The sweeping-under-the-carpet man

Steve Oh, CPI Asia

Is Deepak Jaikishin a hero?

Not in the eyes of those who believe a hero is one who gives his life for others. At best many see him if the comments in internet websites are any indication, as nothing more than a conniving businessman with a singular eye for self-profit.

By baiting the public and those who have affected his business bottomline with dribs and drabs of juicy details of his role in the shameful PI Balasubramaniam statutory declarations (SD2) scandal and problematic business dealings, and threatening to reveal more, many see him as just playing a poker game of high stakes.

And so near GE13 it is likely he will win.

Why the authorities have not acted on the incriminating revelations when they can expedite 15 police officers within 24 hours of the publication of my letter in Malaysiakini, and another seven uniformed officers 24 hours later just to get my email address, baffles me and probably many others.

I never figured I would have had such an impact on what occurs in Malaysia and I still don't. Some things just need to be said especially if everyone is sharing those same thoughts and since we are not telepathic. You can only do so much writing letters that sometimes people don't even read.

But the Deepak revelations are something else.

Time may yet expose Deepak as a villain he was for his role in SD2 because a leopard never changes its spots and talk of prick of conscience and hauntings are part of the shameful charade.

If a dead Altantuya can haunt the living, then there will be ghosts everywhere, and why would she choose Deepak to haunt?

PAS should not only write to the Agong but insist that in the public interest there be an immediate investigation into the whole sordid affair.

The Altantuya Shaaribuu murder mystery has been more intriguing than an Agatha Christie novel and it is in the public interest when the integrity of the country's highest office is under such a cloud that the facts be known so all the innuendoes and false rumours will stop.

I find it hard to believe a man as charming and liked by so many Malaysians (as the polls tell us) as Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak chooses not to clear up the clouded perceptions.

It must all be a misunderstanding and a full inquiry will also clear the air for the public no matter what happens next.

Anything less will be a dereliction of duty of the government and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the opposition and civil society can't allow it to rest until the truth and the innocent are vindicated and justice upheld.

Otherwise Malaysia continues to be the fool's paradise where law and order means nothing when the politicians move their heavy hands. It is nothing like the blessed country that is spoken off by leaders who gloat over the failures of tin pot dictatorships and live in the past.

Our heroes are those who selflessly risk everything to make their country a better place and more of them are mushrooming all over the country.

I take my hat off to those young students leading the charge to make Malaysia free of dangerous activities that harm the environment and everyone's health.

The willingness of the Malaysia Youth Against Public Hazards to spend days and night up to 100 hours fasting to substantiate their cause makes me proud of them and gives me a sense of regret that many of us failed their generation but their generation will not fail the next with such bold initiatives.

Let us hope the change everyone talks about happens soon and Malaysia rids itself of the yoke of corruption.

Then it will truly be a Happy New Year in 2013 for those who see their country ruined by corruption and things getting worse.

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Postscript: I wrote the above before news that Deepak has struck a deal and also struck off his suit against the party involved.

Another promised revelation may yet be another card played in this shameful poker game, and another deal struck, and the dithering of the authorities in investigating the whole matter only makes the public more convinced the old habit of brushing everything of public interest under the carpet is still very much in vogue with the incumbent government.