1MDB head Arul briefs civil servants in pre-polls meeting in Sungei Besar

Kuala Lumpur

1MDB president Arul Kanda's appearance at a state-sponsored event in Sungei Besar on Wednesday ahead of a by-election this Sunday set tongues wagging.

He was one of a handful of speakers at a closed-door event for civil servants that had been billed as a discourse on current affairs. Besides 1MDB, other topics included terrorism and the misuse of the Internet, according to news portal MalayMail Online.

Whether the timing was coincidental or not, the fact that the event was held ahead of Sunday's Sungei Besar parliamentary by-election prompted many to conclude that Mr Arul was brought in to help the administration counter the nega…