COMMENT | With the Wall Street Journal reporting recently that Jho Low will face criminal charges for wire fraud related to 1MDB, which ranks as the largest financial scandal of all time according to the Department of Justice, another nail in the coffin of Malaysia’s good standing in the global community has been hammered.

Malaysia has become the face of corruption in the world today. I don’t need to reiterate all the reasons which are clear as a sunny day to all who wish to look. Many don’t wish to acknowledge the facts, and I understand that as it damages us and as patriots we want to protect our beloved nation.

Instead of rehashing all the sordid details of Scorpene, 1MDB, SRC, and all the collateral damage that it has inflicted upon our parliamentary democracy, our institutional integrity, our rule of law, and our common citizen, I instead prefer to focus this article on the future - where do we go from here?

Believe it or not, we have the key to the future in our hands. Not just in the hands of the power elite, but in the hands of every member of the rakyat from the business tycoons to the farmer settlers. That is nothing more than your vote, and in the next general election you MUST use this weapon.

Even if you feel that the system is rigged against you, as the now-president of the world’s greatest superpower bemoaned, the force or our collective will can effect a historic change. The minute you believe this, our reality will change. Follow your heart and you will show the light of your humanity.

My message could easily be that we must punish those that have done evil deeds. But that is God’s work. Sadly, Justice is not the natural order of the Universe; it is Power. The harsh truth is that most of us living what we think are enlightened and comfortable lives are actually just free-range slaves...