Should not Dato' Seri Ling Liong Sik be charged for corruption?
2002-03-14
When the Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Mahathir Mohamed, wanted to
destroy politically his chosen deputy, he had him arrested for
corruption and sodomy. The corruption charges related not for
taking bribes or accepting money from those who wanted his
favours but for misusing his power by asking the police to
investigate allegations of corruption against him. The high
court judge that convicted him accepted that definition. It
meant any cabinet minister or officer who misused his office and
power in the course of his work could be convicted for
corruption. That most people in authority at some time or other
did it is neither here nor there. Under these rules, they are
guilty of corruption if they are caught out.
Dr Mahathir, in his numerous remarks about Dato' Seri
Anwar's conviction, thought the man must pay for misuing his
power. He had no right to do what he did. The conviction
brought political problems for the Prime Minister but that is not
what concerns us. It is what he would do when his cabinet
ministers, especially those close to him, are as guilty as Dato'
Seri Anwar of misusing his power. As he more often than not
does.
The Indian Express, on 09 March 2002, in a report from New
Delhi of allegations of corrupt practices against the
government-owned Indian Railways Costruction Company (IRCON) also
mentioned the Malaysian transport minister, Dato' Seri Ling Liong
Sik, misusing his authority by writing to his Indian counterpart,
Mr Nitish Kumar, to ask that the IRCON general manager, Mr Arun
Prasad, be allowed to stay on in his job after his retirement.
That Mr Kumar ignored Dato' Seri Ling's gross misuse of his
power is neither here nor there. But that he did what he did
concerns us. By any yardstick, what he did is more serious than
the corruption Dato' Seri Anwar is convicted of. He wrote a
letter to the Indian government to plead for what he has no right
to. He should not have written that letter. It is not his
business to ensure that the man at the other end of the table is
one who knows Malaysia or not. That he wrote it only because he
believed, like Dato' Seri Anwar, that he could misuse his
authority with the Indian government.
Since IRCON's alleged corrupt practices relate to Mr
Prasad's handling of its largest overseas construction project --
the Malaysian Railways' (KTM) electrification and double-tracking
upgrading from Rawang to Padang Besar worth about RM400 million
-- and agreeing to pay its consultants here, selected because
several members of the Malaysian cabinet wanted them, double the
4.5 per cent fee the three others had bid for. Since the Indian
Express report has not been denied -- all Mr Prasad had to say
was that he would not comment on confidential documents -- and Dr
Ling sent a copy of his letter to the Indian prime minister, Mr
Atul Behari Vajpayee, he leaves an impression with the Indian
government that corruption had something to do with the award of
the contract, is indeed a way of life and what he did in writing
to the Indian railways minister is something he did all the
time in the course of running his ministry.
In other words, by misuing his power and authority, he
needlessly sullied Malaysia's fair name. Obviously, the source
of Malaysian cabinet ministers wanting the "Malaysian Chinese
consultants" is Dr Ling himself. Mr Prasad is a bureaucrat from
the Indian Railway Service and is not about to go canvassing
ministeral appointment on matters like these. Dr Ling washes
Malaysia's dirty linen before the eyes of a foreign government.
He is, in other words, more culpable of corruption than Dato'
Seri Anwar. He should therefore be charged for corruption.
What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
The evidence is all there. In his own files. If you look
closely at his misuing his authority to enable his then
27-year-old son to obtain loans amounting to RM1.2 billion, there
would be ample evidence of it there too. If Dr Mahathir wants to
start to clean up corruption as he says he does, he should begin
with charging those of his ministers who misuse their power.
And prove to the people he means what he says. And Dr Ling has
presented him with an opportunity he can scarcely refuse to
accept.
M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@mgg.pc.my
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