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Generosity is heartening to behold, and the giver is triply blessed by observing the good that is done by the gift, enjoying the respect accorded by all humanity to philanthropists, and receiving the gratitude of the recipients. Charity, however, is an option reserved for those who legitimately command gifts to distribute.
The funds should be honestly earned or rightly held in trust. Charity is less noble if the funds are stolen. Those who dispense money that rightly belongs to others are technically thieves, and as such they are subject to criminal prosecution and a forceful return of the money.
The prime minister of Malaysia, like a Santa Claus of the Antipodes, bag filled with state-oil cash, is presently dispensing money to the government of Bosnia. With the other hand he is taking money from the people of the state of Terengganu. There is a cholera outbreak in Kelantan, and a soft loan is requested to repair and replace aging water and sewer lines. But the prime minister refuses to approve a loan to Kelantan, stating that he has "other things to do with the money."
The prime minister is now such a political liability in Malaysia that he is kept constantly aloft, with wife and entourage, putting expensive miles on his new multi-million dollar jet plane. Wherever he lands people demonstrate against his cruelty, and the handing out of large checks helps with difficult landing scenes.
He is a man with a plane and no place to land it. It is ironic to watch the final scenes ... hoping to leave a legacy of statesmanship, he is instead widely viewed as a mendacious mock-Muslim. Only other aging dictators of the world seem to find time for him. Malaysia is not a rich country. With a per capita GDP of about US$3,500, the prospect of a pin money prime minister travelling abroad distributing the country's petty cash gives substance to a scent of stalking senility.
In Malaysia news filters back that the prime minister is handing out checks in Bosnia. It is not known where he got the money. By his own admission, his personal salary is paltry. Malaysia is not a rich country, and charity should begin at home. So long as there are serious social problems unmet for lack of funds, the prime minister owes the Malaysian people first consideration for any handouts. There is no minimum wage in Malaysia, and many people exist at the poverty level. Increasing inflation is creating stress for the poor which is apparently invisible from 35,000 feet.
The prime minister has abandoned his official duties in order to "devote time to party matters." It is unclear what party matters he finds outside Malaysia, where he is spending much of his time. There are a number of pressing party matters that require his attention at home. The Umno liason chief of Selangor, already suspect for taking large sums of cash to Australia, has just been mentioned in a court case as the intended recipient in the solicitation of a RM1 million bribe to transfer public land to a private interest. He is not the only Umno-BN politician with problems.
The transport minister, president of the MCA party (a member of the BN coalition), is under heavy pressure by his constituents to restore missing funds in two charitable accounts under his care. There is large scale corruption in an illegal driver's licence scam that goes back a decade or more, and one which covers the entire country. The transportion minister has also taken a leading role in the investigation of illegal video gaming/gambling activity that has swept the country. Many note that his extensive knowledge of the gambling industry is no doubt helpful.
Will the prime minister please come home? There are two outstanding police reports alleging intervention into Anti-Corruption Agency investigations in his department. There is an ongoing trial which is widely regarded as another judicial farce. The prime minister comments daily that the defendants are guilty. Rather than again spread the poison of sub judice around the world in duplication of the Anwar Ibrahim case, the prime minister should stay at home and order an independent agency to begin the necessary auditing and accounting of all public funds entrusted to the prime minister's department.
There are many public companies managed by the prime minister's department which are held in trust in the name of the Malay majority. There is no transparency in the management of these companies, nor is there any accounting for the funds involved in their purchase and sale.
As an example, there has never been an accurate accounting of the manner in which the profits of the state oil company, Petronas, have been used. Now is the time to meet the rising tide of criticism with some honest answers. Failure to address the critical needs of Malaysia at this time contributes to a growing suspicion that the Umno-led BN coalition government has been dishonest in the handling of public funds entrusted to its care.