth. There is always a certain amount of respect

because we can distinguish people who built things up thru very hard work &

took many, many years to do so.

Perhaps the reasons why JL is written & talked about in such .. dare I say it ..

disgusted tones is because:

1. He is very young to be so rich & powerful.

2. He has done so primarily through the who-you-know route.

3. He splashes money even more outrageously than superstars.

Bukan Klang Valley superstars okay, Hollywood superstars.

4. And that he seems to want you to know it.

Let’s face it – this is not exactly shunning exposure a la Ananda Krishnan.

.

However. Until someone proves any of this is actually wrong, actually dodgy,

or actually illegal, who is to say he has no right to do so? Yes, in this world nowadays,

many people make business deals and they make commissions from it.

They link people & profit.

.

.

I shall end with this however. You know all the rather sneering tones and all

the activities and deals that people talk about when it comes to Jho Low?

People around him must be talking, giving the information.

People close to him, his entourage, perhaps those who partied with him in NY,

or who followed him to South Africa or France?

Which makes me wonder … and this is pure conjecture on my part …

but how do his friends / buddies /acquaintances / the entourage behave in

front of him, and what do they say … behind him?

.

Just Who is Jho Low?

I’m sure you’ve read or heard about this.

Malaysian Jho Low, has made a name for himself

in a grand, vivacious, wonderful city that will never

be quiet. Yes, it will shout out your name should

you deserve it.

It’s New York after all, and the name Jho Low has made

there isn’t at all referred to in flattering terms.

First the New York Post, no less, writes about him.

And then New York Mag picks it up.

In both, you can almost smell the disgust dripping from

the pieces.

As the New York Post writes:

Strangely, for a man attracting so much attention, very little is known about Low.

According to his official biography, he currently serves as a group adviser of several international corporations and was appointed to the board of UBG Berhad, a financial-services group in Kuala Lumpur, last year.

But when The Post interviewed Malaysian experts at such think tank as the Council on Foreign Relations, no one had ever heard of Low.

According to inside sources, Low lives at a $100,000-a-month apartment in the Park Imperial, on West 56th Street, home to James Bond actor Daniel Craig and Sean “P. Diddy” Combs — and he won’t go anywhere, not even on the elevator, without at least one bodyguard.

Some of Low’s entourage of eight to 12 people also reside in two other apartments at the Park Imperial — a $30,000-a-month pad and a 2,200-square-foot loft with Central Park views that costs $20,000 a month, according to real-estate investor Michael Hirtenstein, who used to live in the latter.

(the rest of the article here …)

And then, as is with the Internet’s breakneck speed,

it comes out in Twitter and our own Malay Mail.

The latter somehow flashes and then removes and then

flashes the story again, effectively rewriting it as its own (with

NY dateline and all, hmm)

People are wondering where he gets all that money.

Now, there are a few comments on the relevant sites

that say people are just envious of his good fortune,

and are throwing in jokes with regard to his Cristal

obession, Lohan connection and so on … but, perhaps,

is this more than a joke?

The Post’s ‘expose’ was actually old news for New Yorkers

apparently, judging by these blog posts from the Big Apple below.

- 40 bottles of Cristal

- $160,000 at Avenue

- Bubbly for Lohan’s Birthday

They’ve been trying to figure out WHO this guy was, apparently.

So:

1. If this is all true, this guy is kind of embarrassing us.

Burned through thousands of US dollars. Over Champagne?

In our current economic downturn, and time of bail outs & stimulus

packages?

Far be it for me to deny anyone some partying, but when New Yorkers

are scratching their heads over how you party and drink, oh lord,

you must really be dishing it out. It takes some balls to be flashier than

Donald Trump in his city.

2. In the articles (and in other sites) he is a representative

of Majestic Masterpiece Sdn Bhd and

the Abu Dhabi-Kuwait-Malaysia Investment Corporation.

Woah, if he was bankrolled, what a way to be bankrolled.

As for why, your guesses are as good as mine.

But hey, look here, I found some interesting links.

[Yes I'm a nerd and read and scour a lot]

 

We know, from the article, and from many google searches that Low

is in strategic investment house UBG Berhad. Details easily found here .

And that UBG is connected to Loh & Loh, Majestic Masterpiece (MMSB)

and …..

how Majestic Masterpiece and the Abu Dhabi-Kuwait-Malaysia

Investment Corporation became substantial shareholders of UBG ….

Or how there is the Sarawak connection there …

Or how they took over Putrajaya Perdana among others ..

And that (once again), Low seems to be very well connected

to the Kuwaitis and Abu Dhabi big boys …

Like  UBG directors Yousef Al Otaiba and

Sheikh Sabah Mohd S. Al-Sabah. (They are all in

MMSB, along with Low, as you can see here)

Both men are partners in Abu Dhabi-Kuwait-Malaysia

Investment Corporation, of which Jho Low is a rep for,

as we’ve established already.

Otaiba is a prominent member of the United Arab Emirates inner

circle, while Sheikh Sabah is also a member of the ruling family of Kuwait.

Our King, and Terengganu Sultan, with the noble intentions

of increasing investments and opportunities within his state

and country, visited Kuwait and the Al Sabah family in December

2008, according to these Bernama pictures of the official visit.

What’s interesting is that Terengganu, as business circles know, has

formed its own Sovereign Wealth Fund.

This fund was reported late 2008 and early 2009 as

the Terengganu Investment Authority.

Its own CEO was sceptical at first too when he was asked to helm

TIA, as he had admitted here.

Many in the business scene also had doubts, as The Edge writes here.

Since then, TIA has transformed into the

1Malaysia Development Berhad, (whoah)

which has this written on this website,

1MDB forms equal-capital joint ventures in investments with high multipliers, especially energy, real estate, tourism and agribusiness. This business model is proven successful with an early indication of USD3 billion investments from the Middle East.

1MDB will continue to be swift in responding to rapid-changing global market, seizing opportunities before others do.

1MDB will have an initial funding of RM11 billion (USD3.13 billion). The first tranche of RM5 billion (USD1.7 billion) was raised in the capital market with the issuance of Islamic Medium Term Notes guaranteed by the Federal Government. 1MDB’s shareholders will determine the future funding for the balance.

That’s some big money.

Now. Here’s the thing. Wait a minute …

Is the last guy below in this Straits Times article, a Mr Joe Low,

the Jho Low merrymaking away in New York?

Joe Low

Another low-profile businessman, he was a key architect of a multibillion-ringgit sovereign wealth fund established by the state of Terengganu.

The fund, called the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA), has sparked controversy because it will be created using borrowed money and not existing capital held by the state. It will raise capital from a RM5 billion (S$2 billion) bond issue, which will be guaranteed by the Malaysian government.

Little is known of Penang-born Mr Low, who a TIA official said is an adviser to Malaysia’s King, Sultan Mizan, and has close ties with several Middle East investment funds.

Is this the same guy, or is this some typo and mega huge coincidence?

If so, are our leaders seriously backing this young man? (Well he is apparently

just 28 years old)

[By the way, these companies mentioned are also involved,

along with bigtimers Mubdala Group, in the

Iskandar Development Region too]

I had flashes of two Hollywood stories I’ve read before,

but I won’t put there here, interested parties can

e-mail me.

 

 

The bottom line is …

Mr Jho Low is involved in some very serious Malaysia-Abu Dhabi-Kuwaiti

business co-operation.

Big business, big deals.

I guess perhaps I should be envious that he is using his

millions anyway he wants, including flushing

it down his (as well as) Usher’s, Lindsay Lohan’s digestive

systems, or shopping and buying expensive homes in NY

if he so chooses.

Isn’t someone who goes all

out to impress extremely well-known, international super stars in

very popular hot spots in one of the flashiest, grandest cities in the

world with such aplomb, overkill and excess fair game for these

questions?

Or perhaps we are being too paranoid, when we

should just accept (albeit with some serious envy) that Low

is having some  holiday fun, with some wealthy friends in

New York, a city that we would all love to go buckwild in.

In the Post article it did say after all, that it’s his Kuwaiti

friend Hamad Alwazzan who is belanja-ing him.

Is he a genuine financial genius at 28-years-old who we should

take lessons from, or not?

Am I just very good at finding links but have got it all

wrong and am just super jealous that someone is living it up

in the great New York City?

All I know is I am awake at 7am, having not slept because of

this post.

Great.

All I know is that I love links.

It’s all there.

 

 

 

 

Now for the serious stuff:

Disclaimer:

[If you're going to comment on this post, jangan mencaci, mencarut or

give me nonsense. After all my research & linking above,

don't give me excrement or I will delete your entry. I reserve the right to

delete any comment for any reason whatsoever (abusive, profane, rude,

or anonymous comments) – so keep it polite, please.]

[Also, all the above are merely my opinions, & I am not responsible for the comments below. Yes.]

I know this ain’t no laughing matter…

but this video is freaking brilliant.

 

Check out the Khir Toyo part, it’s such a LOL moment.

You think the makers of this video sussed it out (roughly)?

I know a lot of people who believe the

‘lower-level-incompetency/f*ck up’ theory.

More so than the ‘underworld shushing up’ theory.

Yesh, that some people just keep on shooting (ahem)

themselves in the foot.

See you all in the evening, banyak kerja hari ini (a lot of

work today).

 

* Yes I’m going to try the translation of Malay/Malaysian speak

from now on as per the request of my foreign friends, but we’ll

see how it goes.

xo

The Lure of Movies

IMG_0528

Mat Rempit and drag queens OUT

2009/07/19

By Meor Shariman

 

KUALA LUMPUR: Mat Rempit and transvestites will soon be missing from Malaysian movies and television.

A new ruling by the Information, Communications and Culture Ministry two months ago bans local filmmakers from showing Mat Rempit and men in women’s clothes in their productions.

The directive follows a letter from Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan to the Home Ministry to ban the term “Mat Rempit” in film and TV productions, and to ban scenes showing illegal racing and activities involving Mat Rempit.

Sources said it was one of the government’s ways to fight immoral activities linked to both groups.

It is a fact that each time a movie about Mat Rempit is shown in the cinemas, police have to be on high alert.

The most recent example was the box-office hit Bohsia: Jangan Pilih Jalan Hitam. The same week the Skop Productions’ film hit cinemas, police had to double operations against illegal racing in major cities.

The media had a field day reporting Mat Rempit high jinks throughout the period the movie was screened.

It was the same when KL Menjerit Episod 1 and Remp-It were screened in 2005 and 2006.

The new rule will affect two high-profile films — Remp-It V3 and Anu Dalam Botol. Remp-It V3, by Metrowealth Movies Production, is completed and is waiting for the okay from the Censor ship Board.

But with the new rules, will this film ever see the light of day? It will not be a problem to drop the word Remp-It from its title but to snip all scenes that show Mat Rempit?

That will be impossible because the movie, as the title suggests, is about the life of Mat Rempit. The controversial Anu Dalam Botol is a film about a gay couple — Brokeback Mountain Malaysian style.

The story revolves around a man who went for a sex operation to show his undying love for his lover. Produced by Raja Azmi Raja Sulaiman, the film is expected to begin filming by the end of year.

Films featuring illegal racing do well at the box office. KL Menjerit and its sequel, KL Menjerit Episod 1, Remp-It and Bohsia are three movies that focus on the life of Mat Rempit and did well at the box off ice.

Many Malaysian films have at least one scene on Mat Rempit and a man dressed in women’s clothes (not necessarily a transvestite). Hit films that featured a scene or two of Mat Rempit and men in drag are Sifu & Tongga, Jangan Pandang Belakang Congkak and Senario The Movie Episod 1. How will this new rule affect the booming local movie industry? Only the filmmakers have the answer.

 

Truth be told, I don’t know what I feel about this completely.

I absolutely don’t agree with people who want to ban portrayals

of gays or transvestites.

But the bikers.

Hmmmm.

First I thought that any film portrayal of a real life phenomena

is justified, fair and totally sound. But as art imitates life,

in this case, I’ve learnt over the last year that

life really imitates art.

Speaking to Prof Rozmi a few months ago over

the Mat Rempit issue gave me a few things to think about.

Having researched Mat Rempits for many years, (hanging out 

with them, joining police blocks etc) he had told me

that these kids really do watch the Mat Rempit

movies and want to emulate them.

That sounds like such an easy, cop out thing to say, doesn’t it?

Chope.

 

I remember when I was around 16 and 17, and

all of us kids went crazy over that rollerblade movie.

Remember that? Airborne, which came out in 1993.

airborne

We all got those damn rollerblades and tried doing

all sorts of shit with it.

I swear, we got a lot of knee injuries trying to

out-cool each other with those blades on our

very rollerblade-unfriendly tar roads and pavements.

(Bear with me)

 

And then we watched Hackers in 1995.

And were so entranced, it wasn’t funny.

And it wasn’t just because we fell for Angelina Jolie

or Jonny Lee Miller.

 

hackers

And all fancied ourselves cyber geniuses.

Ohhh did we want to be those cool computer experts.

Experts okay. Not geeks!

We IRC-ed our pants off trying to … what was it,

irc bomb each other? (I never knew how to do it, damn it)

Some guys went seriously ape shit trying to

out ‘hack’ each other. It was a badge of honour

or respectability if you knew how to ‘bomb’ others

for your friends or kill their online biznaz halfway.

I got so furious at some points when I would get attacked

and my programme would turn off suddenly

or my computer would blank out.

Sigh.

 

And then in college those Young and Dangerous movies (really

cool Hong Kong triad series that portrayed the

deadly Hung Hing gang) came out in 1996 and beyond.

ydbig

WOW. I swear all my guy friends started strutting around

with some kind of new macho swagger.

Of course, they couldn’t do the crazy things the Hung Hing

characters were doing, ie. chopping people up

and all, but I do remember in the realm of boy-dom

at the time, there were a lot more fights.

Ohhh yes. I remember some hospital visits,

y’know.

Ahem. Boys will be boys ;)

Years later a lot of them would get similar triad-ish

tattoos, but I guess that’s something else altogether lah.

 

 

Ah well.

Anyway, I think there must be around 4 or 5 major Rempit

movies now. And more were supposed to come.

Judging by the Hung Hing movies, which came out

in delicious series, I suppose in the lives of the Malay boys

who have bikes (let’s face it, there aren’t Cina or India rempits),

these films are really THE movies to look forward to.

And I’ve seen some of these movies, they really do make

them look cool.

The boys who do stunts get the girls and the glory.

Prof said the boys want the lifestyle, and so they ape

the actions.

Remember, these young men can’t go pubbing, clubbing, go to

nice restaurants or movies for entertainment.

With RM5 they get to have fun on their bikes the whole night,

and so they do. They race, they bet on the winners,

maybe win some money, maybe catch the attention of their honeys.

I was told by some entertainment writers that apparently some of

the young actors in the Rempit movies are former

Mat Rempit idola themselves. Mat Rempit “done good.”

Can you imagine how … inspirational that must be in a way

for them?

Remember how you wanted to be like somebody

or do something, just by watching those movie characters?

 

 

But is it wrong to deny them of the entertainment they want

and like?

Isn’t it just showing what happens in real life?

(Or, er… does it really?)

Is zero-ing on movies just a cheat, and not

tackling the real problem of vicious Mat Rempit?

Prof Rozmi said when he talked to them, many seemed

“not to care about a lot of things”, as if they had little

hopes or goals for the future. As if they were lost.

That part disturbed me greatly.

RIP Teoh Beng Hock

I couldn’t bear to put the picture of him, sprawled
dead on the floor.
What we already know is so disturbing, and made
more tragic to know that Teoh was going to be
married today.

Nothing less than a Royal Commission,
i’ll say. I finished my piece on it (for tomorrow)
hours ago, but I still can’t get that picture out of
my head.

It’s awful. Awful awful awful.
Justice must be done.

My condolences to his family, friends, and of course, to his fiancee.
May he rest in peace.