LETTER | When Umno was finally defeated in the recent general election, one would have expected that the members had learnt a lesson that being greedy and arrogant was not the way to go.

However, obviously, that does not seem to be the case as the greed that lies within was clearly demonstrated recently with regards to the money seized from Najib Abdul Razak’s house.

I am sure, like many other Malaysians out there, I was equally shocked and taken aback when I read that Umno had requested the police to return the money, claiming it was part of their campaign funds.

The party’s strategic communications unit claimed that the funds were obtained from donations for GE14, and are also meant for Umno's management.

It is both shameful and disgusting for Umno to come forward with such a claim.

From this act of greed, one can clearly conclude that Umno has not shown any remorse whatsoever and obviously has not changed one bit.

At the very least, the party could have asked the police to investigate the source of the money and whether it was legitimate or not. If the money was truly donated for the party, then who are the donors and why did they make such huge donations. Was the money given in return for certain projects awarded to them?

If you talk about transparency, then these are questions the rakyat want answering. If the donations were really for use by the party, then I am sure every Malaysian wants to know why it was stashed away in bags?

Why was the money kept at someone’s house who has nothing to do with Umno? Why was the money not deposited into Umno’s account and reflected in its statements?

Come clean on all these issues if you ever want the rakyat to believe in you again. All that can be seen from this is that Umno is still greedy and is far from coming clean and starting with a new slate.

Furthermore, if the money was genuinely collected as part of its election funds, then why not offer to donate all of it, or at least half of it to charity as the election is over and Umno no longer needs this surplus money meant for the election. Or maybe, Umno should do the rightful thing and return the money to the donors, if there’s are any such donors.

One thing that Malaysians have grown to hate over the years are liars, arrogance and greed. Unfortunately, these are the traits which Umno seems to promote.

There are still many good apples in Umno and it is time for them to shine. Please get rid of those out to manipulate and abuse the party for their personal interests. Learn from mistakes from the past and stop continuing with the old ways.

The rakyat is no longer as naïve and ignorant as they were and are not afraid of speaking up anymore. What we want now is an honest, caring and transparent government who is willing to work for the betterment of the nation. No more lies and deceit.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.