Maintaining the US-Malaysia bilateral relationship

they don’t think they can come back as they may have been having problems before the coronavirus outbreak. So there is going to be a huge impact on our economy and I think that’s true globally, including in Malaysia. I think we’re all facing some of the same challenges.

There is also in some cases – this is a terrible comment – but there is opportunity in crises. There is regional competition. Much of the private sector and the MNCs (multinational corporations) have started thinking about the risks of how they distribute their manufacturing and production, so that may bring opportunities that there could be investments in Malaysia or into South-East Asia. That weren’t expected. Companies are looking at what happened and saying “Now we have to rethink where we are for the future”.

Unfortunately, the whole world has caught the virus, so we all are sick already (laughs)! It’s a shared virus. It’s not one country.

I mean, this is true for the whole world and it’s true for so many aspects of the economy. What will consumers do? What will Malaysians and Americans do? Will they be worried so they stop spending? If people don’t have jobs and if you don’t spend, then there is no consumption.

I mean, there are so many aspects of this that we don’t yet know. On education, there’s a discussion in the United States about students choosing not to go to college next year. Because of the coronavirus and the economic situation, they may be delayed. What will happen to universities and colleges? I think it’s still very early to predict the long-term consequences.

My colleagues at the DOJ are continuing to work out the assets that they have been able to seize. In some cases, like the US$300mil, Jho Low (Low Taek Jho, Malaysian businessman fugitive wanted for 1MDB fraud) had said, “Fine, these are assets that I’m not going into court and saying are mine”. So that freed up a lot of assets for the DOJ to monetise so that money could be returned to Malaysia.

There are more assets that they are still working through. Either they have to sell them – I know recently there were properties sold – or there are other assets the DOJ is still litigating or working on the legal arrangements. So there’s more togo.

This is still an ongoing criminal case. If the DOJ can find more assets, they may seize more. This is part of the commitment the DOJ made a long time ago and they started in 2016 to return the stolen assets to the Malaysian people.

They are still working hard on it. I have a lot of respect for those who pursued this at the DOJ.

Before I left, I saw some indications that things were happening and there was uncertainty. I admit that I was surprised by the timing. So, yes. I was in the United States when the new government was formed.

I had a call with the Prime Minister. Before President Trump and he spoke, two or three weeks before that, we had a conversation about the coronavirus, what was happening, what was happening to US companies and also the global supply chain. We were talking about the bilateral relationship in terms of the economy.

(Laughs) I really miss everybody. I miss Malaysia and miss all the wonderful people at my embassy. I miss being every day in Malaysia. I miss Malaysian food (laughs).

I’m laughing that here in Connecticut, my brother and I have to cook. There is no going out for nasi lemak!

(The US Embassy responded to a question about Lakhdhir’s return: “We appreciate the steps the Malaysian government has taken since we spoke with The Star . The ambassador has not yet set a date for her return.”)