COMMENT Talking about the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and the mess that has allegedly already been there all these years, the mayor, Mohd Amin Nordin Abd Aziz, should be happy there is a cleaning-up by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

In fact, the current attorney-general, Apandi Ali and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak deserve the credit for appointing a new man to head the anti-graft agency.

The question is whether the dragnet cast out is just a show, or would the AG’s Chamber provide all its assistance to prosecute the corrupt officials?

Why worry, Mohd Amin?

There is a proverbial Malay saying that Mohd Amin should recall from his school days, “Siapa makan cili dia yang rasa pedas” (the one who takes the chilli will feel it).

As the mayor, Mohd Amin should be happy that after the cleaning-up of the government agency known for its huge corruption, it will boost the staff’s morale.

If not the staff’s morale, at least public confidence will return to DBKL after the allegedly corrupt culture in DBKL is being addressed thoroughly. Infusion of religious teachings in the past has never taken root with some of these corrupt ones, so let the MACC deal with them now.

God is fair. Sufficient time has been given to them to ‘bertaubat’ (repent). But some of these people think that they have the protection of politicians, and that they are safe.

What kind of staff does Mohd Amin want? Good staff who work hard yet were never promoted, or those who are allegedly corrupted and sitting in high-ranking positions?

As a member of the public, I welcome the announcement by the MACC that some 30 more DBKL officers will be called for questioning. I do not see how this is creating a mess, unless the mayor himself does not know with whom he is siding.

Where do we want to end up as a country?

The question that people like Mohd Amin and recently the Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor should ask is: “Do we want to become like Singapore and Hong Kong in Asia, or do we want to go down the path of Zimbabwe?”

Zimbabwe is a bankrupt country, but its elites are super rich, while in countries like Singapore, the people enjoy the fruits of their hard work. The standard of living is much higher in Singapore compared to Malaysia.

For half the amount of money, you can have a bowl of noodles at the hawker stalls, while in Malaysia, it has risen to RM6 in most hawker areas. The government spends money on the infrastructure and the quality of facilities provided by the contractors are much higher compared to here in Malaysia.

The people who are closing one eye to the substandard work by contractors are those who have their pockets filled with plenty of cash, while we are the ones who have to suffer.

Roads are riddled with potholes, drains are never cleaned up, and there is no supervision by the council staff. Why?

Other local councils

In fact, I would even go to the extent of urging MACC to pay attention to other local councils, especially in the major states like Selangor, Perak and Penang.

Although Selangor and Penang are under Pakatan governments, it does not mean that the civil servants have changed in attitude.

Complaints for example to the local council about the hijacking of carparks by hawker stalls will land on deaf ears. Why? Is someone getting a kickback?

The cleaning-up process requires the political will on all sides, including Pakatan leaders. It is not just the efforts by the MACC, but the entire nation.

As members of the public, we should continue to push for greater transformation of the civil service. Without this, as I told Idris Jala, there will be no transformation, and therefore, for Najib Abdul Razak to claim that his contributions, among others, include the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) is anything but laughable at the moment.

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.