Rewcastle Brown launches book about exposing corruption

PETALING JAYA: The key figure behind investigative website Sarawak Report, Clare Rewcastle Brown, has launched a book on her experiences in exposing corruption in Malaysia.

The book, also called The Sarawak Report, was officially unveiled in Malaysia on Saturday (Sept 8) during Rewcastle Brown's third visit here since the May 9 general election.

Sarawak-born Rewcastle Brown, 58, said she wrote the book with Malaysians in mind and was determined to have it published, despite massive pushback such as the United Kingdom publisher refusing to publish the book after a law firm representing fugitive financier Low Taek Jho threatened them with "substantial damages" a few weeks ago.

"I'm standing up for publishing the book because I believe that the truth and public interest comes first and I believe you do, too.

"The law firm had approached the publishers in the UK and effectively tried to intimidate them from publishing the book, and the publishers have therefore withdrawn from publishing in the UK.

"But I decided I was not going to be stopped from publishing just because my publisher was afraid.

"The good news is that you can still lay your hands on these endangered volumes in Malaysia," she said during the launch and book signing session at the Sheraton Hotel here.

The book is being published and distributed by Malaysian publisher Gerakbudaya Enterprise.

Meanwhile in the UK, it will be self-published at a later date.

Also present was Damansara MP Tony Pua, one of the people whom Rewcastle Brown had credited as one of her "key allies" in bringing the 1MDB scandal to light.

There is another book-signing session in George Town, at the Penang Institute, on Sept 13 at 8pm.

According to the book synopsis, it chronicles Rewcastle Brown's journey in investigating deforestation in Sarawak, Borneo, and the dispossession of its people that led to a trail of corruption in Malaysian politics and former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

The Sarawak Report also provides behind-the-scenes narrative of Malaysia's recent turbulent political struggles, revealing how government-funded cyber-warfare and fake news operate, and, in an era of threadbare mainstream media, demonstrating that epoch-changing investigative journalism is still possible.

The 564-page-long book retailing at RM80 is available at all major bookstores in Malaysia.