The Cynical Sceptic

I admit to being a cynic and a sceptic when the MACC first came to being.

The “Old wine in new bottle”; “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” (in a negative way, of course) kind of sentiments.

It was unfortunate for a body of (should-have-been-respected) professionals to be perceived by some as partisan, something which readers of the Sun (by far one of the “bravest” mainstream newspapers) could probably attest to.

Exposes of alleged corrupt practices in the said Daily remain just that with little breakthrough in terms of prosecution, and this void somewhat enhances those with perception of partisanship on the part of the then ACA and now MACC.

Recent headlines involving ruling party personalities however have certainly provided some promise to eradicate these allegations of partiality on the MACC’s part.

The latest must surely be: “Norza pleads not guilty to two graft charges.”

The fact that he is an Umno Supreme Council member would raise some eyebrows, though perhaps not by much when you read the charge itself, especially with regards the sum allegedly involved.

In two words: chicken feed.

Juicier yet are those headlines regarding Tourism Minister Azalina Othman Said.

"..overzealous officials who said the wrong things" notwithstanding, we wait with bated breath to see where these investigations will take us.

Uncannily, both cases are in relations to the upcoming Umno elections, so the cynical would be less than enthusiastic that these are signs in how things are going to be for the MACC.

There are tonnes of allegations flying around, and going by the number of reports, the MACC is probably swamped with cases to investigate.

Party money politics – to my mind – should be the least of the MACC’s concerns.
Let the political parties deal with their own problems as the MACC has enough on their plate as it is.

If I am not mistaken, each political party have enough means to tackle such shenanigans.

Furthermore, the less than righteous in politics should have their retribution the political way: ie. Voted out in disgrace.

Of course, this would only happen if we are to assume that a majority of the voting members (country, party – doesn’t matter really) are the rational, corruption hating individuals that they should be.

Whatever the case, this should e the mechanism to handle money politics, and naturally we beget what we sow.

A nation full of corrupt practices condoning folks will thus get corrupt leaders.

Back to MACC.

Allegations of corruption are by far the most difficult to prove especially since it operates on a tit for tat basis: the tit gives and the tat receives; both would be in the wrong and blemished characters never make good witnesses.

To be truly the great anti corruptor that it needs to be, the MACC has to put the fear of its wrath into all of the corrupt.

Going after the so-called big fishes would be a definite fear inducer to the smaller, less significant ones: if the big guys up there “can kena”, what hope are there for the chicken feeds to get scot free?

Frank Miller’s excellent Batman: Year One tackles this particular theme nicely.

DC Comics Batman Year One, David Mazzuchelli's art