Monday, March 05, 2007

Fighting Graft

No Mercy
I am happy that the Government is investigating separate cases of alleged corruption and abuse of power involving a senior civil servant and a senior politician .
It shows commitment. It shows that the government means business. No pussyfooting here.
Early last week ACA head Zulkipli Mat Noor was at the centre of allegations of corrupt practices, misuse of government facilities and sexual abuse.
The person making the allegations is former Sabah ACA chief Mohamad Ramli Manan, who has since retired.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has ordered a full probe as he views "such news as serious".
Then, coming on the heels of this were allegations of bribery involving Deputy Internal Security Minister Mohd Johari Baharum.
He was alleged to to have accepted a RM5 million in inducements for the release of three Emergency Ordinance detainess.
The government has indeed acted swiftly to investigate the allegations against Johari made anonymously to the ACA and posted on the internet.
Hmm. Very speedy action. Very serious view of these allegations.
Johari said these allegations are unfounded. They were posted in the internet, for God's sake.
Nevertheless, he is willing to be investigated.
Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said investigations will be carried out without "fear or favour".
"A criminal is still a criminal no matter who he is. We will not let him escape punishment," he remarked.

Well. Whew! I must say that I was taken quite by surprise by this sudden exposure of misuse and abuse. One after another.
I don't know whether I can take anymore of this.
That said, I am proud that the government practises what it preaches. That it is unhesitant in acting against its senior officers and political leaders.
And taking seriously allegations made anonymously in the internet.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm glowing with the promise of sufficient punishment on the
criminals, and I hope the feel good euphoria is not unwarranted.
aMiR

Anonymous said...

Am glad the authority is finally delivering on its promise to weed out corruption. Let's hope more abuses will be exposed in the days to come and positive actions taken. 3 loud cheers to the government.

Did i read correctly that this was prompted by a blogger's expose?

Anonymous said...

my gut feeling is that these investigation will continue to drag until election then they'll varnish into thin air....wanna bet? Call me cynical (not at all like Yasmin Ahmad, curtesy of NST) but i've seen too many of the same thing to have any hope for these investigation to be carried out properly.

shar101 said...

Can anybody tell me whether a copy of a police report is an 'OSA' document?

There's a copy of police report T.601419 lying around in the blogosphere.

I ain't telling where it's at just yet.

Mr. Smith said...

I am dumbfounded by your profuse praises for the government.
Or you are just being cynical!
When caught with the pants ( or sarong) down, one has to grab straws to cover up. There is no other choice.
That's the situation the government is in. It has to invstigate but let's wait for the outcome.
Anyway, I smell a rat, a big one though.
Recently, the IGP recently lamented that politicians were "interfering" with their work and about the "close one- eye syndrome".
Now, confidential police information has gotten into the two websites. How come? Why? Who is the source?
Sudddenly there are no accusations against the evil internet whistle blowers.
The anonymous webmasters are suddenly trusted and their allegations investigated in haste.

zorro said...

anon, yes I have always been cynical. Thats before bloggers came to the fore. In days of yore, in court, you have the prosecution and the defence team. Now both have to contend with bloggers. So anon, things can change and will have to change. It is a matter of our (bloggers) wills. We have to will it. We cant eat the elephant in one bite....lets start munching at the tail first. Small bites to start with. Have faith with us bloggers.Walk with us.

Anonymous said...

Kak Nur,

I hope your 'reverse psycology', if I can call it that, works.

That will be the day Kak. This country is so deeply rooted with corruption in every aspect and every department. Of course, if you ask the PM he'll say it's just a perception.

zewt said...

Quite amazing... looks like the voice of internet is getting louder. However, I do wonder which site is it that publish the news. Let's hope for a thorough investigation.

P/S: Thanks for a very intellectual comment in my blog. I know it may be a little bit irrelevant to you, thus making your presence much appreciated. After the 'Chinese' series... I will be writing about other social stuff...

NURAINA A SAMAD said...

zewt,

rocky has the website about johari in his latest posting RM5 million man part 2.

i will definitely not miss the postings in your blog.

Maverick SM said...

So many had been investigated and none was indicted. The Close One-Eye, Nazri case, Rafidah's case, and the 18 cases as declared by Rais Yatim. If Rais is a man of integrity, he should name the names. ALAS, Pak Lah said 85% was baseless and 15% not enough evidence to indict...they were not caught red-handed!

Anonymous said...

During the last General Election, the Government used the arrest of Eric Chia and Kasitah Gadam to win 90 % vote. After the election, nothing happen and many people are dismayed. This time around, the Government are using the same formula - fight corruption. Now Zulkifli dan Johari will be the pawns, may be a few others after this. Are Malaysian going to fall in the same trap ?
What about the 18 high profile cases mentioned earlier ?

Anonymous said...

Bet you a teh tarik that nothing will come out of it. They are all blind when it is one of them.

tokasid said...

Salam to NAS.

Sorry to say this: SEMUA ini WAYANG saja. All this corruption 'investigations' are wayang for the past 2 decades.

As for the 18 high profile cases- its eaither in the dustbin or eaten up by paper shredders.

GE is along the corner.Window dressing time.Feel good time. Time to blur the minds of the ever blurred rakyats. Time for someone to be the black sheep to achieve the ultimate triumph.

Tok JB- your mulut celupar to DrM nampaknya membaham diri sendiri.