Thinking Allowed The Malaysian Scam Prize
Please support our work by buying a copy of our print publication, Aliran Monthly, from your nearest news-stand. Better still take out a subscription now. Not a day goes by without some scam being reported in the news. Malaysia has truly become a paradise for cheats and con artists. The confounding thing is that con-jobs are often perpetrated in those places where one should expect maximum surveillance and financial control, such as the Ministry of Defence (MoD) or the Prime Minister�s Department. For example, in mid-August army chief Datuk Wira Mohd Shahrom Nordin alleged that units in the Malaysian Armed Forces had given out contracts for �unapproved and unnecessary� projects worth RM63 million (The Star, August 15). Several contractors were paid millions of ringgit for jobs never done or otherwise sub-contracted out to unlicensed contractors. The scam of sub-contracting is a familiar one. My understanding of how it works is this; when a job is given to a �legitimate� contractor of the right classification, the job will then be sub-contracted to others from lower classification. It�s been known that such sub-contracts can go down many levels. By the time the job is performed, it is usually undertaken by fly-by-night contractors, who will be given only the minutest proportion of the original contract. It�s little wonder then that the final products are sub-standard. All of these scams suggest to me that Malaysia should institute a special yearly award (like the Nobel Peace Prize) for the top scam of the year � let�s call it the Malaysian Scam Prize. One could also be more fanciful and call it the �PM�s Scam Award�. We know well which scam takes the prize this year. One of the most spectacular scams of all time occurred right under the nose of the PM�s department � the establishment of the bogus Federal Special Forces of Malaysia (FSFM). Conceived and operated by a form-three school leaver Nor Azami Ahmad Ghazali, the scam accumulated some RM64 millions from almost 3,000 gullible Malaysians who were sold military ranks up to brigadier-general. Members were also supplied with uniforms, insignias, handcuffs, et cetera, and while this is not entirely clear, the promise of some weapons. What is quite remarkable is that some 133 civil servants, including 61 teachers, 2 university lecturers and 11 members of the armed forces bought into the scam! My vote definitely goes to Nor Azami for the Malaysian Scam Prize. It took the government and the police months before they could track down the operations of the FSFM. As it turned out, Nor Azami was himself sacked from another scam-like operation called the Malaysian Emergency Action Force (PTCM), condoned and legally set up under the PM�s department. When Nor Azami wanted to up the ante and turn PTCM into a military-style organization, Staff Marshall Munsyi Muslim Yacob baulked � and rightly so. Up till that point, the main work of the PTCM consisted of a �Bay Watch� kind of activity on the island of Langkawi. But there�s an upside to this sorry episode. Now that Malaysia has set up a Counter Terrorism Centre for ASEAN, maybe the 3,000 dismissed members FSFM will find ready employment. Malaysia boleh? Malaysian Integrity Management Which brings me to the subject of the Integrity Management Committee (IMC). Did anyone know that such an entity exists in this country � well, it does. Set up in 1998, under the Public Services Department, the IMC is charged with plugging legal loopholes to reduce the opportunities for civil servants to become corrupt. From 1998 to 2002, 1,342 people were arrested for corrupt practices and 50 percent of them were civil servants (NST, August 13). But what about the Anti Corruption Agency (ACA) � has it become obsolete? I seem to recall that the ACA has taken up a number of cases, which have remained in a state of limbo. Admittedly the ACA received some accolades recently for its quick pursuance of the Abdul Kudus Ahmad case and it has announced that investigations have been completed. 
But what has happened to the Perwaja case? We�re told the matter apparently has been referred to AG�s chambers to seek Japanese cooperation after the Swiss had evidently given their cooperation. So, we await patiently into the umpteenth year for some outcome and soon the PM would have stepped down before we hear more. And where would Mr. Eric Cheah, the erstwhile CEO of Perwaja, be when the time comes to tell all?
And then there�s the Tajuddin Ramli (MAS cargo) case�. we will wait patiently for some integrity management here. Most recently, the ACA apparently pursued with some gusto the Penang Deputy Chief Minister Hilmi Yahaya over his alleged obstruction of justice in a sexual harassment case against an expatriate of a pharmaceutical company. The complainant, one Ms Lim Ai Yim of the All Women�s Action Society (AWAM), accused Hilmi of interfering in the immigration department�s decision to terminate the work permit of the expatriate, a former B. Braun Medical Industries director. While the ACA has apparently finished its investigation, the case has now come under fresh publicity with the company putting up its own defence that the employee who complained about sexual harassment was sacked for reasons unrelated to her accusation (Malay Mail, Aug 8). Whether we believe B. Braun or not, it remains a serious and legitimate matter of public interest what the ACA reveals about Hilmi�s involvement and intervention in the case, which shouldn�t be something too difficult to uncover. It must be the concern of all citizens that the conduct of public officials like Hilmi should always be above board. Which brings us full circle to the ACA itself? Who will guard the guardians? Aliran received a disturbing flying letter allegedly written by an ACA officer through e-mail with words to this effect: A high-ranking ACA officer, a former special branch officer, like most senior police officers is the owner of two Mobil petrol stations and has a host of other business interests. During his service in the police, he has amassed enough properties to guarantee his well-being in this world. He is an embarrassment to all honest and hardworking ACA officers.We do sincerely hope that the words quoted above are untrue or else we will have little faith in the integrity management of the government. Divorce by SMS Among the zaniest things that can happen in these hi-tech world of ours, Malaysia�s invention of divorce by short messaging system (SMS) must surely deserve a place of honour. When a Gombak syariah court ruled recently that a Muslim man could divorce his wife with the utmost legality through a mobile phone text message without even speaking to her, most people were shocked. NGOs, columnists and the women and family development minister all came out strongly protesting the decision. Strictly speaking, all of the detractors could be held in contempt of court. But given the overwhelming sentiment, even PAS spokespersons more or less echoed the general opinion that it was untenable that pronouncements of divorce should be done by SMS. The government meanwhile has said it will review existing laws on the use of new modes of communication in day-to-day court dealings. A basic principle of contract � and marriage is a contract�is that there is offer and acceptance by both parties. And when such a contract is to be annulled, it does make sense that each party should be equally apprised of the intention of the other. Indeed, in civil law, when one party has serious grounds for refusing annulment, then the contract remains in place although �separation� is entirely possible under such circumstances. It�s predictable that as Muslims engage in �modern� life, they will confront many dilemmas and problems. However, it is no solution to take the easiest path out of these dilemmas nor can one have simple-minded answers to complex issues. These kinds of dilemmas will be especially difficult when religious practice, which is largely a private matter, is taken to the nth degree into the public social space. Darul Islam a la PAS? 
At the rate things are developing in the PAS-governed state of Terengganu, Malaysians cannot but believe that there is now a de facto PAS �Islamic state� being established there. Soon after the PAS victory in the 1999 election, there was the attempt to introduce tax on non-Muslim property, along with the stricture on veiling for Muslim women and then the much-debated and controversial passing of the Hudud and Qisas bill in the state legislature.
Just last month, the Terengganu MB and acting PAS president, Abdul Hadi Awang, upped the ante as follows:
The assurance has come after Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) president Syed Husin Ali came out strongly against the Islamic state. And one would presume that now that Parti Keadilan Nasional (PKN) and PRM are formally enjoined (albeit still without the approval from the ROS), the newly merged party, Parti Keadilan Rakyat, would not condone the formation of such a state. PKN so far has been somewhat silent on the Islamic state issue. But what is an �Islamic state�? There clearly isn�t any single model today. Iran after the 1979 revolution most closely resembles one but it is a syia state not sunni one. Many West Asian states have implemented full syariah law and by that token could be considered Islamic states while Mahathir has also declared that Malaysia is already an Islamic state with its current policies of Islamisation. In a multicultural country like Malaysia, it is untenable and simply impractical for full-fledged policies of Islamisation to be carried out. Even silly rules like the ban on social dancing and liquor consumption in public places are bound to create practical problems. For example, the MIC has announced that it will go ahead with its Deepavali cultural night on October 3 in Kuala Terengganu. That will certainly involve singing and dancing. And if PAS were to govern the state of Selangor or Penang, would it stop Thaipusam? There�s dancing and singing on the streets on such an occasion. Banning singing and dancing in Thaipusan would be as good as banning Thaipusam itself. And by the way, eating at some Indian Muslim nasi kandar chain restaurants these days usually means being bombarded with Bolleywood video clips with lots of titillating dancing and singing! Will a PAS government ban that too? And while they are at it, ban all TV programmes which show any singing and dancing? D.L. Daun Now e-mail us and tell us what you think. | |||||||||||||||
