WHAT are the roles and responsibilities of any public servant, whether prime minister or MACC chief?

This basic query is posed, explored and answered at Intan, but surely, politicians have never attended Intan courses, except as seminar participants. They learn through osmosis from their partisan seniors.

So, do political appointees really know the moral, ethical and spiritual responsibilities of their roles, other than the legal ones?

We might not understand why this MACC chief chose to reveal recordings of the former PM’s private discussions with his wife, who had assumed the role of “first lady”.

I’ve received personal answers to a question about my friend and ally, Abu Kassim Mohamed, the former MACC chief who rather suddenly left to take up a different appointment in Switzerland. As usual, there was fake news on the transfer and the justification given publicly.

If Latheefa Koya had been the next MACC chief then, she might’ve been transferred to Timbuktu. Now, she is beginning to compete with the legacy of the great corruption fighter and former ACA chief, judge Harun Hashim.

Surely more than just these MACC chiefs or advisers had known about the corruption and integrity failures in the system? Did they tolerate these failures and simply “makan gaji”?

Why didn’t the MACC advisory board and its different committees know? Who are the corrupt and corruptible?

Are we saying the entire top echelon of the public service didn’t know? Was it why the BNM governor left quietly, and the former A-G, too, without an explanation given? The former A-G has not spoken up till now.

Was it also why the former cabinet secretary had to leave, and a new chief secretary started work on January 1, 2020? Is the new one really above board and squeaky clean?

Cleanliness and filth

My mother taught me morality and ethics. She told me clearly the difference between black and white. She warned me about dirt and its filthy nature, that lying is the foundation of all such dirtiness.

It reminds me of a hitchhiking trip my good friend, the late Dr Panirchelvam, and I once took. The driver asked us where we were from, and where we were headed. My friend replied that we were from JB and headed for Penang. The driver said he was from JB, and was curious to know where we lived.

My clever friend quickly said he lived behind the hospital and I lived behind the post office – both untrue. The conversation ended there, fortunately for us. We were merely RMC schoolboys heading home without funds.

I then remembered my mum’s words. Don’t “play-play” with lies, as things will only get dirtier until they become filthy and rotten.

Therefore, the MACC chief was not only smart, but also brave to reveal the light of the deeper truths she had received. As they say, light drives out darkness, and there is no way to rid a system of institutionalised and integrated corruption without courage and conviction.

Latheefa reflected on and answered the one right question: Are the recordings genuine? Once convinced, she did the only right thing for her to do, and did it in a smart way. It’s worthy of a Malaysia Book of Records entry, and we must all support her.

How to deal with light?

There is much light of new information before us all. Whether it’s admissible in court is the wrong question. The truth is, no one has contested its authenticity.

What I care about are truths in the public interest – and why the so-called “first lady” had acted as if she were the chief secretary or adviser to the PM.

My question to both her and the former PM is, did your mum not teach you about cheating, stealing and lying (CSL)? Conniving crookedness is even worse.

Abdul Razak Hussein, our second PM, did not promote CSL, as best as I know, since I started work in ICDAU of the PM’s Department in 1972. Moreover, his deputy then was none other than Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, the dad of my friend.

Therefore, Latheefa, well done, good and faithful servant. The public service can only be grateful to you. Perhaps by the time you are done, they might give you an award. But that’s not why we do public service.

You’ve done well as a spokesman for the government and what we intend to develop as “Governance 2.0” in a Malaysia with a new operating system.

You are a true-blue Bangsa Malaysian. – January 12, 2020.

* KJ John worked in public service for 32 years, retired, and started a civil group for which he is chairman of the board. He writes to inform and educate, arguing for integration with integrity in Malaysia. He believes such a transformation has to start with the mind before it sinks into the heart!

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.