Of Siti Kasim’s middle finger and degree mills

If lawyer and activist Siti Kasim’s middle finger could get her in trouble, I am wondering why the case of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) director Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd a couple of years ago was simply dismissed as an “old story”.

And what is more puzzling is that a police officer of his rank could have a saving of A$320,000, when most of us are struggling just to make ends meet.

At RM2.89 to an Aussie dollar, this is close to a million ringgit and we have learnt that the Australian authority has rightfully frozen his account. For this, I do not understand why the MACC has not carried out its own investigation into the source of wealth.

In the first place, how to explain why a police officer should have an Australian bank account? What is the source of the wealth accumulated by Wan Ahmad is a question I would like to ask the Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun.

He personally oversees the police force and this includes both Wan Ahmad (photo) and the officer-in-charge of criminal investigation (OCCI) Selangor, Fadzil Ahmat, who is allegedly behind the charges that Siti will face soon.

As a civilian, when I put the two things together, it just does not make sense at all. If one could be prosecuted for the middle finger, thousands of other Malaysians, especially the road bullies, would have to face the same charges. Don’t our police have anything better to do, Sir? Wouldn’t that also take up precious court hours?

Now, between the middle finger and the degree mills, I wonder which is more serious. MCA president Wee Ka Siong has been harping on two cases, but I am equally curious where Wee received his doctorate from.

From his titles, Datuk Seri Ir Dr Wee Ka Siong is apparently an engineer. It is unlikely that his doctorate has anything to do with medicine. At best, he could have just done his doctorate in engineering, perhaps, business administration, or it was only an honorary doctorate.

If it was an honorary doctorate, the title “Dr” cannot be attached to his name. If it is written officially, it should be Datuk Seri Ir (Dr) Wee Ka Siong.

Given that Wee has opened the Pandora box, the issues with fake degrees and titles are more widespread than what you can imagine. For example, there are many who claim to have titles like Datuk Seri or Datuk, but no one has ever checked the authenticity of these titles.

In recent years, it has become fashionable for our local politicians to obtain a doctorate degree from a particular university. How on earth were they conferred a doctorate degree? What is the significance of their research work towards the academia? Beyond the paper qualification, what is their level of academic achievement which is apparently missing the mark for some?

We do have a big problem here in Malaysia where there is a lack of personal and public integrity. It is mind-boggling when people can say, “The Porsche is registered in my name but it is not mine”; for this, I think the Pakatan Harapan government under Dr Mahathir Mohamad has a lot of cleaning up to do.

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STEPHEN NG is a citizen with an avid interest in following the country’s political developments since 2008. -Mkini