THEIR EYES ARE ON US
I read with much concern two articles from Malaysian Mirror and The Malaysian Insider. Malaysian Mirror reported HERE that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has completed its probe on allegations that the family of former Selangor mentri besar Dr Khir Toyo had visited Mickey Mouse and gang on public money. Selangor MACC director Jaapar Mahat said that the file concerning the Disneyland trips has been submitted to the Senior Federal Council for further action. Very interesting development, indeed. Please CLICK HERE to read further.
By Masterwordsmith
The second article HERE focuses on Hilary Clinton’s stand about corruption in Nigeria. I shuddered when I read the following:
Describing corruption in Nigeria as “unbelievable,” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday suggested the government’s failure to deliver basic services helped foster extremism in young people, such as the Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a US jet on Christmas.
Speaking in blunt terms at a “town hall” meeting with State Department officials, Clinton said Nigeria, Africa’s biggest energy producer and second-largest economy, “faces a threat from increasing radicalization that needs to be addressed.
“The failure of the Nigerian leadership over many years to respond to the legitimate needs of their own young people, to have a government that promoted a meritocracy, that really understood that democracy can’t just be given lip service, it has to be delivering services to the people, has meant there is a lot of alienation in that country and others,” she said.
She suggested poor governance and deteriorating living conditions made Nigeria’s disaffected young people ripe targets for militants looking for recruits to attack the West. Click HERE to read further.
Don’t the statements sound a little too close for comfort? Some may argue that Nigeria is in a totally different category from Malaysia but are we so different?
In 1997, R. Williams wrote that if corruption is a phase that countries undergo during development to reach ‘maturity’, then much of the developed countries give the impression to experience a second childhood, as corruption does not belong exclusively to developing or underdeveloped countries. Moreover, ‘corruption is a chronic condition rather than a disease of childhood’ (Williams, 1997; 136).
Corruption has long-lasting consequences on a country in many areas as it poses serious development challenges as can be seen in our country.
Politically, it undermines democracy and good governance when we see those who flout or even subvert formal processes. If it occurs in elections and/or in legislative bodies, corruption reduces accountability. Worse still, it can distort representation in policy making.
Any form of corruption in the judiciary can compromise the rule of law. If that happens, who suffers?
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