Malaysians, not the government, are corrupt

By MT Webmaster Last updated Oct 13, 2014

As Nick Clegg said, we need to defend the values that we hold dear. But when we participate in violating and corrupting those values who are we to shout and scream? There can be no corrupt police force and corrupt local councils if society itself is not corrupt. And that corrupt society is called Malaysia. And Malaysia means YOU!

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Petra —

Today I spoke at Conference about our mission in British politics.

As liberals, we stand up for tolerance, compassion, openness and unity – the values that this party and millions of people hold so dear.

Labour won’t defend these values. They believe in making people dependant on the state.

The Tories won’t either: they made clear they will help the lucky few at the top and make poor people poorer.

We have 7 short months to tell and show people that there is a party that speaks to the decent, British values they hold. That’s us.

Our opponents claim they will deliver a fairer society. They can’t. We have a record of delivery to be proud of and a credible promise of more.

We are the only party holding firm to decent liberal values while anger and blame are on the rise. We are the only party who are economically competent and socially fair.

Our opponents will attack us, but Liberal Democrats are newcomers to Government and we are changing politics and Britain for good – and we’re not done yet.

Nick

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Sorry I have been ‘absent’ over the last few days. I have been busy with my mid-term essay plus with following our party Conference. Above is the e-mail message that our party leader sent to all the members and I thought I would share it with you.

One statement that stuck in my mind was when Nick Clegg said that Lib Dem wants to get away from the politics of blame and fear. Yes, that is the main issue here, the politics of blame and fear, the stuff that Malaysian politics is made of.

We heap blame on the other person about what ills our society and we instil fear in them. We make them very afraid and offer ourselves as that solution while most times we are actually the problem rather than the solution.

Malaysia is an extremely corrupt society. Now, notice that I used the term ‘corrupt society’ and not ‘corrupt country’ because it is society that is corrupt and not the country.

I wrote many times that one-time Deputy IGP (who became the Acting IGP when Tun Mohammed Hanif Omar took sabbatical leave), Tan Sri Mohamed Amin Osman, told me that the Malaysian police force is so corrupt that if they wanted to clean up the police force they would need to sack 97% of the police officers.

(READ HERE: The IGP must fall on his sword)

That was what the Acting IGP told me 30 years ago.

Recently, another retired and very senior police officer that dropped in for lunch in Gossip Kopitiam in Manchester complained that the Malaysian police force is so corrupt it is extremely worrying. But he really did not have any solution other than retire although he could have stayed on under contract.

A senior leader of Pakatan Rakyat told me that the Malaysian police force is not the most corrupt government agency. It is only number two most corrupt and the most corrupt agencies are the local councils. And the Pakatan Rakyat councillors are no different from the Barisan Nasional councillors whom they replaced, lamented this Pakatan Rakyat leader.

Now, this is not I talking. This is senior police officers and senior Pakatan Rakyat leaders talking. I am just relating what they told me.

So, because of this, we look for someone to blame. We blame the Barisan Nasional government. We blame the Pakatan Rakyat government. We blame the police force. We blame the local councils. We blame the New Economic Policy. We blame the Prime Minister. We blame every man and his dog except ourselves.

It is like prostitution. Would there be prostitutes if there were no clients? Brothels would not exist and prostitutes would not be able to cari makan if there were no demand for their services. Hence prostitution exists because of us, those clients who buy their services.

So why blame others? We are the ones to blame for prostitution. If we did not want their services then there would be no prostitutes, the law of supply and demand.

The same applies to corruption. If we did not commit crimes or traffic offences or if we are prepared to face the music instead of paying a bribe to get off there would be no corrupt policemen.

Malaysia is not a law-abiding society. There are many laws, too many, in fact, but we violate these laws and bribe our way out of trouble. Don’t violate the law; never mind how bad those laws may be. And if we do break the law accept the punishment instead of bribing to avoid punishment.

And if the laws are no good then repeal or amend them in Parliament or the State Assemblies. That is why we have general elections to vote lawmakers into Parliament and the State Assemblies.

Democracy is not about doing whatever we like. Democracy is about the rule of the people, people’s power, or the people deciding how they would like to be governed. And we do that by choosing our government via voting for the representatives we would like to represent us in government.

In other words, we have already decided that we want a representative form of government and we choose our representatives in a general election. So, if the system breaks down or does not work, then our representatives are the ones to blame. And we are also to blame for voting for these representatives who are not doing their job.

Did we listen to what these representatives said when they campaigned for our votes? And if we did can we remember what they said? Most times when they spoke during the election campaign they merely whacked the government and told us what is wrong with the government. They played the politics of blame and fear.

Even if they did tell us what they were going to do if they won the election we did not listen. We just wanted to listen to the mudslinging and government whacking or opposition whacking. And even if these people did tell us what they were going to do if they won the election, did they do all this when they won the election?

Actually, most of us do not know and do not care. And herein lies the problem. In fact, we try to justify their shortcomings by saying that it would be impossible for them to do what they promised unless they control the federal government.

True, some things are under federal government control. But not all are under the federal government. Some come under the powers of the state government. Yet these, too, are not being done.

For example, the federal government does not choose the local councillors. The state governments do. And if the local councils are the most corrupt Malaysian agencies is this the fault of the federal government or the state government’s fault?

And if the Malaysian police force is the second most corrupt Malaysian agency is this the fault of the police alone or also the fault of those who pay bribes to escape punishment for the crimes and offences that they commit?

Some say the reason the Malaysian police is corrupt is because they are Malay. Hong Kong used to be the most corrupt police force in the world. How many Malays work for the Hong Kong police force? There are many corrupt police forces all over the world. Are they Malay as well?

And tell me, do only Malays bribe policemen? In fact, most times the Malay policemen are segan (shy or embarrassed) of taking bribes from fellow-Malays. But they have no qualms about taking bribes from Chinese or Indians. So tell me, if the Malaysian police force is corrupt who is to blame?

Chinese and Indian coffee shops and restaurants violate the law and they bribe the local councils. What is the ratio of Malay-owned businesses compared to Chinese-Indian-owned businesses? Who owns the coffee shops and restaurants that illegally place their tables and chairs outside their shops along the kaki lima and in the car parks?

We can end or reduce bribery and corruption only as long as we refuse to perpetuate it. However, as long as there are bribe-givers there will be bribe-takers — like there will be prostitutes as long as there are people who want their services.

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK