“THE biggest challenge for us is to make the MACC a corruption-free agency,” said former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief commissioner, Latheefa Koya.

Forty days after her appointment as the first woman to head the country’s anti-corruption enforcement agency, Latheefa said this in an interview with Bernama at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya.

“That is the biggest challenge, to make the MACC a ‘whiter than white’ enforcement agency,” she added.

The phrase ‘whiter than white’ is believed to originate from Shakespeare’s poem Venus and Adonis, published in 1593, and has become defined as ‘morally beyond reproach’. It is used to describe someone whose actions are always honest and moral.

The phrase seems to be the war cry of Akhbar Satar. As president of Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M), he had called on TI-M members to be ‘whiter than white’ in a 2016 President’s Message.

He wrote:

“(I)t is timely for me to remind TI-M members, especially members of the exco, that it is very important that we must ‘walk the talk’. We have to be exemplary in our decorum and set a good example in public and private, especially since TI-M is not just an ordinary NGO, but comes under the microscope of the public and the government all the time. Our every action and statement, even more so those of the TI-M exco (including myself), are being observed.”

A year later, in a statement following the appointment of new Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Fuzi Harun, Akhbar highlighted several areas requiring Fuzi’s full and immediate attention and consideration, including gaining the public’s trust and respect by creating a good example and being ‘whiter than white’.

As president of the Malaysia Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), he had used the phrase to remind the current IGP Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani following the latter’s appointment in May 2021 that the IGP “needs to carry out his leadership duties by being an example, especially in being commissioned as the highest police officer in the land; he must be ‘whiter than white’ and commit to recognising integrity among his officers, preventing internal conflict, supervising them better and training them better.”

Akhbar wrote of two positions seen as highly watched – the IGP and the chief commissioner of the MACC. According to him, both positions come with high responsibilities and expectations, are stressful and among the toughest jobs in the public service.

It goes without saying that the MACC chief commissioner too must be ‘whiter than white’. More so when a former chief commissioner had committed the anti-corruption enforcement agency to be so.

Yesterday, the chief commissioner ended his silence over the issue of acquiring shares of two companies in 2015. When asked why he took so long to address the issue, he said that he did not find it necessary as he was not answerable to anyone other than the Anti-Corruption Advisory Board.

It must be disappointing to civil society that the top man of an integrity agency should put it that way. But it’s not too late for a New Year’s hope that the MACC remains committed to be ‘whiter than white’ – that is, honest and moral in its actions, and not just lawful and legal.

*Hafiz Hassan reads The Malaysian Insight.

* 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.