1Malaysia Development Berhad

1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is a strategic development company, wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. 1MDB was established to drive strategic initiatives for long-term economic development for the country by forging global partnerships and promoting foreign direct investment. 1MDB is currently involved several high-profile projects such as the Tun Razak Exchange, Tun Razak Exchange's sister project Bandar Malaysia and the acquisition of three Independent Power Producers.

In 2015, allegations were made in several newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, that the organisation had been used to siphon state funds into the accounts of Prime Minister Najib Razak, and people associated with him.

History

1MDB began as Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA), a sovereign wealth fund aimed at ensuring economic development for the state of Terengganu that is long term and sustainable while safeguarding the economic well-being of the people of Terengganu.

TIA was established in 2008, and was renamed 1Malaysia Development Berhad on January 2009. In his announcement on 22 July 2009, Prime Minister Najib Razak said the decision to expand TIA into a federal entity was made to enable its benefits to reach a broad spectrum of Malaysians rather than to the residents of only one state.

Rafizi Ramli

Mohd Rafizi Ramli (born 14 September 1977) is a Malaysian politician. He is the Vice-President and Secretary-General of the People's Justice Party (PKR), and the Member of the Parliament of Malaysia for Pandan, Selangor. He is the co-founder of a whistle blower organization, National Oversight and Whistleblowers (NOW).

Background

Rafizi was born in Besut, Terengganu and was raised in Kemaman, an east-coast town. He came from a humble background which his father was a rubber tapper. During his schooling days he was active in extra-curricular activities where he represented MCKK for debate championships as well as being a top student. After finishing his secondary education, he was awarded scholarship to study Electrical Engineering at University of Leeds. He worked for an accountant firm in United Kingdom and at the same time took professional papers and was qualified as a chartered accountant under ICAEW. Upon returning to Malaysia in 2003, Rafizi worked for the Malaysian oil company Petronas from 2003 to 2009. During his tenure at Petronas, he had held many important portfolios including managing Petronas' 30 Billion petrochemical assets. In 2009 he became the general manager of the health care company Pharmaniaga, before being appointed as the Chief Executive of the Selangor Economic Advisory Office, a position he held until July 2012. He dedicates his involvement in politics to Adlan, his close friend who had become his inspiration. Rafizi was active in politics since his university days. When Anwar Ibrahim was sacked as the deputy prime minister of Malaysia in 1998 he became more involved politics and had joined in the Reformasi movement.

Najib Razak

Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak (born 23 July 1953) is the sixth and current Prime Minister of Malaysia. He was sworn in to the position on 3 April 2009 to succeed Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. He is the President of the United Malays National Organisation, the leading party in Malaysia's ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.

Najib is the eldest son of Abdul Razak Hussein, Malaysia's second Prime Minister, and the nephew of Hussein Onn, Malaysia's third. He was elected to the Parliament of Malaysia in 1976, at the age of 23, replacing his deceased father in the Pahang-based seat of Pekan. From 1982 to 1986 he was the Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) of Pahang, before entering the federal Cabinet of Mahathir Mohamad in 1986 as the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports. He served in various Cabinet posts throughout the remainder of the 1980s and 1990s, including as Minister for Defence and Minister for Education. He became Deputy Prime Minister on 7 January 2004, serving under Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, before replacing Badawi a year after Barisan Nasional suffered heavy losses in the 2008 election. Under his leadership, Barisan Nasional won the 2013 election, although for the first time in Malaysia's history the opposition won the majority of the popular vote.

Mahathir Mohamad

Tun Dato' Seri Mahathir bin Mohamad (Jawi:محضير بن محمد; IPA: [maˈhaðɪr bɪn moˈhamad]; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician who was the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the post for 22 years from 1981 to 2003, making him Malaysia's longest-serving Prime Minister. His political career spanned almost 40 years.

Born and raised in Alor Setar, Kedah, Mahathir excelled at school and became a medical doctor. He became active in the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), Malaysia's largest political party, before entering Parliament in 1964. He served one term before losing his seat, subsequently falling out with the then Prime Minister,Tunku Abdul Rahman and being expelled from UMNO. When Abdul Rahman resigned, Mahathir re-entered UMNO and Parliament, and was promoted to the Cabinet. By 1976 he had risen to Deputy Prime Minister, and in 1981 was sworn in as Prime Minister after the resignation of his predecessor, Hussein Onn.

Anwar Ibrahim

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (born 10 August 1947) is a Malaysian politician. He is a founder and leading figure of the People's Justice Party (Parti KeADILan Rakyat).

Anwar served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1993 to 1998 and Finance Minister from 1991 to 1998 when he was a member of UMNO, the major party in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition. However, he was removed from his post by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and jailed for corruption and sodomy. His prosecution has been criticised by human rights groups and several foreign governments, including the US, UK and Australia. Following his release in 2004, Anwar became the leading figure in the opposition and helped coalesce the opposition parties into the Pakatan Rakyat, which contested the 2008 and 2013 general elections.

Anwar is currently serving a five-year prison sentence, commencing in 2015, after his sodomy conviction was upheld.

Early years (1968–1982)