Can We Pass the Test? – Malaysia Bolleh

 Four years after being turfing out its ruling party-in-perpetuity, Malaysia did the unthinkable – it sent its former Prime Minister, Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak to prison on charges of corruption. Mr. Najib, had until that point been regarded as something of an untouchable figure, even though he looted and abused power on a scale that Malaysia had never seen before (this included US$700 million in his personal account). More can be found at:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62685413

 

 As a Singaporean, it can be tempting to get smug about all these things going on in Malaysia. Singapore’s successive governments have taken pride in not being anything like their Malaysian counterparts. Sure, our Prime Minister remains the world’s best paid, despite a pay cut but nobody has found anything unexplainable in his personal bank account.

The difference in official corruption in Singapore and Malaysia can be seen most visibly at the street level. Your papers need to be in order whenever you enter Singapore. If you must pay a traffic fine in Singapore, you pay it because offering the cop a little extra is a guaranteed way to jail. Malaysia is, to politely, vastly different in this respect. I remember crossing the Causeway with my mother-in-law and being told to “give something to my officer,” by Malaysian immigration.

It is easy to get smug when you compare the levels of government corruption between the two countries. However, while Singapore may score higher than Malaysia according to Transparency International, Malaysia has passed two crucial test, which Singapore has not.

The first test came in the 2018 General Election, when the “Barisan Nasional” (BN) ruling coalition was thrown out of power for the first time in history. It was by all accounts an amazing election that was not just politically significant but culturally so. Malaysia has a political culture based along ethnic divisions, yet Malaysians united along racial lines and voted to get rid of a government that had become so corrupt that it made people’s lives miserable.

Sure, the opposition coalition that won that election has not been remarkably better and Bumiputra policies remain. However, the Malaysian electorate displayed a maturity of being able to unite across ethnic lines despite what the best efforts of politicians. Not only does this contrast with Singapore, which is officially “non-racial,” but accepts talk about the public not being ready to be led by someone from an ethnic minority, but it also compares well with the mature democracies of the West, which have seen a rise in ethnic nationalism.

The second test comes with the High Court upholding Mr. Najib’s jail term. Malaysia’s judiciary has shown that it has a certain level of independence to punish a kleptocratic former Prime Minister. While Mr. Najib may no longer be Prime Minister and have control of levers of the state, Mr. Najib does have a following and a lot of influence. Talking about Mr. Najib as being “untouchable” was not an exaggeration. We also need to remember that this is a region where “corrupt” leaders are not necessarily disgraced and pushed to spend their latter years under the radar – the Philippines has just put the son of a man that robbed and rapped the country back in the presidency. Malaysia is in the region where such things can happen.

Still, the Malaysian Supreme Court was not bowed and sent Mr. Najib to where he belongs and the message became clear, nobody including a very influential Prime Minister is above the law.

In a way, this sets a good example for the ASEAN region (if you discount Singapore as an anomaly). Having an electorate that can unite across ethnic lines despite the best efforts of politicians and a judiciary that can move against those with power and influence shows that nations in this part of the world are capable of building stable societies where people can prosper. This would be a week to say “Malaysia Bolleh.”