There must be a lot of idiots in gov't

YOURSAY 'Would a thief tell you how he steal? If the chief of MACC is as stupid as this, how do we expect him to catch the thief.'

We can't charge people with stupidity, says MACC chief

YUNoAnon: Just when you think the civil service can't get any worse, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) comes out with this kind of statement.

Honestly, I do not know what to think of this statement. I am deeply angered yet feel disappointed that these are the people who runs the country. Seriously, there is no accountability and responsibility whatsoever. None.

Even if there are no provisions for "stupidity or carelessness", there is the fact that it is their responsibility, failing which, they are then to be investigated. You do not just sweep it aside and say you cannot do anything.

If you are really going to let them get away with those reasons, then the least you can do is recommend that they be removed from the position for they will just repeat this next year.

Swipenter: Just plead carelessness and stupidity if the MACC were to investigate you for graft and NFA (no further action) would taken against you since MACC confirms that they can't charge for being "stupid and careless".

Yes, you are not being "stupid and careless" to live beyond your means though, but the MACC cannot fathom how you can do that. Now who is being careless and stupid - you or MACC?

Absalom: I'm not an expert on law but it seems we are sorely in need of such a law to book public misconduct offences. Why? Because we happen to have an excess of stupidity and carelessness here.

I wonder why such a law was never enacted here (if that's true) since these lapses, wastage and abuse of public funds have been going on year in and year out for far too long.

The private sector will not stand for such excuses as ‘stupidity' or ‘carelessness'. You get sacked for lesser offences in no time. It clearly reflects the lack of willingness to act, to enforce discipline, and to spend taxpayers' money conscientiously.

Anyway, why should people care about saving government money when there is always a supplemental budget to ask for more money.

Cowboy: What MACC chief Abu Kassim Mohamad said was unacceptable. As a chief he is expected to know how to differentiate between a stupid person and someone pretending to be stupid.

Would a thief tell you how he steals? If the chief of MACC is as stupid as this, how do we expect him to catch the thief. Please just resign.

Clearwater: Have you ever heard of criminal negligence? Carelessness and stupidity when repeated often enough, and when serious enough, amounts to criminal negligence. There is plenty of this going by the annual audit report.

Anonymous_3e86: So Abu Kassim was implying there are lots of stupid people in the government departments? I totally agree with that.

But why keep stupid people under the government payroll? It's time the government get rid of useless and stupid people.

That includes some (means many in this case) BN politicians. The country can't afford to have stupid people running the country.

OMG!!: Why then was MACC so interested to observe the Umno's elections? Is MACC set up just to lend credence to Umno and nothing else?

Since it dares not touch the big sharks and does not have jurisdiction over "carelessness and stupidity" it must as well close shop instead of wasting taxpayers' money.

Anonymous #68219004: Can't charge for carelessness and stupidity? So, who's the bigger idiot in this case?

The fact we have "careless and stupid" people being in charge and approving such purchases. Isn't it clear as day that they shouldn't be there in the first place?

How they ever get to be in their position shows how rotten our standards has become. Come to think of it, it's just like a hospital where the whole place looks "nice" from the outside but inside its infested with thousands of rats running wild and nothing effective has been done eliminate these rodents.

Fernz: How about asking people to declare their assets and explaining their lifestyle?

Speechless: It is not stupidity, stupid, it is outright corruption. It is deliberately inflating prices so that the excess goes into somebody's pocket.

Victim: Funny the MACC is so tolerant of the millions possibly abused by the various government departments, attributing it to incompetence when they grilled the late DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock literally to death over RM2,000, and in the end still insisted there was something not right with DAP paying the contractor first. Talk about standards.

Geronimo: Thank you, Abu Kassim, for clearing the air. Now we can fully understand why so many Umno Baru leaders who are known to be corrupt could not be charged.

Headhunter: MACC chief, you just opened a Pandora's box. Future audit reports will see many more cases of stupidity because those who are corrupt will use this lame excuse as their cover.

By the way, shouldn't stupid people who are responsible for huge losses and waste of public resources be sacked?

Sabahan: Great, any government official buying a laptop for RM1 million can just claim stupidity and no action will be taken.

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