From army stripes to MACC’s orange garb: When a five-star general takes the parade of shame

 

MODERATE Muslim advocate/influencer Nasri Azhar recently re-posted an observation by a commenter as to why there was so much fuss about ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy) from rightist politicians/NGOs when a Chinese gets elevated to a high-ranking army officer level.

However, such grouses are unheard when their fellow Malay high-ranking army counterparts are found to have comprised their integrity big time by engaging in corruption and power abuse.

This re-post was made five days prior to firebrand UMNO Youth chief Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh made a seemingly mild reprimand by his moral policing standard by merely urging the authorities “to make mandatory screening of assets belonging to all government officers and ministers prior to their assuming an important position”.

The staunch defender of race and religion was re-acting to a Harian Metro report of 23 Rolex watches worth an estimated RM2 mil was found by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigation team at the home of former Army Chief Tan Sri Muhammad Hafizuddeain Jantan.

The 57-year-old 30th Chief of Army who has since applied for an early retirement was remanded for seven days on Jan 8 while his two wives were remanded for six and three days respectively to assist investigations into a corruption case involving army procurement tenders.

Aside from the Rolex watches, the graft buster has also seized six bank accounts belonging to the officer and his family members in addition to having confiscated three gold bars and luxury vehicles to assist investigations.

Deafening silence

The furore of detractors over the prior silence of Akmal is understandable given he had fuelled so much racial and religious hatred at the height of the KK Supermart sock-gate brouhaha or the more recent upside down Jalur Gemilang episodes.

In fact, he might be prompted to break his muteness after National Unity Advisory Council member Prof Tajuddin Rasdi launched a scathing attack on UMNO by questioning the party’s silence over the “parti yeye” scandal.

The renowned political commentator and academician had questioned why the self-styled “warriors of morality and dignity” had failed to speak out against what he described as a hedonistic culture within the military despite the armed forces being overwhelmingly made up of Malays and Muslims.

Frankly, the Hafizuddeain graft exposé has sparked an uproar on cyberspace with many netizens bashing if not cursing him over his treacherous misdeed to his nation.

This was best summed up by digital creator Amey Deen in a Facebook post:

He gets millions of salutes from subordinates but the truth is that he is not worthy to receive such honour; even to buy bicycles for their children, his subordinates need to borrow money from the cooperative.

Those who have a pension of sergeant and below still have to work after their pension. If they misbehave and thrown into the dark room, they’ll be sacked without a pension.

The greedy ones on top who plunder, even if caught, wouldn’t enter the dark room while their rank and their pension are likely to remain.

If indeed he’s (Hafizuddeain) found guilty of taking bribes, he should be subject to severe punishment with all his assets seized, including his pension entitlement scrapped.

If he’s indeed guilty, it means we’ve real traitors in the armed forces who pose immense danger to the nation’s security. They should be dumped into the prison.

Below is another one by self-proclaimed patriotic Malaysian, Tun Kamalul Victoria Zaman, who penned what he described as the breach of “Ikrar Kesatria” (Knight’s Pledge) which is an act of treason of the highest level and is punishable by Death” 

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- focus malaysia