COMMENT Two headlines contradict each other. The first one was a big one headline which read, ‘I am not afraid of anyone’, in which Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak claimed that the only One he fears is Allah.

A second one is where Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, ‘divinely-appointed’ Senator Paul Low is reminded of the two empty promises that he made during the 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) 2015 in Putrajaya last September.

According to Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng, Low had promised that he would extricate the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) from the Prime Minister’s Department.

Low also claimed that there were plans to place the Auditor-General's Office under Parliament.

Empty promises or plain lies?

Those were the empty promises that were told to an international community, which - am I right to say - were never meant to be kept?

I can only say this to Lip Eng, that what Low had promised during the international conference is synonymous to a more shocking statement that he had made about transparency in the government.

I do not think there is no longer any sense of decency in the man any more. When the country is after the Malaysian Official No 1 (MO1), we have people who are enjoying an ego trip and using God’s name to justify their presence in the cabinet.

What is worse, these two promises were nothing less than lies that Low was prepared to tell an audience of probably over a thousand people at the conference, knowing that he would not be even to even move a molehill.

Low can conveniently deny making those two promises, dismissing it as Lip Eng’s own daydreams, but what matters is the state of the country that we are now in, as a result of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal which has rocked the world.

Low should know that under the present leadership which he currently serves, such initiatives would never see light at the end of the tunnel.

Instead, within the past 18 months, what have we seen? The former attorney-general, Abdul Gani Patail was unceremoniously axed, and a former deputy public prosecutor Kevin Morais was murdered. There were also other murder cases which are allegedly linked to the 1MDB scandal.

Replacing Gani, we have a new attorney-general who would have no qualms dancing with other cabinet ministers in public, and under Najib’s leadership, money politics is being done openly with no fear of punishment or discipline.

The excuses are given that the money distributed to the Umno grassroot leaders came from someone’s savings. This sounds familiar for those of us who were sceptical about one lady who had purportedly accumulated more than RM2 million over a whole lifetime to buy a diamond ring.

There is no longer shame on the faces of these people any more or the fear of Allah in their hearts.

Lies can be told without even blinking the eyes. We have seen and heard this too often that we are truly fed up with the way how Barisan Nasional leaders are behaving.

Compared to the past

Look at the MCA leader, Wee Ka Siong. When he was asked if he knew who Malaysian Official No 1 (MO1) is, he just brushed it aside.

What has Wee done for the people since becoming a cabinet minister? What has Leow Tiong Lai done to help the people? I do not even know what cabinet portfolio they are now holding.

The same with MIC leaders. I know there are several of them in the cabinet, but do not know them by their names, portfolio or even party positions.

They may not be as notorious as S Samy Vellu who often stood out like a sore thumb with comments such as “act of God”, but at least they should stand in the gap to help the people.

Cameron Highlands, for example, has been suffering from soil erosion and over development, but I am sure the MIC member of parliament hardly give any attention to it. Or else, he would have at least looked into the narrow road leading into Sungai Palas Boh Tea Plantation, which I kept highlighting in the past.

In the past, a few of the leaders were well-respected for their strong passion in certain areas. For example, Lim Ah Lek was well respected for his efforts to introduce work safety culture, and he was well-liked in his constituency.

Even former Umno leader Rafidah Aziz was respected for being an ‘Iron Lady’ who championed the local industry, bringing it to a new height. But, when Shahrizat Abdul Jalil took over as Wanita leader, things were initially good, but gradually under her leadership, things started to deteriorate.

Till today, I do not even know who the Wanita Umno leader is - and what she stands for.

‘Rot is really in the head’

As someone puts it very well, the rot is really in the head. The way a country is run depends on who the leader is, and how he runs the country.

If we are constantly told one alleged lie after another, such as the source of some RM2.6 billion finding its way into Najib’s private accounts, how can we continue to trust the people under his leadership?

Recently, Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan openly declared who MO1. But, instead of going after MO1, when the United States Department of Justice had named him as a criminal all the way through the entire scandal, what is Rahman saying?

Rahman is saying that Najib did nothing wrong, because he was not directly named in the civil suit filed by the Department of Justice. Rahman thinks that he can deceive the world, but the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is using his statement to shame Malaysia before the entire world.

Like many, I am hoping that the R.A.H.M.A.N. prophecy will come true. For once, we have to all agree and unite, and I am sure there will no longer be another fool who dare to stand up on the pedestal and declare that he is a fool, without feeling shame and embarrassment.

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