Generally news of the early retirement of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Chief Commissioner Datuk Seri Ahmad Said Hamdan have elicited two responses.

Firstly, Ahmad Said’s 30-month tenure as anti-corruption chief saw public confidence in the anti-corruption agency, Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) and later MACC, plunged to the lowest ebb in nation’s history.

This is supreme irony and greatest national disservice. The MACC which started operations this year had been touted as modeled after world-famous Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and would be an even more effective anti-corruption agency because of the various panels and mechanisms exercising oversight to ensure its independence and professionalism.

It is however no exaggeration to say that public confidence in the ACA in its 40-year history had never fallen as low as during the first year of operation of MACC.
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