Telling the truth has many advantages, and is widely accepted as the better behaviour. Among the benefits is in the avoidance of any troublesome difficulty to fabricate a credible lie. A lie, though temporarily tempting, is usually a sticky wicket. Once told, it must be interminably repeated accurately. Everyone soon discovers how difficult it is to defend a lie. As a downside, once the lie is discovered, you must muster amends or move to a new country. Most children by the age of twelve have abandoned the lie in favor of simple truth. Malaysian politicians make a miserable exception.

The party-in-power in Malaysia is notable in its depth of liars. The liars themselves are shallow; there are just so many of them. Membership in the BN coalition is generally regarded as acceptance of mendacity. The lie, and the interminable defense of it, are primary policy. Preference and priority for the lie distinguish ministers and other government officers, who find favor and promotion by providing public proficiency in prevarication. The ministers are not allowed to smile or laugh during delivery, and the audience better not either. The rest of the world is spared this restraint.

The Malaysian politician-in-power has refined the lie by dividing it into two favorite varieties. There is the overt lie, which receives wide circulation in the servile parrot-media for print and projection. And then there is the tacit lie. Malaysia's pirates cum politicians have developed the knack of the silent lie to a point of world leadership, a feat always pointed to by the politicians with a perverted national pride.

The great difficulty which arises from the tacit lie, robbing its lustre, is the potential for introduction of its cousin, Curiosity, fond of introducing suspicion and speculation. This is especially true in the present instance of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), where this element finds fertile fields for fecund foment.

The MTUC has disappointed, deferring a dated picket, which sought an accounting of both a balance and the history of the trades that produced it. But the promised balance is not now forthcoming, and will never be produced, in spite of the prime minister's providential penmanship. The reason is simple; the money is missing in massive amounts. This is a matter which will not stand light, and thus the steely shroud of silence will secure any scent.

In furtherance of this aim, the head of the EPF was recently replaced by a convenient party-in-power cork, carefully chosen to keep the public ignorant of the fact that the cave where their treasure trove is stored is hollow, cleaned to the walls by the forty thieves.

The MTUC was to be the Ali Baba, pronouncing the words, "Open sesame!" in order for the counting to begin. But no, there is announced delay, occassioned by the promise from the prime minister himself, that in future a review will be undertaken. As unlikely as it may seem, given the prime minister's record, the MTUC has taken the bait, and now the nationwide picket to pry open the EPF doors is deferred. It is a familiar pattern ... a promise of future action, forestalling immediate revelation. Thus the tacit lie succeeds apace.

It is not just the EPF that arouses suspicion. There is the entire finance ministry. The funds it manages are the backbone of Malaysia. The corporations it mis-manages are the entire economy of the country. But there is no quarterly report, no bottom line, no net figure to record the nation's health.

The finance minister is missing. This fuels suspicion that the books are full of red ink. In his timely absence the second and third give their assurances, but again, without producing the figures. They stand before the empty vault, blatantly barring access, pointing fingers at anyone desiring entry for a counting, announcing to any and all the necessity for secrecy in the name of national security. Any valid analysis must be left to those on the approved list.

The difficult questions, however, remain. Why are bonds unsold to pay the promised payment coming due on the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system? Is the full faith and credit of the Malaysian government so foul that none, even the EPF, will touch the bonds? What is the reason there is no investigation into the numerous bribes that point to the finance minister's office? Why has the scam involving the USD 5 billion in fake bonds issued by a government agency not uncovered? Is the money missing? Is the Eighth Malaysia Plan a farce for dirth of funds?

Similar questions would fill fifty pages, and they are not irrelevant, to use the circus judge's term. The defense ministry, with its head in the clouds over the ridiculous purchase of fighter planes and its feet underwater seeking credibility for obsolete and useless submarines, cannot convince anyone to swap military hardware for palm oil. The public sees bribes behind the barter, and the beefing up of security forces not for foreign foes, but for use against the people themselves.

The resources of Malaysia, the proper possession of the people, are to be used to suppress them. More police, more military, more armored vehicles are to be purchased from the empty public purse to prevent any overt action by the people to restore democracy. There are to be more prisons, more guards, and presumably more prisoners. All this effort in difficult times in defense of the lie.

There is a way to restore confidence, to bring the bond market back. Just start today to tell the truth. It is that simple. Let an external independant auditor examine the books in the finance ministry. In the interim, stop talking nonsense about military expenditures and cancel the mega-projects.

If the EPF and other funds are found to have losses due to failure of management, let us take necessary corrective measures. If the fund has been expended for purely political purposes, those at fault must be removed from any potential for further falseness. Where there is possibility for partial recovery, that may be realistically pursued. If politicians have lied, let us force from them the truth.