Najib Razak's kid brother, Nazir, has denied keeping or using any 1MDB money.

Saying he would engage with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Nazir added that his infamous brother Jibby had transferred some money into his bank account. Nazir said he was told the money was funding from legitimate political sources for the 13th General Election, and he had no reason to doubt that.

Nazir said he did not keep any of the RM25.7 million transferred into his account, adding that all had been disbursed to Najib's representatives. He added that he had been a "vocal and frequent" critic of 1MDB and the idea that the funds which had flowed through his bank account may have been from 1MDB was "gut-wrenching".

The youngest of the sons of Malaysia's second prime minister said all this and more in a statement released following reports that he was one of some 80 people from whom the MACC was looking to recover RM420 million in 1MDB funds. He's also just the latest in a long line of members of the Razak clan to be facing legal issues over alleged dodgy money dealings. One can't help but feel sorry for the heartbreak the clan's matriarch, Tun Rahah, must be going through now. 

Meanwhile, at the 1MDB trial in the Kuala Lumpur High Court, former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Ibrahim Halmi was testifying, The doofus agreed with the defence when it was suggested that his inexperience was what made everybody's favourite rogue financier (allegedly, allegedly) Jho Low recommend him for the job.

Was it this inexperience that led him to being blissfully unaware Low was installing his friends and cronies in 1MDB? At which point did Shahrol's 'inexperience' cross over into plain stupidity and gross negligence?

Shahrol also testified that Low's father was linked to two companies that bought Terengganu Investment Authority Bhd (TIA) bonds at discounted prices and then sold them at higher prices, raking in a cool RM500 million in profit for basically doing nothing.

Meanwhile, Jibby Razak may find himself in even more hot soup soon. Bukit Aman has confirmed he will be called in to have his statement recorded over allegations he had made against DAP's Nga Kor Ming.

This follows a police report lodged against Najib after the former PM had shared a fake Facebook posting which allegedly "showed" Nga had insulted the Selangor Sultan.

Veteran DAP politician Lim Kit Siang has roundly bashed the Malay Dignity Congress, asking how dignity for any one race could be restored based on "lies, fake news and hate speech".

Lim said the congress had dashed any hope he had of a golden age for the nation. However, he urged Malaysians to remain united and "not lose hope in resetting nation-building policies" so the Malaysia Baru vision can be achieved.

Funnily enough, Uncle Kit still claimed the congress would have disappointed those who thought it would help bring about the end of the Pakatan Harapan government. How does that work? The congress is bad and will not lead to a golden age, and in fact has been full of lies, fake news and hate speech. But it's OK. No harm, no foul. We are good.

Nor does the veteran politician say anything about political frenemy Mahathir Mohamad's use of the term orang asing to describe those who are not Malay as 'foreigners'. We know you're trying to be wily, Kit. But you can't condemn some people and not others for the same actions.

The stance Lim has taken is only slightly better than that of Minister in the Prime Minister's Department P. Waytha Moorthy who, when asked to talk about the orang asing comment, actually said he didn't have to, nor want to comment. Last we checked, the Unity Ministry doesn't have a policy of its head having to leave his testicles at home before going in to work. But perhaps Auta Waytha didn't get the memo.

The fallout from the congress continued yesterday as the Centre for a Better Tomorrow (Cenbet) called on the government to state its stand on the issues raised.

Cenbet co-president Gan Ping Sieu said normally, issues raised during any non-governmental gatherings would strictly be a private affair. However the presence of the PM and other members of government at the function had lent it an "officious" air. Gan makes a fair point.

And it's not just Cenbet that has taken umbrage with what was brought up. Many Malaysians have commented on the congress, saying what what was supposed to be a gathering to restore lost dignity had turned into one which instead bashed every other race. Malaysiakini, to show this, put together a list of comments from its readers, highlighting this and other issues. You can read that here.

Perhaps we could all take a leaf out of this op-ed piece by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who talks about his recent visit to Malaysia and how religious diversity should not be a problem but instead a resource for the good of any country. The Archbishop is right (you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the same point, tbh), but we're waiting to see which ultra is going to now kick up a fuss about a foreign Christian interfering in "our local politics".

As the two sides of the great political divide in Malaysia continue to hem and haw over who their respective candidates for the Tanjung Piai by-election should be, BN component party MIC (yes, those guys are still around) has urged that an MCA candidate be chosen to represent the opposition.

The seat has traditionally been given to MCA to contest for BN, and MIC president S.A. Vigneswaran doesn't want Umno to take the seat away from MCA. This, he said, would also show that Umno's recent cooperation with PAS would not take precedence over other opposition parties.

Recent rumblings have had it that Umno members, especially the grassroots, want a party member to run against the Bersatu candidate who will be chosen for the by-election. Umno VP Ismail Sabri, however, says BN was still getting feedback as to which component party should field a candidate. Whether that was a genuine statement, or one which was meant to open the way to possibly having Umno muscle its way through is anybody's guess.

Either way, a recent survey shows that Pakatan Harapan is going into the by-election with just a 35% popularity rate, prompting chairman Maddey Mohamad to say that he hopes Umno fields a candidate so as to give the Bersatu candidate a chance to win.

He jests, of course. All indications are that Pakatan will lose this one - unless Umno gives way to MCA and their grassroots members decide to play out their longtime partner by voting against them. It's not something that unthinkable these days.

The man at the centre of the viral video of mistreatment of a stray dog by Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) officers wants the council to apologise for arresting him later the same day.

The video shows 47-year-old Koh Tat Meng confronting the MPSJ officers for the inhumane way they were treating the dog. Later that day, the same officers turned up with six policemen to have him arrested. He was bailed out by his brother and sister-in-law.

Koh, though, believes he did nothing wrong and is demanding MPSJ apologise for the way he was treated, and said that the officers should instead be the ones who are investigated for "voluntarily causing hurt". We're not sure if he was referring to himself or the dog, but if you've watched the video, you'd be shocked at how physically and verbally abusive the MPSJ officers were to Koh. 

Their counter-argument is that Koh was insulting Islam, but watching the same video would show you that all he did was remind the officers that Prophet Muhammad was kind to animals. 

The incident had the Tengku Permaisuri of Selangor up in arms. Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin, in a statement, said she was upset after seeing the video clip and urged the authorities to be more humane when dealing with animals abandoned by the roadsides. And as the royal patron of the Selangor Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals rightly pointed out, the Animal Welfare Act provides for a fine or even imprisonment for those found guilty of animal cruelty. 

The council workers need to be investigated and if necessary, charged, for their alleged abuse as well as their thuggish behaviour. Animal abuse incidents are getting more frequent and more extreme, whether its cats thrown into dryers, dogs being shot with arrows or even having their jaws hacked off. We shouldn't pussyfoot around this issue anymore. 

The question we also have is whether or not the council workers were all MPSJ employees or if they were also private dogcatchers hired by the council. A few years ago it was revealed that private dogcatchers get paid per dog caught, which could explain their overzealous approach. If so, perhaps its time for the Housing and Local Government Ministry to take a look at these practices and stamp them out if they still exist. 

Here are a few other stories. We'll try to keep 'em short!

• Will Utusan Malaysia and Kosmo! be shut down today? That's the speculation on the street. This comes after tycoon Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary acquired a 70% stake in the company that holds the permits to print Utusan and Kosmo. 
• M for Malaysia has been chose as Malaysia's submission for next year's Oscars. Honestly, it's not THAT great a documentary. 
• Maddey has walked back Syed Saddiq's statement about Foodpanda, saying it's not the government's stand. 
• The Health Ministry is studying a full ban on vape products after noticing a worrying rise in vaping among youths. Funny how decades and decades of smoking never seemed to worry the government enough to ban ciggies. Amazing what a few billion in sin tax gets you, eh? Check out this infographic: you'll be amazed at the percentage of household income that goes to buying cigarettes.
• Khazanah Nasional will sell its 5-star hotel, Andaz Singapore, for S$475 million - the highest a standalone hotel has ever sold for in Singapore.