One who is striving for the survival of his political career is still capable of preaching his principles of life. This seems to be the unique characteristic of Umno politicians who are well-versed in rhetoric about religion, race and nation.

Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo purposely quoted the dialogue between the great Islamic scholar Imam al-Ghazali and his disciple on matters considered to be the most closest (death), largest (desire), heaviest (mandate), lightest (negligent to pray) and sharpest (words).

One who does not evade death of course is a brave man, one who knows how to refrain from excess greediness won't be corrupted, one who values mandate is trustworthy, one who never forgets to pray is God-fearing, and one who realises the sharpness of words will never make false accusations.

Obviously, he tries to convince his foes and friends that he is a man of principle, who is God-fearing, brave, trustworthy, immune to corruption, and never resorts to wild accusations. It seems that the more one emphasises he is a man of principle, the more he is in a moral crisis.

'Everything not okay'

In just a matter of weeks, his declaration that "everything is ok" after inspecting the Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam Agricultural Park, turned out to be "everything is not ok" after the intervention of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who instructed that a series of drastic actions be immediately taken by the Selangor government, including:

  • Freezing all development projects near environmentally-sensitive areas in Selangor
  • Imposing Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) requirement for any development covering 20 ha of land and above. The current minimum is 50ha
  • Forbidding logging of trees more than six to eight inches in size
  • Reclaiming idle land set aside for development and converting it into a recreational area for the public
  • Setting up of a special technical committee comprising heads of various federal and state departments, police and Anti Corruption Agency (ACA) included
  • Bringing all errant developers, including PKNS, Restu Mantap Sdn Bhd and Dacing Kota Sdn Bhd to court and investigate the rest.

These drastic and immediate instructions and actions proved that land development and preservation of ecological system / environments are the responsibility and jurisdiction of the state government. Hence, the local authority such as the Shah Alam City Council and errant developers should not be conveniently made scapegoats in the scandal.

Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam Agricultural Park is originally a water catchment reserve. But in 1992, its status was revoked and changed to a development area. According to Khir Toyo, in order to abide by the policy of 30 percent Green Lung, the Agricultural Park was later revoked back to its original status of water catchment reserve by the Selangor government.

Shame and fear

When interviewed, former agriculture minister Sanusi Junid did not express any surprise on the encroachment of the land and the destruction of the Agricultural Park's ecological system. He only expressed shame and fear - shame over the scandal and fear that the park's land which is worth about RM3 billion would whet the avaricious appetites of interested groups.

Maybe our prime minister also has the same worry. Thus, the federal government is thinking of taking over the Agricultural Park from the state government. But the state government might have advised the Sultan of Selangor not to surrender the park.

Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Muhyiddin Yassin revealed that alternate proposals need to be arranged, so as to allow the park to be leased to the federal government for a long period or gazette it as a state agriculture reserve.

In other words, the federal government is thinking of withdrawing the mandate given to the state government to continue caring for the park. By taking over, the federal government wants to ensure there are no further encroachments of the park's land and destruction of the park's ecological system. And more importantly, to ensure that its status as a water catchment reserve is not revoked again.

The 20 cases of corruption reported previously by media activist Ahmad Lutfi Othman failed to shake Khir Toyo as menteri besar. But he might not be so invincible this time around.

I guess he knows pretty well about the hidden agenda of his political opponents behind the exposure of the park scandal, and it is undeniable that public perception of graft and corruption has been shaped. Otherwise, why the police and ACA have to be included in the special technical committee to deal with the scandal?

Prime Minister Abdullah has openly stated that he leaves it to the ACA to decide whether it is necessary for the agency to investigate Khir Toyo. In other words, the premier will not protect him.

Since the scandal has been politicised "to make me look like a culprit" as alleged by Khir Toyo, without a thorough investigation by the ACA, it is difficult to vindicate him from the perception of a culprit.

In case any proof has fallen into the hands of his political opponents, it would probably mean the end of Khir Toyo's political career as menteri besar. What a heavy price to pay by a man whose political philosophy is to make friends and not foes.