THE CICAK.com

Spare the rod and spoil the politician

By ANDREW LOH

Andrew Loh was a very naughty boy.

He would scream and shout and whack his brothers up when he was in a bad mood. He would make them cry.

But after that, his parents would use the cane and discipline him for being a bad boy. The punishment on his bottom would be very painful.

And because he feared the power of the rotan, he did not misbehave as often as he would have had there been no unpleasant consequence for it. Therefore, the punishment was an effective deterrent for his misbehaviour.

Unfortunately, the lack of such deterrents has given our politicians the license to misbehave.

Or, more accurately, such punishments have not been used on some politicians from certain parties and other selected individuals.

On 21 June, Parliament was treated to a scene right out of a soap opera.

The Malaysian Medical Council derecognised Crimea State Medical University. The controversy was at a fever pitch. MIC president Samy Vellu was quoted in MalaysiaKini.com saying that there was an ulterior motive move behind that move – “to sabotage the Indians” from becoming doctors.

There were 470 Indian, 300 Malay and 240 Chinese students studying at CSMU, according to the New Straits Times.

At one point, Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister S. G. Sothinathan (MIC) became engaged in a heated, racially sensitive debate with Deputy Health Minister Dr. Abdul Latiff bin Ahmad (UMNO) on this issue. Both politicians kept interrupting each other while trying to drive home their points. On that matter, M. Kula Segaran (DAP – Ipoh Barat) sided with Sothinathan, and insisted that the government should be more sensitive to the plight of Malaysia’s future doctors.

Amidst this chaotic scene, some Parliamentarians went up in a furore. Both stands had their own vocal supporters.

But one voice was louder than the rest.

Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department shouted, “Ya, duduk, duduk, duduk, duduk, racist, ini Ipoh Barat (referring to Kula Segaran) racist, duduk, duduk. Duduk, perkauman, perkauman, perkauman, ini perkauman, duduk, cukup…â€?

“… Duduk, perkauman, you are racist, racist, you are racist, you have got no place in this country. Malaysia tidak hendak racist, you are racist…â€?

This statement can be read from an excerpt of the Dewan Rakyat Hansard document on JeffOoi.com.

Nazri shouted, in Parliament, the words “racist” 28 times and “perkauman” 18 times.

At the end of this uproar, Sothinathan was suspended from his deputy minister’s post for three months for criticising government policy.

No action was taken against Nazri.

Compare this to situation to Deputy Minister of Internal Security Datuk Noh Omar, who is investigating DAP international secretary Ronnie Liu under the Seditions Act for his “racially-toned article.â€?

In a Bernama article, Noh Omar said that “even members of Parliament were prohibited from making statements with racial tones during meetings of the House.”

Now, if Andrew Loh were to call a fellow classmate “bas***d� or “son of a b***h� 28 and 18 times respectively, he would be suspended from school. And to top it off, Loh would have hell to pay at home.

We all know about corruption in politics.

In the past few years, a few prominent figures have been charged for corruption. Kudos to Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi for taking action against Kasitah Gaddam, former Land and Cooperative Development Minister, tycoons Eric Chia and Soh Chee Wen, and UMNO vice president Mohd Isa Abdul Samad.

But the government’s efforts to eradicate graft must not stop here. More has to be done to battle a habit so entrenched in our political culture.

In an Utusan Malaysia article on 13 Feb. 2004, Datuk Seri Rais Yatin said the Anti-Corruption Agency was investigating 18 high-profile cases, some involving ministers.

However, only Mohd Isa has since been exposed.

Perhaps, Mohd Isa is being charged to divert the public’s attention from the other 17.

And what about the countless “smaller” individuals guilty of money politics and corruption?

It is time to face the facts. Malaysia does not have a transparent, reliable and effective way to deal with corruption at all levels.

Political corruption is treated as an internal affair. Everything is dealt with secretly, behind the scenes.

Even Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak went so far as to say that cases of vote-buying in UMNO need not be referred to the Anti-Corruption Agency. Some members have also been warned that lodging such a report might lead to expulsion.

Unfortunately, the rakyat only will know of corruption cases if they are made public.

The question remains: do Malaysian citizens have a right to know which officials are under investigation for corruption?

The answer is yes.

Politicians have to remember that not only are they answerable to their respective parties; they are also accountable to the rakyat, especially those in public service. In addition, if investigations are not made public, the system is vulnerable to abuse. Hushed-up punishments might not be as appropriate and severe as what the Malaysian law demands.

However, all internal investigation agencies, the ACA included, is open to abuse. In Malaysia, the ACA is under the Prime Minister’s Department. This means that the rakyat will only know of cases if the ministry decides to make them public.

Also, the ACA does not have sufficient legal powers to conduct proactive, damning investigations against government ministers. It is but a toothless tiger.

For example, The ACA cannot force a minister, or any other person for that matter, to report all financial transactions to them. Currently, all individuals must be willing to cooperate.

Which is silly, as which corrupt person would hand over evidence to incriminate himself.

The ACA needs to be empowered to conduct reputable independent investigations. This agency could learn to emulate Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption.

That is, if the government is serious in its war against corruption.

I think it is high time that we use the cane to spank those bad boys.

Wouldn’t you agree?

—
ANDREW LOH is a staff writer for theCICAK.

He is a monstrously biased, rebellious 18-year-old who thinks that young people should rule the world, that Malaysian subtitlists should go for listening and language lessons, and that he is the third Malaysian Idol. Visit his site.