'Obviously any whistle-blowing would affect them more than anyone else because they are the ones with their hands in the cookie jar.'
Whistleblower Protection Bill fatally flawed
Sarawakian: Let's face it, given the choice, the government would not be bothered with the bill. They are doing it because of pressure from the public and instigation from the opposition.
Hence, it is only a half-hearted effort hoping that it would shut us up. Obviously any whistle-blowing would affect them more than anyone else because they are the ones with their hands in the cookie jar.
MorningSun! : Whether the policy or the bill is good is of secondary importance when you don't have a trustworthy agency to execute it. Our judicial system, MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission), Attorney-General's Chambers, the police force, etc, are all not trustworthy!
Hence, no matter how perfect the bills are and how good the policies we have, they are all good for nothing.
Dr Jacob George: As usual - this bill was hurried through perhaps for cosmetic reasons without looking at the big picture. Even the basic issues relating to witness protection or the driving agency to execute it are still blurred.
Lin Wen Quan: Another flight of fancy from BN's bag of tricks. BN is not keen in making the bill watertight because it has a closet of skeletons accumulated over the years of riding roughshod over the people.
What's another dish to the already table-full of 'goodies' to feed a gullible mass.
Yuvan: When a person decides to become a whistleblower, he puts his and his family's life to a lot of risk and danger. The government must understand that it should take 100 percent responsibility to protect and safeguard the whistleblower and his family.
It is no use having a Whistleblower Protection Bill that does not really protect the whistleblowers and their families and leaves them with a lot of uncertainty. It is the duty of all our parliamentarians to ensure that bills passed by them - including this bill - are in-depth and comprehensive, and will contribute meaningfully towards nation building.
Cherio: The bill will still protect the biggest culprits as anything that is classified an official secret cannot be revealed even if it is a murder or the purchase of submarines at exorbitant costs.
Democrat: What is worrying is Umno/BN can misused this bill to protect slanderers and liars against the opposition just like they how the abused ISA (Internal Security Act), OSA (Official Secrets Act), etc, to keep themselves in power.
Multi Racial: I salute former High Court judge Syed Ahmad Syed Idid, who stood up to do what is right. It was fortunately that all those politicians and the federal government who claim to stand against corruption did not do anything to help Syed Ahmad.
This is the type of person we should salute and respect. This is the type of person we should reward and not punish. I call upon all Malaysians to put pressure on politicians to fight for Syed Ahmad to make sure that justice is served for whistleblowers like him.
Lawyer VK Lingam and former chief justice Eusoff Chin should be punished. Don't let the story end without any happy ending. We would like to see Syed Ahmad rewarded and honoured. Please make this happen.
CP4ABOLISHMENT: I just want to say something about the relocation of whistleblowers, especially in Malaysia. Let me put it this way - if a gangster or a strongman with a lot of influence and power want to hunt down the witness, it's easy.
Peninsular Malaysia is only about 500km long and about 300km wide and there are not much places to place witnesses under that sort of protection like the ones accorded in the United States Witness Protection Program (WitPro). Even in East Malaysia there are only a few major towns where one can actually be relocated.
We have to be realistic here - feasible employment, school systems and various amenities are only available in major cities. What authorities should do is however, accord 'real' protection programmes like perhaps enhanced security programmes including the guarding or executive protection for different levels of threat.
Nil: This happens when the lawmakers are the targets of whistleblowers... What protection?
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