Despite the current war against corruption, many civil society activists regret that so far none of the really big Barisan Nasional politicians have been arrested by ACA. They are still waiting for ACA to take action against, for example, Rafidah Aziz and Ling Liong Sik.

And while ex-Perwaja chief Eric Chia has been prosecuted , Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has ignored the irregular practices of state-owned investment fund Khazanah Nasional's debt-to-equity deals with Country Heights Holdings Berhad (CHHB).

This transaction, an obvious scandal, would cause Khazanah to absorb CHHB's overvalued and non-profitable assets. This exercise also does not fit into any of Khazanah's three corporate objectives of strategic, national interest and high technology.

Pak Lah should immediately stop the transaction and instruct ACA to investigate the two companies as the Feb 18 deadline approaches for the execution of the Khazanah-CHHB agreement.

Another individual that Pak lah had overlooked is Halim Ali who abused his position as the chairperson of EPF (Employees Provident Fund) in the following cases:

- For violating EPF's prudent investment practices by causing the pension fund to incur RM12 billion in paper loss in its investments in Bank Bumiputera, Renong, Time, MAS and Perwaja

- For negligently and complacently allowing the Malaysia Building Society to invest in the overpriced land and properties that caused the company to lose at least RM2 billion.

- For unethically becoming the chairperson of both EPF and Malakoff, which acted as bond subscribers and bond issuers. As a result EPF was exposed to about RM10 billion of risk bonds issued by Malakoff.

The appointment of former lord president Salleh Abas as a member of the police royal commission showed the government's recognition of his high professional, ethical and moral standard during his tenure as the head of the country's judicial system.

At the same time, it is also an acknowledgement of the wrongdoing of Dr Mahathir Mohamad's administration which unfairly impeached Salleh and caused him to lose his pension benefits.

If Pak Lah is sincere, the government should give Salleh back what he richly deserves. However, we doubt that Pak Lah would dare to instruct the police to investigate Mahathir's abuse of power in the Salleh case.