When former disgraced prime minister, Najib Abdul Razak, claimed that Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s policies were tantamount to robbing the poor to give to the rich, many people must have thought, “Hang on! Didn’t Najib rob both the rich and the poor, to keep it all for himself and his spouse?”
Najib has posted on his Facebook account that the abolition of the goods and services tax (GST) meant that businessmen and other wealthy people, would be able to evade taxes, whilst the loss of revenue (from the GST) would mean that the salaries of civil servants and the B40 group could not be increased.
At the same time, Najib blasted Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng for taking three months to notice that RM18 billion in GST refunds under the previous administration was missing.
The man has no shame! How much has he misappropriated, without our knowledge? How much will we be able to recover? And how many billions of ringgits would have gone missing, and been kept secret, if Pakatan Harapan had not won GE14?
1MDB is one such financial mess. If the truth be known, there are other scandals, which when thoroughly investigated will probably amount to far more than the losses incurred in 1MDB.
Recently, I spoke to a person, who still believes that Najib has done no wrong. She said that Najib is from royal stock, that he is a Datuk Seri, that he is a “menteri”, and a “perdana menteri”, lives in a big mansion and is rich. He would not dare trick us, or lie to us.
She failed to mention integrity, honesty, transparency and moral values. Have we become a nation of people who are so shallow that we are swayed by outward displays of materialism? Do we view possessions, such as mansions, SUVs, designer watches, shoes and spectacles, wads of cash and three wives as the barometer for an upright and stellar character? If so, we are no better than the gang members who infest London, which has long been known as “the sink-hole of The Empire”.
Many conmen prey on the vulnerable
Malaysians fall for titles, titled people and professionals. Stick a Tengku, or Raja, in front of a name, and we trip over ourselves, trying to please the titled person.
Say a person has a royal pedigree, and we will fawn over him, even if he steals money from us. Place a ‘Doctor’, ‘Datuk’ or ‘Tan Sri’ before someone’s name, and we will nod in agreement to every word he says. Even if we disapprove of his suggestions, we tell ourselves, “He’s a doctor, he must be right.” Although lawyers don’t normally use titles, they will not fail to draw your attention to their legal background, because many of them are loud, brash and bolshy.
Don’t you find it deeply disturbing, that many conmen prey on the vulnerable and gullible, on an industrial scale, by pretending to be a member of one of the professions? These unscrupulous people have tricked their victims, with every kind of fraud, to acquire people’s hard-earned life savings, property deeds, or pretending to be the perfect life partner. They even persuade their victims to pay vast amounts of money, to pay for medical bills relating to a wide variety of illnesses, including cancer.
Realising that people can be easily conned, is very disturbing. One could stick a label, with verses from the Quran, on a product and then claim that it would cure a particular illness. So many would be duped, especially if the prophet’s name was invoked as well, and that the product would become a bestseller.
Someone could claim to be a Tan Sri, and nobody would check his credentials. He could then throw a party, rent a Rolls-Royce, invite some celebrities, mention that he is collecting money for a cause, and the cash will roll into the collection box. The guests are too excited at mingling with the high and mighty to bother to check to if the event is kosher.
So why do we do it? Why do we believe the people who prey on us, just because we are dazzled by their titles?
The politicians use our gullibility to con us. It is not their fault that we are too trusting and stupid. Until we get rid of this servile mentality, Malaysia cannot progress.
Today’s Harapan government may end up as Umno-Baru 2, not because the politicians abuse our trust, but because we refuse to use our brains.
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