KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20: The so-called 'Wawasan Merdeka' tower project announced by prime minister Najib Razak when presenting Budget 2011 last week has become a subject of intense debate in the cyberworld, much of which questioning the financial and social wisdom behind the plan.
Micro-blogging site Twitter has been rife with postings condemning Najib over the RM5 billion allocated for the 100-storey office tower, while a Facebook page dedicated to opposing the plan has todate attracted more than 30,000 fans within two days.
Popular Malaysian twitterati 'Aisehman' meanwhile takes Najib to task over a statement yesterday that the tower plan was not his own idea, but a proposal mooted by the government's investment company Permodalan Nasional Berhad.
“PM Najib Razak is (the) chairman of Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputera (YPB) Board of Trustees. YPB wholly owns PNB,” said Aisehman, widely regarded a veteran in Malaysian 'twittersphere', charging that Najib had not been honest.
Najib had earlier said he did not direct PNB. 
“It was planned and proposed to the government by PNB. I did not direct PNB. PNB was the one that proposed [the project],” Najib was quoted as saying.
His statement also earned a sharp rebuke from DAP's outspoken parliamentarian, Tony Pua, who said the PM’s denial smacked of "cuci tangan" (washing of hands) in the wake of intense opposition against the project.
PNB was set up under Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputra (Bumiputra Investment Foundation, or YPB), headed by the then prime minister in March 1978. Among others, it acts to reconcile the economic imbalance in Malaysian society through equity ownership in the corporate sector under the New Economic Policy.
“Besides Najib Razak, also on YPB Board of Trustees is DPM [Muhyiddin Yassin], Stopa [Mustapa Mohamed] and Husni [Second Finance minister Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah].
"Again, PNB is wholly-owned by YPB,” continued Aisehman. "“Doesn't PNB report to Finance Minister and get his blessings on projects,” he asked.
He added that if the tower were PNB’s idea, it had to get approval from the YPB headed by Najib.
"PM is chairman of YPB Board of Trustees. YPB owns PNB. Board must have approved the plan. You can’t hide,” he twitted to Najib's own Twitter account.
He further charged that Najib's response to the growing criticism against the project showed that he "thought nothing of the people's hard-earned money being abused."
'Najib's lie'
Another twitterati Zainal Rahman said the PM’s denial over the project was a 'convenient lie'.
This was echoed by several others on Twitter, and suggested that Najib was again "flip-flopping" with government policies.
"I heard this (flip-flop) during Pak Lah’s era," quipped one 'dr2601' on his post.
Meanwhile, Facebook has not been left out in the intense debate, with a campaign called ‘1M Malaysians Reject 100-storey Mega Tower’ on the social networking site gathering some 30,000 fans only two days after its launch. (Click here).
“Why not use the RM5 bil to pay teachers and other civil servants their bonuses they've been waiting for? I thought PM said we already overspent on monthly expenses?” commented a fan Halmi Yasin on the page.
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