“I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.“
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
I admit I am no political devotee. My life revolves around doing good, and savoring life with every ounce of positivity it gives back to me. Though lately, after seeing what has unfolded in the world of politics, I felt I should at least speak about it, as a journalism grad. As far as it is going, I have been cruising full speed on the anti-corruption train. I kept telling myself, “Yea… I’ll just write one article on politics and Democracy. Then I’ll go back to lighter yet more significant topics.” Well, so much for that. With how apparent politics have played out this year, I figured I should at least use my voice to speak out about the related topics and issues, which I believe have undoubtedly impacted our lives, one way or another. Like I said, this is a safe space with zero tolerance for hate, and a place for people who understand the meaning of agreeing to disagree in a civil manner. I have my opinion, you have yours, and that is okay. So without further or do… Let’s begin!
The three C’s in my political textbook- Corruption Collapses Communities. Pretty simple to grasp right? It’s just like the saying of how it takes one rotten apple to spoil the whole barrel. I have mentioned Corruption a few times in the last few articles I wrote about Democracy. Never really dove into it much. Though today, I think it’s high time we focus on it just a tad bit. With everything happening in regards to allegations of voter fraud, election tampering, and candidate biasness; Avoiding the topic of corruption seems inevitable.
So what is corruption? According to the Cambridge Dictionary, Corruption is an, “illegal, bad, or dishonest behaviour, especially by people in positions in power.” If you ask me, the definition is pretty self-explanatory. Dishonest bad behaviour by people in positions in power, sure does roll off the tongue easily, as we see it so prevalent these days. So much so, it has become the new normal. Now that is scary to even say. Just as I explained in my last Democracy article, corruption’s sweet malice does have its flare of rubbing people who are hungry for power the right way, with such reprehensible outcomes. Mind you, those outcomes are what we citizens face, while the ones who embrace corruption, reap its greasy benefits.
Now let’s put aside talking about corruption, and look at the lighter side of things in this article. The word community- it’s got this flare, and pizzaz in all things good. Let’s bring back good ol’ Cambridge to give us the definition of community. It states that a community is, “The people living in one particular area or people who are considered as a unit, because of their common interests, social group, or nationality.” Collins dictionary on the other hand gave a slightly different spin in their explanation. Their definition of community is, “Friendship between different people or groups, and a sense of having something in common.” Like I said, it’s got a whole lot of pizzaz in all things good. Even if we are introverts, or lone wolves among the crowd, we are still somewhat connected to a community. It could be a big community like being a part of a sports team, or even as small as the community living in your cul-de-sac. The fact remains, we are connected to one.
Though with this article, we’re looking at community as a nation. We venture into how political leaders, government officials, and even state officials play their hand in spewing their influential plea to garner a community’s support. Quite frankly their plays in recent years have been quite devious. So much so, it has resulted in many communities turning against each other, with turmoil seeming evident. The sad part is, the individuals who are blinded by these pleas, undeniably bring forth the collapse of our community without even realizing it. We bicker among each other over the dispute, but you know what? The officials who planted this bad seed are just sitting on the sidelines, with a bag of popcorn in their hands, and watching everything burst into flames. They got what they wanted, and it is this thing we call votes. These votes circumstantially end up with them filling their pockets with a wad of dirty hundos to fuel their personal greed and political gain, while we suffer from the collateral damage it brings. The last thing on their mind is your peaceful, and ever so harmonious community. I hate to say it, but when our community’s strength is at a feeble stage, the unity we have becomes flawed. Sadly this causes a few individuals to sway their votes in favor of these cutthroat politicians, which inevitably fuels the little sly dog called corruption; and what does it do? It brings the collapse of our community, which in totality, our nation. Thinking about it already gives me goosebumps.
We all know corruption is not the new kid on the block. It’s a frequent flyer out in these parks, and it is ever so fruitful with its insidious acts if you ask me. As I said before, corruption is currently on a constant vicious cycle. Sure enough with the rate everyone is going, it is full steam ahead to corrupt cityville. The traits are so apparent, even the look of bribery is not considered a heinous act. I’m not talking about just my home soil. I’m talking about the whole world. It is a disease that has made its mark in everyone’s community, and it has become absolutely metastatic. As scary as it sounds, we are already seeing the downfall of our communities as we speak. Corruption is not peaking through the curtains anymore. It is full blast out in the open, and boy is it not afraid to strut its stuff. Why do I say this? Just take a look at how each country has been handling the pandemic crisis we are all facing. The true face of what corruption has done to our political leaders is sure taking the red carpet by storm, and striking its true colors to the world. Crazy how it took a pandemic to actually expose the dirty linens of our political leaders.
In honest to God truth, Covid-19 brought the whole world to its knees. It brought forth political, governmental, and community turmoil. As much as my heart aches to say this, it was sort of an ugly silver lining to uncloak the corruption that has sheeted over our community. It’s like peeling an onion. The more layers you peel, the harder you cry. Well, we as a nation here in Malaysia felt exactly that. As the pandemic rampaged our country, after lockdowns became lax, we began to see our government’s corruption protection wall crumble. From a drastic change of a prime minister in an unconventional way, to a squirrely flip, and take backsies on Standard of Procedures (SOP) to handle Covid-19- Malaysia’s political officials were not shy of letting everyone catch sight of their ever so “clean” and “religious” hoohas. After seeing a backdoor takeover of political power, an exponential rise in lawsuits against government officials, and an ever growing number of covid-19 patients due to SOP negligence, I say it is time to bleach our whole government clean.
Well… Judging by all the news articles coming out about the corruption in Malaysia, we’re gonna need a whole lotta bleach to make a dent for a cleaner country. A streak of arrests involving company directors, civil servants, and public prosecutors linked to shady government contracts, sure seems to be the new trend of how corruption plays its cards by the looks of it. Recently on October 10th, 2020, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) arrested a Deputy Public Prosecutor for accepting a bribe of up to MYR 300,000. According to Free Malaysia Today, the said suspect was a 37 year old individual who accepted the bribe from a company owner who was connected to a land scam case. Here is another spine chilling article written by various news outlets in Malaysia showing the statistics of how many civil servants who have been arrested for abuse of power and corruption. As reported by the Malay Mail, MACC released a statistic stating from the year 2015, till October of 2020, 2,607 civil servants were arrested for dancing with corruption. What’s scary with this statistic is that these individuals range from the bottom tiered civil servant, to top management. A silent by vile cycle corruption has put us on.
A third one just to keep the ball rolling, we have recently seen the news about an individual named Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor. Multiple news outlets such as Free Malaysia Today reported how Malaysia’s court had granted a discharge, not amounting to an acquittal to Tengku Adnan, in regards to him accepting a bribery of RM 1,000,000 from a businessman named Tan Eng Boon. Mind you this is not the first rodeo for Mr. Tan, who offered bribes to Tengku Adnan. According to Free Malaysia Today, Tengku Adnan’s defence lawyer insists his client should receive a full acquittal, due to the prolonged time frame and chronological methods taken to bring forth his charge . Well, things took a 360 degree turn, as on 21st of December 2020, the whole of Malaysia found out Tengku Adnan was found guilty for accepting a RM 2,000,000 bribe, a day after his son’s grandeur drive through wedding. Okay, so this fourth case I am about to state is mind boggling. This is the case, reported by The Edge Markets, of Sabah’s former chief minister, Tan Sri Musa Aman, who was discharged and acquitted of 46 corruption and money laundering charges. The part that surprises me the most is how he had 46 charges, and not a single dirty linen was found. If he was squeaky clean, those 46 charges would have never existed. In order for a charge to be brought forth, there would have to be an element of suspicion to trigger a red flag for it to be proceeded as a case. I get it if it’s one case, but 46? Like I said, it’s mind boggling. Well, what do I know right? I’m just a plain Jane citizen with no political background to state my case in point. How do we fathom this? But I’ll tell you this, we Malaysian citizens are not blind and naive not to see what is happening with our country. I can bet my bottom dollar, there is an entity sticking out like a sore thumb to discover 46 charges.
Now these cases are just a mere smidge on the colossal corruption land field that has made itself comfortable in Malaysia’s political scene. Pardon my French, but there are a few I would say are an inconceivable pile of manure. I guess with Covid-19 frenzying through our nation, it has given our law enforcement personnel ample time to dig into these cases. Like I said, Covid-19 is like an ugly silver lining for us.
We all know Malaysia has been in the semi spotlight of the international committee, in the ill-famed 1MDB case, with a connection to our former prime minister, Dato Seri Najib Razak. It sure was a high stakes game of corruption, with 1MDB cashing in as a high roller for money laundering. Before I go on with this, I want to just clarify that this case is out in the public domain, with reputable news sources reporting it. Not only are our local news outlets covering and looking into it, but the United States Department of Justice was brought in as well to investigate the case. So you can imagine the severity of the implications brought upon our country and political leaders, in regards to the dirty game our government officials have played. From my point of view, this was a shameful and undeniably wrong way of gaining spotlight in international waters. In connection to the 1MDB case, recently our former prime minister Dato Seri Najib Razak was implicated for criminal breach of trust (CBT) and money laundering in the SRC International Sdn Bhd trial. According to the reporting done by The Star Newspaper, Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali said he had no hesitation of classifying this case as “one of the worst kind” of abuse of position, CBT, and money laundering. He even stressed how it was not just about it being a criminal act, but it involves a huge sum of money with a huge impact on the people of the country. You know what gave me chills after reading the news article? It was the fact of his demeanor and defending acknowledgement of not knowing about the MYR 42 million from the said company. Let me repeat the amount… 42 million Malaysian ringgit… A close $11 million US dollars. What’s insidious about this particular case is that countries from Singapore, the UK, to Switzerland have concluded their findings of unearthing the seedling of the 1MDB case. Malaysia on the other hand are still fact finding through our court system. Okay Malaysia… You do you.
The article written by The Star in regards to Dato Seri Najib Razak’s trial
I mean… I don’t even know where to begin with all that has been said above. As Forrest Gump said, “Stupid is as stupid does.” Quite frankly, he is absolutely right. Like I said, it’s happening all over the world. We should be watching a person’s actions, rather than their appearance. In all clarity, we as the community should be observing what our political leaders and corporate dogs are doing with their position of power. These are individuals in high end dress wear, with sweet as can ever be words for the people. Crisp and clean, with a mouth full of positive vibes- Boy do they look like the poster child for a better, innovative, and far more progressive future. Yet, their actions make trash bags look like fashion week material. Step aside designers, the Dirty Corruption line is making headlines. What an absolute disgrace. They hide behind their position of power to lie, cheat, and steal, while they plaster a smile on their face, ensuring the people that they are doing great things for the community. Corruption comes in many shapes, colors, and forms. What we are seeing with this particular scenario is a hint of nepotism, with a smidge of parochial political culture, and a whole lotta patronage. In all short form- Professionally Organized Legal Corruption. They bring the true definition of cherry picking to the table, by selecting their close allies or friends, and even family members to be a part of their board of directors, or political party. Talk about creating the all time circle of trust, but with a wrinkle of deviousness. Honestly, are we that naive? Because sure as ever I know, this amount of bureaucratic stupidity being conducted is sure to rub off you the wrong way, regardless of your political beliefs. This is what I call, differentiating what is right and wrong. Simple as that.
A greasy pedestal grown from utter corruption- These individuals believe they are untouchable. Slow your roll bud. As trite as it sounds, nothing lasts forever, and for these dirty folks, all “good” things will eventually come to an end. As I stated before, Covid-19 has brought an ugly silver lining into our lives. The dam holding up all the lies, deceit, and downright corruption crumbled, because it could no longer withstand the garbage it was holding; And if you ask me, I’m glad it did. This blunder of a scenario had to happen one way or another. Our community deserves to know the truth, and in some way, a little bit of justice. It’s high time these folks face the music for what they have done, and as a community we must stand our ground to establish our rights which have been taken advantage of. We are what makes the country, not an individual who has gained social power through their greed mongering traits, and sly dog tactics to garner votes. The community is what makes our country. Just think about that for just a sec.
“What I try to tell young people is that if you come together with a mission, and it’s grounded with love and a sense of community, you can make the impossible possible.”
John Lewis
I know it sounds like we got a butt load of fight in us to get the change we want. Trust me, I know we do. It’s just unfortunate how we are not taking that step forward to use it. We the community, or better known as the nation, have yet to learn the harsh lessons of the intolerable mistakes our government officials have made. We keep falling for the same mistakes and giving these political officials a slap on the wrist for a blunder, which quite frankly I believe deserve jail time. Then we have us regular folk, who end up suffering from damaging reprimanding for a microscopic mistake. Now that is ludicrous if you ask me. Why are we still in the delusional lull? Is it because we have sniffed the candied smell of money when they put it close to you in order to buy you? What are we? A pet getting a treat for obeying our owner? Come on. We are better than that. As for the other politicians who have a sense of dignity to not allow corruption to frolic in their mindset. Where are your cojones to take the lead in trying to put a stop to the dirty mess being unfolded in our political arena? Are you lot just resting on your laurels? From the looks of our current State affairs, we as a community are far from being satisfied with the results given to us. I get it. Times are tough. Believe me I know. As an individual who worked her butt off to ensure I could secure a job in the Malaysian market, and was only to come back with absolute zilch- I am the true definition of times are tough. But, here I am, persevering to do what is right. I am not about taking the easy road of sucking up to a bourgeoisie narcissist, just because they have the power to give me a job, and provide me with the money I need. There’s knowing how to ask for help, and then there is being a straight up apple-polisher.
“The duty of youth is to challenge corruption“
Kurt Cobain
All I am saying is, we have the power and integrity to turn things around in our political arena. As cliche as it sounds, we gotta put some elbow grease in to make some noise for these leaders to understand one thing. Just because they hang a carrot in front of us, doesn’t mean we are going to take the bait in being their puppets, and do everything they ask us to do. This is not the behavior we want the upcoming generation to emulate. By far the worst example and excuse we can provide to the younger generation on how to lead a life of humility and civility. This is not a trait we should pick up, and we should not bow down to plutocracy and kleptocracy. Now now. Not ever.
Site Sources:
Tengku Adnan’s Case:
Tan Sri Musa Aman’s Case:
Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s Case:
World Footprint 