YOURSAY | ‘Tuanku must make a strong stand that anyone, be it gov’t servants or politicians, will pay the heaviest price…’

Agong displeased with corruption, info leaks

God Helps Malaysia: Let’s face it - not only a few are corrupted but many are on the take - starting from the very top.

The big question remains - are we going to do something about it? Can we do something about it? Do we have men and women brave enough to stand against the malpractices?

Beyond that, there is no point talking or highlighting such facts, which we know has been going on for years and the corruption levels have even reached new heights.

Liew Lean Kut: Only a few are corrupt? I beg to differ - the government is corrupt to the core!

So many countries are pointing their fingers to the embezzlement of 1MDB and some bankers were jailed by other countries and yet our own country is in deep silence.

I’m embarrassed when I went to Thailand to shop and the shopkeeper laughed at our MO1 over the RM2.6 billion that went into his personal bank account.

Kim Quek: In a constitutional monarchy, the monarch’s speech at the opening of a parliamentary session is by tradition the policy speech of the ruling government.

Hence, the monarch should be saying “my government”, instead of talking as if the government is a third party.

In Malaysia, this tradition is warped, with the Agong sounding as if he is talking on behalf of himself, while in truth, the speech expresses the voice of the ruling coalition BN. This fuzzing of the line between the Agong’s own voice and BN’s voice could be deliberate.

It is to perhaps convey an impression of the Agong’s personal endorsement of those issues that BN hungers for a royal prop-up - its wrongdoings and its management failure that have drained the people’s confidence.

An example is the Agong heaping the corruption scorch only on the civil servants without mentioning the politicians, as if corrupt politicians and the mega 1MDB/RM2.6 billion disaster is a non-issue.

His condemnation of leakages of classified information also indirectly justify the government persecution of righteous whistleblowers.

Further, the Agong’s expression of confidence in BN’s ability to rescue the ringgit is another royal pacifier to the panicked citizenry.

It is high time we put a stop to this exploitation of royalty for BN’s parochial political interests, for which MPs should demand that the royal address to Parliament be reformatted to reflect its traditional role as the policy statement of the government.

Pemerhati: Indeed, in British-style parliamentary democracies - and Malaysia claims to be one of them - the monarch reads out a speech which is given to him by the ruling government.

So, what the Malaysian monarch said in Parliament was what MO1 (Malaysian Official 1) wanted him to say.

Anonymous_1424794168: Tuanku must make a strong stand that anyone, be it government servants or politicians, will pay the heaviest price if they are caught for corruption.

Anonymous_1395464675: Indeed, why blame only civil servants? What about politicians?

Ericlcc: It is a well-known fact that politicians use civil servants as a means to an end. If civil servants disobey their political masters, they get whacked.

If they obey these politicians, they also get whacked by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). It's a Catch-22 situation for them.

Doc: I am glad that the Agong is displeased with corruption among the civil servants as well as those who leak government information.

But my humble question is, "What is the solution"? I don't think the allegedly most corrupted regime that this country has ever seen is equipped to stamp out this problem.

Worldly Wise: The Agong ought to have consulted the Conference of Rulers before appointing the new auditor-general as required by the federal constitution.

This prior consultation must be announced by the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal at the time of the appointment of the new auditor-general.

Under our federal constitution, the rulers ought to function as a check and balance against abuse of power by irresponsible politicians.

Slumdog: Civil servant become frustrated and powerless to act when they see their colleagues, bosses and ministers allegedly being involved in corruption and abuse their power and find that they are getting away with it.

Their only recourse is to leak damning information to those they know will take some action.

These are features of a vibrant and robust democracy. Bad and corrupt behaviour should not be ignored and swept under the carpet.

If it shames the individual or if they become the subject of an investigation by the MACC, so be it. Whistleblowers should not be punished for revealing corruption.

BernieBaby: Leaked documents have so far been a blessing to the rakyat. If there is a crime taking place, especially within the government, I am of the opinion that it should be leaked out.

People who leak out this sort of information are national heroes.

Jaguh: Leakages are good for exposing the cheats and evil that happens in our administration. And yes, corruption must be eradicated. Let’s start from the top.

Baldev Singh: I agree, and the first step is to investigate MO1 on corruption.

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