Transparency International Malaysia's statement on corruption as the root cause of road accidents has hit the nail on the head, echoing what I have felt for many years as a citizen of Malaysia. Corruption affects the rakyat in more ways than we care to realise.

Road accidents, dirty water, bad and unhealthy air, poor public transport service, floods, depleting forest reserves, destruction on the environment from over building, falling buildings on hill slopes, and unsightly abandoned buildings which incidently are also mosquito breeding grounds.

Are trucks, lorries and busses properly inspected by the road transport department (JPJ) whenever they go in for their road tax renewal? Are they checked thoroughly for working breaks, bald tyres, emission of smoke, etc., or are they allowed to go through a handling agent outside the JPJ who would simply bring their papers in for the stamp of approval?

What about driving licences? We often hear the term 'kopi-o licence' used in reference to a person who obtained their driver's licence by palming out 'kopi-o' money (bribe). It is a pervasive problem, but unfortunately not easily proven because not always do we carry a tape recorder when stopped by the police, or when passing through immigration checkpoints, or when applying for permits. The public knows and lives with it. Will Pak Lah be able to free us from the shackles of corruption and graft?