Corruption in Asean countries has made only little progress even in the light of claims that various measures have been taken to curb it.

In the Philippines, politics has turned into a big business, not only for power and prominence but also for big time money. To be in power is to be in a position to 'print money' by channelling state money into various government contracts and business deals that would finally enrich their foreign bank accounts. Approval of restricted business licences and exclusive licences and approval for acquiring state properties would mean large amount of 'grease money' and 'facilitation fees' all along the bureaucratic line of hierarchy.

A Filipino acquaintance of mine once told me that to most politicians there, not to harness the opportunity to 'make' money when you are on the 'chair' is like sleeping with a beautiful virgin and not deflowering her when she is willing and ready.

In Indonesia, "semuanya bisa di-ator tapi oncos nya mana pak " (all could be arranged for but where is the reward, sir). Corruption is taken for granted as it has been part and parcel of the popular culture there. It is said that if you by chance give more than is expected they would give you back your change. This is to emphasise the fact that it is so rampant and entrenched that even the rate is quite standardised. This partly explains as to why the poorly paid civil servants and senior army officials could lead affluent live styles in an expensive city such as Jakarta.

The Thais are more imaginative and at times could be crafty, just as the manner in which they tried to disguise the initial stage of the bird flu epidemic recently. Firstly, is the big statement that there is no such thing as corruption in Thailand, said a Thai friend. We only have levies; it is just traditional payments as a mark of respect to our authorities for their hard work. It is a matter of our culture respectful and grateful.

Most people would argue that Singapore is as white a swan when it comes to corruption. The reality is that it is not so. To be accurate and fair it must be said that government officials there are above average in terms of their honesty and transparency. In the past, however there have been cases where tycoons from Malaysia who initially dared not land at Singapore airport for business offences committed there suddenly dare to do so. This is after significant amounts of 'donations' have been made by them to one of the charitable funds or organisations there.

As regards to Malaysia, I could only cite when the country was under Dr Mahathir Mohamad. It was done in the most professional way initially. This was through proxies, both as an individual and 'local-partnership' companies or 'bumiputera-partnership' companies. These individuals and companies would act as proxies and cronies and they usually offer neither capital nor expertise. Their role basically is to funnel out money from the business that they are suppose to have gone into partnership with and secure 'free' share allocation for their principals.

Government-owned institutions were abused and ransacked to squeeze their funds for various unnecessary projects to create opportunities for more corruption and to 'unlock values'.

These so-called principals could be politically powerful personalities and their associates. One of the most well-known of these principals was known among his junior ministers as 'mine minister'. When asked why, we were told that he would claim that "this is mine, that is mine and that one too is mine." Sometimes when cornered they would say it actually belongs to Umno, the dominant component ruling party.

Some of these companies finally were able to grow their own legitimate businesses and many had been listed in the stock exchange. They nevertheless are given unequal advantage over others when it comes to securing government contracts and exclusive licences. Of course, the dominant shareholders of these companies are again the rich and powerful politicians and 'Umno'.

When too many people were involved in this scramble for personal gratifications, the game gets more rough and dirty. This was when it had been done blatantly openly in broad daylight. At this juncture Mahathir turns to polemics and rhetoric and ISA to defend his corrupt government and colleagues from being, to use his very words, "maligned" by "foreign critics and irresponsible NGOs and subsequently the law of the country".

Tycoon friends were also encouraged to abuse the due process of law by encouraging them to take legal actions wantonly when threatened by their detractors with disclosure of their irregular and corrupt practices.

The court was subsequently abused to defend corruption and to thwart competition among corrupt politicians. This also opened a new dimension of securing political loyalty and stability within the ruling party. Party members would be threatened with court action for corruption if they show signs of disloyalty or if they disclose "party secrets".

As from there onwards, corrupt practices were perpetrated without any senses of respect for the helplessly unwilling onlookers notwithstanding issues being brought up by NGOs and foreign observers At the end of the day, the net effect of this is that disloyalty among party members was contained, social and economic activist were tamed to some extent and the cash flow of the country runs dry. This is the point when Pak Lah took over the helm of the country.

It is now an open secret that the government find it difficult to meet its cash flow obligations to its contractors especially for projects under the economic stimulus package launched about a year ago .This is notwithstanding frantic efforts had been made to clear these overdue payments to the contractors for progress payments and completed works. The forthcoming election makes the situation more pressing than ever.

During the last few days, Bank Negara announced that it would be tendering for more government bonds than was expected by foreign investment banks and fund managers thereby creating some ripples in the bond market.

Pak Lah, if you are the person that God has send us to take us out from this dirty and vicious rut that, we pray and call upon all of our colleagues to give a strong and resounding support in the forthcoming elections. Some opposition representation in the parliament is still certainly needed as you and your followers too are subject to the frailties of mortal men if left undeterred.

To my colleagues, let us give Pak Lah at least a fighting chance to put things right again. Let us put aside our differences in favour of the survival of Malaysia as our 'Tanah Air Ku', the land that we stand on, and the air that we breathe; our place in the universe. Let us redeem our dignity and self-respect. Let us be much better than some of our neighbours.

Corruption only breeds more corruption and this if left unchecked would lead to decay and death of our beloved country and tradition.

As a pious man, you should remember that there is nothing that we can hide from God and please do not as the Malay proverb goes "try to hide the carcass of an elephant behind your eyelash" to your own fellow man as your predecessor had tried. We are observant and our wits and intelligence are neither to be abused nor insulted.

May God protect our country, Malaysia and our people for ever more?