A political vendetta against Lim Guan Eng
COMMENT The alleged political prosecution of Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has given his personal popularity the boost his persecutors had not envisaged.
Lim's 'crime' it seems is buying a house while in office. His enemies in trying to pin him down with corruption are denying him this basic right to buy a home available to anyone. In Singapore, the critics tried to pin a similar charge on the late Singapore former PM Lee Kuan Yew when he bought a property at a discount in his country. How ridiculous. Men in such positions will not go after peanuts if indeed they are corrupt. A trumped-up charge should at least appear credible, not an oxymoron.
If there is a lesson from the episode it is for all those who could be targets of political vendetta to act above reproach and suspicion in their private and public dealings at all times. There are conspirators waiting to pounce for the slightest reason. No one should doubt Lim was targeted because of his politics. Thousands of other buy and sell transactions above and below so-called 'market values' occur without fuss.
Some politicians will stop at nothing in their political vendettas as more household names fall by their sharpened swords.
This is politics Malaysian-style, which is making the country the new 'sick man of Asia.'
What decides market value?
A valuer's report is not sacrosanct. It is not cast in rock and can be misleading, even wrong, or worse, manipulated. In the 1980s, someone who had escaped overseas told me how he sold properties with the collusion of a valuer at inflated prices to a company he controlled and made millions. It raises questions on the veracity of market values, which at best are estimates, not definitions on price.
But to argue that market value in the real estate world is the price of the done deal will be lost among those whose minds are made up and won't be convinced by the facts. The facts of Lim's Jalan Pinhorn house purchase offer no grounds for any charge against him or the seller. It was a bona fide and arm's length deal. So why charge a transparent man who has been upfront and had cooperated with the investigators? Or is it a sad case of, "Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up"?
Everyone loves a martyr. Lim may regain some lost humility and be reminded why he is Penang chief minister. It may strengthen his resolve to be a champion for the underdogs of society against injustice and keep him in touch with ordinary people and serve them well. As they say power corrupts and it takes one of strong and impeccable character to be incorruptible in politics...
COMMENT The alleged political prosecution of Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has given his personal popularity the boost his persecutors had not envisaged.
Lim's 'crime' it seems is buying a house while in office. His enemies in trying to pin him down with corruption are denying him this basic right to buy a home available to anyone. In Singapore, the critics tried to pin a similar charge on the late Singapore former PM Lee Kuan Yew when he bought a property at a discount in his country. How ridiculous. Men in such positions will not go after peanuts if indeed they are corrupt. A trumped-up charge should at least appear credible, not an oxymoron.
If there is a lesson from the episode it is for all those who could be targets of political vendetta to act above reproach and suspicion in their private and public dealings at all times. There are conspirators waiting to pounce for the slightest reason. No one should doubt Lim was targeted because of his politics. Thousands of other buy and sell transactions above and below so-called 'market values' occur without fuss.
Some politicians will stop at nothing in their political vendettas as more household names fall by their sharpened swords.
This is politics Malaysian-style, which is making the country the new 'sick man of Asia.'
What decides market value?
A valuer's report is not sacrosanct. It is not cast in rock and can be misleading, even wrong, or worse, manipulated. In the 1980s, someone who had escaped overseas told me how he sold properties with the collusion of a valuer at inflated prices to a company he controlled and made millions. It raises questions on the veracity of market values, which at best are estimates, not definitions on price.
But to argue that market value in the real estate world is the price of the done deal will be lost among those whose minds are made up and won't be convinced by the facts. The facts of Lim's Jalan Pinhorn house purchase offer no grounds for any charge against him or the seller. It was a bona fide and arm's length deal. So why charge a transparent man who has been upfront and had cooperated with the investigators? Or is it a sad case of, "Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up"?
Everyone loves a martyr. Lim may regain some lost humility and be reminded why he is Penang chief minister. It may strengthen his resolve to be a champion for the underdogs of society against injustice and keep him in touch with ordinary people and serve them well. As they say power corrupts and it takes one of strong and impeccable character to be incorruptible in politics.
If the opposition has lost popularity, Lim's charging is a wake-up call for them to get rid of the monkey on their back, the PAS turncoats led by Abdul Hadi Awang and his unholy dalliance with their traditional enemy.
The prophet Amos said, “Unless two people agree, how can they walk together?” It is an unequal yoke that will derail the opposition alliance if the politically adulterous in their alliance, who are not only different in common purpose but dangerous in betrayal, are not separated. The Trojan Horse must be exposed and toppled and the bridge with the traitors burned because they are experts in double-cross.
The outcome of GE14 will be a forgone conclusion if the opposition does not go into red alert now and start working extremely hard to repair the broken walls, recruit more battlers, train its political pugilists in social media and map out a battle plan. Their most powerful weapon still is the public angst against corruption affecting the ruling political elite exacerbated by allegations of cover-up in the 1MDB scandal. And further opposition disunity will frustrate the public and make them more apathetic.
The cycle of abuse of power
A country's governance should not be in the hands of racketeers and profiteers. Abuse of power cannot be legitimate. In such countries, the governments eventually fall and the countries fail. Malaysia will suffer a similar fate as in Zimbabwe where the folly, greed and ego of one man destroys the nation.
Sacked politicians, once leaders are now victims of their own default. When they were in power, they worked the system as their present repressors are doing to them now. They did not talk of reform, they did not activate reform, in fact, they were also anti-reform. The police state was born. The cycle of abuse of power, corruption and political victimisation and personal vendettas festered and they will continue into the foreseeable future unless the circuit is broken.
That a 76-year-old man can get into trouble with the police for posting a picture of the country's leader in a private WhatsApp chat group makes one wonder if PM Najib Razak thinks 'lese majeste' should be legislated not to protect a country's king but the prime minister. It will be another first for the country. A Singapore comedian makes him the butt of a joke and there are urgings for the comedian to be banned. These are not what we expect from the 'world's best democracy'. They are signs of George Orwell's '1984' where Big Brother controls the people.
If the intent is to tarnish the DAP leader who set higher standards for public governance with a radical CAT - competency, accountability and transparency - approach, it has failed. The more than 3,000 in Penang who took to the streets in solidarity with Lim Guan Eng and more than RM1 million raised from public donations in 21 hours are proof the public think Lim Guan Eng is innocent.
What is on trial is a system that produces a charge against one of the country's cleanest and most transparent leaders in high office while ignoring the evidence of alleged fraud and abuses of power in the scandalous 'mother of scandals' - 1MDB. Many think Lim's charging is a tragic and reprehensible display of double-standards and mistaken use of power.
The facts in the Penang chief minister's case appear to exonerate him. In contrast, the facts in the 1MDB case offer serious grounds for charging the culpable as Singapore has done. One case has no effect on anyone, the other will cause the country billions. But why the double standards and misplaced priorities?
The acquittal of the young woman in the 'Yellow Balloon' case clearly sends the message that it is a waste of public funds and court and police resources to charge anyone for reasons of political vendetta which only undermines the government's credibility.
STEVE OH is the author of the novel ‘Tiger King of the Golden Jungle’ and composer of the musical of the same title. He believes in good governance and morally upright leaders.
