Saravanan looks dapper as he arrives in court,” says the headline in a news report about MIC deputy president M. Saravanan being charged in court.
Reading the headline and looking at the accompanying picture of Saravanan arriving in court in dark glasses, a coat and suit, looking like a big-time hero or a high-level CEO, it occurred to me that those who are charged with corruption often look like they are dating the prom queen.
Just a couple of days ago, I remember seeing former Tabung Haji chairman Abdul Azeez grinning from ear to ear, even when he was photographed in the orange MACC detainee uniform, as if he was going to see his firstborn child, rather than face corruption charges.
I am not saying that Saravanan or Azeez are guilty.
But where is their shame at being implicated in corruption, even if the implication is false?
If you and I were implicated in rape or murder, would we look like we had made it in life, even if the implication were false?
Even if we were innocent, surely we would be upset because the accusation itself would be painful to bear, even if we did not commit the crime.
In our country, where politicians have a reputation for suing others for defamation at the slightest provocation, it is odd that people who are actually charged by the authorities with corruption or graft do not appear to be the least bit upset about the accusation, isn't it?
Anyway, my point here is that corruption and graft seem to be far too glamorous a crime in our country.
Just yesterday, three of our former prime ministers were in court to answer for corruption charges.
The impression that this leaves is that if you are corrupt, you are actually a legitimate heavyweight in society — perhaps even a former prime minister.
What this sort of impression does is that if you are slapped with corruption charges, instead of feeling ashamed or humiliated, you tend to display pride and delight, especially if the corruption charges are big.
It is almost as if being charged with corruption means that you are a heavyweight in society, who is only being targeted because that is how you bring a heavyweight in society down.
Or perhaps the fact that you are accused of corruption is itself seen as proof that you are a heavyweight in society, because only a heavyweight in society is capable of committing corruption on such a grand scale.
Either way, no matter what happens, your position in high society is secure.
You will never be reduced to a low station in society in the same way that other criminal accusations can reduce someone to the lowest levels of social standing.
If you notice, one of the big differences between a first-world country and a third-world country is that in a first-world country, if you get accused of corruption, it can look like it is the end of the world for you.
But if you are accused of corruption in a third-world country, you can sometimes look like you have made it in life.
And subconsciously, I think it is this glamour associated with corruption that is causing the epidemic of corruption in our country to be so difficult to eliminate.
If you are accused of selling drugs, being a rapist or being a murderer, the implication is that you are amongst the lowest of the low.
If you are accused of being corrupt, however, you can act as if you are amongst the cream of the crop in society.
The accusation itself becomes almost a badge of status.
It is as if being accused of corruption proves that you belong to the highest levels of society, and because you are a member of high society, you do not have to worry too much about the accusation.
After all, as a high-level member of society, you will be able to deal with corruption charges.
That, I think, is a dangerous message to send.
If we are truly interested in eradicating corruption, we have to do more to eradicate the prestige that surrounds corruption.
We should arrange things so that a person who is charged with corruption feels like they are in danger of being placed amongst the lowest of the low in society.
They should feel as if their future is ruined.
They should fear that, like a drug dealer who finds it difficult to hold a good job or a rapist who is shunned even by his own family, the mere accusation could take their social standing and their future away from them.
Until we can do that — until we can remove the prestige around corruption and attach shame and humiliation to the crime, as shame and humiliation should follow the implication that one is a criminal — we will never be able to truly dissuade those who aspire to be corrupt.
We need to make people understand that corruption is not something the cream of the crop does.
It is something the lowest of the low does.
And perhaps the first step towards fighting corruption is to make sure that nobody ever looks glamorous for being accused of it.
TheRealNehruism (nehru.sathiamoorthy@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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