Malaysians criticise ‘BN supporter’ Yeoh on social media

PETALING JAYA: The news that Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh will be co-producing the movie adapted from the best-selling book Billion Dollar Whale has riled up some people.

Many Malaysians took to social media to remind Yeoh of her support for the Barisan Nasional government throughout the years and specifically for Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak when he was prime minister.

The onslaught began even before news of the movie deal surfaced, when Yeoh posted a picture of herself with the book on her Facebook, describing it as a “fascinating book”.

It got worse after Billion Dollar Whale co-author Tom Wright announced that Ivanhoe Pictures had acquired film rights to the book, with Yeoh slated to co-produce the movie.

“The people who wrote a book alleging that Jho Low (fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho) ‘fooled a prime minister, the banks and the world’ have chosen a BN-supporting actress Michelle Yeoh to produce it!” Sarawak Report tweeted.

“Suggest people watch the other upcoming film The Sarawak Report for the real story!” it added.

The tweet followed a series of blog posts where the whistleblower website’s editor Clare Rewcastle Brown alleged that Wright had received sensitive 1MDB documents from her source without crediting The Sarawak Report despite promises to do so.

Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism executive director Cynthia Gabriel said “opportunists” like Yeoh had no place in the “new Malaysia”.