Mahathir on Mahathir

Che Ditto

1. There has always been corruption in Malaysia but for years after independence the scale was small. A country where corruption is rampant can never be developed. But Malaysia developed at a good rate.

2. At the time of independence Malaysia was a poor third world country. All development work was done by the government through the JKR (Public Works Department) with its own staff.

3. But as Malaysia developed rapidly the Government machinery was unable to cope with the development of infrastructure such as roads and railways, government offices and buildings and staff housing, generation of power and water supply, ports and airports, telecommunications, etc. So contracts had to be given to the private sector.

4. The contest for contracts by the private sector created opportunities for corruption. The bigger the contracts the bigger would be the amount of illegal gratification offered.

5. Then came the Prime Minister who believes in “Privatisation”. This is just another name for influencing decision on the basis of money to be gained for the decision-makers and it is no surprise that privatisation after privatisation all seems to be given to the same people within a small circle with extremely lop-sided contracts lasting for decades.

However, the political leaders in the Government were not obviously involved initially as they had used proxies.

As the contracts grew bigger the leverage and decision of the decision-makers became more valuable. Unscrupulous contractors would offer bigger and bigger amounts in order to get the contracts. It came to a stage when the decision-maker accepts higher cost in order to include his sweetener for the contract. In fact, many are aware of demands for 30% share in the project if the contracts are to be approved. Of course, proxies are used. And the gratification for getting the contracts can go into billions of Ringgit. Government had to pay more than the real cost of the project.

6. The decision makers collect lots of money. Getting proofs or evidence for cases of corruption is very difficult. No contractor would come forward to give evidence because he would be marked and his business and future contracts would be affected. Good contractors may withdraw and so do good officers. But they would never come forward to give evidence especially when their bosses and powerful people are involved. The more powerful their bosses the less would they be inclined to make reports on corruption. The Government says it will protect whistleblowers but only if the person exposed are not powerful.

7. The best way for the anti-corruption commission to act would be to audit the life-style of the suspects. Are they living within their means? If it is beyond their means a thorough investigation must be made on all sources of income of the suspect.

8.  Although the Commission is free and can investigate even the Prime Minister but an unscrupulous Prime Minister can frustrate the Commission in many ways including removing the Lord President and suspending/sacking all the supreme court judges.

Malaysian ex-Prime Minister, ex-Ministers and ex-high officials are not very highly paid but with all the perks such as housing, payment of water and electricity bills, travelling allowances, motor cars and even aeroplanes, they can have a decent life in keeping with their official status.

9.  But if their life-style is lavish, owning luxurious homes, ranches and mansions in the country and abroad including in such places as Chile or Argentina, their shopping involve buying of high priced things occupying crates and crates, their off-springs buying and collecting the most expensive cars in the world, their personal entertainment such as weddings etc very lavish and if they have money in the banks or elsewhere very much in excess of their sources of income, then it can safely be assumed that they may be in receipt of illegal gratification. The source of great wealth needs to be investigated by the authorities and institutions of the country.

10. The Inland Revenue Board was set up as an independent authority so that they can act without fear or favour. It is within their right to investigate everyone including the ex-Prime Minister, the ex-Ministers close to him and their offspring.

11. As a good Muslim he should swear on the Quran in a mosque witnessed by mosque officials and the public that he had no part to play or influence in bailing out any offspring or why after fighting for race and religion for two decades there were only three Malay-Muslims listed in the top 20 richest Malaysians in the year 2014 — of which one out of the three so accidentally happens to be his very own son which mainly does projects for a company which he was the official adviser to — while his two other sons who are also heavily involved in doing business with the govenment are all worth hundreds of millions each.

He should not try to cheat by vowing in his heart something else, and swearing aloud something else. That would be a double sin. He will go to a worse hell.