Dear Malaysian Cabinet, please be reminded that stealing is illegal!

Stealing is illegal – except when it is approved by the Cabinet. Ordinary people or those who do not get Cabinet approval will be investigated and quite possibly be prosecuted, unless some sort of “deal” is made to avoid it.

But ministers, party strongmen and their business cronies are free to legally steal or trade stock based on non-public information they have obtained through their official positions as elected officials — and they do so on a regular basis.

Economic crimes

What do you call the PKFZ scandal, the MAS losses year after year, shortage in the FELDA funds, the Gemas NFC debacle, and the overpricing in the government procurement - if not stealing?

The share swap between Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia is being probed by Bursa Malaysia and the Securities Commission for insider trading. The strange collaboration between Sime Darby and E&O, was perceived as possible insider trading by the chairman of E&O, who so happens to be the husband to the SC chief, Zarinah Anwar.

A survey by PwC indicates that 48% of Malaysian companies were the victims of economic crime; the number of reported cases of economic crime committed by company employees in Malaysia is higher than that reported for the Asia-Pacific region and other countries around the world.

Well, some like to call it cheating, fraud, economic crime, breach of trust, but in the end it is still getting 'it' illegally, which is stealing.

Thieves and hypocrites

In that case wouldn’t it be appropriate that we call those involved thieves? I know, they won’t admit it and they have the courts to prove that they are not thieves. But it is their courts; the police, attorney general, prosecutors and judges are all under their payroll and as such, have to be obedient to their paymaster.

We all know how the police can fabricate and dispose of evidence, all for a price. The AG has the power at his will whether to prosecute or not. The Lingam tapes proved that the judges are stooges.

We have also had the most bewildering or bizarre but not surprising incident when both the defense lawyers and the prosecutors somehow concertedly objected to finding out who had ordered the two former bodyguards of Prime Minister Najib Razak to kill Altantuya, who was also alleged to be Najib's former mistress.

Down the family tree

Where on earth are Haji Mohd Najib and his UMNO-BN government leading us to? The economy is going south. The social fabric, since nothing is being done, is nearly in tatters. The education system is in limbo. Both the morals and morale of the nation are sinking.

No, there is no such word as “self-esteem” now amongst the major ruling politicians in Malaysia. The entire Cabinet, with the exception of Idris Jala who has told us twice that Malaysia can go bankrupt, couldn’t care less.

Yes, it seems that nothing else matters to the entire Cabinet and UMNO-BN as long as the stealing continues; more cows will able to buy condos and some would even be clever enough to buy and sell company shares, such as Najib's son Mohd Nazifuddin who has already created a name for himself in the latest .

Malaysia Chronicle