Has Malaysia sunk so low that not only politicians in government but a top law enforcer is accused of dishonest conduct?
Instead of acting quickly to investigate the alleged wrongdoer, the government drags its feet and has to be goaded. Such a slothful response naturally draws public criticisms. A competent and conscionable government does not need the rakyat to tell it to do the right thing.
What does it say of a nation when a former prime minister while in office was caught stealing and later convicted in a court of law? That's not all. He has so far evaded punishment and is still given privileges denied to others and allowed to roam free and act as if he has done nothing wrong.
There is an adage that states unless punishment for wrongdoing, especially of those entrusted with public office, is executed quickly, others will be emboldened to commit wrong.
What a farce law enforcement has become when the country's top graft buster is now exposed as an alleged wrongdoer himself. The MACC's integrity is now cast under a shadow of doubt.
Allegations of wrongdoing against the country's top graft buster, MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki, are yet another skeleton emerging from the country's bursting cupboard of scandals.
Again, it is another episode in the country's never-ending story of questionable or corrupt practices. Azam should step aside while an independent investigation is done. It is not in the accused's or public interest to conduct a trial in the media. Instead, the public is now treated to a repeat of what happened in the aftermath of revelations on the 1MDB white-collar heist.
Looking the other way
Closing ranks and covering up and looking the other way are failed tactics and one wonders why they even bother. It is like the frantic driver stepping on the accelerator when bogged in mud and making things worse for himself.
The suggestion by MACC commissioners that the expose is an attack on the commission must be a sick joke. So too Najib Abdul Razak's accusation of political persecution in the charges he faced after perpetrating the 1MDB con job. Do they know what is wrong or right? Apparently not.
The result will be more than an egg in the face for those who defend the indefensible. In a country of strict enforcement, such people can be charged with obstructing the law and abetting criminals.
When will a government be respectable again? It must happen soon after GE15 because time is running out for the country, with successive governments bogged in a moral quagmire.
The history of corruption and abuse of power repeats itself with regularity and this has to stop. Former attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali, despite the evidence stacked against Najib, unilaterally let him off the hook. It was a blatant act of cronyism, the critics echoed. DAP's Lim Kit Siang called it an abuse of power and that's what it is - unjustifiably exonerating the guilty and misusing state power.
Whistleblowers like The Edge publication were wrongfully punished. Now, whistleblower Lalitha Kunaratnam is victimised with a RM10 million legal suit. Many will stand with Lalitha and have more reason to believe her story. If you are innocent, you will welcome open inquiries like a friend, not try to sweep the dirt under the carpet.
Lies only implicate
If Azam reckons he has not done wrong, let the facts - the truth - exonerate him. No one is judging him unfairly. But Azam will not get any public sympathy if he plays hardball and threatens the whistleblower doing her job. This is Malaysia 2022, not Malaysia 1992.
Azam will have the tough task of answering why he allowed his brother to register shares in his name if not for some questionable purpose. And why transfer the shares back to the brother? Why the rush to perform the subsequent financial gymnastics?
Aren't such transfers an admission of wrongdoing, made retrospectively to regularise earlier misdeeds? They also create income tax liabilities the tax department may want to investigate. Lies do not extricate, only implicate.
This is what those who do not want the truth to be known usually do - wheel and deal with and twist the facts and create stories that not even the tooth fairy will believe, let alone intelligent Malaysians.
Whistleblowers play an important role in the war on corruption. They need legal protection. Public officials found to be corrupt ought to be punished for a two-fold crime - stealing and betraying king and country. They also betray their oath of public duty and public trust.
Whistleblowers like Lalitha Kunaratnam and Clare Rewcastle-Brown are worth more than the hefty budget-funded MACC where the exposing of big fish corrupt Malaysians are concerned.
More honest Malaysians needed
Malaysia needs honest Malaysians like Terence Edmund Gomez who resigned in protest from the body advising the MACC. Some years ago, I wrote in Malaysiakini on Malaysia becoming a “den of thieves”. It is happening.
The MACC expose, however, is no big shock. It is time to take a long hard look at the scandalised organisation that even has blood on its hands, notably DAP's Teoh Beng Hock, who died in MACC custody.
Change of government, systemic reforms, and paradigm changes in the national mindset against corruption are urgently needed to save the country already on a spiralling moral free-fall.
If the government is serious about good governance and transparency (which is not evident from our public observation) then put credible, courageous and incorruptible persons of moral character in the MACC.
It is now impossible for the public to respect someone who has lost credibility in his MACC role. He should step aside. The corruption virus has to be destroyed.
Sadly, protect the messenger, not the wrongdoer is the oft-repeated call fallen on deaf ears so far. - Mkini
STEVE OH believes the war on corruption can be won once the right people of impeccable moral character are appointed to helm the MACC and the system is waterproofed, made airtight, sterilised and free of political infection.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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