YOURSAY | ‘MACC, the 'graft of unprecedented scale' title belongs to MO1.’

Graft of ‘unprecedented’ scale, MACC to haul up 30 more DBKL officers

GE14Now!: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) says that there is corruption on an unprecedented scale at the local council level.

Will the MACC also come out and state unequivocally that there is grand corruption at a massively, mind-blowing scale on the national level? Might it be that the folks further down the food chain have seen it fit to take millions because Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) is taking billions?

This is the trouble with the approach that we have in tackling corruption in this country. We are afraid to deal with the real big crooks and try to satisfy our conscience by catching the smaller ones.

The real challenge in uprooting corruption is that the kingpin must be ousted first. Once this is done, the smaller crooks would have to think twice before they attempt to steal from the country.

For as long as the big crook remains free, there will continue to arise the smaller ones.

Fair&Just: Wrong, MACC. Do not take such global infamy away from MO1. The 'graft of unprecedented scale' title belongs to MO1.

Hardboiled: Termites are a nuisance and if left unchecked will bring down the whole house. So as much as I relish in MACC finding the termites, please remember to find the nest as well.

If the subordinates were following the boss? Was the boss following a bigger boss?

Vijay47: MACC director of investigations Azam Baki, it must have been unintended openness for you to describe corruption in Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) was being at an “unprecedented scale” and you lay blame on an unnamed Datuk Seri.

The implications are indeed mind-boggling; at last count, you had focussed on 31 persons. What percentage is that of the upper management levels within DBKL? How many more will be investigated?

You then say that "the suspect did not monitor his subordinates." But he was a good officer, excellent enough to be promoted twice in a flash.

And what were you and MACC doing in the meantime - sleeping and waiting for durians to fall on your head? One simply cannot imagine the extent of the corruption if just one person chalked up a known RM15.5 million, what will the final figure be, RM6.2 billion?

Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor's response reflects the real attitude of those responsible when he seemed unable or unwilling to face the truth. Can we expect him to resign for allowing such unprecedented corruption to prevail? Yeah, sure.

Hplooi: Back before 'pimpinan melalui teladan' (pre-Mahathir Mohamad era), it was even worse. Despite giving out football-money or duit-kopi-oh, it would take years to get approval. Mahathir, to his credit, cleaned all these up, especially at the lower levels.

Unfortunately, while delivery has improved, corruption moved higher up, encouraged by political appointees who (under the mandate of the fast-track ‘ketuanan’ system created by Dr M) destroyed many of the administrative check and balance we used to have then.

Thus while our civil service at the top level used to be cited as one of the cleanest and most competent in Asean (up to 1980s), it is now allegedly one of the most corrupt, principally driven by political grandees put in charge of the civil service.

The civil service is now part of the political patronage system and its use as a political tool has become more and more blatant.

Gaji Buta: No wonder property prices are so high in Malaysia. Many units have to be given free to these kind of people. Others have to fork out more to pay these culprits. Please investigate all city/town councils and not only DBKL.

6th Generation Immigrant: Yes, surely the cost of business today is over-inflated. Takers are as guilty as the givers but almost at saturation point, and with little hope of dissipating at all, some unwilling givers succumb – after all, it’s an easier way of getting things done.

Ordinary citizens who keep the country's economic wheels running do not like the hurdles put before them, nevertheless it's sometimes necessary to shortcut real and false, but all the same, ‘imposed red tapes’.

Lionking: Success can only be measured by the number of convictions they can get. The attorney-general (AG) may not want to pursue the case as he is too busy with the Penang case.

Let's wait and see how many get convicted. This is a typical attitude - if the head is rotten, then the below-the-line behave just like the boss.

Headhunter: MACC seems to be serious this time around and we applaud them.

Developers should also be hauled in and be prosecuted too if they are working in cahoots with DBKL staff. It takes two hands to clap and they are to be blamed as much. If there's no giver, there wouldn't be any taker.

I hope the MACC will zero in on other public institutions one by one and clean up the whole system. Zero in on Putrajaya as well, for they are bound to find some really monster fish there.

For a start, go after those whose children are driving expensive cars. Well done, MACC.

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