Urgent to tell the truth !

THE greatest tribute that Malaysians can pay to the memory of Kevin Morais and others like him who had sacrificed their lives fighting against the abuse of power is to protect and strengthen those institutions tasked with ensuring that integrity and good governance define our identity as a nation.

Each and every one of those institutions – from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to Bank Negara – is under some sort of stress and strain today. Fulfilling their amanah (trust) – doing what they are required to do by law and convention – has become a major challenge. Why are they in such a situation today?

One, we continue to be burdened with a neo-feudal psychology which accords precedence to unquestioning loyalty to a leader, however wrong he may be, over allegiance to values, principles and institutions associated with integrity. The neo-feudal leader himself expects such blind loyalty and cultivates it assiduously through material rewards and allurements.

Two, in a society where communal consciousness is pervasive there is always a tendency among a significant segment of society to demonstrate fidelity to communal identities, institutions and personalities. Such fidelity often results in the subordination of values such as integrity and honesty.

Three, when loyalty to communal identity becomes obsessive, it is not difficult to whip up fear and hatred of the other to a point where collective fear overwhelms concern for integrity or righteousness. The manipulation of fear, by no means confined to ethnic and religious sentiments, is sometimes a tool that elites employ in order to perpetuate their power.

Four, when a party has been dominant for a long while – as the Barisan Nasional was until 2008 – and has not been held in check by a culture of accountability and transparency, it develops a mindset that is dismissive of anything that questions its exercise of power. Integrity is often the victim of such a mindset.

Five, a major episode in the life of a nation that devastates the integrity of a vital institution of governance can weaken the principle and practice of amanah in society as a whole for decades to come. This is what happened in Malaysia in 1988 when the head of the Judiciary was removed on flimsy, fabricated charges and senior judges dismissed.

For all these reasons, institutions which are expected to preserve and protect values and principles such as truth, justice, integrity and honesty have not been able to function as well as they should. The investigations into 1MDB and the RM2.6bil in the Prime Minister’s personal bank account which have been hampered and hindered by various moves and manoeuvres underscore this.

In more concrete terms, the PAC has been immobilised. There is still no action on the report submitted by Bank Negara to the Attorney-General which called for enforcement. There has been very little progress in apprehending key individuals wanted in both the 1MDB and RM2.6bil investigations.

The Prime Minister has yet to sue the Wall Street Journal for alleging financial improprieties on his part. Those who are concerned about integrity in public life are understandably disillusioned about the whole situation. This may explain why some of them may have sought external avenues to address the malaise.

There is no doubt at all that foreign actors who are focusing upon the current controversies in Malaysia have their own agendas. Given the orientation of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Washington Post, one is not surprised that they are exploiting the controversies to achieve their own goals which may include regime change in Putrajaya – a possibility which I had alluded to in an article on Feb 17.

Apart from Prime Minister Najib Razak’s explicit support for Hamas which has incensed Israel and its backers in the United States, it is also quite conceivable that Malaysia’s military cooperation with China reflected in the four-day joint naval exercise between the two nations in the strategic Straits of Malacca from Sept 18 – the biggest that China has conducted with any Asean state – has upset some circles in Washington DC.

It has also been argued that the targeting of Najib in the US media may be part of the attempt to ensure that Malaysia signs up to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement.

Whatever the motives, it is obvious that the Malaysian Government’s acts of commission and omission on 1MDB and the RM2.6bil account have provided foreign manipulators with a lot of ammunition to hit Najib.

This is why it is extremely urgent to tell the whole truth. The yet to be completed report of the Auditor-General which would be the basis for the reconstituted PAC to finish its work, and the finalisation of the MACC’s investigations, together with Bank Negara’s report which is with the Attorney-General, should reveal the truth about 1MDB and the RM2.6bil account. Foreign investigations may also help.

The Malaysian people should send a clear message to our Government. The investigations into the two related controversies should be closed and the whole truth should be made known to the nation and the world by the end of this year.

To allow the controversies to drag on into 2016 will only bring our nation to the edge of the precipice.

DR CHANDRA MUZAFFAR Kuala Lumpur

(Dr Chandra Muzaffar has been writing and speaking on integrity in public life since the nineteen seventies.)


Related posts:

Malaysian Deputy Public Prosecutor, Kevin, an angel was abducted, killed and cemented in drum by hired men

KEVIN Morais (pix) was a pure professional, highly ethical, very hardworking and humble. He possessed no ego of any form. In his work he ...

Separate the Attorney-General’s powers to correct a flaw in Malaysian legal system !

Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail Revise Attorney-General's powers There is a flaw in our system, inherited since before Independence, tha...

Sue or don't sue WSJ's report: RM2.6bil was moved to PM Najib Tun Razak's bank accounts?

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—Malaysian investigators scrutinizing a controversial government investment fund have traced nearly $700 million ... 

 Fighting corruption must be serious !

 1MDB probe gains momentum, a ...

PETALING JAYA: The probe into claims that funds were channelled into the personal accounts of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak heated up when the task force investigating the matter froze six bank accounts and ...

Malaysian Deputy Public Prosecutor, Kevin, an angel was abducted, killed and cemented in drum by hired men

KEVIN Morais (pix) was a pure professional, highly ethical, very hardworking and humble. He possessed no ego of any form.

In his work he was very thorough, often asking as many questions as it required to understand every permutation completely.

He took his work as a prosecutor very seriously, often missing meals, and constantly suffered from red watery eyes after reading law throughout the night. He gave his all to the cases he took on. Sometimes, when witnesses turned hostile or the case went awry for reasons beyond Kevin’s control, it affected him deeply. It hurt him to talk about those cases.

Kevin was married to his work.He took on cases others left behind as serving justice was uppermost in his mind. He endeavoured to make sense of every case so he could fight for justice. He had an excellent command of English and loved trading witty puns with the equally competent.

Every time there was a meeting, staff of all rank would line up to shake his hand not because they had to, but because they wanted to shake the hands of Tuan Kevin Morais and greet him. From the gentle bow of their bodies to the deferential nod of their head and the way they extended their hands – like an offering – you could see the tremendous respect they held for him.

Despite being extremely busy, Kevin always had time for those who sought him. He took the time to explain things slowly and made sure they understood perfectly, trying as it may be for those without legal training.

I often told him, “Kevin, these men hold a tremendous measure of respect for you. This is far more valuable than any Datuk or Tan Sri title.” In his usual deprecating manner, he would laugh it off and say, “Oh, Jess, you so flatter me.”

Kevin was a peaceful soul. He always believed in the goodness of people. It never ceased to amaze me how devastated he would be if he found out how bad or guilty they were. In his trademark hand-over-the-mouth gesture, he would keep saying, “No, no please. Not him too!” It amazes me that he was so innocent even after years of practising his profession, choosing to believe good over evil.

I hold him very dear in my heart and not a day has gone by since his disappearance that I’ve not broken down. My constant question to God is, “Why Kevin, God? Why?” My answer is that the angels in heaven wanted him where he belongs. - By JESSICA GURMEET KAUR SIDHU Malaysia



SUBANG JAYA: It was a dead end road hemmed in on one side by a swampy area near a primary school with Sungai Klang at the end of it.

This was where, after almost 13 days since going missing, Deputy Public Prosecutor Anthony Kevin Morais was found.

His decomposed body was discovered cemented in an oil drum which was dumped into the swampy area.

A 52-year-old army doctor is be­­lieved to have hired several men to kidnap and kill Kevin, who was involved in the prosecution of a RM700,000 corruption case against him.

After abducting Kevin in Bangsar, it is believed that they killed him by bludgeoning him before stuffing his body in an oil drum and pouring in cement.

They then dumped the drum in the swamp near SKJC Chee Wen here. The road next to the swamp was a dead end and hardly used by motorists.

Federal CID director Comm Datuk Seri Mohmad Salleh said the doctor was one of seven people detained over the abduction and murder of Kevin.

“We detained four men, two women and a child on Tuesday and one of the suspects led us to this location. We had to send divers into the swamp and they verified that an oil drum was sitting on the river bed,” he said at the scene yesterday.

Comm Mohmad said a forklift took out the drum before personnel from the forensic unit broke it open.

“The body was found in a gunny sack covered with cement,” he said, adding that the body was taken to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for a post-mortem.

Investigators did not open the gunny sack at the scene but it is believed that the body is intact.

Comm Mohmad said in Penang, police had seized a Mitsubishi Triton, a Honda Accord and RM17,100 cash while in Klang Valley, authorities confiscated a Proton Persona, RM15,000 cash and a receipt for the purchase of cement, stones and sand, believed to have been used in the case.

The Mitsubishi Triton was used to ram into Kevin’s government issued Proton Perdana on Sept 4 along Jalan Duta before he was forced into another car. One of the other suspects then drove away in the Proton Perdana.

“This incident was captured on CCTV in Jalan Duta and that led us to the arrests,” he said, adding that po­­lice would be applying for a seven-day remand against the four men.

It is learnt that three more suspects are still at large. The woman and child are believed to be family members of one of the men caught.

“We expect to make more arrests soon,” he said, adding that three of those caught were being investiga­ted for links with gangsterism.

He also denied that the case had any link to the murder of AmBank founder Hussain Ahmad Najadi or the 1MDB scandal.

“I would like to convey my deepest condolences to the Morais family,” he said, adding that police believed that the army doctor and the other four men were in cahoots.

“It is possible that the doctor hired these men to abduct and murder Kevin,” he said.

Kevin went missing after leaving his residence in Menara Duta here for work in Putrajaya in a grey Proton Perdana bearing the registration plate WA6264Q.

Kevin must have been killed because of his cases, says brother: We want justice



KUALA LUMPUR: The grieving youngest brother of Deputy Public Prosecutor Anthony Kevin Morais has called for justice to be done against those who killed him.

When met outside the Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) mortuary, 49-year-old Datuk Richard Morais said his brother must have been killed because of the cases he was involved in.

“I don’t know what to say. This is not a normal death,” said a teary-eyed Richard after the body of his brother was wheeled into the hospital.

“Everybody knows that this was case-related,” he added.

However, Richard said he did not know what case could have caused the 55-year-old to end up dead.

Inconsolable: Relatives supporting a distraught Richard after he arrived at the Hospital Kuala Lumpur mortuary to identify his brother’s body.

“He was a secretive person. He was very professional about his work. He did not share with his family members. Work came first,” he said.

Richard described his brother as a “strict man” who lived for his job and the law.

Another brother, David Morais, said the post-mortem might take up to two days to determine it was Kevin and what killed him.

“It is unbelievable that this can happen to him. We are just waiting for the post-mortem to be over,” he said.

Related:

Kevin was not just a DPP, he was family too

Army doctor has corruption cases pending

Gani pays his last respects

10 cases of bodies in cement-filled drums since 1998

The Malaysian Insider‎s,

The concrete is seen after it was broken out of the drum which contained the body of former ..