"You Had Better Watch Out" – Nazir's Debut Book Unveils The Hostility Between Him & Rosmah

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Nazir was born into a family with a deep history of being involved in Malaysian politics. He is the youngest child of second prime minister Tun Abdul Razak and his eldest brother is the sixth prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Abdul Razak was succeeded by his brother-in-law Tun Hussein Onn. The former passed away when Nazir was just nine years old, while Najib was 23 years old.

What's In A Name is Nazir's debut book. The autobiography is structured chronologically, read a review written by Andrew Sheng published by The Star.

It allows readers to take a glimpse into Abdul Razak's fight to achieve independence for Malaya with Tunku Abdul Rahman and the former's premiership, as well as Nazir's journey to becoming a top banker who helped form CIMB into a universal bank that has the largest footprint in ASEAN.

The book also accounts Nazir's involvement in opposing the 1MDB scandal, while the final part of the book is 'Conversations on Malaysia', which the reviewer said is the most important part as it talks about how the country came to this point and the issues the country is facing.

In another book review written by Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai, Nazir shared that he and his sister-in-law had a good start when the latter was a student in Bristol, UK but the "warm feelings didn't last long".

"I soon began to worry that Najib's power was intoxicating for her," the review quoted Nazir's book.

"For Rosmah, life was very simple: you were either with them or against them. There was no middle ground. Criticism was tantamount to betrayal."

"Now at the Ramadan party, she grabbed Najib's hand and looking straight at me said, loudly: 'Don’t talk to him! He's working against you and trying to topple you.'"

"People turned to look. Najib tried to calm her down, and defend me. She was having none of it. Nor was she finished. She added, with more than a hint of venom; 'I know what you're up to. I have eyes. You had better watch out.'"

With that said, Nazir texted Najib after the party that it "would be the last event at this house I would attend since his wife was so openly hostile to me".

According to Astro Awani, Rosmah had in the past warned Nazir to stop questioning her husband's actions.

It is understood that Nazir's meddling in the 1MDB scandal strained the relationship between the brothers and most likely hurt the heart of their late mother, Tun Rahah Mohamed Noah.

Nazir said many of the principles and values were passed down to him by his father. Therefore, for his father's sake, he decided to go against his eldest brother.

In a review published by The Vibes, it is said that it is difficult to encapsulate the entire conflict within the family and the principles their father held, but this extract in the book could help illustrate Nazir's struggle:

"Eventually I came to see that in the name of the values my father had left us with, I needed to advocate the overhaul of the system he had created. For the sake of my father, I risked my relationship with the older brother (Najib) I so admired and who had looked after me on the night of his (Razak's) death. But all that comes after."

Nazir wrote about the moves he had made with The Edge owner Datuk Tong Kooi Ong to get the 1MDB case exposed.

One of the moves includes an "extraordinary meeting" with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in London. They told Mahathir that "billions of dollars had gone missing from 1MDB", read the review by Wong, who is group advisor of Star Media.

According to the book, Mahathir looked at the two after an hour and asked, "Why is it me that has to do something about it? I'm retired."

"Well, sir," Nazir replied. "You have to do something because you made him Prime Minister."

"Najib would have less and less patience with my questions. After a while, 1MDB became almost a taboo subject for us. I couldn't get through to him and a couple of times, he even quipped that I must be jealous or just have a personal dislike of Jho Low," Nazir wrote.

Reviewer Wong commented that it must be difficult for Nazir to talk about "embarrassing details involving Najib but it's clear that Nazir wants to protect the family name, at all costs, even if it involves his eldest brother".

The book can be found in most bookstores nationwide beginning today and it is priced at RM89.95, reported The Vibes.

According to a press statement accompanying the book release announcement, it is understood that the UK version of the book will go on sale on 18 November, while the Bahasa Melayu version of the book will be available next year as it is currently in its final stages of translation.

Malay Mail reported that early copies of Nazir's book have already been read and endorsed by prominent Malaysian figures, such as former deputy prime minister Tun Musa Hitam, former Khazanah Nasional Berhad chief executive Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar, and UNDI18 co-founder Tharma Pillai.

The book is also endorsed by Kishore Mahbubani, the founding dean of the National University of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and professor Eugene Rogan, the director of the Middle East Centre at the University of Oxford.