I agree with LCH that our new PM deserves the support of all those who are serious about treating and finally eliminating the dangerous cancer that has invaded Malaysian society.

Before corruption was based on small bribes in order to dissuade a policeman from taking action against a traffic offender but nowadays, after many years of fine-tuning and following the bad example of the ruling elite, corruption has become institutionalised in Malaysia.

Some of the factors that have contributed to corruption are:

Privatisation or I prefer the term piratisation. Multi-billion ringgit projects are dished out to a favoured few without public study and feedback or transparent tenders. Monkey see, monkey do.

Too many government departments are manned almost exclusively by a single race. This is unhealthy and encourages cover-up of wrongdoing. Twenty years ago, we could find Chinese or Indians/others in the second-highest post in government departments but they will soon be extinct.

Placing too much emphasis on the national language. Many ordinary folks do not understand proper BM and will resort to dealing with middlemen to facilitate dealings with government departments. Invariably, money changes hands as these touts want to receive faster service for their clients. Someone was asked to pay RM180 by a policeman after an accident in order to get a police report out faster. Fortunately, the person refused and got the report directly and it did not take as long as advised.

KL City Hall also has some slick operators who easily con unsuspecting motorists. This happened to me about three years ago when I turned left into a road meant only for buses. I received a summons but was advised to see someone at DBKL who would be able to reduce the compound. I met the person who told me he could reduce the fine to RM100 and so I paid him the money. He went in, settled the compound fine and gave me the official receipt. When I got back to my car, I realised the amount paid officially was RM30. The morale of the story is "Don't part with your money but pay the cashier yourself."

Our new PM is the best hope for Malaysia to become a more decent place to live. However, he is only human and needs to survive a political baptism of fire in the coming polls. He became our PM by a strange twist of fate and if we do not take advantage of this development and help ourselves, the evil cancer of corruption in our society will surely destroy us.

He deserves a strong mandate from the people to strengthen him against the forces within his own party who are resisting changes that can see a rebirth of a country strong with good morale values and where all citizens can share in the abundance that Malaysia has been blessed with. As voters, many of us have also contributed to the sorry state in which we find ourselves by supporting those who never had anybody's interest at heart except their own insatiable greed.

The new PM has shown an indication that he wants to strive on a new path, away from the cronyism and the corruption that has taken hold of many government institutions and it will be a hard and bitter struggle.

For those who have not yet decided how to vote, I suggest let's give him one chance to clear up the mess. It may take more than a single term but if we do not give him this chance, we may never get a better opportunity.