Through my last three columns I argued from the testimonies of insiders that Umno is corrupt to the core and it has already been badly infected with the corruption disease. The current leadership and its corruption has become too obvious for the world to ignore and we have now hit the headlines of global newspapers, with the PM being alleged to be Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) in the case pursued by the US Justice Department (DOJ).

I then also concluded that the powerless allies of BN do not have any political will within themselves or even the moral courage to change the course of our nation’s trajectory towards a failed state because they are equally infected with the same disease. They cannot preach what they do not really practice.

Therefore, I tried to propose that we have to seek ways to move beyond corruption of the kind and quality that is witnessed in most capitalist-driven countries of the world. How then do we do this for ourselves as part and parcel of Vision 2020? It becomes Malaysia’s RM1,000 trillion question. Let me try to be arrogant enough to seek to answer my question through this column.

What is corruption?

Corruption, considered as a spiritual, moral and ethical issue, is the failure to meet some standards of expectation of value in products or services. Such products or services are defective. It is a state of missing the mark of perfection in any venture. It is a kind of deviation from perfection, or excellence, or standards.

Financial corruption is deploying financial-value resources in cash or kind towards achieving a service or value when one is undeserving of the same. The simplest for all to understand is when one is caught for speeding; and, instead of paying the fine, one is tempted to bribe one’s way without paying the full fine imposed.

The traffic enforcement officer has no real authority to overlook or offer an excuse to the offender, but some discretion is always given if there is some legitimate reason for the offence. A bribe is the most blatant form of corruption wherein the enforcement officer overlooks the offence for an illegal incentive.

Corruption appears throughout life in many ways. In the US election for president; the Democratic candidate was accused of being totally corrupt because of millions of dollars donated towards her campaign. Legally, in the US, donations are allowed with some specific guidelines. The Republican candidate, too, received donations but maybe he chose not to use them.

But surely there is a moral obligation when one knows who the givers are. To me, both sides appear corrupt.

Without good governance systems; all nation-states run the risk of serious practices of corruption. All donors make them so that they can buy influence; and, no one or no human person or organisation gives money away to political parties only for charitable reasons.

Malaysia is on the road towards abject corruption and the consequential abuse of executive power. Dr Mahathir Mohamad unfortunately left us with this powerful executive state, with an equally corrupt coalition of parties holding on to power, and the opposition has not been smart enough to make a real difference.

Therefore, what we witnessed in the last month was a determined civil society movement against all such corruption and abuse of power with through our buzz-word, Bersih; which does mean clean. This is the rakyat’s fifth time trying to argue for a clean governance system devoid of abusive power systems in Malaysia. When will they hear? Will it be before it is too late?