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Anti-corruption plan just a camouflage?
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LETTER | Dear Prime Minister,

Set out in the Parameters of the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) which you launched on Jan 29 with great promises, it states clearly and boldly that integrity is the ultimate cure of corruption and forms the nucleus of governance and both are the twin solutions to corruption in the country.

The plan also states, reproduced herein verbatim:

“[...] for the purpose of the NACP, given that integrity, is recognised as a human issue, governance extended to also encompass, the human dimension as reflected in the principle of human governance. The premise that undergirds human governance is that once humans actualise human governance, they are in touch with their inner self and consciousness, resulting in the natural compliance with rules and observation of the mechanism, processes and procedures. The formulation of the parameters for the NACP is thus based on integrity and governance as being underpinned by this reality.”

Events that transpired since the launching, however, now seems to point towards the plan becoming a “black swan” – a metaphor for a policy that is to be talked and hyped about but does not have much impact on anything.

First to the surface were several politicians from your ruling coalition with their academic qualifications being questioned. To get ahead of the competition, they became part of your government. Thus, before they joined your government, these same people already lacked or had zero integrity when they can go to the length or extreme of seeking something that is morally and unethically incorrect so that they can get and stay ahead of others.

Ten to 15 years ago, peddlers of these qualifications were doing roaring business in Malaysia and the reasoning they have this mills located in the mid-West of the US is that if the prospective employer were to check your credentials, the time difference of easily more than 12 hours would have prevented them from seeking a quick clarification. That was before Google became the in thing.

Thirdly was when the menteri besar of a state ruled by Pakatan Harapan was caught lying outright about his alma mater. He confidently said he will leave it to the members of the public to judge and check his academic credential from Down Under.

When he was caught lying, he just went silent. His integrity and capability is now seriously questioned when on Feb 11, he clarified in a press conference that the award of the Sri Kledang land of 400 hectares was made based on the experience of the directors of the company and not based on the track record of the company.

If he is to continue helming that particular state, Harapan might as well throw away or ignore the NACP that you launched.

Lastly was when you presented certificates of membership to seven MPs from BN. You reasoned if you look into the past of everyone, you will not be able to appoint anybody because all have made mistakes in the past. It is what they are now that counts.

When asked if you were concerned that the new members may jump back to Umno should things go awry, you said you yourself would leave Harapan if the coalition strays from its objective of serving the people.

Dear PM, when I voted for Harapan on May 9, I subscribed and agreed to their platform. I did not vote for BN because I did not believe in their platform. Similarly, in the run-up to the May 9 polls, these seven members were representing BN and in their campaign, they were criticising Harapan’s platform to the extent a lot of unsavoury things were mentioned.

Now post-May 9, I don’t see BN changed. Their strategies and the platform they campaigned on for the few recent by-elections were the same as what they campaigned and promised in the run-up to May 9.

Based on your reasoning, BN did not stray from its objectives. It is these seven members who strayed. Their objective is, by hook or by crook, they must stay on the winning side and not on the opposite side.

As you are well aware, the root of integrity is about doing the right thing. These ex-BN MPs were not doing the right thing. They were doing the right thing for themselves only. An individual with integrity is the antidote to self-interest.

If these are the politicians that we have governing our country, do you honestly really believe that a proposed revamp in the education system would do its job of teaching our children the pure ideals of integrity?

Within a week of you launching your cherished plan to eradicate corruption, you and your administration have already shown everything was just lip service and the plan launched was camouflage to satisfy the public. Indeed sad.


The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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