From 1MDB scandal to renewal: Malaysia’s battle against corruption

By M Santhananaban

Sixty-one years after the formation of Malaysia, there is plenty to celebrate – and deliberate – about our nation.

Three territories make up Malaysia – Sabah, Sarawak and the peninsula. Their populations have grown with Sabah’s increase especially notable. The people today are more literate and live longer. But the country’s forested areas and formidable natural resources have declined.

Each territory has had at least one controversial leader involved in excessive behaviour and exploitation.

When Sabah was first experiencing such difficulties in the 1960s and early 1970s with a private jetset potentate, the authorities in Kuala Lumpur, then on relatively high moral ground, seemed helpless. That leader was eventually removed elegantly through an orchestrated but orderly electoral process.

Sarawak then saw the avaricious acquisition of both power and inordinate family wealth by a longstanding leader.

Peninsula undermined

The peninsula was not far behind. Half a century after its independence, a nefarious national leader indulged in unbridled excess and avarice with a wealth fund. He did not even spare a national pension fund.

This national leader, now imprisoned, squandered and surrendered what little moral high ground the peninsula had from the early 1960s. More than that, he damaged the stature of the prime minister’s office.

The current task is to rehabilitate and restore the prestige and reputation of that office. It may take decades, as the last three prime ministers discovered.

The current Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, seems to be doing everything possible to remain in power while trying to please and placate every segment of the country. He has a daunting task, as he inherited problems perpetrated by his predecessors over four decades.

By April 2009, when Najib Razak took over as PM, that position had become more an extension of his powerful presidential position within Umno, in a more asymmetrical coalition than the originally conceived ‘first-among-equals’ mechanism agreed upon in 1957.

Najib was of elite pedigree, so he could claim he was of the country’s political nobility. But he wrongly assumed that he had an unassailable, invincible stature. He also wrongly imagined that his private fundraiser, Jho Low, would be an adept fixer and a globetrotting bon vivant like the indomitable Adnan Khashoggi.

But Jho Low was a youthful, full-blown fraud. Yet the compliant media presented him as a glamorous celebrity, socialising with famous actors and public figures. He was slightly taller than Khashoggi, but that advantage seemed to have ended there.

In associating with Jho Low, Najib erred badly and overplayed his hand. He believed he was permanently privileged and that would protect him to a preposterous extent. But social media, a well-informed intelligentsia and the enormity of the heist made escape or exculpation impractical.

Pioneer Malaysian leaders, whether they were from the Borneo territories or the peninsula, could have been party to similar mischief and egregious misdemeanour.

But Najib negated and neglected every rule. He shortchanged public service pensioners who had retired before 2013. It has taken a full 11 years to rectify this injustice, and in the intervening period, many pensioners have passed away.

Najib did all this while pontificating and preaching about the values of accountability, virtuous conduct and ethical behaviour.

True, the idiosyncrasies, importance and insular interests of past leaders had assumed such respectability that their predilection for the accumulation of private wealth was somewhat hidden. Indeed, at one time, these excesses were often trivialised or tolerated. The influential elite consistently complied and maintained a discreet silence about these transgressions and trespasses. That was admittedly the traditional ‘transactional’ compact.

But Najib took it to a different level. He overreached and violated the inflection point.

Earlier scandals

Even before the 1MDB debacle, other unlawful, deplorable scandals had erupted. Remember Bank Rakyat, Bumiputra Malaysia Finance’s operations in Hong Kong, Perwaja Steel and Port Klang Free Zone?

Today, we have the ghoulish GISB Holdings disclosures in the public domain. They point to the most detestable and wretched conduct by so-called guardians of young children and infants. These culprits operated out of the boundaries of decorum, laws and rules.

After Najib’s jailing…

Since August 2022, when Najib started serving his prison sentence, most people here now realise that, whatever their position in society, if they commit crimes, they can be prosecuted and convicted.

Yet the sordid nature of the GISB’s gibberish suggests that some influential individuals within society still believe they can indulge in crime and get away with it.

Some individuals probably believe they can get away with fraud, scams and depraved behaviour. They assume they do not need to conform to accepted norms of conduct and morality.

Promising phase

Encouragingly, on 7 September, the Agong said at an investiture ceremony that federal title holders would be stripped of their titles if they are convicted.

The nation’s first prime minister started this practice long ago. The head of a diplomatic mission overseas had his Tun honorific taken away.

It is also encouraging that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has been publicly admonishing the corrupt, deviant and unethical. He has allowed the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the police to act somewhat freely against suspected crimes.

These recent developments are refreshing and timely. If really followed through, they could be the catalyst for Malaysia to move out of an awkward, protracted and shameful phase. That would be a game-changer.

Corruption, abuse of power and shady business practices have undermined the nation. For rampant corruption to exist, with elements of excess, exhibitionism and extortion, there has to be a silent and servile environment to support it.

Sudhir Chella Rajan, in his Social Theory of Corruption, Notes from the Indian Subcontinent (Harvard University Press, 2020), argues that corruption is related to social order, hierarchy and the empowered elites that society supports. The powerful elite within the monitoring, regulatory and enforcement structures tend to silently or indifferently collude in the perpetration of a crime or grave misdeed. They do so for various reasons, including personal security, affinity and the safeguarding of their status.

In Najib’s case, the historically most powerful mainstream political party has been dead set against his trial and conviction.

So, the work of a reformist government, the MACC and other watchdog agencies has become not just difficult but also almost impossible and perilous.

In 2015, a deputy prime minister and an attorney general were among those that the public system ejected. In hindsight, it was clearly a case of protecting and obfuscating the seriousness of the world’s biggest heist.

By acting firmly and fairly against corruption, Malaysia could recover precious lost ground and regain the special place the country once had as a shining star of Southeast Asia.

Leaders in the country and its territories have to prioritise the needs of the people above their selfish interests. They need to rise above their self-serving politics and focus on representing all the people – not just their party’s supporters, specific territories or co-religionists.

Oasis of Southeast Asia

Malaysia was once a star in Southeast Asia.

A longstanding head of state and an upcoming head of state had part of their secondary education in Kuala Lumpur. Those famous old schools, established long before independence, produced a distinguished corps of leaders. These leaders could, even without the benefit of tertiary education, provide policy direction to maintain the high standards of education we had till the early 1970s.

The rot then set in slowly but surely.

We urgently need to arrest this rot by attracting pupils of all ethnicities to government-run secondary schools. Teachers and principals must be chosen on merit, character and aptitude.

If the selection and emplacement of teachers is done correctly, pupils will develop self-esteem and confidence to do well. They will then fit into our multicultural, more globalised society as it pivots towards stronger Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) education.

This past few decades of abuse of power and corruption at the highest levels have inflicted an immense toll on our beloved nation.

The police and the MACC must be given the authority, independence and resources to investigate thoroughly suspected breaches of the law. The role of civil society and a robust, free media in curbing excesses must also be recognised.

Corruption and crime affect or involve not just one community or a particular class in society. To tackle this widespread scourge, we need upright leaders. We also need dedicated law enforcement that practises full disclosure and, most importantly, diversity.

The country’s and the people’s interests have to be the top priority.

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

The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran's official position.

AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama

1. Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
2. Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
3. Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
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5. Lawan rasuah dan kronisme

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