Thomas Fann thinks corruption is the 'Mother of all issues' in Malaysia. I think most of us would agree with his opinion.
Highlights of his excellent letter to Malaysiakini :
"Mother of all issues
But I would like to suggest that the mother of all issues should be corruption. It is about the money.
There is a saying, "The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil".
According to Transparency International, "Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It hurts everyone who depends on the integrity of people in a position of authority.
"It is more than the receiving of bribes or commission for which the person is not entitled to but it includes cronyism, nepotism, embezzlement, extortion, lobbying with inducements, laziness, incompetence, theft, pilfering, etc."
"It's stealing
Let's cut through all the chase, corruption is stealing and we are the victim.
Let us not gloss over this criminal act by using legal-sounding terms like commission, appreciation, and incentives.
It is stealing. When you use your position for private gain either in the form of money, perks, sex, discounts, pervert justice, or favour someone, it is stealing and you are a thief...."
"Perception-correction exercises
Some may live in denial and tell us that it is just a perception problem and the solution is to improve public perception by focusing on the positive news and distorting the truth.
That in itself is corruption! Let's look at the facts.
Unfortunately, it is hard to get the facts, thanks to laws that hide the facts like the Official Secrets Acts, Banking and Financial Institutions Act (Bafia) 1989, which do not promote transparency but are used to prosecute whistleblowers of corrupt practices.
Under PM Najib's administration, we have seen the passing of several progressive-sounding laws like The Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA), the Peaceful Assembly Act and the Security Offences [Special Measures] Act.
But that is all they are, nice sounding titles because there are enough provisions in them to nullify their objectives.
They are just perception-correction exercises by PM Najib, something that he is very good at.
"Scandal after scandal
You can Google for "Malaysian financial scandals" and find no shortage of articles on the topic or you can see a list at http:// list.wikia.com/wiki/List of Malaysia scandals..."
"Subsidies to IPPs
But perhaps the mother of "leaks" would be the annual subsidies which Petronas pays to Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
In June 2011, the national news agency reported that Petronas had to forgo RM133 billion in subsidies between 1997 and mid-2011 to keep gas prices low for these privately-owned IPPs.
In June 2012, Petronas' CEO Shamsul Azhar Abbas told the delegates at the World Gas Conference that it is plain wrong for Petronas to continue subsidising these IPPs, in front of PM Najib.
It is just wrong. It is corruption.
To make matters worse, now we hear that 1MDB, a strategic development company wholly owned by the government of Malaysia, has bought two of these crony-owned IPPs at inflated prices - Tanjung Energy (RM8 billion) and Genting Sanyen (RM2.3 billion).
Indeed "strategic", for these cronies, not for the rakyat..."
More:
http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/208178
I find this picture most appropriate...
Link
Highlights of his excellent letter to Malaysiakini :
"Mother of all issues
But I would like to suggest that the mother of all issues should be corruption. It is about the money.
There is a saying, "The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil".
According to Transparency International, "Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It hurts everyone who depends on the integrity of people in a position of authority.
"It is more than the receiving of bribes or commission for which the person is not entitled to but it includes cronyism, nepotism, embezzlement, extortion, lobbying with inducements, laziness, incompetence, theft, pilfering, etc."
"It's stealing
Let's cut through all the chase, corruption is stealing and we are the victim.
Let us not gloss over this criminal act by using legal-sounding terms like commission, appreciation, and incentives.
It is stealing. When you use your position for private gain either in the form of money, perks, sex, discounts, pervert justice, or favour someone, it is stealing and you are a thief...."
"Perception-correction exercises
Some may live in denial and tell us that it is just a perception problem and the solution is to improve public perception by focusing on the positive news and distorting the truth.
That in itself is corruption! Let's look at the facts.
Unfortunately, it is hard to get the facts, thanks to laws that hide the facts like the Official Secrets Acts, Banking and Financial Institutions Act (Bafia) 1989, which do not promote transparency but are used to prosecute whistleblowers of corrupt practices.
Under PM Najib's administration, we have seen the passing of several progressive-sounding laws like The Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA), the Peaceful Assembly Act and the Security Offences [Special Measures] Act.
But that is all they are, nice sounding titles because there are enough provisions in them to nullify their objectives.
They are just perception-correction exercises by PM Najib, something that he is very good at.
"Scandal after scandal
You can Google for "Malaysian financial scandals" and find no shortage of articles on the topic or you can see a list at http:// list.wikia.com/wiki/List of Malaysia scandals..."
"Subsidies to IPPs
But perhaps the mother of "leaks" would be the annual subsidies which Petronas pays to Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
In June 2011, the national news agency reported that Petronas had to forgo RM133 billion in subsidies between 1997 and mid-2011 to keep gas prices low for these privately-owned IPPs.
In June 2012, Petronas' CEO Shamsul Azhar Abbas told the delegates at the World Gas Conference that it is plain wrong for Petronas to continue subsidising these IPPs, in front of PM Najib.
It is just wrong. It is corruption.
To make matters worse, now we hear that 1MDB, a strategic development company wholly owned by the government of Malaysia, has bought two of these crony-owned IPPs at inflated prices - Tanjung Energy (RM8 billion) and Genting Sanyen (RM2.3 billion).
Indeed "strategic", for these cronies, not for the rakyat..."
More:
http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/208178
I find this picture most appropriate...
1 comment:
Marvelous…..
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