Mr Prime Minister, ever since you occupied the hot seat on Nov 22 last year, you have been harping on corruption.
Week in, week out, Malaysians got earfuls on those who stole or siphoned money belonging to the rakyat.
In the past, systems and some people in the administration have been providing a fertile environment for the unscrupulous.
In a previous column, I wrote: “What was then a few ringgit just as duit kopi (coffee money) subsequently became a culture in which any transaction with the government needed a few hundred or few thousand to grease the palm of civil servants.
“Now, it seems that it is an entitlement and runs into millions - as we have heard as evidence presented in several cases in a court of law.”
Hence, your corruption-busting campaign is supported by all Malaysians who hope you will inverse the culture of corruption which has grown to humongous proportions - no thanks to some leaders who were part of it and others who condoned it.
On the other hand, you as the leader, promised stern action against anyone involved in corruption, whether the person is from any specific party or is the relative of an important person.
Very well said. You outdid yourself or rather continued with the same message, sounding like a needle stuck on a vinyl record.
But your messages are taken as a joke because they have become repetitive without any positive results. Someone remarked that your words are akin to a snake oil salesperson.
Sir, on Monday, you warned two former national leaders to voluntarily return wealth they illegally accumulated or face investigations.
You claimed three warnings had been given to the duo, whom you did not name, but there was no response.
You emphatically said they should surrender those assets so they can be redistributed to the poor.
Do you in all seriousness expect them to liquidate their assets - probably in the names of nominees - and turn them over to the government?
They are probably laughing their heads off at your audacity to make such demands.
The culprits and the whole nation know that you won’t go as far as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Salman, who took extraordinary steps to recover the wealth of the nation from business leaders, top civil servants, and other royals.
All of them were “restrained” at the class Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh, which marked the start of an unexpected episode that exposed the kingdom’s elite to rare public scrutiny.
Many of them “surrendered” their supposedly ill-gotten wealth in exchange for freedom.
Azam’s tenure extension
Malaysians will dread the days when such arbitrary detention is used, but what weapons do our graft busters possess?
The law? What happens if the two ministers or any other persons do not comply?
Sad to say, your service extension of MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki of “my brother did it” fame did not exude the confidence of the people. Despite that, all we had in the past eight months is all talk.
To say the MACC Act needs a comprehensive overall will be an understatement. Various attempts to initiate changes in the past were thwarted because of self-interests.
In a previous column, I wrote on the UK’s Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) which has been effectively used to compel people to reveal the sources of their unexplained wealth.
It requires housing agents, boutiques, car firms, jewellers, and dealers of valuables to report “suspicious” transactions.
The order is issued by British courts to compel anyone to reveal the sources of their unexplained wealth. Persons who fail to account are liable to have their assets seized.
In the first-ever case in the UK, officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) took Zamira Hajiyeva to court for having acquired property with unexplainable funds. She is the husband of jailed Azerbaijani banking fraudster, Jahangir Hajiyev.
Why not a similar legislation in Malaysia? You do not have to go to Parliament to enact this order as Section 71 of the Act empowers the minister to make such orders.
While the minister wants new laws to fight the scourge of the 3Rs (race, religion, and royalty), little attention is being paid to fighting corruption except for regular doses of the same-old, same-old warnings.
But then, there will be opposition to such laws from your own camp, some of whom may be affected by this.
Ever wondered where they got the money to buy the watches costing several hundred thousand ringgit? Or their children driving Porsches and Maseratis?
‘Cakap tak serupa bikin’
You see, the rakyat are beginning to wonder if these words on corruption are for real. Those with soiled hands are not taking you seriously.
And your aides are telling you what you like to hear - not the actual situation on the ground.
Last December, the government terminated the contracts of all political appointees in government-linked companies (GLC), government-linked investment companies (GLIC), statutory bodies, and Ministry of Finance Inc companies.
But what do we have now? So many new appointments have been made and members of your coalition are now using them as “compensation” for those who have been dropped from the forthcoming state elections.
It is not being done discreetly but via public announcements. So it’s a case of “cakap tak serupa bikin” (say one thing, do another). Isn’t it a case of returning to a prior disposition you had?
In April, you ordered an immediate stop to the installation of new billboards displaying your portrait and Malaysia Madani using government allocations.
You said you did not approve the works and want the allocation to be used for other things that benefit the people.
“I have already informed the relevant departments that there is no need for this, but they responded that this was from the previous allocation before the change of government and prime minister,” you were quoted as saying.
But yesterday, four such posters were erected in my neighbourhood. So, what happened to your order?
Mr Prime Minister, “charade” would not be the proper word to describe what is being preached and what is being practised on the ground.
If your own government officials and party members are doing this in defiance of your orders, it reflects the current system of administration.
Only a few know right from wrong and their conduct abet many of the shortcomings of this government. - Mkini
R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist who writes on bread-and-butter issues. Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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