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KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has reiterated that he will not interfere in commercial decisions to uphold market integrity, underscoring his administration’s commitment to maintaining transparency and professionalism in Malaysia’s corporate and economic landscape.

Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, said business decision should be driven by merit, efficiency, and market realities rather than political influence.

“I do not interfere in commercial decisions, and none of my Cabinet colleagues should.

“Yes, we support new technology, green initiatives, and welfare programmes, but we do not interfere in protecting personal or vested interests. The commercial decision is entirely yours,” he said during a conversation session at the Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) Knowledge Forum 2025 here, today.

Meanwhile, Anwar said the government has introduced several key policy measures to strengthen domestic investments, including initiatives such as the Gear-Up programme, while realigning major institutions like PNB and Khazanah Nasional Bhd with their core objectives to drive sustainable national growth.

He also stressed the importance of staying true to their core aspirations and improving governance standards.

The Prime Minister added that while monitoring progress remains part of his responsibility, their hard work and strong commitment in implementing the reforms effectively have been commendable. — Bernama

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GEORGE TOWN, Oct 21 — The tender process for segment two of the Penang Mutiara LRT line project is yet to be awarded, according to Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.

He said the first segment of the project, which is for civil engineering works from Silicon Island to Komtar and Macallum, was awarded to SRS Consortium under direct negotiations due to contractual obligations of the contractor with the state government.

“Tender was called for the second segment which is for works from Macallum to Penang Sentral and it is understood that Gamuda had also submitted a bid for it,” he said in a press conference at his office today.

When asked if Gamuda had withdrawn from the tender, Chow said the state was not officially informed about it.

“I only read about it, actually, they do not have to inform us about this,”

“What I read was they withdrew from the tender process for the second segment because they wanted to focus on the existing project that they have, which is the first segment,” he added.

Chow said it is good for the state that Gamuda will be focusing more on the first segment as it involved traffic management issues when works are in full swing which is very important.

“Maybe it’s also why they decided to withdraw and I feel this will not affect their performance in implementing the first segment,” he said.

He believed it might also improve their performance as they would be focused on the first segment.

It was reported recently in Sin Chew Daily that Gamuda may be withdrawing from bidding for the second segment of the project with a contract value of RM8 billion to focus on its existing RM38 billion contract for the first segment.

It was also reported that MRCB, YTL Corporation and Sunway Construction have expressed interests to bid for the project.

Chow said the project owner, MRT Corporation, is still evaluating tenders submitted for the segment two of the project.

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JOHOR BAHRU, Oct 21 — A foreign man slashed and stabbed his female partner to death before killing himself in an incident at the stairwell of a worker’s hostel in Jalan Austin Heights 8/3 in Taman Austin Height here yesterday.

Johor Bahru South police chief Assistant Commissioner Raub Selamat said the incident occurred at 7.40pm yesterday.

He said a police team rushed to the scene upon receiving a distress call.

“Initial investigations found that the incident involved a Myanmar couple that was working here. Investigators found a 33-year-old woman who died from slash and stab wounds to her body.

“The male suspect, also from Myanmar, was believed to be the victim’s boyfriend. Investigators found him dead at the same location where he is believed to have committed suicide after the incident,” he said in a statement today.

Raub said two witnesses to the incident were also injured after they tried to stop the suspect from attacking the victim.

He said the 23-year-old foreign woman and a 17-year-old local man are currently being treated at the Sultan Ismail Hospital (HSI) for their injuries.

“The motive and cause of the murder and suicide are still under investigation,” he said.

Police are investigating the case under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.

Police appeal to those with information regarding the incident to contact the Johor Bahru South district police hotline at 07-2182323.

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KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today that Russian President Vladimir Putin has yet to confirm whether he will visit Malaysia, adding that Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak will represent the country for the 47th Asean Summit.

Anwar said Malaysia had extended an invitation to Putin, who indicated during their meeting in Beijing that he was seriously considering the visit.

“We have sent him an invitation. He told me in Beijing that he will seriously consider this. But for now, he is sending the deputy prime minister, and we’ll know by today whether he’s coming,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) Knowledge Forum 2025 here today.

He said there was a strong possibility that Putin might attend, as the Russian leader had expressed keen interest in making the visit.

However, Anwar noted that, for now, only the deputy prime minister’s participation had been confirmed.

The summit, which will take place from October 26 to 28, is expected to draw several world leaders, including United States President Donald Trump.

In preparation for the event, temporary and phased traffic diversions will begin on October 23 across several key areas to facilitate the summit and its related meetings at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC).

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PUTRAJAYA, Oct 21 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak today said in his 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) trial that he is not asking for immunity as a former prime minister, but wants to be treated equally in this trial.

Today is the first day of the final submissions by both the defence and prosecution before the High Court decides if Najib is guilty or not in this case, where he is facing 25 charges involving over RM2 billion of 1MDB’s funds.

Before his lawyers began presenting arguments in court, Najib spent 16 minutes reading out his prepared statement — which his lead lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah described as a “foreword” — to the judge.

Najib insisted that the huge sums of money which entered his personal bank accounts were donations from Saudi Arabia to him.

“It will also be discovered from this submission that my belief about the Saudi donation is not just some made-up fantasy,” Najib said, among other things.

Najib claimed that the US$681 million which entered his bank accounts was allegedly not proved to be traceable to 1MDB, and asserted he had returned US$620 million of this sum to the bank account where it came from, since it had not been used up.

“Before returning the unused donation, I wrote to the Governor of Bank Negara, Tan Sri Zeti, seeking Bank Negara’s approval for the return.

“I would probably be the only alleged ‘corrupt politician/money-launderer’ who returns the so-called gratification that he worked so hard to obtain, and probably the first in recorded history to have announced his ‘ill-gotten’ money to the Governor of Bank Negara of all people,” Najib said, referring to former BNM governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz.

Earlier in his statement, Najib also said the way he had acted was consistent with his belief that the money he had received were from a donation promised by Saudi Arabia’s then ruler King Abdullah.

For example, he said he did not have any offshore accounts and instead opened a bank account under his own name at a local bank in Malaysia, and that even Bank Negara’s governor was immediately informed that the account’s purpose was to receive donations from Saudi Arabia.

He also said the donations were used for political and social welfare purposes that were all paid using cheques “with every sen recorded and accounted for”.

“No million dollar painting or swanky property was purchased from the funds I received,” he said.

Najib claimed that there was political interference in the investigation and the process under which he was charged in the 1MDB trial, citing former inspector-general of police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun’s previous testimony as the 19th defence witness in this case.

Najib said that all Malaysians have a right to fair investigation and fair prosecution.

“As a former prime minister, I am not asking for immunity, far from it; I am only seeking equality—the right to be treated like any other individual who has come before the judicial system,” Najib said.

In his statement, Najib also challenged the credibility of multiple prosecution witnesses who had testified against him in the 1MDB trial, saying they were not charged for their alleged misconduct as public officials.

He pointed out that only he had been charged, and suggested that others had not been charged so they could testify as witnesses against him.

Najib also claimed that the prosecution had relied on hearsay evidence against him, and said the prosecution had allegedly not shown their attempts to locate witnesses such as Low Taek Jho.

Najib said some of the actions he was charged for involve his fulfilling of his official duties under then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s and the latter’s Cabinet’s instructions, and approvals which he was legally required to give under the Companies Act.

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Lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said his client Datuk Seri Najib Razak needed to read out his statement and cited two past court cases where the accused was also allowed to read out their statements in court. — Picture by Raymond Manuel

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Earlier, Shafee said Najib needed to read out his statement and cited two past court cases where the accused was also allowed to read out their statements in court.

The prosecution’s Datuk Ahmad Akram Gharib noted that the lawyer for an accused person would usually the one to read such statements based on the law, but said the prosecution had no serious objections to Najib doing so.

Najib was then allowed to read out his written statement, and this was followed by his lawyer Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhruddin presenting the final arguments to defend him.

Shafee told the High Court that the defence team had prepared seven volumes of written submissions for the 1MDB hearing.

Najib’s 1MDB trial is scheduled to be heard for these three weeks, namely every weekday from today until November 7.

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