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By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright June 2023
When we say spitting into the wind, what we mean is "to do something totally pointless, fruitless, or futile; to waste one's time doing something that will not or cannot come to pass."
Do not underestimate Zahid because he is supposedly a man of his words and could very well live up to expectations.
Recently, the Rural and Regional Development Minister said he would not hesitate to act against any person in his ministry, including himself, found to be involved in embezzlement or other forms of corruption.
This is where the idiom caught the attention of a group of "thought criminals" at Mubeen Bukit Damansara.
These highly educated intellectuals who find the place safe to air their grievances are questioning whether they ought to take Zahid’s message with a big pinch of salt. They could not believe what they heard, demanding to know whether Zahid is serious, a day after he made his statement.
Or is he just spitting into the wind, they asked while gulping down teh tarik and thosai dipped in dhal served by the proprietor originally from Kerala who is now very much part of the landscape in this wealthy neighbourhood full of people who seems to think very differently from the Umno supremo.
Is it actually achievable? They asked yet again rhetorically. Would Zahid be willing to submit himself to scrutiny like other officers in his ministry over questions of integrity?
Maybe he would because he sounded so serious when he spoke at the ministry’s Service Excellence and Appreciation Awards saying integrity was a value on which he would not compromise.
But thought criminals of Mubeen are sceptical as always about past records of the Umno chief who had compromised a great deal on many occasions cannot help but raise the imagery of spitting in the wind.
Anyway, Zahid, in earnest did say, "I would also like to give a message to myself, to not to be overly complacent or indulged by excessive praise, but rather to focus on continuous improvement."
He was probably referring to a case where an assistant accountant from the Southern Kelantan Development Board (Kesedar) an agency under his own ministry, who was arrested a week earlier, for embezzling RM24.8 million over a period of eight years before the crime was discovered.
Zahid said the case ought to be a lesson to everyone in the ministry and urged them not to tarnish their excellent performance (i.e. by committing a similar crime).
Meanwhile, Zahid is on trial for 47 charges of corruption involving his own charitable organisation, Yayasan Akalbudi. This case adds more doubts to the issue at hand amongst the thought criminals.
However, last month, Zahid reportedly sought to have his charges dropped, by submitting fresh evidence to the court much to the surprise of everyone sending a 200-page letter to the Attorney General’s Chambers for consideration. The case is set to resume next August.
While waiting for the court to deliberate further come August, thought criminals at Mubeen have decided that whatever good there was that emerged out of Zahid’s well-meaning speech to his ministry officials is merely spitting in the wind. If spitting was allowed at the Mubeen that morning, the floor would have been full of spittle.
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