On the basis of what various experts in their fields have pointed out as the causes for the 1MDB scandal, a total of nine is laid out in this first part of a series of writing on the causes for the 1MDB scandal. Sites where the nine 1MDB causes are raised include local news portals or freely accessible foreign based websites and these are in contrast to later parts of the series whereupon the causes are found to be elaborated upon in materials such as research papers. In rounding out the discussion of the various causes leading to the delineation of a total of five points that should be worth considering, China’s Belt and Road Initative (BRI), public procurement process and the state of poverty in today’s Malaysia are looked into. All in all, in the look out for the possible answers to the question on what causing the 1MDB scandal, several matters from local and international arenas appear relevant for considerations and those may go beyond the ones typically discussed under the different levels of governance ranging from individual to corporate to national and finally to international governance.