Money is like rain. It is a resource of the country. This is especially true if it comes from oil or timber. People expect it to be distributed equitably. If people discover that the leaders are collecting most of the water for themselves and their friends, even though no one is dying of thirst, they begin to harbour a seething resentment.

Money is often collected in reservoirs, known as treasuries or funds, and then disbursed in a manner such that it "trickles down" to the lower socio-economic levels of the country. But sometimes the "trickling-down" process is faulty. Much of the public money is criminally held in close hands at the top. Usually it is illegaly diverted, in the form of bribes and kickbacks, and thus must be kept secret.

The assets bought with these stolen funds must also be concealed, which is done by putting it in foreign banks or foreign real estate. The stocks and bonds of financially secure governments is a favorite hiding place. Much of such 'hot' money is laundered to allow re-entery as direct foreign investment.

When direct foreign investment in a country having corrupt leaders comes to a complete stop, that is a sure sign that the leaders of the country no longer consider it a safe investment. Another sign of loss of confidence is the request for return of funds secretly held by friends who have acted as proxies.

What is the effect of these activities on the poor and under-privileged in the country? They never got the money. So how can they be said to "miss" it? The shame is that they might have gotten it, and in spending it enliven the economy. Money in circulation revives the economy, while money taken away from circulation and especially out of the country dampens economic activity, and harms the national economy.

These negative components of capital flow are blamed on foreign hedge funds and large multi-national corporations, but a large component of this outbound cash flow is from the businessmen/politicians themselves, their family members and business cronies. They routinely remove money from the economy and ferry it out of the country by a variety of means, all under cover of the official secrets act.

At a time when the country needs the help most, rather than bring the money home to improve a deteriorating situation, those holding illegal funds contribute to a tight money problem by taking more away. The absence of their participation is thus not only a contributing factor, it is a denial of responsibility for the consequences of their actions on the poor.

These people are not patriotic. Far from it. Rather their financial activities are seditious, through the calculated denial of funds to the people, whose economic activity supports the econony of the country. The people who are the rightful owners are often the accused.

Some corrupt leaders declaim loudly at the people, whom they find "seditious," and "in a mood to make an attack on national security." Those ministers decrying loudest are the more suspect. Their real purpose is to distract attention from their own financial affairs, which cannot withstand open audit.

In Malaysia, it has become an amusement to turn the accusations of the ministers around to mirror their own behaviour, thus providing rationale and motive for their own nefarious activities. The ministers do not seem to notice the grins. But they are coming to notice the increasing ostracism with poorly concealed distress. Mental instability now breaks surface with the regularity of a whale spouting.