After the verdict: Why Malaysia’s moral compass matters more than ever

M Santhananaban

It is imperative, following the recent high-profile conviction former Prime Minister Najib Razak, that the people of Malaysia embrace a greater sense of values, love and loyalty to the nation.

The closing days of 2025 were marked by unsettling events. These included the 26 December conviction of Najib, who received a further 15-year prison term and a fine of RM11.4bn for serious offences.

Reports are also circulating regarding the suspected inappropriate conduct of a senior military officer, who has been placed on leave. The chief of the Army, an institution where dedication and discipline are paramount, has been implicated in a troubling scandal.

Both cases involve lavish lifestyles and a perceived sense of impunity.

These are regrettable developments, and such unhealthy trends at the highest levels of public service must be addressed promptly.

Abuse of office, corruption and a decline in accountability and good governance have become deeply embedded challenges.

It would seem that traditional values – honesty, character, hard work, integrity, transparency and truth – are struggling to survive within both the public and private sectors.

Instead of celebrating effective leaders and courageous whistleblowers, many people too often excuse or sympathise with the corrupt and incompetent.

When individuals are caught and convicted of egregious offences, sympathy frequently shifts towards the wrongdoer rather than those harmed, often the state.

The state can suffer incalculable losses, yet the convicted person is sometimes portrayed as an innocent victim. Victimhood appears to attract pity and even calls for pardon.

In his solitude, facing the prospect of an additional 15-year prison term and one of the highest fines imposed, Najib is likely to be experiencing shock, disbelief and deep anxiety.

Troubled environment

It would seem that a blemished environment had been built within the nation’s political-bureaucratic nexus well before April 2009, when Najib became Prime Minister.

The magnitude of the abuses for which he was found guilty would have required the complicity of several senior officials. Without their tacit support, specific sanction and perhaps quiet enabling, such crimes could not have been conceived or committed.

This toxic ecosystem did not take root within a single prime ministerial tenure. It was built gradually by undermining the prescribed roles and prerogatives vested in state institutions.

The rot spread to the prime minister’s office, the Ministry of Finance, the central bank and other agencies. Obedience to authority came to outweigh adherence to law and reason.

Those officials implicated, even remotely, in enabling these crimes should be investigated and, where evidence exists, prosecuted.

A respected judiciary

Thankfully, the judiciary, through vigilance and adherence to its own standards, has remained outside this wider decline.

The country is also fortunate that beyond the mainstream media, there are platforms that allow conscientious and courageous people to speak and write about illegal and improper conduct by powerful bureaucrats and political leaders.

A divided nation needing direction

As we enter 2026, the nation remains divided, with certain segments capitalising on polemics over the severity of penalties imposed on a convicted former prime minister.

But those legal penalties were properly deliberated, passed by Parliament and received the sanction of the king.

In the 1MDB–Tanore case, the judge had limited discretion after a careful reading of the law and the facts. The defence failed to offer a plausible and compelling explanation to rebut the prosecution’s evidence, much of which was easily verifiable.

As 2026 begins, vigilance against fabrication, fakery and fraud must be strengthened. There must be a serious and sustained effort to improve the mechanisms and resolve needed to address financial crime and corruption.

The year ahead also demands boldness in improving accountability across both the public and private sectors. Aspiring leaders must be imbued with forthrightness, honesty, inclusiveness, integrity and transparency. We do not need another institution devoted to integrity or patriotism.

What is needed is not additional bureaucracy, but a focus on ensuring that every employee understands the importance of honesty, transparency and truth in serving the public.

There is already a glut of agencies established since the late 1990s to promote good governance. Many appear more decorative than effective, designed to create employment rather than discipline or quality public service. The decline in responsible governance must be arrested.

We seem to have concentrated on image-building, rather than making integrity an absolute priority.

We should strive to create – in every home, classroom and workplace – an environment that nurtures education, ethics, moral uprightness and the highest standards of integrity.

The country must be rescued from the rot of extravagance, callousness and corruption, and public trust must be restored. Only then can the nation reclaim a reputation for inclusiveness, ingenuity and integrity.

Dato’ M Santhananaban is a former Malaysian ambassador with over 45 years of public sector experience.

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