Corruption is like a termite infestation that silently eats away at the foundations of a house.
Before long, the house will crumble and harm its occupants. The house can be saved, only if preventative measures are taken early.
As a child, my parents would be horrified to learn that a civil servant or minister had been charged with corruption, amounting to several thousand ringgits.
Growing up, I noticed that the figures involved became more and more staggering. The several thousand ringgits in corruption money ballooned to hundreds of thousands of ringgits.
Years later, Malaysians would read about millions, then hundreds of billions of ringgits of corrupt money.
Most Malaysians think that corruption is only when money passes from one person to another. They are not aware that there are many forms of corruption.
Open or visible corruptions are things like nepotism, cronyism and gifts like the single malt whisky for Christmas and Chinese New Year, or the Hari Raya hamper. The gifts help to influence a decision or induce the other party to commit an unauthorised act.
Then, there is the daily, everyday corruption. When a police officer jumps out from behind a bush and accuses you of committing a traffic offence, the chances are that most Malaysians would rather pay the RM50 demanded than argue with him.
Lodging a police report to complain about him may take hours, and very few people are prepared for this. They also fear a backlash.
Some people do not realise that when a contractor treats a government servant to dinner at an expensive restaurant, the businessperson is trying to buy influence. The ordinary rakyat may think the contractor is being nice. He is not.
When the government servant accepts other bribes, he will soon be eating out of the contractor's hands. Once he is trapped there is no going back. He is open to blackmail.
Is this what prevents corrupt government officials and politicians from coming clean? Which does he fear most? The shame, his guilt, or that he does not want the exposure?
In 2015, a former Royal Malaysian Navy officer was fined for his role in the purchase of items for the navy. The contractor had given him money, an RM19,000 Bell & Ross watch, and a debit card worth RM1.5 million.
This officer was low down in the pecking order. Just imagine the 'rewards' received by any senior official or minister who is involved in the purchase of hundreds of millions of ringgits worth of military hardware.
Families of corrupt government officials may also go on luxury overseas holidays paid for by corrupt businesspersons. The minister's son may drive imported luxury sports cars. The official's wife could be dripping in gems.
The NFC scandal
Just over a decade ago, we read about former Wanita Umno’s Shahrizat Abdul Jalil's husband and his RM250 million abuse of taxpayers' money in the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal. The money was supposed to help cattle breeders. Has this money, with, interest, been returned to the taxpayers?
What caused shock waves in the community was that a woman's name was involved - Shahrizat's. She feigned ignorance about the dodgy dealings involving her husband and her children. Really?
Later on, we would read that Shahrizat had been upstaged by the former, self-styled first lady of Malaysia, Rosmah Mansor, and her eyewatering collection of Hermès Birkin handbags, designer sunglasses, luxury watches and gems.
No one believed that she had saved money since her teenage years. Nor did they believe that the goods had been bought by her husband, the convicted felon, Najib Abdul Razak, who earned a Malaysian minister's monthly salary. We now know that Malaysian ministers tend to treat the treasury as their personal piggy bank.
Should we overlook Shahrizat's husband's crime just because the amount appears piddly compared with Rosmah's? No! A crime is still a crime, even if RM1 had been illegally obtained.
We were horrified by Najib's outrageous RM2.6 billion donation from an 'Arab prince'. We knew it was taxpayers' money despite the denials by Najib's cabinet.
Then a few weeks ago, we read about Muhyiddin Yassin's alleged misappropriation of RM530 million of the pandemic stimulus package. In an update, only RM92.5 billion involved government funds and will be probed by the MACC. Nevertheless, RM92.5 billion is still a huge sum of money.
Corruption kills
What have the actions of corrupt politicians and ministers cost us over the years? The money that was 'lost' could have built better schools, hospitals, and clinics, improve infrastructure and pay teachers, nurses and policemen a decent salary.
There are many allegations about government officials and ministers who solicit and receive bribes. However, in many unseen and unreported corruption, payments may take the form of the RM50 that is paid to the traffic police officers, or the RM500 to cover up a crime. Total these daily occurring cases and the money involved is huge.
Corruption will undermine our trust in the government and result in reduced services, poverty and inequality. We will receive inferior quality goods because the company cuts corners when money was used for bribes. Corruption also kills.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has vowed to stamp out corruption. Let us hope he takes remedial measures soon, before corruption destroys our society, much like the termite infestation that will eventually reduce the house to dust.
Many countries punish both the giver and the taker. Why not in Malaysia? - Mkini
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army, and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, Twitter.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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