Don’t throw stones

Pot and kettle: While Kajang Prison will house Najib as he serves his sentence, other politicians in their not-exactly-squeaky-clean glass houses shouldn’t be celebrating just yet. — China Press

IT’S a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black – that’s how many would describe how some politicians reacted to the Federal Court’s affirmation of Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak’s conviction and sentence in the SRC Sdn Bhd case.

On Tuesday, after the former prime minister was sent to the Kajang Prison in Selangor to begin serving his 12-year sentence, an Opposition leader posted a TikTok video gleefully celebrating the downfall of his family’s “arch enemy”.

I wondered if it had ever occurred to him that, if there was a change of government, there might be an investigation into the allegations of corruption that he faces.

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim hit the nail on the head when he said that he found it “odd” that some political leaders were celebrating Najib’s jail sentence when they are “just as corrupt”.

The PKR president and Port Dickson MP said it is an open secret that some leaders had amassed billions of ringgit. Yet, Anwar noted, some of these same people were attacking Najib. He said they should not act as if they are totally “clean”.

“Why aren’t you angry that all corrupt politicians are not charged in court? Do you hate corruption or just Najib because of a hate campaign?” I asked my pro-Opposition, T20 (top 20% income earners) friend who was celebrating Najib’s conviction.

“If you hated corruption, you should demand X, Y and Z be charged in court. Corruption doesn’t stop with Najib.”

“How do you know they are corrupt?” he asked in return.

So I told him to Google what DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang, Anwar and Amanah president Mohamad Sabu had alleged about them in the last two decades, naming the Oppo-sition leaders who my friend admires as “anti-corruption icons”.

The mere mention of Lim, Anwar and Mohamad convinced my friend that X, Y and Z are indeed corrupt. LOL! I didn’t even need to explain the corruption.

“But why have they not been prosecuted?” my friend asked.

I threw out a few ideas, that maybe it was selective prosecution or maybe people conveniently forgot when they came into power.

Our chat reminded me of what then Pakatan Harapan president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said in 2017, when she was also PKR president: That a commission could be set up to investigate allegations against Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad that had cropped up during his 22-year tenure as prime minister the first time around. But it would depend on the Opposition forming the Federal Government, she said.

This was, of course, before the Opposition named Dr Mahathir as its PM candidate. Then Pakatan won the 14th General Election in 2018, Dr Mahathir became prime minister again, and the commission was forgotten.

When Dr Mahathir was prime minister this time around, Lim, known among his supporters as an anti-corruption doyen, said he never labelled the Langkawi MP as corrupt even during the first stint from 1981 to 2003.

Lim’s revelation made me think that I must have misunderstood the DAP leader’s corruption exposes I had followed since reading his book, Time Bombs in Malaysia (1978).

When Pakatan formed the government in 2018, the Attorney General’s Chambers withdrew the ongoing corruption case (dubbed “Bungalowgate”) against Lim Guan Eng, who was appointed finance minister then.

On June 28 this year, testifying in his defence at his corruption trial, Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi alleged that before GE14, three party MPs jumped “out of fear” to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), whose chairman at that time was Dr Mahathir.

“A lot of people saved themselves. Out of 54 [Umno MPs at that time], three MPs jumped to join PPBM [Bersatu], and I know three of them had cases that I understand were to be investigated by the MACC [Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission].

“Out of that fear, they wanted to save themselves and joined PPBM,” he said.

A gentleman’s reaction to the jailing of Najib came from Mat Sabu – the Amanah president is known for his gentlemanly behaviour – when he urged Malaysians not to be arrogant or overjoyed. He said Najib’s conviction should instead be a lesson for all to steer clear of emulating the former prime minister by committing any crime, small or large.

“We should not be happy when something bad happens to someone. Malaysians must continue looking to build the nation and eradicate corruption so that Malaysia becomes a prosperous and peaceful nation with integrity, now and in the future,” he said in a Facebook post.

“Take every catastrophe that happens to others as a lesson for us all. Let’s not be arrogant or snobbish. Instead, let us all seek forgiveness from God.”

Good advice, especially for those facing corruption charges or supporting “dirty” leaders.

One day the pot might have its day in court.