Malaysia’s Gangster Government And The War On Whistleblowers

Murray Hunter


Malaysia’s Gangster Government And The War On Whistleblowers


Feb 26, 2026






The daylight abduction of Pamela Lim while on her way to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and her disappearance since April 9 highlights the nature of a gangster state, Malaysia has become. This story was covered up so well, the media didn’t run the story for three weeks after the abduction. The poor response of police and senior members of government hints at complicity, just as was seen in the Amri Che Mat and the Pastor Koh abduction cases some years earlier.

When Anwar Ibrahim came to power after the November 2022 general election, he declared that his government would prioritise the fight against corruption. This was a complete façade, where today, the government and their selective cronies are undertaking government-private business deals beyond any reasonable transparency. The government and cronies are walking hand in hand with corruption and abuse of power. War has been declared on any whistleblower who dares to expose their sinister activities.

The first sign of insincerity came when Anwar appointed Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who was then facing 47 charges of corruption and money laundering as deputy prime minister. Zahid eventually obtained a discharge without acquittal (DNAA), bringing up questions about the impartiality of the Attorney General Chambers, which is also the chief public prosecutor in Malaysia.

The war on whistleblowers

One only needs to have a look at the government’s track record to see that it is pro-actively persecuting and prosecuting whistleblowers.

In 2023, a number of students took legal action against a teacher who was absent from class for over seven months. The ministry of education rather than be aghast at the absenteeism, took sides with the teachers to try and cover up the allegations of nepotism within the school system. The case even led to death threats.

In another case, Dr Roland Victor was charged by the ministry of Health for warning of the dangers of the Covid-19 vaccine back in 2021. It was only in 2025 that Dr Roland was freed of all charges against him, after going through a long court case. The government used the now notorious Communications and Multimedia Act against him. Emerging scientific information has proved Dr Roland to be correct.

The case of Malaysiakini journalist B Nantha Kumar is a very recent example of how whistleblowers, in this case an investigative journalist is persecuted. Nantha was arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and remanded in custody for a week, for allegedly taking a bribe from the Pakistani labour agent he was investigating for corruption. The Pakistani agent was alleged to have given Nantha a bribe, however only Nantha was arrested, letting the alleged human trafficking agent go free. This is a case of institutional persecution of the whistleblower by the very agency that is meant to be fighting corruption.

A former member of parliament, lawyer and blogger Wee Choo Keong had a website exposing corruption in Malaysia. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) have blocked his website more than two years ago. Wee filed for a judicial review of the blocking of his website, and the MCMC was ordered to disclose the documentation as to why his website was blocked. Wee Choo Keong’s website is one of many that have been illegally blocked by the MCMC to protect corporations exposed for their actions that might flaunt the law.

What exists in Malaysia today is a situation where the government protects its own from those who might expose corruption.

Amendments have been proposed for the Whistleblower Protection Act (2010) to strengthen whistleblower protection. The current act doesn’t protect disclosures to journalists, offering no protection. It looks like the current amendment proposals will do little to strengthen whistleblower protection.

Gangster Government

Over the last couple of years there have been a number of examples where government laws and regulations have been used to benefit crony corporations and GLCs.

The Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has evicted owners and residents of an area called Kampong Sungai Baru in the centre of Kuala Lumpur. The DBKL used compulsory acquisition laws under the Land Acquisition Act (1960) which is specifically intended for compulsory land purchases to make way for public projects. The land has been purchased at around a quarter of true market value, where utilities such as electricity and water were cut off to forcibly evict residents who didn’t accept the offer.

The government has assisted a private developer purchase land in the Kuala Lumpur CBD at 25 percent its true value. This will assure the developer makes bumper profits on this project, while property owners cannot afford to resettle in any area around the CBD.

Such land grabs are not restricted to urban areas. Fifteen long established farming families were evicted from lands around the Cameron Highlands. The government claimed the farmers had broken their leases by using toxic chemicals, and used the police to forcibly remove the farmers from their lands before any due legal process could be pursued. This is not an isolated incident. Recently, Pahang government authorities moved in and cut down 1,000 durian trees to force farmers off their land. The government contravened a court injunction to prevent the trees being cut down.

There are a number of land deals being done all over the country between state governments and crony corporations to acquire land without tender through ‘land swaps’. Such land grabs have little or no transparency, and are not undertaken under any general tenders, where other parties can make submissions. Through this method, much state or public land is finding its way into private corporate ownership.

Whistleblowers exposing such deals like those described above are hit with a SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) legal suit to silence them. Most of these legal suits taken out against whistleblowers and activists are just intended ton drain financial resources to render them silent on the issue. SLAPP suits are intimidatory tactics. Very few of these law suits actually are heard in court because the claims are not strong enough to win any court case.

This is the state of Malaysia today, where government collusion with crony corporations is now at an all time high. Institutions like the MACC instead of investigating such issues, are now part of the problem, as there is a hesitancy to pursue any cases against a ‘select elite’ in the country. Many potential whistleblowers now fear the consequences. Private-government projects are totally free of any public scrutiny today.

Public apathy towards corruption in Malaysia together with lack of any public scrutiny has turned the country into a ‘gangster’s paradise’.