SHAH ALAM – Former Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Legal Affairs), Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, has claimed that the actions of the founder of Network School in Forest City, who sought assurances from the government, reflected an arrogant attitude.
He said the founder had also requested a meeting with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim before proceeding with a proposed multi-billion-dollar investment in Malaysia.
In a Facebook post on Friday, Zaid said the demand s gave the impression that the founder possessed wealth on par with Bill Gates.
He also claimed that the founder made no mention of the matter currently under investigation by the authorities, namely the alleged participation of individuals with Israeli citizenship in the programme.
"The top officials in Putrajaya should be commended for exercising caution. They want to ensure that Zionist money does not flow into this country," he said.
Earlier, Network School founder Balaji Srinivasan announced that the organisation had postponed plans for new investments in Malaysia after several participants were investigated by the authorities over allegations involving the presence of individuals with Israeli citizenship in the programme.
He also sought assurances from the Malaysian government, including a meeting with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, before reconsidering the planned investment.
Meanwhile, Zaid further claimed that "Zionist money" is now seeking new investment destinations around the world after what he described as "their safe haven in West Asia becoming increasingly exposed".
He also alleged that Argentina, for example, had allocated about 100,000 hectares of land to allow Zionists to invest and settle in the country.
In addition, he claimed that while some countries had rejected their interests in relation to rare earth elements or declined to accept investments in their data centres, Malaysia had instead welcomed such investments.
Zaid also alleged that the group already has interests in Malaysia's airport sector.
He urged Malaysia to exercise greater caution in attracting large-scale investments, claiming there was a risk the country could become what he described as a "Zionist satellite state", as he alleged had happened in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain.
"They may appear prosperous and wealthy on the outside, but become impoverished puppets on the inside," he added.