A former top civil servant who had previously helmed a key ministry and subsequently several important strategic government agencies whom I met today lamented at the deplorable state of affairs in the country where the Attorney-General could be so worked up as to appeal against the acquittal of dancer Bilquis Hijjas for insulting behavior by dropping yellow balloons during an official event attended by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife in a mall last August, yet could be so numb and insensitive as to be completely unconcerned about the shame felt by Malaysians at the nation’s new infamy as a “global kleptocracy”.
What indeed has happened to Malaysia?
The last few days were bad days for Malaysian pride, for they were full of the latest negative news on the 1MDB scandal swirling all over the world – in Singapore, the prosecution of two former private bankers with forgery and other criminal charges and the closure of a second Swiss bank in the island republic, both related to misappropriation of billion of dollars from 1MDB and in Switzerland, revelations from the Swiss authorities that the Malaysian Attorney-General had not been forthcoming or co-operative to Swiss requests for assistance in investigations into the international financial conspiracy surrounding the 1MDB scandal.
Yet the Prime Minister and his retinue of Cabinet Ministers and key officers, including the Attorney-General, keep up the charade of ignoring Malaysia’s latest epithet as a “global kleptocracy”, when any self-respecting and patriotic Malaysian must be ashamed and outraged at such an epithet and must regard it as their first task and duty to purge and cleanse Malaysia of such an international infamy!
The Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi should explain why he is so worked up over Bilquis Hijjas’ innocuous yellow balloons but utterly numb and insensitive to Malaysia’s international infamy from the epithet of being a “global kleptocracy”?
Under these circumstances, could the Attorney-General be trusted to protect and uphold the integrity, reputation and dignity of Malaysia?