Without publicity, no good is permanent; under the auspices of publicity, no evil can continue.
— Jeremy Bentham, 1768
The urgent need for transparent government should become the national unity slogan for jump-starting the expected ethos of elected officials. The public must be relentless in wanting to know what the government is doing to uplift lives and livelihoods for all Malaysians.
Arrogance seizes autocratic officials thinking they have acquired the voters’ mandate, and therefore they are somewhat ubermensch. This asinine and irresponsible attitude has inevitably wrought constitutional turbulence since the 1970s.
There is no training institution for intending politicians in Malaysia. Some believe their pedigree, education and oratorical skills suffice. They may be relevant, but they shamefully and shamelessly reveal secret agendas and hidden motives fuelled by selfish intentions.
The government must disclose all the unspoken and unpublished policies that are disgracefully and dangerously, in vogue. Freedom of speech applies to the government too. The Official Secrets Act 1972 (Act 19) is not designed to promote an opaque government.
In the United States, the Honest Services Act, a/k/a 18 U.S.C. § 1346, is a federal law that defines honest services fraud as a crime that involves depriving someone of their right to honest services. Malaysia may need a similar law that renders other ineffective laws repealable.
But then, such a piece of legislation in Malaysia will understandably overcrowd our prisons; that is, if, and when law enforcement and the administration of justice decide to drain the swamp while catching all the swamp rats.
According to statistics, as of February 28, 2023, there were 134,978 police personnel and officers in Malaysia. These include senior and junior police officers, as well as civil officers. Surely, the avowed Madani workload to catch recalcitrant criminals is not on overload.
There is no specific or detailed enumeration of the functions and duties of government in the Federal Constitution partitioned into Fifteen Parts containing 183 Articles and Thirteen Schedules. Constitutional tweaking is slow and sluggish.
The Government Proceedings Act 1956 (Act 359),however, enumerates some key functions and duties expected of government that can sue, and be sued. The public should keep the courts busy with public interest litigation.
“The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them,” warned Patrick Henry, an American colonial revolutionary. Liberties of which people?
In this regard, it’s no longer a dirty secret that the American Revolution was the result of the British Crown prohibiting Eurosettlers from stealing Native American lands using fraudulent land titles. Adorna Properties had already sprung shoots in America in the 1700s.
“I believe that a guarantee of public access to government information is indispensable in the long run for any democratic society…. if officials make public only what they want citizens to know, then publicity becomes a sham and accountability meaningless,” observed Sissela Bok, a Swedish philosopher.
Malaysia’s Freedom of Information Act should not contain restrictions, restraints, exemptions, exclusions and exceptions. The public has a constitutional right to know — in tandem with the freedom of speech enshrined in Article 10(1)(a) Federal Constitution.
“Every legal power must have legal limits, otherwise there is dictatorship; thus, it becomes the duty of the courts to intervene,” declared Raja Azlan Shah in Pengarah Tanah dan Galian, Wilayah Persekutuan v Sri Lempah Enterprise [1979] 1 MLJ 135 at 148 (Federal Court).
Our courts must intervene whenever so much as a punctuation mark in the Federal Constitution is carelessly or deliberately omitted that can impact litigated issues. Caveat: Sir Roger Casement was hanged in 1916 because of a missing comma!
“Everything secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show it can bear discussion and publicity,” warned Lord Acton.
In this regard, we have several rotting skeletons rattling in the cupboard of concealment, corruption, contrition, and conscience. Disappeared scapegoats and sacrificial lambs will never be lost in translations or thoughtful memories.
Wastage and disappearing funds are never addressed as if the ringgit-printers never take a vacation. Malaysians have never witnessed a trial or an inquiry into this anomaly. The Auditor General’s Office must have a well-oiled revolving door for the public’s hunger for audits.
The hijacking of MA63 and its consecrated principles is still Number One on the Opaque Government’s Hall of Shame and Blame. Six decades of decadent debate, discourse and discussion has wrought nothing but debilitating disappointment and despair.
Following a fresh referendum, it may very well take a band of brave and bold businessmen working with political, legal and judicial imperatives, to enforce MA63 as originally structured for co-equal sovereigns Sabah and Sarawak.
Wealth creation was certainly the impeller in the minds of Malaysia’s funding and founding fathers, and now it’s time for Sabah and Sarawak to think likewise for safeguarding their sovereign natural resources.
It need not be a zero-sum game. The rule of law is on the side of Sabah and Sarawak. The end results are inevitable and unstoppable if decisive actions materialise.
Unfortunately, the rule of law becomes prey to the rule of politics. Article 145 Federal Constitution (Attorney General) should expansively enumerate the establishment of the Office of the (Independent) Public Prosecutor as the elected Peoples’ Advocate.
Delia Ferreira warned that “people’s indifference is the best breeding ground for corruption to grow.” The optimum expression of people’s indifference may be to quit voting!
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of Sarawak Tribune.
