Why we’ve been told time and again NOT to speculate when police investigation is ongoing, YB Rafizi

Sat 16 Aug: The attack on newly-dethroned PKR No 2 Rafizi Ramli’s wife and little boy must have sent chills down everyone’s spine. No matter how much you loathe his disparaging mouth, such act of terror must be condemned and never, ever tolerated. The cops must go all out to nab the people responsible for this frightening incident.

In the meantime, members of the public shouldn’t speculate. Right?

That’s what we’re always told by the police, the politicians, at times even by the kings whenever something bad like this happens. If we allow society to speculate, especially on the social media, bad things quickly become worse. Take the case of Zara Qairana, Because someone said he or she believed that Zara was a victim of a cover-up and that one of the bullies responsible for her death was the son of a VIP, people are crying for blood and politicians are turning it into a circus. 

That is why the authorities are right to threaten members of the public with police action against anyone who spreads rumours, especially while police investigation is still ongoing.

The case of the attack on Rafizi’s son is unique, in this context. Becauase the one responsible for starting the rumours about the attack was none other than Rafizi himself.

Former Economy Minister Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli has revealed that a threatening message was sent to his wife following the assault on their 12-year-old son yesterday. - Bernama file pic, August 14, 2025

NEWS

Rafizi links son’s attack to financial scandal, calls it attempt to silence him

Former economy minister believes the assault was an attempt to muzzle him after he met whistleblowers last week 

KUALA LUMPUR – Former Economy Minister Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli has revealed that a threatening message was sent to his wife following the assault on their 12-year-old son yesterday. The message, received at around 1am today, warned of an AIDS infection if the family continued with their actions. The Pandan MP believes the assault, which took place at a shopping mall in Putrajaya, is connected to his ongoing investigation into a financial scandal.

Rafizi revealed that after the attack, a threatening message was sent to his wife, warning that their family would face consequences if they continued their actions. “The message said ‘keep quiet, if you continue, AIDS,’ followed by a syringe emoji,” he said during a press conference in Parliament today. (No police report yet on threat to wife, says police).

The incident unfolded when two men on a motorcycle followed the car carrying Rafizi’s wife and son. 
As they were entering the vehicle, one of the men allegedly dragged the child and injected him with a syringe.

Rafizi believes the attack was a warning related to a scandal he has been investigating, information he received from whistleblowers the previous week. “I’ve been looking into something, and this attack feels like a message to stop me from pursuing it further. I suspect that those involved know that when I start digging, I go deep. They want me to ‘move on’ and not investigate this matter further.” 

Read more HERE

Because of Rafizi’s “belief”, our online community has spiralled to a speculating orgy. A lot of Malaysians now believe that a certain individual or group of individuals, preferably linked to a certain leader, must have been behind the attack on Rafizi’s boy and the AIDs threat to his wife. 

One only needs to Google the keywords Rafizi has given during the press conference to start getting excited. I did just that and found this:

That’s what happens when one speculate. Tak pasal-pasal, the individual Farash dibabitkan. And when Farhash’s; name comes up, some people think or want to believe that PMX Anwar Ibrahim is behind it. Did Rafizi intend for this outcome? Some people believe so.

Well, I believe the attack on Rafizi’s wife and son was carried out by godless people. I believe they were ordered by the Malaysian business mafia that Rafizi may or may not have offended. Most of all, I believe we should allow the police to investigate the incident without fear or favour.

Of Rafizi vs Farhash, my friend the NUKE MAN has this to add on his Facebook:

FARHASH wafa Salvador, is familiar with Anwar Ibrahim, and Malaysians are familiar on that matter.

BEING, familiar does not equate to corruption, which is one of the reasons the late Daim Zainuddin, was never seen as a lackey, but as a man with a good insight in business.

UNLIKE, Daim Zainuddin though, Farhash Wafa Salvador has no official say in banking mergers, in killing off debts and acquiring assets at a song.

HE is no Mirzan Mahathir, bailed out by his father's Government with PERTRONAS for Konsortium Perkapalan nor Mokhzani Mahathir, whoes trades and disclosures in Pantai, was against the law, but got away without even a rebuke.

BUT yet, people are treating his name as a leper, the symbol of corruption? Farhash Wafa Salvador didn't even get cheap credit to acquire and dispose assets, yet people say he is the symbol of what's wrong with Malaysia.

WHY is that so? It is because, politicians such as Rafizi Ramli and his business partner, the Subang member of Parliament, Wong Chen have trained the public ; that they are clean, and who ever they say is dirty, as the scum of hell in them.

NO one calls, Rafizi Ramli, unprincipled, after after rubbishing the ECRL project, by frightening Malaysia in 2018, with the ECRL money we can build 30 KLCC.

ONLY to sit as a church mouse , silently a year ago, on the developing a master plan to boost the ECRL.

IT'S all about the money folks. Rafizi Ramli has realised too late in the game, that Anwar Ibrahim only needs to win 25 per cent of the Malay vote to get a two thirds mandate at GE16, to remain Prime Minister.

RAFIZI Ramli had miscalculated …

Check out his Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564239721862

So what will you be calling for next - a ban on cigarettes, alcohol, and kapcais?

What happens to Regulation — and Enforcement?

KL, July 18: Out of the blue, a local newspaper earlier this week called for a nationwide ban on vaping. It said it was worried that 14.9% of school students aged 13-17 were vape users (it cited a 2022 study). It was also alarmed that 65% of vape contents had meth and ecstasy, “two drugs favoured by teenagers”. 

On top of that, vape-drug processing labs are being discovered around the country. “How many such drug labs there are in the country is an unknown but,” the editorial surmised, “if this isn’t a present danger to the country, what else is?” 

Well, I can think of a few aside from corruption. Cigarette addition has been a “present danger” to this country for years and years. So has drug abuse (despite having sent scores of people to the gallows). Alcohol abuse, too, I’m sure. 

And for many years, our roads have been turned into bloody and mangled death zones for young Malaysians, including teenagers. Between 2019 and 2021, half of the 14,308 deaths as a result of road crashes were youths, according to Paul Tan. This translatesd to an average of 7,077 young lives lost each year. In 2019 alone, 2,600 Malaysians aged 16-30 were killed in road accidents. The majority were motorcyclists, including your e-hailing riders.

Surprised that the same daily has not called for a ban on cigarettes, cocktails, and cup-cais (mopeds or small motorcycles).

To be fair, others have called for vaping to be banned. In fact, Johor, Kelantan, Terengganu, Perlis, Kedah and Pahang have already banned the sale of vapes. Selangor is considering it. But when a newspaper call for a ban on something — anything — I have questions to ask.

Will an outright ban solve the problem? 

Like cigarettes and alcohol, when you push it underground, the black market will thrive — and that will be even harder to control. 

Take a leaf from the Prohibition: America banned the consumption of alcohol a century ago (known as Prohibition) but half of the adult population wanted to continue drinking so they went underground, creating thousands of speakeasies and a corrupt bootleg industry. The trade of unregulated alcohol had serious public health consequences while the policing of the Prohibition was rife with biases, contradictions and corruption. America ended the “experiment” after 13 years, in 1933. Today some places have local restrictions but there is no nationwide alcohol consumption or sale in the US.

I spoke randomly to vapers and ex-vapers to gauge their views on whether a ban will work. One  of them suspect that tobacco companies are behind the current campaign to ban vapes in Malaysia but that wasn’t what was asked. 

Rather than denying adult smokers access to less harmful alternatives, people generally agree that we should be enforcing stricter age checks, limiting how vapes are displayed in shops, and controlling where they can be sold. 

A practical way forward is to allow sales only at licensed convenience store chains or in properly regulated vape specialty stores.

We can also consider enforcing plain packaging or plain design for vape products (less neon or bright colours, for instance). This may help reduce the appeal to teenagers. 

At the end of the day, vapes should be treated under the same regulatory lens as cigarettes — with proper rules on flavours, marketing, and sales practices.

The issue of drugs being found in vapes is a serious one, of course. But then again, the issue of drugs NOT found in vapes has been a serious issue in Malaysia for decades.

Enforcement is key. That’s why enforcement can’t just stop at the retail level — customs and immigration need to step up. Open tank vapes coming in from overseas should be randomly opened and tested. 

Open tank vape systems are a key problem. These are refillable devices that allow users to manually fill the vape liquid, which makes it very easy for people to modify or spike them with illicit drugs like cannabis oil or our own ketum.. There’s no way to know what’s inside once it’s tampered with. That’s why many countries are starting to phase out open tank systems in favour of closed pod systems that are sealed, tamper-resistant, and easier to regulate.

We need to close the loopholes at our borders before it reaches our streets and schools.

We cannot allow the cops to tell us they don’t know how many vape-drug labs there are in the country. Unacceptable. We taxpayers deserve better. The cops need to be able to find out exactly how many there are, where these labs are, and close each one of them down. Put the crooks behind bars for a long, long time, including those who have been protectin them all this while.

And here’s another aspect we must not overlook — the economic side, especially for young Malaysians.

A study by the Malaysian Vape Chamber of Commerce in 2021 showed that 75% of vape retail workers and 82% in manufacturing are Malays, mostly in their 20s. So this isn’t just about products — it’s about jobs, livelihoods, and entrepreneurship for many youths trying to make a decent living.

The industry has grown into a legitimate sector worth over RM3 billion. It supports more than 30,000 jobs and contributed over RM141 million in taxes between 2021 and 2024. 

This is not some fringe or underground market — it’s real, and it deserves smart, proportionate regulation. Blanket bans, like the one the local editorial is campaigning for, will only wipe out legal businesses and push everything not just under the carpet but also into the shadowy, dangerous underground.