The hard questions about the RM2.6 billion in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal bank accounts by Akmal Saufi Khaled, son of Johore Mentri Besar Khaled Nordin, give hope to Malaysians facing a new dark age that the future is not totally lost.

It shows that the extraordinary statement by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) yesterday that the RM2.6 billion deposited into Najib’s personal accounts in AmBank in March 2013 just before dissolution of Parliament for the 13th General Elections came from donation and not from 1MDB funds is not only questioned by the older generation of Malaysians, but also by the thinking young generation as well.

Among the questions posed by Akmal, who is the Youth Parliament’s security, law and integrity committee chairperson, in his Facebook are:

• What is the proof that the RM2.6 billion was a donation and not from 1MDB or parties that have transactions related to 1MDB?

• The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said the money was a donation. Was it a donation for the government, Umno, or to (Najib) himself?

• If it was for Umno, was the supreme council aware of the donation? When did Najib plan to tell them?

• If it was a private donation to Najib, did he receive it while he was a minister? Is a minister, deputy prime minister, or the prime minister allowed to receive donations while in office?

These and many other questions posed by Akmal are the very ones which are making the rounds in the country as all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, politics, age or gender are asking them since the MACC statement yesterday – proving that Malaysians are not such a supine and unthinking lot.

It is noteworthy that the pro-Najib blog MYKMU had tried to answer and rebut some of Akmal’s questions, but not all of them and with little convincing power in the answers.

It is clear that MACC’s statement yesterday claiming that the RM2.6 billion in Najib’s personal bank accounts came from donations and not from 1MDB raise more questions than answer any.

Why is MACC making such a statement outside its scope of investigations when MACC had said on July 30 that its probe was limited to SRC International and not 1MDB?

When did MACC discover that the RM2.6 billion did not come from 1MDB, and why didn’t MACC make such a statement earlier?

Why wasn’t such a statement made by the Special Task Force on 1MDB, or has the Special Task Force ceased to exist with the sacking of Tan Sri Gani Patail as Attorney-General and the attacks on key officials of Attorney-General’s Chambers, the MACC and Bank Negara Malaysia as being involved in an international plot to “criminalise” Najib and to topple the elected government of Malaysia?

Was MACC’s unsolicited statement yesterday clearing 1MDB as the source of the RM2.6 billion a “peace” offering by MACC to the end the attacks on MACC, which has seen the harassment, interrogation and arrest of top MACC officials by the police?

The speech by the Johor Menteri Besar Khaled Nordin at the Pasir Gudang Wanita Umno annual general meeting on Sunday that silence was not an option when Umno deviates from its struggle to defend certain people in the name of “loyalty” deserves support not only from UMNO members but the public at large.

All Malaysians must stand solidly by Khalid in his stand that UMNO cannot stay silent when corruption becomes a culture and trust is betrayed.

Not just UMNO members, but all patriotic Malaysians cannot stand by the sidelines when corruption becomes a culture and trust is betrayed, and this is why Najib must account fully and immediately about the 1MBD scandal and the RM2.6 billion in his personal bank accounts.