From the tons of video clips registering the boisterous brawl on Sunday night, we can see how the lawless mobsters smashed up the shops and vehicles, beat up innocent bystanders and journalists.

Malaysians will continue to live in fear and uneasiness if the police have not taken swift actions to bring those responsible to book and prevent recurrence of similar incidents in the future.

There is an apparent lack of positive energy in the country's political and social climate. Our politicians are busy with their politicking while extra-political fringe organizations are more than happy to raise sensitive ethnic and religious issues. Most of them have somehow been spared from government actions.

We must treasure our diversity in culture and religion. We should take the initiative to mingle with people from different cultural and religious backgrounds, offering our sincere greetings during festive seasons instead of confining ourselves within the cocoon of our own community.

Social media sites such as Facebook are double-sided sword. Information travels at a speed much faster than any of us could imagine, be it real or false, good or evil. To make things worse, many people just swallow whatever fed to them wholesale. They start cursing, liking or sharing without analysing the authenticity of the information.

As such, it is very easy for a fabricated news to spread like wild fire so long as there is someone trying to fan the flame by making up some story to fool the masses.

When quoting Facebook users in follow-up stories, it is imperative for journalists to filter the information and seek clarification first before publishing them.

In the meantime, the 1MDB scandal has snowballed into a massive storm confronting the Najib administration.

We all know there is some hidden political agenda behind the whole thing, but the people are more concerned about the US$700 million that reportedly went into MP Najib's personal bank accounts.

The opposition has found a great opportunity in this incident to call for Najib to step down from office while some others propose that the PM go on leave pending investigation.

Najib has since instructed the establishment of a special task force to investigate this case, but the problem is: the heads of PDRM, MACC, Auditor-General's Office and Bank Negara are all the PM's people. Do you expect any reliable outcome from a probe by the subordinates against their boss?

So, people start to question the integrity of the task force. I think DAP strongman Lim Kit Siang's proposal is perhaps the most creative. He said we should set up a royal commission of inquiry top be chaired by former PM Mahathir.

The thing is: Mahathir was the very person who first called for Najib's resignation. How can the plaintiff be the prosecutor and the judge at the same time?

Uncle Lim also proposed to make former DPM Musa Hitam as the caretaker PM until the next general elections, although Musa is not a member of parliament. So, there comes another alternative, Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

Mahathir, the opposition camp, pro-Pakatan NGOs and many others who are hiding at the back but are equally eager to see the PM toppled, are getting excessively excited. Finally, their most hated man is to leave in disgrace. But, it is yet to be seen whether Najib will just leave as they have wished.

Now, who leaked out the information?

There is something that goes like this in Malaysian politics: Don't rule him out just yet. Indeed, there have been strong undercurrents within Umno after the 2013 general elections. Even as Najib appears to be the underdog in this whole thing, the Cabinet displayed unprecedented solidarity last week to stand behind Najib. Of course, no one can tell for sure what will eventually happen until the very last minute.

Just when Najib was struggling under tremendous pressure, Mahathir enjoyed some light moments as his children and grandchildren celebrated with him his 90th birthday. His wife even shared her experience as a respectable First Lady, which many saw as hinting at a particular person.

When guesses are going around whether the PM will eventually bow out, many have seemed to overlook a critical question: Which among the task force parties will be responsible for probing the leak of sensitive information to The Wall Street Journal and Sarawak Report?

The 1.6-million-strong public workforce is always an invincible vote bank of the ruling coalition. For so many decades the government has been pleasing this group of workers, handing out handsome rewards without pursuing their wrongdoing. This has since created a multitude of fearless and at times lawless Little Napoleons.

Let's put aside what will come of the US$700 million scandal. If it is possible for an investigation report to be sold, why not our entire country in the future?

Pook Ah Lek is the editor in chief of Sin Chew Daily. The article, originally written in Mandarin, was translated by Dominic Loh. (*)

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