By Sim Kwang Yang

Eleven public officials from the Ministry of Youth and Sports as well as some businessmen have been charged in court for alleged corrupt practices as reported in the Auditor General’s report.

Visibly pleased during an official visit to the Anti-Corruption Agency HQ, the PM praised the management and men of the agency for their good work, and encouraged them to go after the corrupt no matter their rank and status.

Has these high-profile anti-graft cases restored the confidence of the ordinary street-wise citizens, especially those who live and work in large urban centres? Has the BN government therefore displayed their political will to rid the nation of this crippling scourge forever? The answer must be an emphatic “no”!

Even the very pro-government national daily, the New Straits Times, shares my scepticism. In an editorial that appeared on 25.10.2007 under the title “Delivering the goods”, the paper has this to say:

“As it is, while there has been a very conspicuous campaign to curb corruption, this has not been matched by public progress reports in terms of proven cases, litigations, and court hearings. In the fight against corruption, the bureaucratic preference for washing the dirty linen behind closed doors should not apply. When the seeming reluctance to do anything which can be construed as undermining the morale of the civil service is taken as an indication of the weakness of enforcement and the lack of political will, it can only reinforce the perception the anti-corruption drive has been long on rhetoric and short on delivery.”

“The public sign that the ACA is astir, building momentum and prepared to be more forthcoming about its doings bode well. Therefore, because it is the greater risk of being exposed and caught that is such a crucial element in any successful anti-corruption campaign.”

The editorial has a point. Anti-corruption cases should be highlighted in the press, until out of fear for shame, public officials will abstain from the temptation of palm-greasing at all time. But that alone is far from being effective truly in tackling the problem of graft that has sunk such deep roots into our body politics.

Strike at the root cause

The root of corruption is human greed operating freely under a cloud of bad governance and lack of transparency, starting from the very top level. Punishing mid-level civil servants while powerful politicians continue to get fabulously rich is tantamount to curing the symptoms, and not striking at the root cause of the problem. It can be seen as merely finding scapegoats for this national malaise.

In his column article entitled “Shape up, scapegoats won’t do”, that appeared in the NST on Oct 21, former president of Transparency International Malaysia president Tunku Abdul Aziz has this to say:

“Two Marine Department officers have been made scapegoats (in the Mersing Tioman ferry tragedy) and suspended pending investigation. If we think that is going to solve or transform the deeply embedded culture of impunity, then we have to think again.”

Describing the Transport Ministry as ‘dysfunctional, Tunku Abdul Aziz claims that it is not important to know how many ferries and express coaches are operating on our roads and in our waters without a valid license and a certificate of fitness.

“What is relevant to us is why the ministry has allowed this totally unacceptable state of affairs to become its management centrepiece. The implication of this public display of institutional paralysis and incompetence for the nation’s credibility are a great deal more serious than we can imagine, apart from the more immediate negative impact on the tourism-related earnings.”

Describing Malaysia as an “over-regulated and under-enforced country, he does put his finger on the heart of the matter. The more laws there are to regulate and control the life of the citizens, the greater is the opportunity for graft. The worldly-wise and cynical private citizens have long realised that for every application to the government to do any business of any sort, there is always a greedy palm begging to be greased. It is that bad.

As long as corrupt public officials are prepared to look the other way, using the mountains of regulations within their jurisdiction as weapons for what amounts to extortion for rent from the private sector, illegal businesses will continue to thrive with dire consequences.

But Tunku Abdul Aziz seems to have missed the mark when he laments that we are a first-rate nation run by third-rate bureaucrats. (I emphasise the word “seems” because Tunku Abdul Aziz cannot write on the NST as freely as I can on Malaysiakini.)The bureaucrats do more than following the example of their political masters; they work in the aura of opacity in the nation’s public life created by their political masters in the first place – like fish swimming in murky water!

Ask any citizen with a healthy dose of cynicism and access to privileged information how many federal ministers, state mentri besars, state chief ministers, state executive councillors, state ministers in Sarawak and Sabah, or any elected representative for that matter, can be described as squeaky clean like a whistle, and you will hear the sneering grunt that deafens the ear.

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