I have blogged this issue a few times already. Dear friends and readers, we can all chip in to fight corruption more effectively in the country. Sometimes the right labelling can focus the right amount of attention on a matter and trigger the desired outcome that we all want.
May I kindly request everyone to start using this new phrase "inexplicable wealth". In Malay I call it 'kekayaan misteri'.
"Inexdplicable wealth" is wealth amassed by people (people in power, politicians, Cabinet Ministers, people in the private sector and their spouses and families) which cannot be explained. The wealth is there for everyone to see or be aware of but there is no legally sound, ethically sound or morally sound explanation to justify how they got their wealth.
In Malay I like to call it 'kekayaan misteri'. (Kalau cakap Pulo Pinang - "kaya terkejut tergempaq")
Today's front page headline in The Star says that the MACC (of which I am a member in one of its other advisory panels - there is more than one advisory panel) wants the Cabinet Ministers, their spouses and family members to forward a copy of their asset declarations to the MACC. That is an official statement from the MACC.
Here is the news from The Star :
MACC wants copies of asset declaration by ministers and kin
- PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission is to get a copy of the declaration of assets of Cabinet members and their spouses and other family members submitted to the Prime Minister under a proposal to the Government.
- MACC advisory panel chairman Puan Sri Zaitun Zawiyah Puteh said the commission forwarded the proposal to Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at a meeting last Dec 12 and he seemed receptive to the idea.
- "..However, a decision will be made by the Cabinet,” Zaitun Zawiyah told reporters
- Cabinet ministers now only have to disclose their assets to the Prime Minister annually. Their declaration is not made public.
- She also hoped that state governments would require executive councillors and their family members to disclose their assets and submit copies of the declarations to the MACC.
This is a very good start. My only concern is the proposal has to be approved by the Cabinet. Why? Do you honestly think the Cabinet members will agree to have their assets probed by the MACC on an annual basis? Think again.
As a private citizen, I would also like to see their asset declarations made public. Let the public scrutinise the Ministers assets as well. This way those who want to "get rich quick" will be discouraged from assuming public office. If you really want to hold public office it means you really want to help the public. You must have a sense of altruism. So you should not be afraid of having your assets scrutinised.
It is also good that this asset declaration be imposed on all State Excos. I think the net should be cast wider to include all elected representatives and all senior Civil Servants above a certain rank.
OK this is the nice part. Unfortunately it may become just another round of lip service. Or it will purposely get killed in red tape. Here are some ways how this good suggestion by the MACC can get killed:
i. they may dispute what exactly is an asset?
ii. they may dispute what can or cannot, should or should not be included in the asset declaration (I think the Pakatan boys had some serious problem in this area).
iii. they may dispute the definition of 'spouse' and immediate family (2nd wife, 3rd girlfriend etc)
iv. they may say that 'the matter has to be thoroughly studied'
v. their "peace of mind" must not be impinged in the process of seeking accountability (rephrasing Param Cumaraswamy's wishy washy language), and last but not least
vi. "floods in Australia"
There will be resistance from the Cabinet towards this asset declaration. Folks, the Cabinet of Malaysia is a "Millionaire's Club". There are few (or maybe none) Ministers who are NOT millionaires. So do you think they will agree to their asset declaration being sent to the MACC or even being made public? Lets think again.
Please start using this phrase 'inexplicable wealth'. Kekayaan misteri. Kaya terkejut tergempaq.
22 comments:
Don't forget to include the Leader of the Opposition and all MPs.
Bravo MACC! If Cabinet didn't approve that then we know for sure that they are truly corrupted. It would be to their advantage actually to agree..
Yes, we should start investigating inexplicable wealth. Start with people with power to "receive" i.e Ministers, State Excos, Civil Servants... then move to people with power to "give" i.e business tycoons, pirate DVD owners, SPA owners, brothel owners, drug lords etc etc etc.
ok brother syed ... yur wish is my command
Syed:
Let me make you a bet. This MACC proposal will go into a black hole never to see the light of day. Cakap saje pandai, but if the masters say "no", then nothing gets done, and the MACC sheepishly walk away.
This is the way with UMNO, so I don't know where your confidence level comes from.
Godfather
No comments, I am agreeing to this paragraph 200%. Please extend to all politicians, Mps, ADUNs, ruling and opposing.
"As a private citizen, I would also like to see their asset declarations made public. Let the public scrutinise the Ministers assets as well. This way those who want to "get rich quick" will be discouraged from assuming public office. If you really want to hold public office it means you really want to help the public. You must have a sense of altruism. So you should not be afraid of having your assets scrutinised."
I, NORMAN FERNANDEZ, of sane mind shall eat my imaginary hat if the cabinet ministers will be prepared to reveal their finacial status prior to becoming a cabinet minister/MP and after beoming a cabinet minister/MP.
In Sentul there is a mini-palace of a Minister who tak lama jadi menteri. Pandai juga dia kumpul duit buat "rumah".
Come back to earth Syed, there is now way in hell the Cabinet will ever approve this proposal. They will talk about it for a while, the ministers will say that this needs further studies and than it will die a mysterious death and if the MACC head persist in pursuing this they will grant him promotion but to a different department and get a new more compliant head.
Tunggu sampai hari Kiamat pun tak jadi.
So lets stop hallucinating and return to reality.
Hi Syed, what does the advisory panel of MACC really do? How much are you getting paid for your service?
Have any of your advises been implemented all this while?
MACC sucks. They keep on making statement in the media of their achievement, higher number of arrest this year, but the real BIG FISHES are still happily robbing taxpayers money. MACC sucks. You should know by now Tuan Syed. there's nothing that you can do. they just put you in the advisory panel as wayang kulit to the public. nothing will change for sure. MACC sucks.
Bamboozled,
Members of the Advisory Panel like me are paid RM300 for attending our Advisory Panel meetings - which happens at the most only once a month.
The meetings take up the whole morning. I have my businesses to run. Some of the other members are big time business people or corporate heavy weights.
Our "opportunity costs" in terms of time spent are great. Certainly our stints at the MACC are not for the RM300 allowance.
For obvious reasons I cannot say everything that we discuss and talk about but we make many suggestions in our role as Advisory Panel.
One item that I can mention that has been taken up is the concept of 'jabatan angkat' whereby Government Depts that seek assistance or that need assistance with corruption are "adopted" by the MACC for a period of time.
During this time various measures will be implemented to handle corruption issues in that Dept.
This program is being implemented by the MACC.
SAA
Syed,
You wrote - There are few (or maybe none) Ministers who are NOT millionaires.
So we can conclude that NFC/Sharizat is only a wayang kulit to coverup other millionaires, right ?
Who's next ?
Nani Cheras.
Words must be matched by deeds.
They make political histronic(theatrical) into an art form here.
"In Sentul there is a mini-palace of a Minister who tak lama jadi menteri. Pandai juga dia kumpul duit buat "rumah".
This is not sensational, it happens everywhere around the globe. But consider the fact below:-
A recently found not guilty Sodomizer (as per 2004 court's written judgement), i mean Anwar Ibrahim was in jail and jobless for more than 6 years. Soon after, or immediately after, or after his released from jail, he bought a Mansion (bigger than a mini-palace) worth around 6-7 millions, yes a jobless for 6 years suddenly bought a 6 millions Mansion in Segambut!!!
Can someone explain if this fall under the "Kaya Mengejut" category? Especially on this guy who claim he is a corrupt-free super-hero aka convicted of corruption in 1998.
He even flew in a Pesawat Mengejut (helicopter) just to attend a hari raya open house near my tiny mini-palace apartment in Desa Pandan in 1996/97 or so while being a Finance Minister and DPM.
Korupsi tidak akan boleh dihapuskan selagi jenerasi politik yang ada sekarang masih aktif... munkin dua jenerasi akan datang, insya'allah. Depa dah sedap dok makan duit haram.. baik kerajaan atau pembangkang!
aku rasa ini benda baik... rakyat kebanyakan patut sokong dan beri galakan kepada MACC, jangan orang baru nak bincang dah kondem tak tentu hala...
next I would like to see some legislations regarding campaign financing and political parties financial accountability
/transparency..
peminatrocky
ps Saik, hang pi penutup GMM?
Syed,
I am all for asset declaration by powers that be. MACC or relevant authorities may keep the list. In fact, asset declaration is compulsory for all office bearers. The Police keeps the list. They even take the phone number of kins (maybe for monitoring purpose?).
But to publish the list in public domain? That is a breach of privacy. Hey, come on laa Syed, please tell me, nobody in right mind would want their properties become the subject of gossip by everyone.
Like, for example, Penang CM invested in Amanah Saham Nasional, his deputy Mansor invest in ASB, or even his exco Malik Kassim who owns low-cost flat in Teluk Kumbar.
I just have this slight niggly feeling that MACC never communicate with Police. If they want the asset declaration, just ask from Police. Senior government officials and Politicians (at least on government side) do their asset declaration every year.
It's not a question of 'berani kerana benar, takut kerana salah'', if the authority finds the asset acquired wrongly, then by all means, take action!
The law is already in place, if MACC understands their work, they wouldn't be asking these questions.
allo syed,
-fully support the fight on corruption. everybody should joint this nobel cause.
Will never happen. Everyone -from the bottom up will get caught in the net. In a fantasy world, yes but not in malaysia.
A safer bet would Be to make it law that they declare why they laugh all the way to the bank almost EVERYDAY
Let's be honest about it. Which minister is not a millionaire yet? Politicians fight to become MP to be a millionaire at the very least. I have heard many politicians keep saying they want to serve the rakyat but never seen a politician who is poor! That is why I wonder why MACC failed to prosecute those instant millionaires from unknown sources.
lets start with harta ismeth ulam raja aljuburi diluar negeri...
declare aset ke macc ok, tp declare aset ke public tidak kah itu akan membahayakan/ memudahkan ancaman terhadap aset2 pembesar dr org yang ada niat jahat/ kepentingan memandangkan malaysia menuju ke arah era letupan2 bom masa
Dan perompak2 dr seberang pn akan mudah nk target rumah sapa nk attack, anak sapa nk culik, mak datin mana yg kesepian utk dingorat, menteri mana yg boleh dijadikn kekasih.... Start dgn pembangkang dulu la, kasi bogel habis dulu sampai ke proxy2. Org kalau nk menipu, masa berkhidmat nampak biasa je tp lepas bersara je perghh, kekayaan mengejut.
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