JUSTICE Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil’s recent stinging rebuke was made at one of the worst times in Malaysian history and must ring alarm bells in every public institution here.
Karim on December 7 warned former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak that this was a court of law and not a coffee shop, after he and his bailors did not appear in court.
Najib and his team were seeking a reversal of the conviction and sentencing of seven charges on abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering.
While we have been aghast with our economic, social and political situations, it was the judiciary that made a stand on the expectation of a certain standard of decorum in our governance.
On December 8, the Court of Appeal upheld the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision on the execution of Najib’s conviction and sentencing of a 12-year jail term and RM210 million fine.
Malaysians and the audience from all over the world were a heartbeat away from justice when the Court of Appeal became the voice of the people and upheld the verdict.
The three-member bench of Karim, Datuk Has Zanah Mehat and Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera unanimously dismissed the appeal to reverse the decision.
“This is a national embarrassment…” said Karim in his judgement.
Indeed, our international image is at stake here. We must insist on our national dignity and send a clear message against corruption at every level.
The 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) probe had spanned the globe, with investigators from the US, Switzerland and Singapore all working to recoup billions of dollars belonging to Malaysian taxpayers. While Najib’s case is directly tied to Malaysia’s standing in the world, it will also affect perceptions of the Southeast Asian nation among investors.
In the last few years, we have been hammering a campaign against politicians and government corruption who have been cleverly letting themselves off the hook. We know how Malaysia has been factored in corruption. This story may become a series soon.
News has it that Hollywood is producing a political satire on the inside account of the 1MDB scandal, exposing our leadership. The story is based on the Wall Street Journal reporters Tom Wright and Bradley Hope’s bestseller, The Billion Dollar Whale, and is under the SK Global banner, which is produced by the House of Cards’ producers.
House of Cards is fiction. Our story is real.
Once upon a time, Malaysia too was a corruption-free government but such highly moralistic stories remain undocumented. This is a complete contrast to how Malaysia began.
Almost 50 years ago, Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman was so against corruption, he turned away a basket of vegetables delivered as a gift to his home. Viewed through the present corruption prism, stories of such virtue should be carved in stone in every office in Malaysia.
Karim in his judgement also said: “It is painful for me to have to sentence a man I know. I wish it were the duty of some other judge to perform that task…”
Yes, it is sad because Najib would have gone on record as one of the better prime ministers of our times had it not been for the 1MDB corruption and related scandals. He had set up the BR1M, the minimum wage, upgraded public transportation and even tried to register all Malaysia-born individuals with birth certificates.
Somewhere along the way, he took the wrong turn whilst he was influenced by the wrong people.
This is a lesson for every Malaysian leader. They should be responsible for the 32.5 million people who elected them, and hold higher ideals of impartiality when they govern. There should not be greed for money or power or for political reasons that put any moral values at stake.
Today, Malaysia faces a weak currency, skyrocketing food prices, huge foreign debts, political instability and runaway inflation. The biggest casualty is the poor. Every day, the poor are wringing their hands on how to put food on the table, pay their rents and recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
And yet with all these pressing issues, our representatives, who are supposed to bring these concerns to the recent Parliament sitting, had meandered to debates on Netflix’s content, the use of Bahasa Malaysia and even abolishing vernacular schools. These topics had taken several twists and turns and were resurrected by vested politicians.
These arguments are right now untimely and a pretentious “much ado about nothing” diversion from real issues.
Parliamentary debates, discussions and questions should be on how to address peoples’ concern with healthy and informative discourses. The people will be comforted by their matters of concern being raised and resolved.
For instance, it is really worrying that the quality of English is declining in schools and government departments. The recent parliamentary discussion was politically skewed to promote Bahasa Malaysia, pushing a Malay underprivileged child into the land of darkness with a mono-single language.
We have to ensure that no child is left behind in access to languages. While Bahasa Malaysia is important, we have to accept English as the language of international communication, the legal fraternity, the medical sciences, engineering, travel and the main language in many leading foreign universities.
I believe, at this point, we should keep language aside and focus on numbers.
While language can pretend to be something else, statistics will never lie. Where Malaysia is ranked in the dynamics of the world can be reflected with facts and figures.
Our status in Southeast Asia is pathetic. The truth is the Singapore dollar against our ringgit stands at 3.09. The IMF GDP 2021, Malaysia is lagging behind Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam – some of these people used to come by boat to seek refuge in a better Malaysia.
For the last two years, we have had a loose coalition of parties with different names but the ideology seems to be all about preserving their entitlement with outdated laws and policies.
In Karim’s judgement, we are hopeful that there is an alternate universe where truth can be presented.
Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat also stressed on the judiciary to appoint judges based on their quality, character, judicial temperament and other merits.
For good governance, our representatives should have merit and accountability. They should be questioning policies that have been a setback for all Malaysians, with statistics reflecting their failure, and suggest ways on how to mend this.
The worst disease in governance is corruption, and the only cure for us is to question it. We should not be afraid of our government. It is the government who should be afraid of us. – The Vibes, December 12, 2021
Vasanthi Ramachandran is an author, columnist and runs the NGO Helping Hands
