We seem helpless because the buck stops nowhere
Umar Mukhtar
Whether it is the Taman Manggis or the 1MDB or the forex fiasco, one thing is clear to everybody – the buck has to stop somewhere. The Taman Manggis land matter was mishandled otherwise a clear answer would have shut everybody up. 1MDB was full of hanky-panky, otherwise there won’t be this melodrama. The forex losses were unauthorised use of public funds for some unwise adventurism, whatever the motivation.
Who was at fault and what is his quantum of guilt can never be ascertained and can be debated until the cows come home, in some cases. I mean why did the some ministers of some countries offer to resign over something like a ferry capsizing or a terrorist attack as if they had a direct link to the sad episodes? Over here, a minister mishandling an armed assembly of “old people” that ended up killing dozens, can still sleep well at night like it’s somebody else’s watch.
Must be a strong sense of public responsibility by some public officials of the trust given to them, i.e., they doing their utmost of whatever is expected of them. Or a strong sense of a personal responsibility of a teacher organising a school trip that resulted in the loss of lives that he hanged himself. Whether it was their fault cannot really be determined but one thing for sure, they’re honourable people. Like they owed their existence to their jobs
In Malaysia, that is unheard of and never to be expected of public officials. It is almost whatever public officials here are in charge of, it is by best efforts basis only. Okay, but what if their DNAs are all over the place simply because the buck stops directly on their desks. A Chief Minister in charge of land matters not sensitive to land valuation trends, a Prime Minister who is an advisor to a state company doing funny stuff, an ex-PM who gambled with the people’s money.
It seems that when the shit hits the fan they were more preoccupied with distancing themselves from the fiasco than their own soul-searching of what if they had been more vigilant with the people’s wealth. Doesn’t matter if their involvement were beyond supervisory responsibility or even if they had a direct hand and with a criminal mens rea? The point is, wasn’t the fact they were in charge was grounds enough to merit guilt by default?
Two of them feigned total ignorance, and the egoistic one said he did that to defend the country’s currency. As comical as it seemed, the mishaps caused real pain. One seem to think he deserves bigger responsibilities in spite of the so-called juvenile oversight, one could not understand why he may be punished when others before him got away scot-free, and one simply think that the country cannot do without him. And all three had the public trust.
Alas, we never learn! Because we do not elect public officials because of their impeccable records of public trust. We elect them because of how they stand in our own fears, anger and vengeance. Otherwise how would monsters like Hitler, Mugabe and Karasdic be elected in democratic elections. Those not freely elected are already something else. But these monsters were chosen by the people. So much for democracy and human rights.
It is a vicious cycle of removing one idiot with another. But it keeps us engaged as if we really matter, as if they really matter, as if what we feel matters really matters and as if what matters really matters in the cycle of life. The truth is everyone is responsible for himself and if we elect idiots it is a reflection of ourselves, and that matters. Why do they get away with murder? Because we allow them to. Same way that they do not have to resign or fook off.
It is these fooked-up priorities that caused a lot of human sufferings. So clowns like Trump and Mohamed Sabu have a place in politics. Once in while they slip in and we deserve them.
