BIOMETRIC VS INDELIBLE INK

Why is there so much of debate and confusion over the use of the biometric system over the indelible ink in the upcoming GE? The government seems to favor the use of the biometric system, while the opposition prefers the indelible ink. There has also been several write-ups regarding the advantages and disadvantages of the biometric system, but there is literally nothing written to discredit the use of the indelible ink. Now, this opens to a lot of interpretation, doubts and suspicion that there is something amiss when the government stamps its approval for the use of the biometric system that is going to costs a phenomenal sum to purchase the entire system.

I personally do not have any inkling as to the costs, but obviously someone along the way will be making big bucks. I also do not know how the procurement is to be made i.e. via an open tender, a negotiated tender or via the ‘much favored’ direct negotiation process. But I presume the process of procurement will never be made known, because as I have too often heard that whenever there is big money involved, a purchase have already been made even before a tender process is announced. They say that this is quite normal when it involves a huge procurement exercise, and the famous ‘wahyu system’ comes to my mind.

I remembered that the indelible ink was to be used during the 2008 GE, but for some unknown reason, it was never used. There goes the million ringgit purchase down the drain, and nobody took any notice, responsibility or blame for such wasteful spending. I am quite sure the purchase of the indelible ink was authorized after much thought, but the decision not to use it was a thoughtless one. I wonder who could be the thoughtless person who gave the instruction not to use the indelible ink, and I only hope that the decision to use the biometric system this time does not end like the indelible ink. You see, nowadays people don’t really care about wasteful spending of tax payers money, because they know it is not coming direct from their own pocket.

Now, when one talks about wasteful spending, I am driven to believe that most government agencies/departments/ministries continuously spend public money without much care and concern. Take a dig into the Annual Auditors General’s Report and one realizes the level of ineptitude, callousness and the high incidence of corruption among those that are empowered with the authority to approve public spending. But the sad part is that the effort of the Auditor General in reporting the abuse and flaws in public spending is never appreciated. Some report just gets into the left ear and exits through the right ear of the ‘bosses’ without a finger being lifted. Why is this so? Where is the accountability that our political leaders and ‘bosses’ talked about? The only thing that I so often hear are only praises heaped upon those with the authority to approve public spending. And I can tell you without any inhibition that the praises comes from those that fully benefit from such approvals; dubious or otherwise.

Honestly, I fear the collapse of a system where trust, honesty, integrity have now become merely words without a soul and meaning. This state of affair is fast approaching and it can be seen happening even with our ‘naked eye’. There is no longer the fear of being reprimanded or being arrested, and if this is allowed to go on, I am certain; my fear will become a reality.

CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION

WHISTLE-BLOWER POLICY

Port Klang Authority (PKA) is reported to have agreed to adopt a Whistle-Blower Policy (WBP) that is intended to curb corruption and abuse in the future, and hopefully never again on the scale that was blatantly seen in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) unprecedented financial scandal that costs billions in tax-payers money. Such a policy is long overdue, and there has been talks about it in the past, but never was there a political will to realise a national policy with clearly defined legal framework to support it.

What is actually hindering the formulation of such a wanting policy is beyond everyone's comprehension. Time and again, we so often hear our political masters preach about the urgent need to fight corruption and abuse. Despite this, it remains public knowledge that corruption and abuse is still snarling ferociously in almost every department of the government that has direct business dealings with the public. They say that corruption has become so deep rooted that public trust and confidence in every government agency is beyond redemption; hence international opinion that Malaysia need to do more to fight corruption cannot be totally wrong.

The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) is no exception, and I have been writing persistently to expose some of the abuses and corruption, particularly in the Armed Forces, that was reported to me by both serving and retired military officers who are disgusted to witness the rot that has infected the noble profession. I admit that corruption is not a recent phenomena in the Armed Forces, but the level of abuse now has become so endemic. Even junior officers are known to be corrupt, and this is well illustrated in the recent revelation concerning the stolen RMAF jet engines that had shamed the nation in the eyes of the international community. I believe the scourge of corruption in the Mindef (Armed Forces including that of its civilian component) will never cease for as long as there is the fear and unwillingness of those who are privy to the acts to come forward, unless there is a legal framework to protect the whistle-blowers.

R. Nadeswaran of the Sun in an article dated January 4, 2009 have alluded to the Government Transformation Programme that proposes to eliminate, or a best, to reduce the scourge of corruption and abuse in the public sector. To eradicate it completely will not be possible, but with punitive measures meted speedily upon offenders (regardless of one's status) will draw a positive impact upon public perception, that the government is now going serious in dealing with abuses and corruption.

Nadeswaran's article listed a number of measures to curb corruption and influence public perception, that if it is to be implemented to the letter, is surely to revive public trust and confidence in the government.

I hope the authorities in Mindef gets to read the above mentioned article, and at the same time to emulate the decision taken by PKA by formulating a WBP for the ministry. A policy will only be good if there is the attendant will to fulfill the aim and objectives of the policy.


CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION

POLITICS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

I have received a email from a friend who is a practitioner in Corporate Governance, who wishes to share with us his views and comments concerning the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) financial scandal that is dubbed by the opposition as 'the mother of all scandals'. Appended below is the full text of the email.


1. Being a practitioner in Corporate Governance, I have observed that the financial failures that occurred during the past decade were not solely attributable to failures in the audit profession.
They also represents fundamental failures at the very heart of the organization i.e. government/government agencies and/or corporations - failures of the corporate governance structure. The failures in ethical standards and corporate governance continue with new issues every year. Nor were the failures limited to Malaysia. On the contrary, similar failures occurred in major companies located in the United States, France, Italy, U.K., as well as in other parts of the world. Greed simply overwhelmed all parts of the system.

2. In the case of PKFZ, the warning signs were present, but the company's management ignored them, and the auditing profession ( the Audit Report 2004 that was prepared by the Auditor General did highlight the serious irregularities in PKFZ's financial management, but the company management did not assumed the risks, nor did they take appropriate action to remedy/rectify the situation at that point of time) recognized them.

3. There was not much of regulation then to quickly response to financial failures to address the fundamental problems in corporate governance, but allowed it to continue further only to be blown out of proportion in 2009.

4. What happened to the Malaysian Oxley ( MOX ) which was enacted much later after Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) due to the Enron fraud of the late 1990's and early 2000's, represents almost everything that was wrong with corporate governance, accounting, financial analysts, banking and the accounting profession.

5. Little is known as to whether or not the Board of Directors (BOD) of PKFZ had enough power, time and resources to provide proper oversight of the management. It is quite apparent that there was no accountability and responsibility on their part in protecting PKFZ interests which were of paramount importance. The BOD were merely appointed to serve their political masters and have not acted in good faith by exercising their fiduciary roles efficiently and effectively as were expected of them. As such, they are to be blamed and rightly punished for their gross oversight for allowing the previous General Manager to singularly make decisions, and went above BOD without questioning the integrity and providing check and balance on the previous management.

6. Again after the event, political governance too fared no better, and they started pointing fingers and as usual chose to remain in denial.

7. I don't know how the PM 1 Malaysia is going to handle this situation, and whether he is in consonance with the 1 Malaysian Concept " Rakyat didahulukan dan Pencapaian diutamakan " or just plain rhetoric. At the end of the day, the rakyat suffers or covered up with the 6 N-KRAs and KPIs.

8. In the final analysis, PKFZ is 'where everything bad came together'. Why did it happened? What were the failures that allowed it to occur?

9. Unfortunately, the obvious answer is that the failures were widespread i.e. Management Accountability, Governance, Accounting, The Financial Analyst Community and many more which I cannot remember.

10. There were too many parties at fault, and we only have to wait and see whether our PM 1 Malaysia has the political will to take whatever action necessary against those found guilty of creating the 'mother of all scandals'.


CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION