"Politicians these days would also have less of a chance to succeed if they had honesty or integrity," disclosed author of bestseller 'Unmaking of Malaysia', Ahmad Mustapha Hassan.

I suppose this could be extended to everyone in every sphere of life in the country judging from how events are turning out. But this coming from an insider is cause for concern.

Is the nation now a den of thieves and scoundrels?

Many Malaysians think so. Almost all the major public institutions are embroiled in one form of scandal or another. We have seen the leaders of the police force, the judiciary, the anti-corruption agency, and even the deputy prime minister dragged into a murder case. The Auditor-General's 2006 report reveals startling cases of dishonesty.

The Dewan Rakyat Speaker is criticised for his one-sided conducting of debate where needful and urgent issues are disallowed debate when raised by opposition politicians; the Election Commissioner tells a lie about the election date and is accused of gerrymandering; the top judge gets a royal snub and fails to extend his tenure; another head of an important police department is charged for corruption; etc.

The credibility of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is under a cloud when he threatens the rakyat not to challenge him, when he had once told the people to tell him the truth and to work with him. This is all very contradictory and confusing.

Are intelligent Malaysians supposed to keep mum because their elected servants of the people don't get their way?

Inertia towards Burma

Are Asians now a people bereft of a moral conscience if they are to be judged by the behaviour of their leaders? Is Asean a cartel of cronies functioning on the archaic and self-serving principle of consensus which makes it a political eunuch because it is incapable of reigning in a delinquent member state?

You would think so when it capitulated to the Burmese generals' objection of having UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari brief them on his visit to Burma.

Malaysian Foreign Affairs Minister Syed Hamid Albar stated: "Whatever reaction from outside, to me that doesn't matter. What matters is how it affects Asean."

That well explains the inertia toward Burma. Pragmatism and self-interests rule the day, not human rights and human decency.

Should I say I am ashamed to be Asian? God forbid. I am proud to be Asian. I am just not proud of Asean. Not every Asian will have agreed with their lack of moral and humanitarian leadership. They lost the opportunity to help the Burmese plight. Indeed bad company does corrupt good character and what good has Burma's inclusion into Asean done for it? The regional bloc has sunk to its lowest level.

Is Asean nothing more than a talk shop and business club? So far it has failed to protect the environment and all the talk-fest on the haze problem has produced no concrete solution. Each time we visit the region there is the perpetual haze and it is not our eyesight that is playing tricks - the haze has become a permanent feature of the landscape.

I should be surprised if not more Asians die a premature death or have to endure a diminished health style. Again it is the poor foreign construction labourers who are constantly exposed to the bad air, while the architects of the disaster languish in their salubrious offices or escape abroad when the haze gets bad.

The refugee problems continue to mount and there is no Asean concerted effort to allay the sufferings of our fellow Asians along the Thai-Burmese borders. Surely hospitable and caring Asians can't be that callous as to ignore the plight of the suffering? Singapore has done well to try to put the UN envoy on the agenda and perhaps it ought to take the lead in helping the refugee plight affecting countless of their suffering Asians. Did Asean even consider it?

Prosperity without conscience should not become the Asean ethos. It is a perverted notion of progress. We are our neighbours' keepers and should show a more humanitarian and compassionate approach, not one of selfish national interests often translated into the business interests of the corrupt politicians and their corrupt cronies.

What do the Burmese generals want? Money? Power? Or are they the ones that are really mad, and not the one who is exposing the judiciary scandals in Malaysia?

Dare to defy

VK Thirunama Karasu, the brother of VK Lingam, the lawyer at the centre of the judge-fixing video scandal, has done the nation proud by coming out into the open to expose a fraud upon the people. It is not an easy matter to expose a brother and it must have been hard for him. But to suggest the man is mad is itself insane. A mad man can't talk of suing for defamation. But it is morally insane to corrupt the system and course of justice.

All lovers of good governance, who honour truth and justice, and live not by the standards of an uncivilised and corrupt society can't help but speak out against the shameful moral failings of those in power who instead of leading us into a higher civilisation of high morals and justice are stepping on us to elevate themselves and exhibit their hedonistic ways. And they have the chutzpah to preach to us.

The haze is symbolic of the pervasive low moral values spreading through the region and threatening to destroy Asian values. For example, in Malaysia, even the lowest council workers moonlight while supposed to be carrying out their duties. Everyone is in for a quick buck by hook or crook. The yeast of dishonesty has worked through the culture. From the dishonest durian seller to the highest corrupt officials, indeed the aim is to exploit others for a quick and easy gain.

Columnist KJ John is right indeed. The nation is for sale.

I am not suggesting that Malaysians are more dishonest than people anywhere else. But I am suggesting that the system does not have the transparency and efficacy to bring those who rort the system to justice. Corruption enables the crooks to get away even with murder and law and order is merely a myth. This is why it is now a dangerous place and the news report of crimes Malaysians would not have imagined years ago.

If the colonials practised a policy of divide and rule, it is still very much alive today. Remove the veneer of respectability and happen to go up against the wrong people and one will see the invisible hand steer the progress of your law suit, or complaint or even a simple matter of renewing a business contract against you. Malaysians can do better than resigning themselves to a pathetic state of affairs. They still can make the difference if only they dare defy the evildoers whoever they are.

Without a critical mass of support against the abuses in society there is no hope of change. The people power that brought change to the Philippines happened only because a martyr galvanised the anger of the people and the nature of a self-cleansing society took its own course. Believe in God or not, history tells us that evildoers eventually get their just desserts. They reap what they sow. As for me it is no difficult thing for me to remind governments that are abusive that they have a higher official who watches over them.

So many years later and we see the hand of justice reaching out to the murderers of the Pol Pot regime, the surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge who butchered their people while in power. It is a terrible fate to be denounced and punished as a murderous criminal at an age where you are about to meet your maker for the real accounting. It is a warning to all evil dictators that some day they will meet justice face to face. Their sins will follow them to the grave and beyond, though the riches and power they amass will be left behind.

If Malaysians can open their eyes and vote with their head and hearts and be more proactive in their communities and not let the crooked politicians get away with murder but bring them to account, there is hope.

Then author Ahmad may then be writing a different story on the 'Remaking of Malaysia' and telling us that politicians of the day would have less of a chance to succeed if they showed any signs of dishonesty and the lack of integrity. Wouldn't that be nice?

STEVE OH believes that good governance is fundamental to progress, peace and prosperity and a nation is as strong as its willingness to honour truth, justice and righteousness and uphold the rule of law without fear or favour.