Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak is facing trial for the biggest corruption case in the nation’s history, but he appears to have found an outlet to ease the pressure: song.
Hiring out a recording studio and recruiting a young choir of backup singers, Najib has recorded a version of the 1970s hit soul ballad by The Manhattans, Kiss and Say Goodbye, translating the lyrics into Malaysian and adapting them in a bid to redeem his reputation.
In it, he laments losing the election in May last year, mocks the new government and professes his innocence over the corruption charges against him, claiming he has been the victim of an “agenda of revenge and slander.”
As a opener, Najib reads out his own sorrowful take on the song’s recognizable introduction, saying: “This has got to be the saddest day of my life. Since May 9, 2018, I was ousted. All this while, I have been fighting for the people who I really love, but what can I do. I was abused by Pakatan Harapan with their agenda of revenge and slander, but I surrender to God to be given the strength to reorganize Barisan.”
He and his band of singers then launch into the Malaysian version of the track, with lyrics such as “hopes as high as mountains, but crushed to become dust, I believed in you, all your promises,” a line directly targeted at the Pakatan Harapan government that won a landslide election victory, led by 93-year-old Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
Since he was toppled, Najib’s fall from grace has been inimitable. The song’s release came less than a month before Najib is due to stand trial on dozens of charges of corruption, money laundering and abuse of power relating to his alleged role in the 1MDB scandal, in which billions of US dollars were stolen from a government fund and dispersed around the world.
Najib is accused of using his position as prime minister to profit from the stolen funds, with US$681 million allegedly ending up in his personal bank account. If convicted on all charges, he could face a jail sentence of more than 200 years.
Najib is not the only Southeast Asian leader who has taken to song as a way to reach out to the people.
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha also has a sideline in pop music, with his debut single, Return to Happiness in Thailand, released after the military took over in a 2014 coup.
He subsequently recorded several other tracks about Thailand, including Brudge, Because You Are Thailand and Hope and Faith.
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