October 4, 2012
To Believe or Not to Believe: Najib condemns Corruption
by Nigel Aw@http://www.malaysiakini.com
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today said that if the country wanted to eradicate corruption, it should not only look at abuse of power in public offices. Instead, he said values of society must also be taken into account in combating graft.
“If we view corruption as truly unethical and immoral behaviour, we cannot stop at just looking at public officials and politicians who abuse their powers – we must go much further than that,” he said during the launch of the 6th International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities Conference in Kuala Lumpur this evening.
Najib said often times, people were only concerned about abuse of power in government and public service whenever corruption is raised.
“What is often neglected, however, is the fact that corruption and corrupt
behaviour is entangled deep with the moral fabric of all societies.We must be able to take an unrelenting honest look at the values prevalent in our societies,” he said.
Najib pointed out that in some countries where severe punishment was meted out for corruption, it has not proven entirely effective. As such, he said it was necessary to cultivate social norms and values that are critical of corruption and a sense of duty.
“It is critical, therefore, people in positions of power and authority to exemplify the values they wish their constituents would follow,” he said.
‘Is the pursuit of profits corruption?’
Explaining further, Najib said while society demands public accountability, they endorse the pursuit of greed and unmitigated material successes. “In other words, we forgive greed, until that greed spirals out of control and the effects reach beyond the handful of individuals perpetuating it,” he said.
An example was how people had applauded the perpetrators of the global financial crisis while they raked in record profits but only condemned them after it became a crisis, he said.
“Is the unbridled and ruthless pursuit of extraordinary profits a form of corruption?I believe that if we see corruption as fundamentally a moral problem, therefore anything that promotes selfish interest at the expense of the well-being of others is morally wrong,” he said.
He added that it was vapid self interest and greed that was truly at the heart of corruption.
I would have greater respect for him if he had mentioned CM Lim Guan Eng and MB Nik Abdul Aziz as Leaders that set the example in fighting corruption.
Najib can say the most elegant thing and yet does not mean it. Take this statement as an example: ” It is critical, therefore, people in positions of power and authority to exemplify the values they wish their constituents would follow”. Outrageous.
If he is serious about corruption he should deal with Taib Mahmud, Musa Aman and more recently the Chief Minister of Malacca, Ali Rustam, among others. –Din Merican
No doubt about it, this must have been the most difficult subject for Najib to address.
Najib is the king of double-speak! A forked tongue, if you wish. Remember at one international forum in UK, he mentioned “best democracy” in the world and came back to Malaysia and whack the colors of the Bersih’s participants faces?
Then, in front of another international audience in US, he propagated moderation!
Now this….
Hypocrite!!!
Dear dinobeano…those are their values and soon to be their culture…a new religion is born!
What about himself… and his heavy-handed puppetmaster? Surely it takes only an SMS or two to instruct Gani Patail to arrest all corrupt BN ministers… and then put himself behind bars before handing the keys to the new federal government?
How can he be serious when it’s recorded that phrase ” Lu tolong Wa,Wa tolong Lu” ,just ask any idiot,they will understand the real meaning of that phrase.When we have Leaders encouraging the citizens,where’s the morality?? Well he’s sewing it in the fabric.Oouch!!
Samsam: Just wonder which of his speechwriters wrote this piece of bu**s*it for him? Or did he ever look into a mirror while he was first reading the text?
Multi-ringgit “commission” given to Perimeka in the “unsinkable” submarines deal is not morally wrong? Conveniently arranging overseas official trips jetting around the world to coincide with private junkets of children’s graduation or wedding feast, is not abusing the authority and privilege of the Office or unethical and morally alright?
His insistence in giving the LRT-job to a “technically less-competent” with no track record in the relevant field does not emplify any moral value. Just who are the “people in positions and authority to exemplify the values they wish their constituents to follow” that he is referring to?
Perhaps he should walk the talk and could start the ball rolling by repeating what he’d just professed to his umno leadership. Singapore is one country that meted out severe punishment for corruption. And there are still corruptions around.
At present they are procecuting a very senior law enforcement officer for charges of “sex for favour”. They consider all illegal, unethical and immoral activities as “corrupt practices” and are punishnable by law.
In Australia recently, some employees of a currency printing company was found quilty and convicted for obtaining business transaction through bribery to certain overseas central banks officials and apparently our country was implicated.
And one particular ongoing court case in France is investigating one of its private enterprise for suspicion of carrying out its overseas business through bribery.
So in fact in many other countries which are really serious in fighting corruption they do cover both the public and private sectors.
It is true that “we forgive greed until that greed spirals out of control”, the “we” is the party that has been running the country for over 50 years.
So why talk about corruptions in other countries. Or have our anti-corruption laws become too archaic to be effective.
Listen to his preaching about what he said above is akin to listening to the “chief” of a BN component party talking about morality, chastity or modesty.
Talk is cheap.
What Najib is saying is that it is Ok for him to go out shopping for military hardware, lace defense contracts with sweeterners in countries where this is allowed, fills his party’s coffers with the ill gotten gains (read: share some of the loot with his co-conspirators) and pocket the rest for himself.
All this talk about the real nature of corruption and the moral values that have given rise to it, becoming over time socially acceptable sounds benign and professorial. After all he was delivering his paper to a conference of academia.
But pointing his finger at greed as the driving force behind a free enterprise system is as much connected to corruption as Hamid Gurkhas’ Merc 350 and Hussin’s JAWI’s blessed prophylactic to their grandmothers home made underwear.
Najib will be recognized by Malaysia Book of Records as the PM making the most promises and waffling on them or the PM with the most cakap tak serupa bikin janji janji.
To do or not to do? That is the question. Not excuses after excuses, justifications after justifications. The will to exercise his people given power is not there to dampen corruptions but to justify them. So, the only thing left is to cut down the tree and feed them to the fire if they don’t produce any fruits. It is as simple as that.
Malaysians now need to seriously consider exercising their God’s given rights to elect an alternate government elsewhere. This government is not going to change. The cats are out of the bag. They need corruptions. They have to corrupt to functions. Are we going to give them the mandate to continue? We’re blind if we ignore all the signs.
Cognitive dissonance. Najib is like the Octopus, sending out mixed signals or smokescreen to escape political traps and challenges.
He wants to sound good, but we know that of the Razak boys (Johari,Nizam,Nazim and Nazir), he is academically inferior and never made it through university. Everything was handed down to him on a silver platter. He does not know how to deal with adversity be in politics or in life. So he resorts to escapism.
Do you guys want him to remain Prime Minister? The late Prime Tun Razak felt that his second son, Johari who is a respected and successful lawyer, would make a good politician since Najib was good only for chasing skirts. Guru Nanak, save Malaysia. What do you think, Mr. Bean and Mr. Semper Fi.
Guru “o wise one”, you mean there’s more Razak boys than just Najib? Guru have mercy on Malaysia omm. Oh margia hey
What a joke, trying his best to legitimize corruption in this bolehland. Whoever believes BN is capable of change for the better must be the most gullible person.
The entire country is laden with the super rich who’s either a politician , a son/daughter of a politician , families and kins of politicians and/or a crony….
The scenario says it all…So, whats your call , Malayans?
This Jib brother have utterly no shame of what comes out of his mouth, lies and more lies. His anti-corruption slogan is ONLY used against the PKR and those who do not toll the line. He is obviously taking All Malaysia for a ride.
“Desperate diseases require desperate remedies”
This is beyond everyone’s right thinking mind. It is an insult to all law-abiding Malaysians when Jib does not mean what he says. They are incapable of making changes except to enrich themselves.
We are one of the best legislated if not the best legislated country in the world. But its implementation is one of the world’s worst. Jib & Co. know that serious reforms will signal the beginning of the end. What am I saying? Actually the end is very close, come GE 13. If they are not out, then in the mind of the greater public, they cheat in one way or other !
Apa itu corruption.Jika saya di paksa memberi habuan kapada Menteri atau Pegawai kerajaan salepas mendapat kontrak,itu corruption.
Dalam kontek Malaysia susah hendak dipanggil corruption jika kita memberi wang atau melakukan satu satu favour.Contoh.Zaid Hamidi hendak pergi Mekah buat Haji dan hendak pulang dengan segera.Ia telephone Anmad Johan,MD Airod,Kontrektor Kementerian Pertahanan,”bro,I hendak pergi Mekah buat haji tapi hendak pulang cepat,boleh bantu.”jawab Ahmad Johan.”no problem bro.use my jet”To be save Zaid beritahu Najib dan Najib kata Ok.
Ramai taukeh Cina main golf dengan pegawai tinggi polis,bet satu lubang 1000 rgt,Taukeh cina sengaja bagi kalah.jadi 18 lubang dah dapat 18 ribu.adakah ini corruption.
Sekarang Pilehan Raya dah dekat.Ramai Syarikat besar saperti Genting,Magnun,H.Leong ,Syed Mokhtar ,B.Toto,akan membuat sumbangan.Ada kah ini corruption.
DiMalaysia,orang kerana ada hubongan “abang adek,or bro.” Segala sumbangan yang diberi di anggap donation.
Jari corruption di Malaysia mempunyai maksud yang tidak jelas.This is what Najib trying to say.
Btw payment to Primekar is not corruption. Its for services they provided to coodinated and laise with MOD .
why waste so much saliva talking about najib? If I were there, I will show him this & walk out of the conference
Most will laugh off on Najib speech for me I am very sad . May be I will
be approached and asked by some Indo politicians why our PM has to be
speaking without shame. All I can say is, the housekeepers in Putrajaya
have removed all the mirrors . My PM dont even know his own thick skin,
so that is the new culture reborn in UMNO. ASAL TEMBAK SAYA MALU
TITEPIKAN.
Jokers of the century…….first lesson to be a politician – talk without sense of shame…
Hello Gurubachan.
You talking about Najib or someone else? This Najib had his high school in the U.K. and graduated from University of Nottingham (?) in Industrial Economics. He came back, joined Petronas and briefly headed their Human Resource Department. In ’79 he interviewed me for a job at their Treasury and said I was doing well where I was and a job at their Treasury would not meet with my expectation. That’s polite language for saying I am cattle fodder. He later married Ku Yie but later fell prey to Rosmah Mansor, the manipulative, scheming and conniving Black Widow (if she has to be) who dumped her husband of so many years for him. Growing up this Najib was shy and timid with the girls. He was the type who would sit out a dance. He needed someone to pull him by the hand on to the dance floor. He didn’t know how to dance. Small wonder he fell prey to the “Black Widow’. But this particular specie of ‘Black Widow’ didn’t kill its male partner after screwing him. She just pushed him to the side. Brother Jo growing up was more than a lady’s man. At 22 he had a romantic interest with 13 year olds. Now how sick is that?
With that I bid you guys good night. It is now 1.45 am over here.
I believe that if we see corruption as fundamentally a moral problem, therefore anything that promotes selfish interest at the expense of the well-being of others is morally wrong,” he said.
They forgot to report what he said next …
“It is particularly immoral and evil if the well-being of me and my people (i.e. my lion share of the loot) is not taken account when corruption is being perpetrated,” he continued.
That 13 year old brother Jo had a romantic interest in was a member of the Pahang royalty. Her mother was married to Sharizat’s late cattle baron uncle. How do you think Sharizat Abdul Jailil with whom our Tok CIk once had a crush came by the RM250 million loan facility so she could purchase condominiums in Bangsar and Singapore to store her ‘cattle’ in? Talk about cattle fodder. Tok Cik would have been had he not walked away from her.
Aiseh, you guys are on the wrong track.
What the Chief Priest (Pontifex Maximus, in Latin) is prescribing is the Law of Similars:
“Similia similibus curentur!”. Similar things take care of similar things. Used widely in homeopathy. For instance, the use of rhino horn for ‘flaccidity’, or kacip fatima that resemble you know what..
So, what he’s saying is that – if he can’t change corrupt society, so he might as well reinforce the corruption, to effect a ‘cure’. A simple a posteriori assertion.
I agree, the speech writer tried his best under most trying of circumstances and sense of duty, if not reality. Promote him..!
They say that a wife is as the husband is. In a State the citizen is as the government is. When it comes to corruption, it is only corruption when it involves government funds and abuse of power vested in individual elected or appointed under our constitution.
Please do drag the individual citizen into fighting corruption. Once he give the vote he is powerless. All power is vested in elelcted or officials appointed by the government. The society may or may not be corrupt.
But if elected officals and appointed government official demand a ‘fee’ to provide services to the public, the public has no choice. But if the elected offcials and government appointed officials dot not demand for such fees, well and good no citizen will be stupid to pay such fees.
But in Third World countries is not so direct. What happens is that you are made to go a number of time to check if your appilcation has been processed. And they may not demand for additionl fees but the message is sent to you in a very subtle manner and in the end to save time and firther expenses you just pay it. It is all very sophisticated.
Sometime we who blog forget the just as we have become spophisticated so have the elected officials and government appointed officials..
Corruption is corruption when it involves government funds. Once government is perceivec to be clean and is actually clean the government can clean up the private sector and society with just one bucket of water.
“For instance, the use of rhino horn for ‘flaccidity’, or kacip fatima that resemble you know what.” CLF
Kathy wants to know what about Fatimah’s kacip? Is it a new ketchup? She needs to catch up.
You can’t stop a drug addict by asking his partner to stop the habit for his own good. Similarly, it applies to politicians going around in ceremahs speaking of war against corruption when they are smiling their way to the bank at the same time.
“It is particularly immoral and evil if the well-being of me and my people (i.e. my lion share of the loot) is not taken account when corruption is being perpetrated,” Najib Razak
This guy is really messed up. What is he thinking?? Apparently he is taking an academic stand on the issue seeking to legitimize corruption because it is only fair if done with redistribution of the national wealth in mind.
Malaysia Inc. the criminal enterprise has plundered, robbed the country’s resources and re-distributed the loot among its co-conspirators, letting a fraction of the remaining trickle down to 60% of the ordinary folks. Not satisfied the chairman of this criminal enterprise would go shopping abroad for defense hardware so the country would be equipped with the latest technology has to offer and the most expensive. He would avoid countries where there are laws in place which declare that it would unlawful to lace defence contracts with defense contractors with sweeterners otherwise known as kick-backs. Through the use of intermediaries he would then arrange to siphon hundreds of millions of whatever countries he feels safe to do businesd with. Where’s my share of the loot?
ooops …. currencies
“Apa itu corruption.Jika saya di paksa memberi habuan kapada Menteri atau Pegawai kerajaan salepas mendapat kontrak,itu corruption.” Hamid Gurkha
Hang jangan dok pandai lecture orang mengenai corruption. Hang di beri hadiah sebiji kereta Mercedes 350 oleh Taib Mahmud, by your own public admission right here in Dato’s blog. Did you declare that to Income Tax? So don’t go around with your holier than thou attitude. You are in no position to talk about corruption. You are the face of corruption.
To believe or Not to believe. Well I will just take it as confused concessions that perhaps one has been forced to make to appease the masses… and not actually demanded.
Despite all the allegations of corruption, many believe Najib’s still the darling of the majority population, no thanks to his ‘goodies’ for everyone…He seems to have the niche lifting people’s seemingly downtrodden standard of life, quest for sunken ‘pleasures’…in the name of just society!!??
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Then, please tell me why he is not going for elections any time soon. He may be popular but that might not be enough for him to get his 2/3rd majority. Top leaders in his party are not making it easier for him e.g. Ali Rustam’s wedding bash for his son using Melaka SDC money and facilities. In stead, the outcome of GE-13 is likely to be a hung parliament. The Opposition is aiming at taking over Putrajaya. Let the people decide in GE-13.–Din Merican
Dato’ Din, you keep asking why Najib is not calling for the GE13 any time soon – but it looks like he has made up his mind to have it as late as possible. Why not propose to the CM & MB’s of the PR led states to dissolve their DUNs now and have their state elections straight away – that may force Najib’s hands in getting earlier GE13. Not a good idea may be yeah?
If Siti Nurhaliza was paid RM80,000, then the lunch feast for the wedding would be RM520,000/130,000=RM4 per pax… can’t even pay for the bunga teloq!
Mat Kenduri Mojo represents the whole rotten edifice that is the face of UMNO. Just like the Botoxed Toyol Tempe and the infamous Palace in Klang. They flaunt, they celebrate – while they misappropriate. Their kleptocracy is in fact proudly declared, displayed and advertised in pagan festivals, where nobodies lured by the pungency of ‘nasi beri-yani’.
‘Only in America’ is usually seen as a positive statement – over here, “Only in UMNO/MIC/MCA” means crass criminality, gross indecency and gutter politics..
Is it little wonder why their ping-pong Leader is begging for votes? A snivelling, conniving, spineless character whose aristocratic roots belie the voracious piranha and pirate-like yearnings that lurks just beneath his flaccid demeanour. His #TanyaNajib was a total disaster. He can’t even get outta his departed father’s shadow for being the second longest serving ‘unelected’ PM. Yet the Piranha alone can be easily fried when taken out of the water. And all they want is to enter the Malaysian Book of Records, that no sane Malaysian would bother to read. Celebrity of peasant mentality.
Such low-class behaviour is even mimicked by the KSN who insisted that the Record books show that the highest number of KSUs and Heads of Agencies were frog-marched in the recent Merdeka day parade. Yes, a WTF moment frozen in time..