Saturday, January 24

'Tuai Rumah' beware of MACC

It is heartening to note that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has swung into action against corrupt UMNO leaders. And from the actions that have been taken, MACC seems to mean business. So far 13 UMNO leaders and members have been arrested over money politics. And more are expected to be hauled in.

The MACC actions are bringing hope to our society that is infested with corrupt practices. And the action is taken without fear or favour. Supporting the action taken by the MACC, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said: “The law of the country is the law of the country. No one can escape from it.”

And Najib’s comment is also a welcome news and an assurance to us in Sarawak as it is also bled by the evil of corruption.

But our main concern is the rampant corruption during election times when the use of money clearly puts the Opposition at a great disadvantage.

In two previous elections, the 2006 State and 2008 parliamentary elections, we witnessed a large amount of money being pumped into critical constituencies in order to influence voters and the money was passed through 'Tuai Rumah' (longhouse chiefs).

For instance in the Bukit Begunan and Batang Ai constituencies in the 2006 State election, Tuai Rumah were summoned to district offices two or three days before polling to a “meeting” during which they were handed goodies and ang pows.

When they returned to their own longhouses, the longhouse chiefs distributed the 'ang pows' to their respective “anembiaks” (followers) who were voters and warned them that any one who did not vote for the BN candidates would not be given shares of the goodies and ang pows. The “disobedient” voters might be kicked out from the longhouses.

It is a normal practice for the BN candidates to promise this project and that project for this longhouse and for that longhouse, and warn the longhouse people that the projects may be withdrawn if they do not vote for them. Is this allowed under the law?

The Opposition candidates had evidence of all these and had even lodged reports to Police and to the Anti-Corruption Agency. As usual no action had been taken.

But in the coming election, it is hoped that the recently reformed anti-corruption agency which is now armed to the teeth should play an important role in ensuring a free State election and should take actions against anyone, be they 'Tuai Rumah', Penghulu or ordinary voters for infringing the election law. 'Tuai Rumah' and their “anembiaks” should beware of this as both the givers and receivers are equally guilty under the law.

In MCAA we trust; it is the hope of the Opposition that the next State election will be run fairer, cleaner and smoother. - The Broken Shield

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jetty, for heaven's sake don't be so naive. The MACC has yet to accomplish its goal. Those they hauled up at the moment may be from the opposite camp in UMNO. Who knows? For a moment think outside the box! If the MACC is serious, lets see some convictions in court for a start.

NEIL said...

MACC is just doing this to please the voters.This is the only way to show the opposition that umno meant business.A few guinea pig is slaughtered.We will see if they really walk the talk or it's just a paper tiger

Anonymous said...

"The opposition candsidates had evidences of all these and had even lodged reports to the Police and to the Anti Corruption Agency.As usual no action had been taken."

How far the above statement is true? If indeed, there was sufficient evidence to act on the report lodged, why the culprits were not arrested and charged in court? The Police and ACA cannot simply closed the case like that.

Unknown said...

Yeah, i agreed to what Apai Semalau said. Lets see whether there is any convictions or not. The action of the MACC, It could be that they're following orders from the UMNO top gun and make those accused for their sacrificial lamb to hoodwink the UMNO members for the bigger corruption committed by its top leaders. If one's recalled, there are a few corruption reports to the ACA/MACC previously by veteran UMNO members such as Dato Mazlan Harun with evidence against Abdullah and Najib themselves, but thus far no action has been taken, or even worst there were no investigation has been initiated. Worst still some of these informers /whistle-blowers were harassed, physically attacked (a few cases in Kedah) and even threatened with suspension / expulsion from UMNO.

I have some reservation on MACC committment to fight corruption, unless some of those in the corridor of powers are convicted, not just only going after the small fries with RM100 corruption conviction. Even if investigation is initiated against those big fish, there's always a lame excuse of not enough evidence and the case is closed prematurely.

For example in Sarawak, it is an open secret that a few highest ranking individual has committed corrupt practices /(abused of power, cronyism, nepotism, etc.) and yet to be investigated despite numerous reports lodged against them. If MACC are really serious, these are the parasites that got to be nailed and brought to justice. They're the worst scumbags who stole the state wealth from the rakyat who put them in office and had forsaken their trust in them to govern.

Anonymous said...

Keep a close watch on these "Tuai Rumah", "Penghulu", "Pemancha" and also "the berua"!

Anonymous said...

The performance of the MCAA so far is disappointing. The recent Kuala Terengganu by-election bears testimony to this.

There was rampant corruption whereby reports of cash RM 300 to RM 500 given out to voters were not entertained by the police and in the case of the two reporters being given envelopes containing RM300 each , the MCAA said that they are not going to investigate it.

So far , the MCAA looks like it is no different from the old ACA. It is just a different name and has no bite. They are catching ikan bilis while letting the big fish escape.

The police and MCAA looks like it is more interested in catching opposition members only.

Anonymous said...

The rakyat are smarter now. The corrupt BN Government under Taib can promise development projects, distribute money (which the Dayaks are encouraged to take especially if the amounts are big) but vote for the Opposition especially PKR or DAP.

We can defeat the BN in Sarawak.
Let's the Malay,Melanau, Orang Ulu, Bidayuh, Iban and Chinese and others say No to the corrupt and unjust Sarawak Government led by the Chief Minister Taib Mahmud since 1981.

Anonymous said...

Najib could only have picked up all the nominations for the Umno presidency by buying them.

Former Sabah Chief Minister Harris Salleh himself pointed out recently that everyone in Umno is buying votes. When Harris was CM, he used to hand out weekly ang pow packets to keep people in line. He knows how the game is played.

Badawi is considered the worst by his own people because he refuses to dish out weekly ang pow packets and share the loot with people who can create trouble for him.

He wants to keep all the loot to himself.

In Sarawak, the only way a CM can stay in power for long is by doing what Harris did in Sabah previously. In this way, no one will open his mouth to ask the really serious questions.

Anonymous said...

"Tuai Rumah beware of MACC"

IF this article is meant to scare off the Tuai Rumahs, Councillors, Penghulus or any other BN Government appointed so called 'Chiefs' with something called MACC...then it is an extremely naive pathethic Non-Starter !

WHAT do Tuai Rumahs know anything about MACC or WHY should they care. Their easy answer to any possible allegation of receiving bribe (if they do wish to answer at all) is that they receive it from the Government's District Offices, Resident Offices and so forth...so they who receive it cannot be at fault since they received it from the 'governments' servant such as DOs,SAOs, etc. It is afterall (to the majority of the Tuai Rumahs) the 'work' of the 'Perintah', and therefore cannot be faulted. Furthermore, to the Tuai Rumahs simple reasoning, even if that 'happenings' are wrong, morally or otherwise, then the givers who represent the 'Perintah'are totally answerable to it,...not them so-called simple folks.

It is not easy to get the majority of those Tuai Rumahs to understand the implication of feeling mentally beholden to the wishes of those that gives them such financial reward like that. That is one of the reason (as per my comment on The Dayak Baru weblog - In the article - Dayak Moving Forward) I urge any honest, dedicated aspiring upcoming Sarawak DUN candidates to mobilize and reveal themselves NOW.

Among the many issues, any aspiring candidate will have to find his own way to firmly convince those Tuai Rumah that BN is NOT the only choice of 'Perintah' they can have, for their better future.

Once they are finally convinced and have absolute faith in you and the platform that you are standing on can infact realistically deliver even better opportunities in the future for them, then there is no reason not to expect them to act accordingly when it matters most. To do this takes quite a long time, certainly not enough time to do and to be covered during the actual official campaign period during the upcoming Sarawak DUN election later on.

These inspiring, empowering ways, I believe can work better to get those Tuai Rumahs to instinctively be on your side rather than scaring them with something such as this faceless, clueless MACC creature. I bet they are more afraid to go out at night far away from their own longhouse backyard than this nice and non threatening sounding organisation called MACC.

1001

NEIL said...

All the Tuai Rumah eyes are blinded by the ringgit which have pasted on by the MPs or YBs.There just follow where the ringgit and they will listen to no one.Being uneducated,they are easily manipulated to the likes of the ruling parties.
All effort must now be directed to change this perception.Effort must be make to install a more educated Tuai Rumah and he must be convince to listen to the pulse of his people,not the greed for money.See in KT ,voters are paid RM 500-1000 tp vote for umno/BN.Here the dayaks can be satisfied with a mere RM 20-30.
Those who subscribe to change must start the work of convincing the grassroots now.Much work have to be done to change their thinking.

Anonymous said...

Joe Fernandez makes it so simple. It doesn't work that way anymore.Sarawak is changing. Money is important yes but when people realise they are losing more than just money, such as their precious little possessions like NCR rights and land, etc they will rebel and vote the Opposition.Ang pow or no ang pow.Hopefully the Malays and Melanaus will wake up too, that they have been fooled for far too long by a man. As for the Chinese I always have confidence in their wisdom to do only what is right for the community and their country. A country that is going down like what we are now seeing under the lousy leaders of the BN offers no chance to anyone, Malay and non Malay, to prosper. Like Mugabe's Zimbabwe.

jumpover said...

Maya bepilih ka deka datai tu ila..bala rabak baru..anang enda mai kamera digital enti maya ngulu aum dibai tuai2 rumah.

Ulah sida tr2 ka enda betul maya mantai ka runding...tauka enti bisi rasuah tauka ngelangar hak siko-siko kitai/ pengundi..rekod aja, tauka ambi gamabar. Kena ka kamera tauka hp kitai ka ba kitai. Lalu anjung ngagai pengari PR.
Nya baru sida ia nemu. Selama tu ...sida ia ta ngumbai sida bekuasa.
Sekali tu baru sida nemu.

Aram berubah.

Anonymous said...

MACC is just a duplication of ACA disguised as a so-called reformation. Its nothing new.

Anonymous said...

Good evening everyone.
I've read all comments here and it encourage me enlightened those of you who are rather ignorant and naive on how each enforcement agency work.
Firstly, they deal with law.
Seconly they have to deal with evidence gathering.
Thirdly, in the course of their duty, they have to deal with stubborn, ignorant and arrogant win=tnesses or officers.
When you deal with law, you have too work by the law. Any improper encroachment, you may end up being sued.
Can any of you ever imagine ow hard and difficult it is to gather evidence. It is not like what one see in the CSI or any crime buster thriller in the tv.
Ever imagine having to deal with arrogant withesses ? It is not like getting an evidence against a bicycle theft!
Ever encountered an unpleasant counter officers? That's not all.
And now let me ask those of you who questioned MACC sincerity. Have you ever gave any informations to ACA before. If ever, was your information a kedai kopi talk or a factual one ?
You have to understand for Sarawak, not all ACA officers are investigation officers. They have many branches.
To me, i salute ACA for work done so far.
KEEP UP ACA officers.

Anonymous said...

As long as MACC still under the iron fist of BN, nothing will change much except a more beatiful name. It will have 5 minutes of hotness and will gradually cool off become corrupted itself, slowly eroded by BN-UMNO....Likewise the so called some police???royal??commission??and its recommendation, what is going on now?? By creating more commissions, more money are used up but nothing really happen effectively..

Anonymous said...

hi there everyone,
Mr. Anony(jan 29 9:28am.)
I think you dont make any judgement or comment if it base on guessing or presumption. You have be factual in your comment.
You sounded like a frustated lot or maybe you have been inestigated by ACA before and you show your frustration here.
If if have any information on any corrupted officers of any enforcement agency, you report it to the appropriate authority. As i you better be careful or else you can be sued for making unfounded statement.
As an individual, any officer of these enforcement body can sue you for any defamatory remark or comment without fact.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I do agree to one of our Mr. Anonymous(es) that evident is important to proceed a case to charge against a person in court (Malaysian Court), but we are not blind and deaf to know that the so many cases in Malaysia with even concrete evidents are swept out of the courts or not even produced to the courts. If you dont believe, ask some ex-ACA men or Police men; read also carefully the crisis in our judicial formerly and recently.
By saying so, I dont intend to undermind or look down on any law enforcement agencies in Malaysia, it is just that even the good guys are overcome or over-run by the crooks in the departments.This ends up procedure are not followed or by-passed. Malaysia drastically needs change in the law enforcement and judiciary bodies to win back the confidence of the people. We therfore hope, MACC will at least make itself a bit better than ACA...
Anonymous No.101