This February 8th would have been the Tunku’s 119th birthday. The Tunku who passed away in December 1990 is, for most of us, the greatest Malaysian. He was a statesman of great wisdom, nobility of character, charm, compassion, diplomacy, simplicity, the highest integrity and he contributed greatly to advancing the national interest by expanding the country to form Malaysia. He prioritised national unity and harmony and regarded and treated all as equal..
The sad thing is that very few people, especially of the younger generation seem to know much about the Father of our Nation. His powerful critics have long dominated our national narrative to the extent he has been rendered somewhat obscure, more a historical figure than a great leader that inspired and moved the country to attain the greatest heights. He was the worthy successor of another great man, Dato Onn bin Jaafar, lamentably another much forgotten figure.
In the Tunku’s time Malaysia was the most promising country in Asia in spite of its many teething problems, an internal insurgency, a byproduct of a divide-and rule colonial legacy and a relatively high level of poverty especially in the rural areas. He could claim he was the happiest prime minister in the world. He had, he believed, a first rate cabinet which included the two Rahman brothers, Sulaiman and Dr Ismail, Sambanthan and Tan Siew Sin. There was also an excellent civil service and he had great confidence and trust in his people whether they were government functionaries or the nation’s footballers.
Today, in contrast, our country appears to be in a bind. Football prowess is a far off and fanciful thought because food and a decent life have become more germane concerns. Failure, fauxpas in public policy matters and fanciful fanfare over ordinary nonevents have replaced solid and quiet progress.
Johor Election
With the Johor state election on the cards there is increasing despair that the last Melaka state election experiment and experience will be repeated. The country’s most despicable kaiser of kleptocracy has been, it would appear, elevated into an iconic paladin, a persuasive paragon of virtue with the knowledge, the know how and the kinetic energy of unfailingly winning elections. His yet-to-be served well-deserved term of imprisonment , unpaid fines and tax evasion penalties seem to be of token significance.
Tiger Year Celebration
To herald the arrival of the Year of the Tiger recently with no obvious shame, shyness or slur whatsoever or the slightest regard for the sanctity and seriousness of our court processes the few untainted leaders of his political coalition were shown proudly posing for photographs with the country’s most conspicuous ous white collar criminal. Are these other people such exemplary ones to merit the media’s and society’s attention and respect. They seemed to be relishing the publicity attendant on the chosen, seemingly carefully consecrated person in their midst. They were apparently gloating over Najib’s celebrity status. The leading newspapers dutifully gave that occasion a high profile and much publicity. That picture has been rendered such dignified status by the country’s obviously amoral media that it may even feature as a significant vote-getter in the upcoming Johor election. That is the appalling and atrocious reality of magnificent Malaysia, at one time the star of democratic Southeast Asia. The once respectable Barisan Nasional’s innermost core has been corrupted by the worst kind of toxicity. The coalition’s actions suggest a defiance of public opinion because strangely election environments implicitly allow the use of subtle subterfuge, rabid race and religious issues and provide an unique opportunity to distort the truth and harp on the imminent danger of the loss of power by the majority community. The opposition has been intentionally or unintentionally split by casting the one controversial but possibly the most viable and unifying figure of Anwar Ibrahim as a potential threat, national nuisance and a risky liability . The country's high minded analysts and intellectuals seem to find every conceivable fault with any peninsular Malay who can be a realistic or credible prime ministerial candidate. The list includes Tengku Razaleigh, Anwar Ibrahim, Rafizi Ramli, Tawfiq Tun Ismail, Syed Saddiq and Zaid Ibrahim because the pundits would rather have these men as the tormented, lone and isolated political figures than in any position of real authority. There are those omnipresent know-it-alls who can find the soundest reasoning that will probably ensure the return of Najib, notwithstanding all the crap known about him. The latest person to scuttle Anwar's prospects is Shafie Apdal who could not pass muster in Sabah itself. The fractured opposition to the current government is the work of at least three previous prime ministers of dubious repute. The removal of Najib in May 2018, it has to be understood, was not just the ouster of a lone corrupt leader but an assault on a wider nefarious network of sleaze and spoliation.
Tun Hussein Onn’s Administration
In the halcyon days of the Tunku and Tun Hussein Onn there was the highest respect amounting to reverence for the law. The Tunku and Tun Hussein are singled out because when supporters of the then convicted Selangor Menteri Besar Dato Harun Idris were holding him hostage and preventing him from leaving his home to serve his prison term it was the Tunku who went unobtrusively to pacify the UMNO youth supporters and discreetly escort Harun under the cover of the night to prison. Hussein was then the prime minister. Harun was charged, tried and convicted and took the sentences imposed in stride. A lawyer himself he recognised and realised the significance of adhering to and upholding the sanctity and spirit of the law. That was the essence and foundation of the harmony and law and order in our society. Harun did not believe in the law of the jungle. The Tunku later explained that he was sympathetic to Harun. Harun however had to commence the prison term as he could not have flouted the law.
Currently the country seems certainly to be in somewhat of an odd abeyance, a kind of a paralysis and caught in a political and governance stupor. Malaysians are being subjected to a barrage of information and news clips by the mainstream media that a person convicted by the courts for the most egregious white-collar crime can be offered hero-worship, even acclamation and jubilation because a few untainted political leaders of the ruling coalition see no harm in keeping his company and seeking his patronage.
Pakatan Harapan Had A Plan
Most would recall that the Pakatan Harapan team which took over the government in May, 2018 had its shortcomings. But it is greatly missed. That PH government shot itself in the foot repeatedly but it provided abundant evidence that it was willing to take on squarely corruption involving the supreme political elite. Shortly after the swearing-in of its attorney-general former prime minister Dato Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak was produced in court and charged for various kinds of corruption, abuse of office and forgery offences. He has since been convicted first at the High Court level after a lengthy trial and most recently at the Court of Appeal level. One appeal to the Federal Court is pending.
Elite Corruption Is Pervasive
To its credit the PH government showed unambiguous, unequivocal and the utmost commitment and concern about clamping down on not just corruption but corruption involving the country’s supreme political elite. This was commendable, courageous and reassuring to the public. For years before Najib’s case came up the public had been used to hearing of corruption involving top officials and had grown accustomed to the absence of any investigation, corrective or criminal action.
With the fall of the PH government that ambiguity, indifference and nonchalance of the executive branch of the government about corruption and abuse of high office appears to have returned. A lasting after effect of the short-lived PH government’s actions is that it had whetted the public’s appetite for more transparency, prosecutions and conviction of the most highly placed public officials. Today most people, especially among the well educated groups are disappointed that since the ouster of the PH government that strong political and professional will to investigate and pursue corruption matters seems to have waned. Professor Syed Hussein Al-atas says in his solid ’Sociology of Corruption’ that “every bureaucratic machine suffers to some extent from an antipathy towards initiative and originality, from sycophancy and the preferment of intrigues and yes men. But when graft is added to these disorders the machine ejects all honest men, selects for promotion the most ruthless and astute rogues and compels the rest to follow their example.” The eminent professor had half a century ago accurately anticipated the direction of the country's governance trajectory.
Two MPs Predicament
The recent sensational publicity on the investigations into former minister Dr Mazlee Malik and the staff of parliamentarian Sivarasa Rasiah confirms a widely held perception that the serving highest level government officials are somewhat exempt or outside the radar of such suspicions or investigations. When the enforcement or preventive agency highlights a case involving a RM200, 000 matter no one is impressed because over the past three years we have become accustomed to hearing of cases involving billions and millions. In one case the accused had stated under oath that RM 2 million was just pocket money.
In Indonesia they have a term for such blatant, blasé and arrogant exemption where functionaries can safely indulge in any kind of excess, endanger anyone or even eliminate anyone both literally and figuratively if they are on the right side of the national leader. Such obvious, underlying Wahyu is not easily explained but it is seen as a blessing that can sanctify, deify or authorise the most heinous or outrageous of actions including disappearances, detention and killings. On assuming power after the allegedly abortive coup of September 30, 1965 the then major general Soeharto was, it would seem blessed with such wahyu so his compatriots, including army personnel, bureaucrats, people from all walks of life could go on an informal and indirectly state -sanctioned rampage against suspected communists and anti national elements and eliminate more than half a million people. There were no trials and there was no need to verify the grounds for suspicion. Loose gossip or unfounded prejudice against anyone could be harnessed to take another person’s life and even parade the corpse.
Today’s second illegitimate( the word illegitimate is used because it’s legitimacy was not derived from the ballot box directly but from some kind of a despicable rather than democratic impulse provided by the country’s political frog subculture ) government in Malaysia seems to have attained this vague wahyu( Vayu, or wind or perceptible power drawing from the sublime Buddhist- Hindu-Javanese tradition of the ultimate realised being subsisting within only the octagonal paradigm of the sun, moon, earth, ether, fire, air, water and the soul) for the time being and indulging in the most controversial and opaque actions. Both Mazlee and Sivarasa are seen by the present precarious government as easy prey for flimsy and facetious accusations. Both have spoken out and criticised elite corruption by associates of the reigning political supremos. This action against them is a clear warning that more such action is inevitable if the opposition MPs or even social nobodies maintain the stridency of attacks against the government on corruption.
Indonesia is an excellent example of a country that has gone past the phase of viewing as unhealthy actions by the public and NGOs in questioning, criticising and scrutinising initiatives by the executive. In President Suharto’s time such actions were seen as criminal and subversive but today they are seen as part of the democratic process of safeguarding fundamental liberties, workers and women’s rights, promoting transparency and the freedom of expression.
Institutional Strength Is Paramount
Institutions of the state whether they are involved in policy making functions, security, regulatory or enforcement responsibilities should endeavour to protect and enhance the situation of the citizen and not exclusively the elite or the supreme political elite. In the long term it is strong institutions that matter, not individuals heading them. Individuals can be replaced easily but institutions need much time to be nurtured and established.
We have to think of institutional strength in Bank Negara, the Police Force, the Attorney-General’s chambers, the MACC and not of the individuals that head these institutions. These individuals are certainly not indispensable.
We must not forget how the Tunku and his small cabinet team of upright men laid the foundations for a stable, spectacular and successful country based on the rule of law in what was a turbulent regional environment.
M Santhananaban
February 6, 2022
The writer, a retired ambassador has had 45 years of public sector experience
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