Hidden hands in Sabah whistleblower incident?

 

A few years ago, when studying at a university in the US, two of my contemporaries expressed unhappiness with some of my writings which claimed that the Malays were entirely to blame for the rampant corruption in the country.

I held the view that the Malays, who mainly work in the government sector, were the ones guilty of corruption in the eyes of God and the nation. My friends, however, flatly rejected this, claiming that members of the Chinese community should bear the greater guilt for offering bribes in the form of women, money, property, and travel.

I countered by suggesting that such offers were made simply because the Malay administrators were demanding or expecting them. In my eyes, that would make the Malays still guilty of corruption. My friends disagreed, saying that, not having participated in any business dealings, I was unaware of the many instances of businessmen offering bribes to secure projects. We ended up agreeing to disagree as neither side could be convinced of the other’s point of view.

The Sabah whistleblower incident, however, appears to be a turning point for me. I was aghast to see and hear the latest video released by the whistleblower admitting to giving money to politicians and also clearly asking for projects or licences to be awarded to him.

So, is this the real business world? Is it true that to secure a project, you must offer bribes, and that when your plans do not pan out, you can use blackmail or threaten to report those who accept such bribes to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, or even engage in a trial by media, hoping to take advantage of the ignorance of the public at large?

In the face of such admissions, why has action not already been taken against the whistleblower? Do I lack knowledge of what constitutes a crime and the role of the authorities? Am I missing something? Is there something bigger at play here?

The whistleblower incident seems to have come at a most opportune time in Sabah, which is gearing up for an election. Are there hidden hands moving behind the scenes in a bid to win the election through a trial by media? The fact that an election has yet to be called makes the goings-on sound typically Malaysian, doesn’t it?

And that is my absolute worry. We are not just at the mercy of evil politicians seeking to destroy our country. We may also be victims of attempts by unknown parties to sensationalise the “bad politician” narrative online and through social media for personal gain.

Yes, I am very much aware, having followed the Reformasi movement for 25 years, that we have a number of bad politicians. But that does not mean that all politicians and all political parties are bad and mired in corrupt practices. We must also look to see if there are individuals seeking to profit from the longstanding rivalry between political parties by playing one against the other.

It is not beyond politicians to engineer incidents and illusions to create chaos in the enemy’s camp and then sit and wait to reap the spoils of war – in this case, the administration of the state of Sabah. In this narrative, isolated projects of a few million ringgit are not what is ultimately at stake. It is usually the promise of many billions if they can wrest control of the state.

We Malaysians must be very careful. There are many indicators to suggest that things are not what they seem. Some things may be as clear as day, but others tend to hide the presence of a venomous snake ready to strike with toxic venom. We must analyse information carefully to weed out attempts to misinform.

I have always felt that there was more to the Sabah whistleblower story than meets the eye. It is not just a case of smearing a select few politicians. Hidden from our view is a bigger, more complex story. The real culprit, as they say, may be hiding in plain sight. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.