I refer to the malaysiakini report Eric Chia acquitted . So another high-profile case where billions of Malaysian taxpayers' money were lost through dubious transactions has finally ended in the acquittal of the man thought responsible for Perwaja's fiascos.

When Eric Chia was brought to court on the eve of the 2004 general election, Malaysians were led to believe that our new premier then had finally take the right step in fighting corruption by the high and mighty by bringing them to justice. How wrong could they be?

Perception and reality are two different things. Finally, after a long period which spanned more than three years, Eric Chia has had his day in court and yesterday's decision of acquitting him makes the common people thinks that either the Attorney-General's Chambers lacks qualified and experience prosecutors or that the defence team was much better qualified.

Mind you there were several high-profile murder cases before this where the defence teams managed to win their cases for their clients resulting in the real killers still walking around free.

The Attorney-General's Chambers needs to be revamped by getting in good prosecution officers who are diligent in their work so that the guilty parties pay for their crime. It does not instill confidence in the public eye if more high-profile criminal cases are thrown out of the court due to poor prosecution.

As regards to the Perwaja saga, the taxpayers' money which ran into billions to keep the company afloat during their loss-making years, has vanished into thin air with no one made accountable for the mishap.

It would make a mockery of our legal system if crooks and con-men can literally siphon funds from major corporations and GLCs at their own whim and fancy without being caught. The government has got to get its act together in order to prevent such heinous white-collar crimes from happening again.