Fighting corruption is a serious undertaking
In august 2010, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah wrote the following. As I am now writing articles about corruption, I find it apposite to remind readers of that article. It's about asking ministers to declare their assets. This is important in order for the public to gauge the integrity of ministers who possess wide discretionary powers. Ministers are given powers by Parliament to become the final arbiters on certain decisions. To waive strict compliance on certain matters. To allow leeway in others. We give Ministers the powers to make decisions involving vast sums of public money. Those decisions have too often led to bloated or stalled projects, questionable awards of tenders, and inflated contract values. Meanwhile some Ministers" lifestyles suggest incomes far beyond what they could possibly afford on their salaries. Ministers' assets are not a private matter to be discussed cozily behind closed doors with the Prime Minister. It is not the Prime Minister's money that we are talking about. Corruption has become institutionalized in our political system. It is ruining this country. This is not just my private belief. Malaysians from all walks of life believe that corruption has become a way of life and know that many of their leaders are corrupt. They know that corruption is so widespread that it has been normalized. They know it deprives them of what is rightfully theirs in the present and stunts their children's future. The MACC has a huge task in overcoming corruption. They have had to overcome the perception that they are not serious about pursuing corruption wherever it is found. They would have a lot more credibility with the public if their chief commissioner's call for transparency of Minister's assets were heeded. Nobody is going to believe that members of the cabinet are above corruption, let alone serious about addressing the problem, if they refuse to declare their assets. In the same measure the assets of former Ministers should also be made public. But beyond just calls to stem corruption, the calls must surely be followed through by serious attentiveness. The recent case involving Khir Toyo is a case in point. If we are not careful, which indicators appear to show so, this case may come back to haunt the government. The public will say, the case isn't strong at all and that it's only put up as show. If we are to make a charge, we must also ensure that the charge sticks. Otherwise, we are going to be opened to charges of unprofessionalism. Can the charge on Khir Toyo stick? It's not a crime if a seller wishes to part with his property and a loss. Stupidity is not a crime. Sometime people have to sell their property at forced sale prices. Hence if I bought this house a few years ago at RM 6 million, it's my damn bloody business I now want to sell the house at RM 3 million. That is not corruption. Hence to frame a charge on such a weak foundation will certainly suggest a profound lack of seriousness.
33 comments:
Dato' Sak. You are damn right about the Khir Toyo charge. It is a case to create a media sensation but end with no case in court. A master spin stroke that is worthy of APCO.
macam la si toyol tu sorang jer makan rasuah,,,..kalau nak combat the corruption lah...kabinet BN kena bubar..tak ada yang tak involve rasuah...name it who is clean..?PM? DPM? ministers? let me know siapa yg benar benar bersih,,>??
anon 06:40
jadi on account hujjah tuan, kita tidak perlu buat apa apa langkah? biar semua korap? dan biar korapsi berjalan lancar menuju wawasan 2020?
Dato' Sak,
The preferred charge clearly indicates an attempt to provide a loophole for him to escape. Yes it is just a show. An investigation on how he managed to find RM5.7 to buy the palatial home and spend another RM15 million on renovation will really pin him down.
Now tell me who wants to believe that this government or MACC is serious in wanting to stamp out corruption?
A failure to get a conviction will not mean that KT is innocent of any corruption but will just prove that the present government protects corrupt ministers.
Pak Tua
pak tua
touche....the same principle applies to anwar ibrahim the first time around. failure to get conviction on charges of unnatural sexual acts didn't mean he was innocent of that particular charge.
if the government is really serious in fighting corruption, it has to ensure that the MACC is truly independent and not beholden to the powers that be ...
Dato'Sak,
I strongly support all of your efforts and continuously read your writings.
But, I am afraid that, at the end of the day, things will turn to be "Bagai mencurah air di daun keladi".
Nothing will happen next,change will never takes place and the respective parties will persist to be arrogant,ignorant etc
It is like a song of Sheila on 7 entitled "Berhenti Berharap"
Anyway, may God bless you and crown your effort with success
Anon 7.39
Dato' Sak,
MACC has no teeth, does not show seriouenss of the BN government to fight corruption. MACC dont seem to be effective. Its just a showcase. Najib has to improve a lot on this issue to remain relevant.
Dato', buat sakit hati sahaja. Tak payah fikir sebab semua tahu dari Jibby sampai kebawah 2x5 sahaja. Mari kita tunggu PRU akan datang kalau tak berubah juga biarkan mereka jawab di akhirat kelak. Semua nya akan mampus termasuk kita juga!
Jaga diri sendiri lagi bagus buat apa nak jaga tepi kain orang. Yakin lah bahawa ALLAH pasti membalas setiap perbuatan mereka!Gua caya lu la Dato'.
Worth checking out
http://malaysianfirstlast.blogspot.com/
Hiyaah, why Umno men always like to find fault with Anwar lah.
I don't like the man and find him a trouble maker but to be fair to Anwar the charge then was concocted and fabricated by Mahathir/ Gani/Musa Hasan. In sodomy 1, Azizan's arse was never clinically examined and in court he cannot even say where he was sodomized and when he was sodomized. So the script falls apart.
In sodomy 2, Gani/Musa improved and bettered the script. I think only Umno people including Sak would believe that Saiful did not shit for 2 days because he wanted to preserve the evidence. And only Umno men incl Sak would believe the story by Saiful. Saifol story is 'cerita nenek kebayan' lah meant for Kg idiots. Having said that who cares whether Umno can send Anwar for jail or not. I really don't care and have not bothered to read the trial report. But God loves truth and not falsehood. You reap what you sow. If you indulge in falsehood you will end up in God's blazing fire of Hell. So who cares what will happen to Sodomy 2 and Anwar.
Bin Toyo's case is more like a 'curi ayam case where the pencuri is caught in the coop'. His case depends on whether the coy which sells the property has any official dealings or will have any official dealings or is interested to have official dealing with Bin toyo in his capacity as MB or with the State Gov't of which Bin toyo is the head.
Just ask this question. Why did the Macc not charge him under the more difficult corruption offences under the Macc Act but went instead to charge him for the less serious and simple corruption charge u.d the Penal code. The answer is plain simple. S.165 is easy to prove like 'curi ayam' case. Unless the case is a 'politically show' case, Bin Toyo is a goner unless they can show that the coy has no official dealing and was never interested to have official dealing with Bin Toyo.
Dato,if anybody talk about how we run our personal life we would be pissed. What do you think ?
Agreed, stupidity is not a crime.
And in Khir Toyo's case, it's not a crime if a seller wishes to part with his property and a loss.
However, the prosecutors need to go one step further i.e. to find out where and how did Khir Toyo get the money to purchase the land at RM3 mil and build the mansion at RM15 mil? Menteri Besar salary plus income from dental clinic!?
I'm earning RM20k a month and struggling to buy a RM500k house.
We can say failure to get conviction doesn't mean one is innocent of a particular charge. But we must see how the court proceedings are being carried out. Otherwise it will just remain as perception.
So let's not compare Kir Toyo's case with Anwar's sodomy case. Anwar's sodomy1 and sodomy2 cases exposed a lot of flaws in the court proceedings.
Dear Sakmongkol
Tengku Razaleigh’s plea for urgent action to be taken against corruption is like a desperate cry from someone shouting from a mountaintop for God’s help. It won’t be heard, and it won’t be answered. Why?
I have written before that unless we attack the nexus between money and politics, we cannot control corruption. My hypothesis is this. There is this believe – and this is borne out by recent claims of “Ketuanan Melayu” – amongst a significant portion of the Malays that this country is a Malay country, Tanah Melayu. It is not Malaysia, a country that belongs to Malaysians of all races equally. This concept of Ketuanan Melayu has nothing to do with Article 153, and the reservations of certain privileges that Article 153 talks about. Ketuanan Melayu is about racial supremacy, and it simply means that the Malay race has a position above the non-Malay Malaysians. The only way that this racial supremacy can be enforced is to ensure that the Malays are always in control of every institution of government – the army, the police, the civil service, the courts, and of course the government itself at both state and federal levels. This naturally involves racial discrimination in recruitment and promotion. Everyone can see this. By such absolute control, the so-called Malay agenda can then be pursued. Of course there are also non-Malays in government but they are merely there to play a subservient or decorative role, to carry on the pretense that this is still a multiracial country.
This Ketuanan Melayu policy is entirely the work of UMNO. To the credit of the Malays, not all believe in this regressive, despicable and discriminatory ideology. As an aside the Nazis were the last people who believed in such an ideology – the supremacy of the Aryan race; we know what that belief led to. These non-believing Malays and the non-Malays form a loose coalition to oppose UMNO and BN. The desire to stay in power at all cost to protect the “Malay interest” leads many UMNO leaders, especially those who have the power over money, land matters, procurement and contracts, to be directly involved in corruption by giving themselves (through nominees) corrupt deals or using cronies as fronts. Part of this money is channeled back into politics to maintain political structures and support at branch, division and state levels. Such money is also used for party, state and federal elections. Didn’t Dr M himself plead that UMNO should rid itself of money politics before it is destroyed by it?
This nexus is so strong now that only a clean, decent superman can undo it. But he cannot start by merely declaring war against corruption, because he would effectively be fighting his entire party and a large section of the civil service. The PM must start by ridding his party of this dangerous ideology called “Ketuanan Melayu”, and subscribing to the belief that this country’s future as a progressive democracy is best guaranteed by a two-party system, each of which can government, but naturally he would strive to produce the best set of policies that the people would support. Can anyone in UMNO do this?
on my account only a new goverment can reduce the corruption case ...look at indonesia, after suharto we see few new goverments taking over and slowly changes were made....we need to go thru the same process...other examples are phillipines, taiwan, south korea and few latin american countries....
LOL After 50 years these goons incl your goodself are crying foul over corruption. WTF!
Dato'
Yes indeed, fighting corruption is a serious undertaking.
In fact it is so serious that every 'rakyat' must be involved directly or indirectly to weed out corruption at all level.
It should start with the top level in the government, public and private sectors.
So far the achievement by MACC is of little significant.
Therefore, the press and the 'rakyat' should be given the task of ombudsmen to check and monitor corruption.
Sak,
Here is another example of Anon 6.40. This time the rebuttal given by Khalid Samad.
http://www.khalidsamad.com/2010/12/respon-pengunjung-isu-hospital-shah.html
You are right Dato' "Stupidity is not a crime", but when you buy a house at the price valued by the country's top valuation firm do you consider that is stupidity too?
Beware house buyers out there.
djoenoes
Aiyo. Any damn fool will say this charge against Khir is a sandiwara. This seems to be a charge agreed between Khir and the AG. Of course AG means UMNO. Isn't he there to protect UMNO.
Khir will be smile when he is acquitted.
This will boomerang on UMNO as a corruption-friendly institution.
I wonder weather the P.M. reads his speeches before he gives them, does he really believe that the FDI or locals are going to believe a word he says? This is the problem in Malaysia, when our politicians are living to high up in the clouds that they start believing their own bull. Don't they realise that we ground dwelling beings face the reality of the daily grind and corruption first-hand? Unbelievable!
M'sia eyeing to be top 5 in world competitiveness
Karen Arukesamy
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PUTRAJAYA (Dec 9, 2010): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak today voiced the government's determination to create a clean and graftless business environment, in pursuing the fight against corruption in the business field.
"We must establish a system where businessmen would feel that the system is fair and clean so that there is no corruption practice in the industry," he said in his keynote address at the World Anti-Corruption day celebration at the International Convention Centre here today.
Najib said businessmen should be made to feel confident that they can achieve what they need without resorting to bribery, so they would not offer to pay bribes.
Pointing to Malaysia’s 10th placing in the World Competitiveness Scoreboard this year, up from 18th place last year, he said the government's aim is for Malaysia to be in top five countries in the world next year.
He said although Malaysia ranked 21st in the Doing Business 2011 report by the World Bank for countries where it is easy to do business in the global level, there is still room for improvement.
He added that the MACC should also ensure that whistleblowers would feel safe to come forward to provide information on corruption.
He also noted that there had been cases where prosecution witnesses in graft cases have turned hostile, so cases that were deemed strong earlier had to be acquitted because the witnesses were not reliable.
"There is a bad implication if the case is brought to court and we lose. That is even worse. (So) before the case is brought to court MACC and A-G (Attorney-General) should be confident that there can be (successful) prosecution," he added.
Earlier, he stressed on the crucial role of the MACC as an independent body, saying he had never interfered in its investigations.
"Even as the government, I have never interfered with MACC's investigation. It is an independent body and as such is acts independently in playing a crucial role in combating graft in the country," he said.
"The question of cover-ups do not arise because the commission has to answer to its Operations Evaluation Board on complaints that have not been acted upon,” he pointed out.
M'sia eyeing to be top 5 in world competitiveness
Karen Arukesamy
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PUTRAJAYA (Dec 9, 2010): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak today voiced the government's determination to create a clean and graftless business environment, in pursuing the fight against corruption in the business field.
"We must establish a system where businessmen would feel that the system is fair and clean so that there is no corruption practice in the industry," he said in his keynote address at the World Anti-Corruption day celebration at the International Convention Centre here today.
Najib said businessmen should be made to feel confident that they can achieve what they need without resorting to bribery, so they would not offer to pay bribes.
Pointing to Malaysia’s 10th placing in the World Competitiveness Scoreboard this year, up from 18th place last year, he said the government's aim is for Malaysia to be in top five countries in the world next year.
He said although Malaysia ranked 21st in the Doing Business 2011 report by the World Bank for countries where it is easy to do business in the global level, there is still room for improvement.
He added that the MACC should also ensure that whistleblowers would feel safe to come forward to provide information on corruption.
He also noted that there had been cases where prosecution witnesses in graft cases have turned hostile, so cases that were deemed strong earlier had to be acquitted because the witnesses were not reliable.
"There is a bad implication if the case is brought to court and we lose. That is even worse. (So) before the case is brought to court MACC and A-G (Attorney-General) should be confident that there can be (successful) prosecution," he added.
Earlier, he stressed on the crucial role of the MACC as an independent body, saying he had never interfered in its investigations.
"Even as the government, I have never interfered with MACC's investigation. It is an independent body and as such is acts independently in playing a crucial role in combating graft in the country," he said.
"The question of cover-ups do not arise because the commission has to answer to its Operations Evaluation Board on complaints that have not been acted upon,” he pointed out.
This is a shiok sendiri statement, wonder what he's been smoking?
CART BEFORE THE HORSE?
This the the most ridiculous statement coming out of Putrajaya. Does the P.M. actually read his speech before he gives it? Are we the public or FDI supposedly so dumb to believe such claptrap? I think PutraJaya needs to come down from the clouds to the ground and smell the coffee. The lamest SHIOK SENDIRI STATEMENT EVER HEARD.
http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=54936
The Khir Toyo case is going to come back to haunt Umno. Taib srwk macam mana?
Dato'
I believe there are lots of Pahang people reading your blog. And we are asking whether you would comment on Pahang's 2011 budget and how we could increase and curb leakages in revenue.
Extending OneMalaysia's sharp take on the ketuanan melayu policy as funnel of the money-politics nexus, and noting as well that in recent weeks our Rulers as well as others have clarified that ketuanan melayu actually meant ruler sovereignty, perhaps then our Rulers can make a unified and final statement of their stand on corruption.
Since one of them has held the country's highest judiciary office before and we may reasonably expect that all judiciaries will condemn corruption, it therefore follows that any such statement will condemn corruption at the highest level. Even beyond the executive office of the present ruling coalition.
Then everyone will be able to say ketuanan melayu means sovereign-dignified incorruptibility.
One hopes no one has missed what has not been said here. (;P).
Why are we talking about past "corruption" when under our own nose the cycle continues.It may not be corruption (no one can ofcos prove that) but it is very against the principles of open tenders & transparency.
I am of course referring to Gamuda-MMC JV.After bagging the world biggest direct nego contract for the double tracking..they will now raise the bar with the RM 43 bil MRT??no other country will dare do or even consider such huge direct nego.
Call it PDP or you may have your cake...but at the end its sick,,sick,,,n it sucks.
How can our PM allow it to happen?
its not chinese,indian or malay issue...never have been.Its cronies versus the rest of us.
So forget ketuanan melayu...what we want to abolish is ketuanan crony.
And for a start..Gamuda-MMC MUST NOT BE GIVEN THE RM 43 bil on a plate (regardless of the PDP bull that they are espousing)...
Delhi Metro cost obly RM 100 mil/km including rolling stock.LRT extension cost RM 200 mil/km..and the proposed MRT is close to RM 300m/km...Allah help us.
The Govt MUST publish a list of all land deals,privatisation deals,licenses/APs and direct nego contracts given out for last 30 years with details of recipients and actual outcomes.It should be comprehensive and covering Federal & States.
Thats the first step towards moving forward to a more transparent and competitive landscape.
The Cabinet has yet to approve the Gamuda Bhd-MMC Corp Bhd joint development proposal for the mass rapid transit (MRT) system, said Gamuda group managing director Datuk Lin Yun Ling.
However, he expects the proposal, which was submitted early this year, to be approved soon.
" So so brave..preempting the Cabinet??"
Via this, the Government can have the cake and eat it while on one hand, they can transfer the project's delivery performance to the partner
" and so selfless..willing to sacrifice for us Msians.A businessman who bears the risk and willing to give away all the upside is called a "?????" "
Now would Mr Najib and his merry band of advisers see thru the haze?Remember Nr Sanusi proposal for cows to wear green tinted sun glasses in order to make the brownish grass more appetising.
The pressure subtly continues to be exerted on our Mr Najib..
>>It’s like being fully pregnant; we cannot be carrying a baby inside for beyond nine months. You must deliver,” said the Minister in the prime minister’s department,
Pure guy..the system he develop is setting up the traps.
Lets go back to basics>>>DO we need the RM 43 bil MRT ?The RM 43 bil is definitely not 8% of that EPP..as Mr Jala says >>EPPs funded by private with public providing 8% only.Here..the public funds 100%..so the headlines is just a ruse.
Do a proper cost benefit...I believe there are more pressing needs or govt capex that can give better returns to the rakyat.
PM..please don;t allow big business to set policies.Pm..please do not allow consultants to run the country.PM please help us.
We know fairly well it is a wayang Kulit show. Hey, in election they would start to trumpet they are fighting corruption...see they charge their own.
After the election... aha... you know I know.
The AGE of Internet cannot fool people lah.
Other more obvious cases did not want to pursue like those highlighted by Dato as well as the Disneyland trips.
Well this is Malaysia.. the land of opportunities ..real opportunities and friends of Queit Despair never have it sooo good. Now we talk about billions not even millions anymore.
SEe the speed they push for the MRT... wow. such huge amount must be implemented very very fast.
We know why of course. GE13. If lost no chance lah.
My opinion is in the next GE, vote for Imams,monks,samis,priests and truly religious people ( if they stand for election) or they also cannot be trusted?
There are people in Malaysia who resign, ask for transfer,pay fines the legal way because they are religious and do not want their children and grandchildren to suffer because they acquired wealth through ill-gotten gains.If there are no givers, there is no corruption.You may live a rich life from ill-gotten gains but if you believe in God Al-Mighty, you will not indulge in corruption.If there are no such persons standing for elections don't go out to vote as you are either a giver or taker of corruption in doing so.
MACC is only brave to catch poor little govt servants on petty sums @ RM10.00 - RM100.00 while they protect the Rich And Powerful. Not only they give protection, they also provide 'way-out' to these people in the event they are forced to act on them.
Good example, Khir Toyo's charge on buying/selling property below market price. Hahaha. The whole world through their reps the various embassies located in Kuala Lumpur, already know about this Govt/UMNO plot to save Khir from further shame. So they decide to charge him and provide him with full protection that he will come out as a hero. So, who's the victim here. The Justice is the victim. They will blame it on the Judges and on another tune they will proclaim that, 'see our Justice is alive'. Kah...kah...kah. The stupid kampung malays will buy this story but not the rakyat on the whole.
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