President of human rights NGO Just World, Chandra Muzaffar, today said that politicians who used government facilities including VIP aircraft for personal use were blatantly betraying public trust.

Without naming anyone, Chandra said that civil servants and politicians needed to possess high integrity as they were entrusted to do a job.

Speaking at the 'Enlightening Integrity and Issues Facing the Civil Service' seminar in Kuala Lumpur, he said what was more obvious today was politicians interfering in the job of civil servants and this should not happen.

“There are those who betray the trust in the instance of politicians abusing their power and using government VIP jets as their own personal vehicles.

“We, the public, are ashamed that these luxury planes are used for shopping purposes. This should not happen and this is why we must understand the difference,” said Chandra.

The Just World president also proposed that laws be formulated to bar politicians, their immediate family members and relatives from bidding  for  government-related projects.

He also pointed to human trafficking activities and the discovery of mass graves near the border of Perlis as examples of possible abuse by the civil servants who betray the trust placed in them.

“Human trafficking shows either the direct or indirect involvement of individuals who hold certain positions in the civil service especially in the enforcement agencies.

“I certainly hope there will no be cover-up and a serious investigation be done on this matter. As a Malaysian, I am ashamed of what is going on.”

'Politicians to blame'

Another speaker, former chief justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad said the biggest challenge to integrity particularly at the top levels  were none other than politicians.

He said the negative perception created by politicians had influenced integrity issues at all levels and given a bad impression to all sectors.

“They are the ones who need to change in order to correct this negative perception.

"They cannot only give lip service but must also prevent themselves from being involved in corruption, favouritism, abuse of power and being involved in questionable projects.”

“If politicians were clean, the perception of them, the government and the civil service would also have been better,” he said.

Abdul Hamid ( photo ) noted that the culture of 'political wastage and corruption' was prevalent and not limited to just Umno with political parties giving various gifts like sarong, skull caps, perfume or organising dinners and group trips overseas to win votes.

He also said the practice of putting up party flags and buntings during elections be stopped as this, he noted, was wastage.

The former CJ said values such as integrity should be inculcated from young as children more readily grasped right from wrong and may not take to corruption when adults.

"The problem today is that parents do not tell their children that what they are doing is wrong and this leads to the declining values in our community," he noted.