Half-truth or plain lies will be told by the high officials in this country like before to convince the ‘goblok (Indonesian term for ‘stupid’) public’ that all was above board with this project even though the initial cost estimate of RM1 billion had ballooned to more than RM4.6 billion.

The people, as always, are expected to swallow in full what the government tells them. Ever since the 80s when scandal after scandal were exposed, these high officials who abused their powers have not being caught or sent to prison for their crime against society.

The BMF scandals in Hong Kong, the MRR II ring road debacle, the Matrade building outrage, the shocking school computer lab fiasco are just the tip of the iceberg. The people who were responsible for these white collar crimes were not brought to justice to pay for their misdeeds.

Even now, we are the laughing stock of other nations when it was revealed recently that while Proton had sold its Augusta subsidiary for one euro, BMW had paid more than RM400 million to buy a division of the same company.

Billions which could have helped the poor to break out of their cycle of poverty and to build good infrastructure like schools, hospitals and other public amenities are being siphoned of by the powers-that-be and their cohort through dubious means.

If these maladies had occurred in Japan, there would be no need for a probe as the high officials or ministers concerned would have resigned immediately, taking full rap for the misdeeds. The PAC chairman’s call for a probe into the PKFZ scandal is just a whitewash to put a lid on public anger over the latest bailout by the government using scarce public funds to cover up other people’s misconduct.

Actions (or rather inaction) speak louder than words and looking at the past record, nobody will pay for PKFZ. After some time, people will forget about it and it would be business as usual for the greedy top officials and their acolytes who will raid government assets or coffers again for their own selfish needs.