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By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright January 2023
"It is true that Malaysia is a country with kleptocracy. A country of thieves!" said former PM Tun Mahathir as quoted by Awani and reported by Sinar Daily.
I beg to differ Tun.
Malaysians by and large are not thieves or kleptocrats. We are normal law-abiding people who have been brought up with traditional ethical values of respecting the property of others.
The average Malaysian does not cheat, steal or lie. But many politicians are known to do all of the above usually without remorse or any sense of guilt.
When caught and charged, they would deny their crimes, employing the best lawyers in town to get them off the hook.
When Tun speaks of kleptocrats he must be referring to Najib Razak in particular and perhaps the latter's cronies and fellow criminals in general.
Tun Mahathir was recently reported criticising Najib Razak yet again as a destroyer of the moral values of Malays. He said Najib convinced Malays that they should not feel ashamed about stealing money since their 'Boss' stole money.
This is where we differ with Tun. Not all Malays are proud of the guy who stole the nation's money and who kept denying that he was the one who did it.
Those that may have benefitted from his stolen wealth are the ones that support him and call him, "Bossku".
Other Malaysians are not at all pleased with his record breaking heist. Najib is not "My Boss!" Not at all.
Tun cited a common phrase that became Najib's mantra "Malu apa, Bossku", when the latter stole government's money, making his loyal followers equally unembarrassed about accepting the same from their former leader who is serving a twelve-year jail sentence.
Tun said it was Najib who taught Malays to ask for free money. As a result, Malays were more open to bribery during the general election (GE) because it is money obtained not from hard work.
He went further saying that "The free RM100 was better than the monthly wage of RM2,000 because the wage requires one to work while the RM100 came without [breaking] a sweat."
According to Tun M, this then must be the new set of values that he claimed have been implemented in the minds of Malays during Najib's era.
"The Malay voters responded with 'no money then no vote' during the 15th General Election (GE15), making parties who didn't hand out any cash lose....The winner in GE15 who had bribed the voters is also a thief. The winner that formed the government are thieves. When thieves form the government then money will be stolen," he said in a statement last Friday.
Tun M also said in the past, the Malays would have felt ashamed if they were caught stealing but now the exact opposite has happened.
"What is there to be ashamed of when even 'BossKu' is unabashed when he stole billions.
"This is Najib's Malay. The Malaysian government will keep on being made up of thieves. Those without money, incapable of bribing, will lose. It is true that Malaysia is a country with kleptocracy. A country of thieves," he claimed.
We are not 100% with you Tun.
In the last 40 years we have been voting at a primary school in Bukit Damansara not a single person had stepped forward to offer us bribe to vote for a particular party or a candidate.
Bukit Damansara started off as a residential area made up of Malay civil servants but in the last 20 years it has become more mixed.
In the recently conducted GE15 we never saw anything suspicious.
Officials manning stations were even wary of those using handphones in case they snap their own ballot papers.
By the way Tun, that was one of the reminders you issued to all before GE15 to avoid voter fraud.
Hardly anyone stopped by booths of political parties outside the gate of the polling station to check out details on their way in. Most have done so online before going to the polling station.
Neither did we stop to say hello to those manning the political party desks on our way out.
All voters at that station have forgotten Najib by GE15 whom we remembered well not to vote for in GE14. But not a single "agent" stepped forward to offer us money to vote for anyone in particular.
Maybe Tun M is referring to the gullible Malays who have succumbed to Najib's and BN's antics in the rural areas because at our station in the urban district of Bukit Damansara, I do not believe anyone would be easily enticed by money in exchange for their votes.
They know whom they wanted to vote for instead of listening to a few crooked politicians to make a decision for them.
The country is not made of Malays who are easily hoodwinked by a few ringgits that a party offers to gamble away their precious votes.
Anyway, these aside, it would be of interest to everyone if Tun M could just lodge a report on such corrupt practices that we never saw in our neighbourhood. Once proven these elected officials could face disqualification.
However, to call all Malays as thieves is unfair indeed. To label all Malaysians as thieves is even worse, Tun!
Would you want to be known to the rest of the world as one of those Malaysians "thieves" and still be able to stand tall outside this country and call this our homeland?
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