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The latest to sign ‘anti-corruption pledges’ are officers of Felda.

Are these pledges even worth the paper they are written on?

The former director general of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Abu Kassim Mohamed, had made a supposedly authoritative statement before he retired giving the message that there is actually no corruption in the country, only stupid people.

He said that very clearly in defending officers in the government and government-linked companies (GLCs) who have been paying exorbitant prices for purchases of goods and services for use by their departments and ministries.

He conveniently, for reasons best known to him, labelled the corrupted officers as ‘stupid’ and in the next breath had said that stupidity was not an offence and as such he could not charge those officers under any legal provision.

He had thus openly condoned the siphoning off of government funds (public money) by these officers. What was his motive in doing so and was he being honest to his job?

Today we have the MACC going after so many of these people and also investigating how certain other people have acquired so much wealth in a short time. It is yet to be seen how many will actually be convicted and punished. This we will know only after GE14.

When members of the public highlight certain issues, eg non-action against breaches of the laws (say building by-laws in housing schemes), the first thing the MACC asks is whether anyone had seen any money being given to the enforcement officers. If there is no evidence of money being asked for or being given, then the case does not fall within the meaning of ‘corruption’.

So people will happily sign ‘anti-corruption pledges’ knowing that their actions will not fall within the definition of ‘corruption’ and at worst would just be called ‘stupid acts’ which are not an offence under the law. There is no need to fool the public with these gimmicks. The best way to fight corruption is to sack the ‘stupid people’ and put them behind bars.

In China, they would be put before the firing squad. But Idris Jala, CEO of the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), says the government does not sack its employees, oops, its vote bank.

Another MACC officer had proposed creating a corruption-free system by having special wall clocks with anti-corruption messages. His logic was that every time the clock was looked at, the messages would prick the conscience of the persons and make them feel guilty about indulging in corruption. But first, do the people have any conscience in the first place?

School children are being taught they should not ‘ponteng’ (play truant) only when there is some material reward. There is so much euphoria about SMK Senggarang in Batu Pahat getting good attendance by giving away motorcycles and other gifts to those who mark up 100 percent attendance.

Well, very good anti-corruption education. Teach the young that you do your normal duties only when there is reward for doing so. They will carry this attitude into adult working life and we are dreaming of creating a corruption-free society.

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