My honeymoon is over, now go catch the bees, king tells MACC chief

(FMT) – Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim today said he considers the fight against corruption as one of his reign’s top priorities.

In a Facebook post, Sultan Ibrahim said he granted an audience to Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief commissioner Azam Baki today to learn about the latest developments in the anti-graft agency.

“As I have previously stressed: my honeymoon is over, now go catch the bees,” he said, adding that corruption is the country’s biggest enemy.

Sultan Ibrahim also said that he presented Azam with honey as a symbolic gesture marking the end of his “honeymoon” period.

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Sultan Ibrahim was installed as the 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Jan 31 after the tenure of Pahang’s Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah came to an end.

The king’s audience with Azam today lasted for nearly 30 minutes.

Last Friday, Azam announced that 34 customs officers had been detained from March 11 to 25 as they were suspected of receiving more than RM4.7 million in bribes.

He said Malaysia had lost around RM2 billion in taxes to a smuggling syndicate which had operated at the KLIA Cargo terminal in Sepang since 2017 with the help of customs officers.

The syndicate was believed to be involved in smuggling tobacco, cigarettes, alcohol, health products and vehicle spare parts at the terminal.

It bribed customs officers to allow undeclared imports and goods to enter the country without inspection, with 27 people and company owners also arrested for protecting and facilitating the syndicate’s operations.