Dennis Ignatius
~ Provoking discussion, dissent & debate on politics, diplomacy, human rights & civil society.
When Leadership Fails, Corruption Thrives
02MondayFeb 2026
Posted in corruption, Politics
[1] So many corruption cases have filled the news recently; outrage is slowly giving way to numb resignation. High-ranking officials – entrusted with defending the nation, protecting our borders, enforcing the law and safeguarding public welfare – have betrayed the nation. How do men with so little integrity end up in such high positions?
[2] Almost all our national institutions are compromised. The list is endless – dishonest politicians gaming the system; generals engaging in shady procurement deals; officials looking the other way as toxic e-waste is illegally dumped; immigration officers selling entry to the highest bidder; enforcement personnel shaking down massage parlour operators; customs officers conniving with smugglers. Even zakat funds are not safe. Nothing is sacred. Everything is for sale. What the law forbids, crooked officials simply legalise – for a fee.
[3] Corruption is no longer an aberration; it has become the norm. What we are witnessing is not a handful of rogue officials but a culture in which integrity is the exception rather than the rule. Bribery, impunity and abuse of power are now so deeply woven into national life that they are dismissed even by religious leaders as “willing giver, willing taker.”
[4] Our politicians are accomplished actors. They feign shock and disbelief whenever a new scandal emerges. They rush to microphones to declare that enough is enough. They demand transparency, pledge accountability and promise thorough investigations. Yet once public attention shifts, nothing fundamentally changes. The rhetoric is loud, the action minimal. When the spotlight moves on, it is back to business as usual.
[5] We have become a nation without shame. We grant DNAAs to the worst offenders, agitate for full pardons on behalf of convicted criminals, and allow crooks to redeem themselves by returning a fraction of what they stole. Faced with grand corruption, we speak of “resets” that amount to little more than amnesties for the powerful. It is often said that behind every great fortune lies a great crime; in Malaysia, criminals with great fortunes hide in plain sight, their reputations laundered by a multitude of honours and appointments.
[6] It is good that the MACC appears to have rediscovered its zeal. But the cynic in me wonders why the MACC is quick to act in some cases but suffers from blindness or amnesia in others. Why has there been no closure to the submarine, LCS or helicopter procurement scandals? Why no meaningful movement on the Sabah whistleblower allegations? And what about the startling revelations by Bloomberg recently of massive corruption in the recruitment of foreign workers? Are the recent arrests just part of a cynical scheme to sacrifice those lower down the food chain to divert attention from powerful figures and their cronies at the top who continue to quietly rake in millions undisturbed?
[7] The prime minister said recently that “the government can no longer tolerate weaknesses in enforcement…”, that “the country needs to be saved from various activities that damage its integrity and the economy.” He went on to confess that after three years in office he has “lost patience.”
[8] If this is the strongest response he can muster, it is little wonder corruption continues unchecked. He is not a detached commentator but the sitting prime minister. Responsibility for every unresolved corruption scandal and abuse of power, every failure to pursue the powerful rests squarely with him – and with him alone. Voters may grow weary, but governing is not a spectator sport. His duty is not merely to acknowledge weaknesses in the system, but to fix them – and certainly not to exploit those weaknesses to facilitate DNAAs for the corrupt or pardons for the convicted. Failure to act in the face of corruption and abuse of power is itself an abuse of power.
[9] Fighting corruption is not a lost cause; it is a test of leadership. Corruption endures not because it is unstoppable, but because those in power lack the political will to confront it. Of all the threats facing the nation, none is more immediate or more destructive than this moral collapse. The prime minister can choose to act decisively, or he can go down in history as yet another leader who talked tough but lacked the courage to confront the rot at the heart of power.
[Dennis Ignatius |Kuala Lumpur |2 February 2026]
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