Gomez has done the honourable thing

 

From Clement Stanley

Edmund Terence Gomez has resigned from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission advisory panel as a matter of principle. His pursuit of the issue of extensive corporate stocks held by Azam Baki of the MACC has been futile. No one listened to him.

He has done the honourable thing. There is no point being in the panel purely for window dressing. If you are there merely to make up the numbers, you might as well not be there.When people choose to take up appointments in various NGOs, GLCs and government agencies to enhance their standing in society and become yes men, they are, in fact, doing a disservice to the community.

When such people see these appointments as glamorous and exuding a certain amount of power, they would only be embarrassing themselves if they become nothing more than co-conspirators and allies in a situation that smacks of being corrupt to the core.

Yes, there could be certain “rewards” by being a part of this “system”. But what does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?

Time and again, we have seen how playing the role of the three monkeys at boardroom levels has benefited the corrupt and greedy. It is not that it goes unnoticed. It is probably in the know of those who make decisions.

But it will take a brave and honest man with a conscience to say ‘no’ to the spoils of corruption. Such men come far and few in between.

Therefore, it is easier to turn a blind eye to what’s happening under your nose and stretch out your hand if that’s the way you want a short cut to becoming wealthy, I suppose.

In most cases, you get away with it when the rewards are in cash or kind. You might even want to justify your act by saying, “If not now, when?” Or you might even be tempted to think that if your colleagues and associates are doing it, why not you.

If you can sleep well on this thinking, you are probably one of those now incorporated into the system. I don’t envy you. I only feel sorry for the thousands of taxpayers who will have to bear the burden of your greed.

If there truly was a wishing star, you might wish for more people like Gomez to emerge. You would wish that honesty exists in everyone that has a responsibility towards his fellow human beings. You would wish for more people with a conscience.

Up till now, we still don’t know the outcome of what happened to the three MACC officers who helped themselves to the missing millions belonging to Hasanah Abdul Hamid, the former spy chief of Malaysia when Barisan Nasional was in power.

Up till now, we don’t know how the missing millions were replaced with counterfeit money or where it was printed and by whom.

Up till now, we do not know how Hasanah Abdul Hamid managed to acquire those millions.

The only thing we know is that nothing has come out of it so far. Months have passed and police are nowhere near laying charges against anyone.

But still, you have people on the panel who prefer to say nothing, see nothing and hear nothing.

Terence Gomez, I salute you. - FMT

Clement Stanley is an FMT reader.

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