PETALING JAYA: A book chronicling the investigation into the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal by the founder and editor of the Sarawak Report, Clare Rewcastle-Brown, was officially launched yesterday.
The 528-page ‘The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Expose’ details Rewcastle-Brown's struggle to gather information about the Malaysian strategic development company and how she faced a concerted campaign by various parties to discredit her and her website.
"Several parties were paid to slander me, to discredit me, while pretending to be activists. (So) we needed to work in exile out of fear.
"But I felt responsible to report the various corruption scandals, from Sarawak's deforestation to 1MDB, due to the laws restricting mainstream media journalists (in this country)," she said at her book launch event at a hotel here.
Rewcastle-Brown, 58, thanked Damansara Member of Parliament Tony Pua for being a “co-conspirator and collaborator” and for helping her a lot during the investigation and report on the 1MDB scandal.
The Sarawak-born Briton said even though the book focusses on the 1MDB scandal and Malaysia, it also carries the message of the need for law and order to protect the people from criminals with connections to power.
Meanwhile, Pua, who was present at the event, said young journalists in this country should learn from Rewcastle-Brown's struggle and commitment in doing something that has changed the country.
"Maybe they could do (what) Clare did and make changes in Malaysia," he added.
The 1MDB scandal is widely considered to be a major factor in the toppling of Barisan Nasional and Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the 14th general election on May 9 this year.
Rewcastle-Brown had played a key role in uncovering the facts behind the 1MDB scandal, including disclosing the identity of the key man behind the scandal, Jho Low, in her several years of investigations. -- Bernama