Are we ready for first-class?

Professor Tan Sri Dato' Dzulkifli Abdul Razak
My View - The Sun Daily
November 20, 2016

FORMER prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi fondly called Pak Lah (aka "Mr Clean") used to lament that in Malaysia we have "first-class facilities, but third-class mentality".

So when he attempted to open up social space to break this mentality, it was quickly abused by practically all parties. Overnight, the situation became chaotic with vested interest groups hijacking the situation to advance their narrow interest.

Gradually his version of MRT – the morally robust transformation project, the likes of Islam Hadhari, suffered the same fate as the Rukun Negara. They are not talked about today, rarely still put into practice, except as clichés, competing with many new (empty) ones.

But Pak Lah's observation is no less real even as we celebrate the other MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) project, hailed as "a historic moment for the country and is set to take Malaysia a step closer to being a first-class nation". It is said to be among the most modern of its kind in the world, perhaps.

In reality, however, a step closer to being a first-class nation can be offset by several steps backward if the frame of mind is frail and lags far behind.

Thus while "no country can be regarded as a developed nation without having a modern and efficient public transport system", this is even more so if it is devoid of an equivalent public-oriented mindset to go with it.

The fact is, the former is easy to build but not so for the latter. This is well captured by fellow columnist, Datuk Seri Azman Ujang, in his latest piece aptly titled: "The curse of corruption", where he wrote: "If you ask 10 people the above question (are we nearer to containing the scourge of corruption?), their answer would be a resounding 'No'". And this is after fighting the social disease some two-thirds of the time post-Merdeka yet not quite making it if not worse off.

As Azman rightly pointed out, "it takes so much more to break the backbone of corruption" when emboldened by third-class mentality.

In this regard, the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Shah, now the timbalan yang di-pertuan agong, categorically spoke of this expressing his concern over corruption and criminal breach of trust committed openly by highly-educated and high-ranking individuals.

Reportedly, it is not only rampant but even occurring on a very large scale. Based on media reports, it seems more widespread among one ethnic group relative to others. While not intending to make this a "racial" issue, I did ask why this is so at one meeting that was centred on the corruption, and got two responses. The first: it is not because of the ethnic group as such; rather it happens to be the predominant group in power (in collusion with others) and that there is nothing racial about it. Indeed corruption is race-free as alluded to by Sultan Nazrin: "When power was regarded as opportunity to fulfil personal interest and not as a trust, the functioning of the government would be impaired and ultimately resulted in its downfall and collapse of a civilisation." Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Shamelessly, too.

The second response is even more interesting. The ethnic group that is most often seen to be involved is said to the "final receiver" in the complex chain of corrupt practices. Not that the other ethnic groups are better off, just that they are better positioned as the "giver" and apparently they are more difficult to "touch" despite that it takes two to tango. The "giver" has moved up the corrupt value-chain and is sophisticated and slick enough to operate beyond the arms of the law, even to the extent of getting protection allegedly from top officials in clandestine ways as the South Korean case seems to indicate.

One is reminded of a famous businessman whose reputation is known by many authorities in different countries vis-à-vis a corruption case in Malaysia and beyond, yet he is as "free as the birds". This is despite MACC chief commissioner Datuk Dzulkifli Ahmad's open letter to mark his 100th day in office early last month urging politicians and community leaders to live up to their promises to the people and not hoodwink them with "tales" to bury the truth. "Stop betrayal of the nation by your corrupt ways and the abuse of power. Step down and surrender" or "face the music and fall," he warned.

Summarily, the third-class mentality has come to a crescendo that whatever images of a first-class nation have been blurred. We just need to look at South Korea, though proudly a first-class nation in all sense of the word, but it is also corrupt-ridden in high places especially among its political class.

Yet another scandal is unfolding right before our eyes as a timely reminder: what is the worth of physical first-class facilities that are built on the foundation of a third-class mentality that is bound to derail this beloved nation of ours.