COMMENT | Corruption kills ambition

COMMENT | Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said corruption will weaken the nation’s economy and lower the people’s confidence and morale.

True!

However, he omitted to mention that corruption destroys jobs and robs people of their ambition.

Hardworking, determined people find that they must break out of the corrupt system to flourish. Those who want an easy life will be forced to yield and join the corrupt people.

I know a young woman who used to work at one of the public universities. She has a postgraduate degree and wants to excel in her particular field. She made enormous strides nationwide, with her knowledge, skills and experience.

There was one flaw. She refused to take part in the corrupt actions of her co-workers in her department when procuring supplies for the various sports she was managing.

Her boss was probably aware of what was going on. Either he was blind, or he was neck-deep in the corrupt acts. Her peers were embarrassed, or perhaps, furious that she refused to take part in the corruption, so they targeted her and made her working life a living hell.

Perhaps they were jealous that she was “clean” and they were tainted.

Malaysia’s loss

When bullying failed, they managed to convince her superiors to transfer her to a distant location. That tactic worked, and the stress of being separated from her children and husband affected her mental health. She resigned.

Malaysia lost a promising young woman in sports nutritional therapy while a neighbouring country has gained from her expertise.

Her corrupt co-workers are still doing what they do best, undermining the university they work for. The taxpayers, the students, the budding athletes and the faculty and university are all victims of these corrupt civil servants.

The young woman is Malay and to protect her identity, I will name her Ella.

Ella’s corrupt co-workers have probably done her a favour because she will pursue her ambition in the neighbouring country, work for higher wages, and gain more experience than her peers who are still trapped under the tempurung (shell) that she has just abandoned.

Ella refused to sacrifice her integrity and was unwilling to compromise her principles. She left her comfort zone and is now better off. She has struck a working arrangement with her new bosses to enable her to travel home to see her family every week.

So, if we were to replicate this corrupt section of the university on a national basis, what would we find? Is Ella’s situation a one-off problem? Are there more Ellas throughout Malaysia?

Too much corruption

Even if we were to jail Ella’s boss for being blind (or dense) to the corruption going on under his watch, there would not be enough jails in the country to accommodate all of the corrupt and clueless heads of departments nationwide.

Last month, Anwar talked about replacing the direct tender process with an open tender system. What happened recently with a certain transport company seemed to contradict what Anwar said about open tenders.

He said his administration had tackled smuggling syndicates perpetrated by some civil servants. Part of his anti-graft measures was to deal with various cartels with roots embedded in the civil service.

However, corruption is not just about the big organisations or whole departments, because more often than not, the effects of corruption have the greatest soul-destroying effect on the ordinary person in the street.

Corruption restricts growth. It traps the poorest people in their never-ending cycle of poverty. It stops hardworking and industrious, determined people from benefitting from what is rightfully theirs.

Corruption robs both schools and hospitals of vital funds. People with money can afford clever lawyers and accountants to find loopholes to avoid paying taxes.

Corruption undermines national security and threatens national harmony.

A ‘cancer’

You may recall the near-riots caused by the drug addict Shahrul Anuar Abdul Aziz who stole a mobile phone from vendors in Low Yat Plaza in 2015. Shopkeepers were furious that the police merely stood by and watched the Malay Mat Rempits rampaging and creating havoc in the shopping complex.

Anwar acknowledged that corruption is like a “cancer”, confirmed that it has been around for decades, and said that it was impossible for department heads not to know what was going on in their departments.

We agree.

However, we would like to know why the laws were not strictly enforced then, why whistleblowers were investigated, and why only opposition MPs were investigated in the anti-graft blitz.

Many whistleblowers lost their jobs. Others who complained about corruption would suddenly find that their contracts had been terminated.

How will refusing to promote the heads of departments who fail to report corruption in their department help in the fight against graft?

Some of us have a problem. It is difficult to take Anwar seriously when he stands shoulder to shoulder with allegedly corrupt politicians with whom he has been forced to join forces, to form his coalition government.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army, and the president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, X.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

Ambiga: MPs’ high pensions a ‘disgrace’ considering their output

MACC under Parliament: Govt to study proposal implications - PM

Low wages, poverty not cause of corruption - Azam

COMMENT | Making civil servants accountable

Act firmly against the corrupt, PM tells police