S Thayaparan
Published: Mar 30, 2026 7:00 AM
Updated: 10:45 AM
"I'm shocked - shocked - to find that gambling is going on in here!"
COMMENT | I hope rational Malaysians understand that Khairy Jamaluddin was wrong when he said it was amateur hour on both sides of the political divide.
These people are not amateurs. These people are professional charlatans. Madani does not have its head buried in the ground; it is just that they do not care about these corruption allegations.
All you have to do is refer to how Madani handled the Sabah corruption scandal, and you will understand that the average Joe Rakyat, for whatever reasons, does not care and, in some cases, votes these professional charlatans back in. BN played this card for years until an aberration in the system caused the fall of Umno.
And the opposition is not stupid and incompetent, but merely going to use as a blueprint what Madani is doing now if they ever gain political power. The opposition is not making much noise in these corruption issues because they understand that this is the way they are going to handle things when they assume power.
In fact, by remaining silent, they allow Madani to be the corrupt party in this, and what they say will not come back to bite their behinds when they assume power and do the same thing. Let us be honest here. We can talk about “big fishes” when it comes to corruption, but recall when Pakatan Harapan was in power for the first time.
Harapan, if you remember, talked a good game about cleaning up corruption but always found an excuse for not doing it when in power. Remember the investigation into former Sarawak governor Abdul Taib Mahmud - perhaps the white whale of oppositional talking points when it came to corruption - came to a standstill?
Then de facto law minister Liew Vui Keong said, “They were not new evidence that would allow MACC to open a new investigation paper.”
At the time, then-MACC chief commissioner Latheefa Koya said of the status of high-profile cases: “However, not all complaints ended up being investigated, especially those with evidence which were just printouts from the internet.”
Published: Mar 30, 2026 7:00 AM
Updated: 10:45 AM
"I'm shocked - shocked - to find that gambling is going on in here!"
– Captain Renault (Casablanca)
COMMENT | I hope rational Malaysians understand that Khairy Jamaluddin was wrong when he said it was amateur hour on both sides of the political divide.
These people are not amateurs. These people are professional charlatans. Madani does not have its head buried in the ground; it is just that they do not care about these corruption allegations.
All you have to do is refer to how Madani handled the Sabah corruption scandal, and you will understand that the average Joe Rakyat, for whatever reasons, does not care and, in some cases, votes these professional charlatans back in. BN played this card for years until an aberration in the system caused the fall of Umno.
And the opposition is not stupid and incompetent, but merely going to use as a blueprint what Madani is doing now if they ever gain political power. The opposition is not making much noise in these corruption issues because they understand that this is the way they are going to handle things when they assume power.
In fact, by remaining silent, they allow Madani to be the corrupt party in this, and what they say will not come back to bite their behinds when they assume power and do the same thing. Let us be honest here. We can talk about “big fishes” when it comes to corruption, but recall when Pakatan Harapan was in power for the first time.
Harapan, if you remember, talked a good game about cleaning up corruption but always found an excuse for not doing it when in power. Remember the investigation into former Sarawak governor Abdul Taib Mahmud - perhaps the white whale of oppositional talking points when it came to corruption - came to a standstill?
Then de facto law minister Liew Vui Keong said, “They were not new evidence that would allow MACC to open a new investigation paper.”
At the time, then-MACC chief commissioner Latheefa Koya said of the status of high-profile cases: “However, not all complaints ended up being investigated, especially those with evidence which were just printouts from the internet.”
Look, I think Latheefa is doing sterling work now, but when folks had the chance to correct the system, nobody took it. Corruption is not a recent phenomenon, but rather it is part of the DNA of the organism, fuelled by racial and religious imperatives and a compromised electoral system.
Umno/BN designed the system, and Madani is attempting to replicate it, or at least this is the way it seems to rational Malaysians.
Game recognises game
Furthermore, remember Perikatan Nasional was briefly in power, and how did that go? With all those really dumb “Langkah, langkahs”, professional charlatans figured out that they didn’t even need voting to get into power, and a small shift in voting got them ejected from the halls of power in Putrajaya.
With the way the system is gerrymandered, and the unequal weightage of votes, issues like corruption and competent governance are not exactly the greatest concerns of a majority of rakyat who sustain themselves on entitlement programmes and the delirium of social media.
The fact that Malaysians have to keep choosing the same recycled politicians is another reason why this country is screwed. Folks forget that all these people know each other. They understand that they are moving parts in a system designed not to encourage independence but co-dependency.
I mean, with these folks, there is no real ideological difference except game recognises game.
Take this snapshot from the past, for instance. From reportage: “(Lawyer N) Surendran, who is also a former PKR vice-president, said Khairy also organised a roadshow with lawyer Shafee Abdullah after Anwar (Ibrahim)'s sodomy II conviction.”
Corruption cases always start like this. All these rumours and dramas about who the always-present Mister X is then fizzles out when something else happens, and the system endures.
As always, the prime minister maintains his silence and attempts are made to use the state security apparatus to silence his critics. People forget, and those who don’t are vilified by those who want the system to remain but want to kvetch about the system needing reform.
Recent scandals
I am sure Khairy knows more about this most recent of PKR scandals than the average citizen. I am sure Rafizi Ramli knows more about this recent scandal than the average citizen and proves it by naming names.
Why all the drama? The fact that all the players in the corporate mafia scandal are interconnected and Rafizi keeps playing hide and seek with facts that he is privy to muddies the waters when it comes to cases like this.
Rafizi Ramli
Khairy and folks like him want to delude people into thinking that they offer change, but they are all imprinted with the imprimatur of old, corrupt men who want the system to endure. There is really no genuine reason to believe that either Khairy, Madani or PN wants to reform the system.
It has come to a point where nobody is even pretending anymore. This is all about who holds on to power, and the non-Malays are merely the vote bank of a coalition which knows it is imploding. There is very little that mainstream politics offers in this country, and the outliers are dodgy at the moment. With PSM getting PAS curious and Muda floundering, the system is content.
I have great sympathy for the agenda of cyber troopers who run around attempting to paint a picture that everything is kosher in Madaniville, because really thinking this through is heart-wrenching. This is how BN got away with their malfeasances for decades.
The difference now is that the world and technology have advanced to a point where masses of people are easily manipulated into surrendering their liberties to fascistic agendas whose oligarchs, clerics and elected officials have no problem colluding with each other.
The only thing that Khairy is evidence of is that Madani and BN's chickens are coming home to roost.
It has come to a point where nobody is even pretending anymore. This is all about who holds on to power, and the non-Malays are merely the vote bank of a coalition which knows it is imploding. There is very little that mainstream politics offers in this country, and the outliers are dodgy at the moment. With PSM getting PAS curious and Muda floundering, the system is content.
I have great sympathy for the agenda of cyber troopers who run around attempting to paint a picture that everything is kosher in Madaniville, because really thinking this through is heart-wrenching. This is how BN got away with their malfeasances for decades.
The difference now is that the world and technology have advanced to a point where masses of people are easily manipulated into surrendering their liberties to fascistic agendas whose oligarchs, clerics and elected officials have no problem colluding with each other.
The only thing that Khairy is evidence of is that Madani and BN's chickens are coming home to roost.
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
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