I hardly ever receive presents because, I suppose, I rarely ever give any. I do not even bother to celebrate my own birthday; it comes and goes completely unnoticed. When on the odd occasion I do receive a present for delivering an anti-corruption and ethical governance speech, I treasure it even though it is just another Royal Selangor pewter plate, to clutter my already-cluttered sitting room, collecting dust, to the annoyance of my long-suffering wife.
The present I am now writing about is infinitely more precious, a bountiful God’s munificent blessings in answer to a nation’s desperate prayer. The prayer, in short, beseeches God the Almighty to give Hishammuddin Hussein, our often “not all there” Minister of Home Affairs, the courage and wisdom to put Musa Hassan out to pasture, not so much as a normal and inevitable consequence of the ravages of time, but, in this case, his unethical baggage had grown too large for the nation to ignore. That must surely weigh heavily against his fitness for continued employment.
In an ethically more demanding society, which ours, I fear, is not, he would never have been allowed to darken the portal of Bukit Aman, let alone occupy the office of the Inspector-General of Police, a position of trust. Musa should never have been appointed the nation’s top dog in the first place, especially after his remarkable stellar performance in the infamous earlier Anwar Ibrahim trial, appearing complete with his pathetic stock in trade or prop in the shape of a decidedly grubby mattress, for the entire world to see. It was in the course of this trial that he showed the full extent of his brilliant professional approach to policing which led an irreverent friend of mine to describe both Musa and Augustine Paul, and may his soul rest in peace, as “the lowest form of human life.” I apologise on behalf of my friend to the amoebas of this world. Musa displayed the agility of someone who knew exactly which side of the bread was buttered and he served Mahathir Mohamad’s evil purpose well. Quick promotions followed as a reward.
There is a sense of blessed relief permeating the atmosphere; even the police, I am told, are celebrating the departure of the man who has brought them into disrepute. Musa became the first IGP, since the post was held by Claude Fenner, to be publicly denounced in a court of law in Sabah as an “unreliable witness.” But then he was merely reverting to type and following in the footsteps of a long line of corrupt predecessors who are now luxuriating in the lap of their ill-gotten riches.
From my years of observation of the PDRM, there have only been three IGPs who were clean and seen to be free of corruption, namely the late Claude Fenner, Abdul Rahman Hashim who died under tragic circumstances in the service of the nation, and the best of them all, Mohamed Hanif Omar who is enormously disappointed to see his years of work destroyed under a succession of disreputable men. Hanif remains the quintessential officer and gentleman, an iconic figure symbolising the golden age of the Royal Malaysia Police.
While the nation rejoices in seeing the back of Musa as he gets on his bicycle to ride into the sunset of ignominy, his shadowy successor’s opening expression of gratitude to his soon departing superior sent shivers down the spine. He said, “I have been well trained by Musa. I am honoured to succeed him.” The last thing we want after the Musa years is a Musa-cloned successor. If continuing in the Musa policing model is all Ismail Omar can bring to the table, then woe betide this nation that has so far waited in vain for a human rights-based police culture.
Let Musa’s deftly cultivated culture of impunity be replaced by one espousing honour, dignity, respect, responsibility, transparency and accountability for actions taken to protect life and property. The new IGP would do well to be his own man and exorcise the dubious and unethical practices that Musa believed to be his great gift to this nation. We deserve better.