When is the Anti-Corruption Agency going to do its job? Yes, ACA managed to solve some cases involving government officials, but these have been far and few. What we in Malaysia need is an independent and strong ACA, not o­ne that is politicised like so many other supposedly independent bodies.

There are big fishes out there including those at the very top who should never be allowed to go free. We need to do something. All these rent-seeking activities, money politics and cronyism have cost us ordinary tax-paying Malaysians huge sums. Government funds, EPF and Petronas' funds have been used to prop up ailing and inefficient companies of well-connected businessmen while many of us are working our behind off trying to make a living.

Relatives of ministers, friends of politicians and even these big shots themselves whom we elect have access to lucrative public projects, enriching themselves at our expense.

Why did we build KLIA at such huge costs and the utilisation rate is o­nly 50 per cent of the target? Why did MISC (owned by Petronas) buy over Konsortium Perkapalan Bhd at huge premiums when the company incurred and subsequently was unable to repay RM1.7 billion in 1998?

How could o­ne company get the contract to build and operate an immensely important highway project without tender? How could another company get a contract for a utility project so huge that the area would be bigger than Singapore in the state of Sarawak? Why did o­ne company get the contract to build and operate rail transits in the capital without tender o­nly to fail miserably?

We seem to have forgotten about the issue of corruption and mismanagement of power in the past few years. The quick recovery of the crisis and the subsequent unfortunate incidents in 2001 till today seem to have taken our attention away. But we must not lose sight of this struggle to bring many of the guilty o­nes to justice, for without their selfish acts, we today could easily become a more developed and far richer nation than we are today.

Perhaps all it takes is a credible opposition with the right people to take over the rein and we will finally be able to prosecute the guilty o­nes.