See how morally degraded Malaysians have become

Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) president Mohamad Sabu recently threw down the microphone in his hand when speaking at a public gathering to mark the anniversary of former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s incarceration in the Sungai Buloh prison.

He did it deliberately to emphasise his dismay and disgust at Malays for their apathetic and lackadaisical attitudes towards corruption amongst their political leaders.

Mat Sabu was frustrated that there appeared to be no anger and revulsion towards Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and the BN leadership over the 1MDB scandal.

He was sickened by the fact that Najib seemed to be getting stronger even though more and more damaging information had been unveiled regarding the scandal. He was probably sickened by the in-fighting amongst the opposition group as well.

Mat Sabu’s anger is understandable. In any other country, Najib would not have lasted six months.

But in this country, the questionable morality of leaders does not seem to warrant the critical attention of the public. Even a wholly religious Malay party such as PAS is proud to be associated with Najib. It does not think that this association with Najib is a liability. How do we explain this?

To understand what has happened to these Malaysians today, we must go back to the days of slavery in America 300 years ago.

Slavery was so different from the teachings of Sunday Bible classes and the sermons that white Christian Americans heard in their churches - where the Bible teaches Christians to love all men as brothers, ownership of slaves somehow gave white Americans “rights” over blacks, whom they could barter and trade at will.

The Christian tenet that Jesus gave his life to redeem the sins of humanity did not gel with the slave-owners’ harsh and cruel treatment of blacks; and at the end of it all, slavery not only destroyed black lives, it also condemned the souls of white Christian men and women.

They could not live with the perpetual contradiction of their religious and moral beliefs versus their everyday practice of owning slaves.

Readers should pick up Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (which was published nine years before the American Civil War) to understand how slavery destroyed in equal measure the soul of the white man, as much as it inflicted pain and physical harm on blacks in America.

Just have to be patient

The New Economic Policy (NEP) - that is, the Umno version of preferential treatment or special privileges - or whatever name is given to the behemoth of “bumiputera rights”, is likewise responsible for the obliteration of the Malay morality.

The NEP grew originally out of a consensus achieved by the political leaders of all major parties to rectify social and economic disparities that threw Malaysia into conflict in 1969.

As time passed, however, the same issues ceased to be deliberated and discussed. Privileges became “rights” and no one could question the leaders who defined those “rights”. Greed then set in, and the economic and political rights of Malays became the weapon by which corrupt leaders enriched themselves..

The nation ceased to exist. Accountability ceased to exist. Integrity is just a word.

Only “the group” mattered, and the rights of the group grew to become synonymous with the rights of Malay leaders. A corrupt leader thus went beyond Malay comprehension, especially if such a leader were to share some of his ill-gotten gains, then he has “served” the group. He is forgiven.

Today, a Malay leader can do no wrong if he claims to have done whatever he did “for the Malays” and “for Islam”. The idea that power can be abused sounds strange to them. Anyone who is in a position to cover up any wrongdoing must do so “for the greater good”.

See how morally degraded Malaysians have become under Najib, and how completely the Malaysian spirit has capitulated to greed?

So, Mat Sabu and others who are angry with these Malays (and their non-Malay friends) will just have to be patient. Maybe with time, the values of honesty fairness and responsibility can take root again amongst our leaders.

At the moment it is expedient to support the 'Great Leader'. You might get the rewards he has promised you; and the more loyal you are, the higher you will go.

You might even get the job you have always wanted, which you would not otherwise have - if not for your blind loyalty.

Meanwhile, the rest of us will have to endure. We have to believe that the good in the people of this country will ultimately overcome corrupt leaders who abused their power.

Only time will tell if cash is king, or that there are other values we want in our lives.

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ZAID IBRAHIM is a former law minister. This article first appeared on his blog. -Mkini