“Non-Bumis The Root Cause Of Corruption...!!” But Has Bersatu's "Court Cases" Proved Hadi Wrong?

“Non-Bumis The Root Cause Of Corruption...!!” But Has Bersatu's "Court Cases" Proved Hadi Wrong?

29 May 2024 • 4:00 PM MYT



JK Joseph
Repentant ex-banker who believes in truth, compassion and some humour

While the PAS chief had “declared” that non-Bumis were the main cause of corruption in this country, isn't it ironic that it's his own PN coalition partners Bersatu who seem to be “proving him wrong?” Credit Image: Sengat Daily

Many may still recall the uproar in the country sparked by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang in 2022 when he sensationally claimed in a Facebook post that non-Bumiputeras and non-Muslims were the root cause of corruption in the country!


Hadi had also pointed out that this stemmed from the wide influence non-Malays wielded over the country’s economy and its politics; he added that this allowed them to dictate terms to the Malays, which in turn made the latter become corrupted and entrapped in bribery and financial scandals.


Not surprisingly, given the gravity of the accusation, some 28 police reports were filed against the Marang MP and he was subsequently reported to be under investigation for incitement and abuse of network facilities; however, after nearly two years the status of the case is still unknown.


Then, a year later it was the turn of Perikatan Nasional (PN) elections director Sanusi Md Nor to echo the PAS president’s claim - alleging that non-Muslims were the ones who get arrested the most for giving and receiving bribes, further asserting that his statement was an undeniable fact!


Explaining his party president’s controversial claim, the flamboyant Kedah menteri besar had then strangely pointed his finger at DAP as the ones who started playing the narrative that Malay leaders were involved in bribery and corruption. This then raised suspicions that probably Hadi’s claim had mainly been a tit-for-tat attack on DAP rather than based on substantiated facts.


Yet, ironically, since Hadi’s outrageous claim, some of the major on-going corruption charges in the country seemed to involve senior leaders from PAS’s key ally in Perikatan Nasional - Bersatu, with its president Muhyiddin Yassin and Supreme Council member Wan Saiful Wan Jan implicated in the Jana Wibawa case. (Note: It has to be stressed though that no one has been convicted yet, but unfortunately corruption tends to be judged on perception)


Then, just last week another corruption charge made the headlines when Sayed Amir Muzzakkir, the former political secretary to Bersatu secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin, was slapped with two charges at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, where he was alleged to have received RM350,000, cash, from Wan Azhar at Solaris Dutamas, on Dec 4, 2020 and Dec 16, 2020.


Sayed Amir had also claimed trial to soliciting RM350,000 from the managing director of Nexuscorp Group as an inducement for the company to obtain a tender in supplying infrastructure, communications system and software to the police. But did Hadi and other PAS leaders follow the case closely or did they pretend not to see anything?


Meanwhile, as if to prove that even PAS may be vulnerable to human foibles when it comes to money, last Friday (May 24) it was reported that Syafeeq, the son of Perlis menteri besar Shukri Ramli was charged in the Kangar sessions court the previous day with falsifying claims of more than RM19,000 for the supply of drinks for the Raja of Perlis, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail early this year.


To compound matters, Shukri is also the Perlis PAS commissioner as well as the state’s PN chairman, so can you imagine the embarrassment it might have caused the Islamist party which often portrays itself as being clean, righteous and beyond reproach?


But will all these make the veteran PAS supremo rethink his obsession with linking corruption to non-Malays? After all, previously weren’t there serious allegations that even his own party had received a whopping RM90 million from the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) funds when disgraced ex-PM Najib Razak was in power? (Read here)


At the end of the day, the reality is that corruption has been a serious problem in this country for decades, probably having started to “rear its ugly head” in the 1980s during the Mahathir-Daim era when privatisation was the buzzword and crony-millionaires were the toast of the nation.


The PAS chief may still be in denial, but with the recent high-profile cases involving his own Malay-Muslim “comrades-in-arms”, shouldn't it be as clear as daylight to everyone that corruption is a universal human weakness - not synonymous with anyone from any specific ethnic background or religious belief!


Furthermore, no religion tolerates corruption. But sadly, it looks like not everyone who is an expert in his own religion may care to know or respect the true teachings of other religions.


Finally, as for the argument that bribe givers were the real guilty ones while the receivers were to some extent “innocent”, the truth is, in many cases, if the receiver never “demanded” for it, either implicitly or otherwise, would there be any need for the other party to bribe?