KUALA LUMPUR: Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah urged swift action and heavy sentences for corruption cases, suggesting a special court to expedite proceedings.
His Royal Highness warned that corruption had become entrenched as subordinates mimic the dishonesty of their superiors.
“In other words, it’s a case of a small monkey following the big monkey,’’ said Sultan Sharafuddin in a candid interview with The Star.
The Ruler added he did not believe that most of those involved in corruption, other than perhaps lower-ranking policemen, were broke and in need of money.
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“The ‘big’ ones, they are not poor.
“To them, ‘those who are up there are doing it, so I’ll do it too’.
“Government servants see the politicians doing it, and they think they can do it as well.
‘They also say, ‘the KSU (ministry secretary-general) who is my boss, is doing it; the politicians who are ministers are doing it, so I will also do it’,’’ reiterated Sultan Sharafuddin.
The Sultan said corruption should have been swiftly tackled a long time ago, but because of the delays in court proceedings, it has festered into a disease afflicting government servants.
Sultan Sharafuddin, noting that some graft cases took years to resolve, believed that establishing a special corruption court and enacting stronger deterrent laws were the way forward in combating corruption.
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“People involved in corruption must face severe punishment. If the punishment is not severe, it will not be effective.
“You can see that in Vietnam and China, if there is corruption, they tembak (shoot).
“They kill the wrongdoers and not just give 20 or 30 years of imprisonment,’’ said the Ruler.
Sultan Sharafuddin also said the amount of corruption in the country in the past was not as worrying as it is now.
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“Last time it was not like that. Corruption among government servants and politicians now is not small.
“It is like a gang activity, and it is scary,’’ the Ruler added.
Touching on corruption within the police force, Sultan Sharafuddin said in addition to being afflicted by graft, the force has also “lost its plot”.
He reminisced about the time when he was in the police, saying the force’s insignia depicted two hands grasping each other to indicate the support it gave the general public.
“I hate to say this, but I think something like a ‘ghost hand’ remote controls them.
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“Ghost hands cannot be seen. The police should be more for the public and not take sides,’’ added Sultan Sharafuddin.
The Sultan also said that the police must also ensure that cases are solved quickly and appropriately, as people are losing respect for them because of the lengthy delays and failure to deliver as expected.
“They can do it. I know because I was in the police. Nothing is impossible as they can do it,’’ he added.
His Royal Highness had served as a civil servant upon his return from the United Kingdom in 1968.
Besides working in the Kuala Lumpur police contingent, the Sultan also served in the Kuala Lumpur district office and the Selangor state secretariat.
