It is always amusing to read the ravings and rantings of our politicians, and then find the same reproduced by opinion writers in Malaysia's state-controlled mainstream media, whose o­nly job is to reinforce the sanctimonious humbug of their political masters.

What is the point, for example, of de facto law minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Rais Yatim, calling o­n the Anti-Corruption Agency to be more transparent when the Malaysian government has been less than transparent in nearly everything it does?

In fact, transparency is a misnomer when applied as a descriptor of the Umno-controlled government. It is a misnomer because for the most part since 1969, the Malaysian government has been overwhelming dishonest and untrustworthy.

Here is some advice to Rais Yatim and the government: clean up your act first, become a more transparent government first, become honour-bound and trustworthy first, and then maybe, just maybe, state institutions like the ACA and the Special Branch - in fact the entire police force (and the Malaysian bureaucracy) - will become more transparent as well.

But I am not holding my breath, and I am sure neither are millions of other Malaysians. We are sick and tired of the hypocrisy of our politicians, whose speeches are dutifully carried by our mainstream newspapers.

Nearly 46 years after independence, 34 years after 1969, and 22 years of the Mahathir regime, nothing has changed in terms of having an honest government. Politicians continue to serve themselves and their cronies first.

After all, Malaysia is a country that is riddled with endemic corruption, nurtured by the Umno-controlled state. Does anyone seriously expects to see fundamental changes in Malaysia any time soon, even after Mahathir's retirement?