— Ali Kadir
The Malaysian Insider
Oct 25, 2011
OCT 25 — Some of us sing the Negaraku with gusto, we fly the flag and proclaim ourselves patriots. But do we really care about Malaysia, care enough that we will do more than just sit and shake our heads when something so wrong and unjust and corrupt happens before our eyes.
I am referring to the Auditor-General’s report for last year and I am not talking about the sanitised version in the mainstream media. Does it bother us that:
* the RM142 million RazakSAT malfunctioned barely a year after being commissioned, and was woefully inaccurate. Why was it commissioned? Who approved it? Who made a bundle from this project? We will never get answers to this crucial questions and we will never learn? Because the accountability of our politicians and decision makers is zero.
* the Tourism Ministry overpaid RM270 million in advertisements because it chose not to go for open tenders. Guess what, the ministry breached Treasury regulations in doing so. Ng Yen Yen’s ministry also paid RM1,950 for a pamphlet rack.
This from the same ministry which overpaid for Facebook consultancy and everything else. So brazen is their flouting of regulations, they don’t care if they are found out by the Auditor-general or the police or the MACC. Would we tolerate such behaviour in our own companies or families? We would not but yet every year we are informed that the people we put in power are betraying our trust and we reward them with more power.
* Not even 1 per cent of computer labs in Sabah completed. Brilliant and the contract was awarded to TimeCom Holdings. I am not aware of any company which can miss its KPI by an ocean. I guess Sabahans are not aware that despite being a fixed deposit state for BN, it is treated this shabbily.
This is only a few examples from the Auditor-General’s report, there is the usual overspending by ministries and ballooning national debt. But do we care about this mismanagement and misappropriation and corruption and cheating and lying? Or are we just going to say : What can I do?
The fact is that there are many things that ordinary Malaysians can do. For a start, given that the local press will downplay the bad news, those of us who have access to alternative media shouls download or print out copies of these articles and distribute to our friends, relatives and colleagues.
We should pressure our elected representatives to ask pertinent questions in Parliament and we should push for more accountability.
Finally, we have the power of the single vote. I don’t know about others, but I am not willing for my hardearned money to be used to buy Birkin bags or private jets.