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Bashing for the suspected corrupt, corruption and the super rich
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25, 2024: If you have noticed, Malaysians have gone overdrive in social media now in bashing the corrupt and corruption, and the racist Dr Mahathir Mohamad (Dr M) and his financial ally, former finance minister Daim Zainuddin..
One cannot blame Malaysians for being angry as the majority are struggling daily to put food on the table for their loved ones.
Both domestic and global economies are sluggish but Malaysia is further weighed down by its RM1.5 trillion national debt - no thanks to the corrupt and previous federal governments (elected every five years).
The above image was found on Facebook and it sure makes Malaysians even angrier.
Imagine, all the ill gotten-gains by the corrupt, stashed in overseas financial institutions, could settle the country’s debts if brought back home?
Whether the message in the image is accurate or not,fighting corruption is critical for Malaysia to survive … the war on corruption must be fought and won now or else it will be too late for all.
No News Is Bad News reproduces below two articles posted today in social media on corruption and Dr M:
War on corruption: Open letter to PM
25ThursdayJan 2024
Posted by Dennis Ignatius in corruption, Malaysia, Politics
Anwar Ibrahim, Daim Zainuddin, MACC, Pandora Papers, unexplained wealth
Dear Prime Minister,
You recently pleaded with the citizens of Malaysia to support your efforts to fight corruption and bring to book all those who are corrupt no matter who they are.
You should know that the vast majority of Malaysians are thrilled that we finally have a PM who has made fighting corruption the centrepiece of his administration. Malaysians don’t need to be reminded about how those in positions of power have long plundered the nation with impunity, impoverishing us all by their greed and thievery. Nothing would please Malaysians more than to see every last one of those crooks – Tuns and all – behind bars if they are found guilty by the courts.
So, Prime Minister, rest assured that you have the full support of every decent and law-abiding Malaysian.
But even as we cheer you on in your crusade against corruption, there are worrying signs that your campaign against corruption is not what it appears to be. It’s beginning to look like just another cynical move to take down your political opponents.
Is it mere coincidence, for example, that most of those currently under investigation are your political adversaries? Is it mere coincidence that your political allies who have been charged with corruption are being let off the hook one by one? There seems to be an unofficial rule of thumb – DNAA for your friends and allies, MACC for your political enemies.
It is no secret that there are tons of corrupt politicians, past and present, along with their cronies who have amassed huge fortunes under suspect circumstances. Not a few were even mentioned in the Pandora Papers. Why haven’t they been served with a demand to explain their wealth as was done in the case of Daim’s family?
You also do the fight against corruption a disservice when you personalise and politicise the whole issue – bragging about how you intend to take down powerful people who also happen to be your political adversaries. Do you have the same courage and conviction when it comes to investigating the unexplained wealth of your own supporters?
As a politician, it’s not your job to say who should be investigated; if there’s evidence, the MACC – if it’s truly independent – should act without having to be told. By politicizing the war on corruption, you have turned the whole issue into a circus.
It has not gone unnoticed as well that under your administration, the MACC has taken to digging up cases from long ago while ignoring cases that are right under its nose. What has become, for example, of the LCS case which you were once very vocal about? Could inaction on the case be because some of those responsible for the fiasco might now be part of your administration?
It is also telling that you chose to extend the tenure of Azam Baki as head of MACC despite questions about both his integrity and impartiality. Under his leadership, the MACC has come to be viewed as nothing more than a political tool to whoever is in power. Daim, for example, didn’t become rich overnight; was the MACC unaware of his wealth until you came to power?
Why retain such a figure unless you – like others before you – simply want someone pliable in that position, someone who will do your bidding.
If you seriously want to unite the nation behind you in fighting corruption, build a better MACC – independent, credible and fireproofed against all political interference – and then get out of the way and let them do their work without fear or favour. Respect the system, don’t play favourites; let those who are guilty, friend or foe alike, face the full force of the law. That’s how the system is supposed to work in a democracy.
Prime Minister, as you yourself noted on several occasions, our nation is at a critical juncture in the fight against corruption. What you do will either damn us or set us free from the scourge of corruption. Do the right thing and you will have the undying gratitude of all Malaysians.
Sincerely,
Dennis Ignatius
A meeting place to exchange views, no matter how different or diverse these may be. Keeping these civil and courteous would be appreciated
Thursday, January 25, 2024
Dr M's ideas continue to define this country
Dr M's ideas continue to define this country
Published: Jan 25, 2024 10:30 AM
“An idea is like a virus, resilient, highly contagious. The smallest seed of an idea can grow. It can grow to define or destroy you.”
– Cobb (Inception)
COMMENT | I do not know if former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad will be “erased” from our political landscape.
However, I do know that his ideas will continue to define the direction of this country until we either lurch into a theocratic state or a group of political operatives coalesce and reject those ideas that serve as the first principles of the “ketuanan” state.
Non-Malays can point to the old maverick and claim that he is all that is wrong with the country but your average Malay (who in some cases has a vote that carries more weight), owes it all to the former prime minister.
Mahathir gave them everything. He taught them how to think, how to maintain power and how to use legislation to curb dissent.
The fact that he is now in the crosshairs of his political adversaries, with an attorney-general who has been heavily criticised, a MACC which has been heavily criticised and a segment of the voting polity baying for his blood, should tell us that his lessons have been sublimated by the political elites and their followers in this country.
These totalitarian ideas of his - dressed up as economic, social and educational assistance for the community he has shown great contempt for, are the founding ideas of the “ketuanan” state and will continue until we eventually reach our destination of a theocratic state.
Mahathir was also adept at corralling non-Malay support for his odious ideas.
For decades, he made it seem that the choice of BN was the lesser of two evils, leveraging non-Malay anxiety to nurture an economic, political and social elite Malay class and creating a Malay middle class who were for the most part narcotised by religious and racial propaganda.
He can rightfully take credit for creating the Malay middle class and he can take credit for creating “Malay” citizens whose geographical location and religious leaning made it easier for them to assimilate into the Umno body politics.
Of course, these days he demurs but reality and history say otherwise.
When Mahathir came into power again with Pakatan Harapan, the same old games were being played.
We now know that poor Lim Guan Eng did not really have much say, like most of the MCA did back in the day and it was all about giving the majority community more than the minority communities and enabling Chinese plutocrats.
"We still have to give them, but what we gave to them was very small (compared to what the Malays got). But we could not say it then, because then the Chinese would be angry.” He said in an interview with Malaysiakini.
He also told Malaysiakini that the “…DAP leaders also accepted a new government policy that was slanted towards helping the Malays.”
Mahathir's ideas of power-sharing - the first ingredient spook the non-Malays and the second ingredient makes them pliable to Malay supremacy to maintain political power as defined by the non-existent social contract, which is still in play today.
Why do you think the DAP is as quiet as a church mouse? Not only have they got to contend with the remnants of Umno clinging to power, but they also have to ensure that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is not the progressive Malay leader that Perikatan Nasional characterises him as.
‘DAP’s pledge to Anwar’
Remember the words of DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke - “So I wish to put on record, as I said just now, on Nov 22, before Anwar went to Istana Negara, I told Anwar, as long as you can be prime minister, DAP is willing to sacrifice anything, that is my commitment to Anwar.”
See that right there? Those are the magic phrases of the old maverick’s sick idea and what is happening today? The non-Malays are so afraid of the “Green Wave” that the Madani government is left unchecked to carry out policies that enable the ideas of PAS.
This is exactly what happened during Mahathir’s long watch. He allowed the Islamic bureaucracy to come into its own, establishing a state interpretation of religion which further eroded the secular and democratic norms of this country.
This is not to say that all of Mahathir's ideas were necessarily bad for the country even if they were self-serving. When Mahathir went up against the royal institution back in the day, he used the instruments of the state to make his case.
As reported by the Independent - “In the meantime, the government is waging all-out war on the rulers.
“Civil servants have been told to seek the prime minister's permission before seeing the king, state governments are under orders to refuse business favours to their rulers.
“For the past month, page two of the government-controlled New Straits Times has been devoted to the sultans’ excesses - how Sultan Ismail Petra of Kelantan, for example, imported 30 duty-free luxury cars rather than the seven allowed and how he got away from Customs officials in a Lamborghini Diablo on the pretext of test-driving it.
“The RM200 million cost of maintaining the rulers has been lavishly detailed, including the hospital wards kept for their exclusive use, and the RM9.3 million spent on new cutlery and bedspreads for the king, which the newspaper said could have built two hospitals or 46 rural clinics, or 46 primary schools.
“Religious teachers have been encouraged to comment on the un-Islamic behaviour of the supposed guardians of Islam.”
And yet these days, we actually have people who think that it is the job of the royalty to constrain political power.
You can bet your last ringgit that the political class will latch on to this as a means to stifle dissent and legitimate criticism, which is exactly the kind of ideas Mahathir promulgated back in the day when it came to manipulating the royalty.
Keep in mind the political and economic malfeasances going on during the trial of Najib Abdul Razak which were either ignored or underreported.
Why, because a large component of Mahathir's policy ideas and political manoeuvrings are based on bread and circuses. Distract the population while we pick a pocket or two.
The same thing is happening now. We have an AG who has come under severe criticism for the way how he and his department are handling cases but all this is forgotten because Daim Zainuddin and Mahathir are in his crosshairs.
Mahathir knows that the only way his ideas would ever be repudiated is by the reform and dismantling of the system he created. He knows that this will probably never happen.
It is cold comfort that it is his ideas and the system he created which are now being used against him.
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
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