YOURSAY | 'Jasa' no free pass for corruption

YOURSAY | ’Stay the course and shame those politicians.’

Najib's 'jasa' does not excuse corruption, student activist tells ex-PM's supporters

IndigoToucan1627: I am full of admiration for Universiti Malaya student representative Ummi Umairah Bakhit for speaking up. She is brave and ought to be encouraged and supported.

Student activist Brendon Gan is to be praised as well.

But what about the others - senior politicians and leaders? What has happened to their moral values?

If I steal a vast sum of money and give a little of it to my political party or even to the poor, does it make my act of stealing a moral act?

The end does not justify the means. Just because I want to do a good deed does not mean that I can do anything to achieve the end.

I cannot kill a person just because he is bullying someone and I want to save the victim from being bullied.

The organisers of the campaign to raise funds for former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak ought to be ashamed of themselves. They are setting a bad example to the young.

Bijoy Kurien: The young people have a point. Whatever good Najib did does not cancel out his corruption. We can acknowledge his contributions and still hold him accountable.

The same goes for any leader, including those in government today. I would be a little careful about putting it down to education, though.

Plenty of highly educated people defend corruption too. Sometimes people are attached to a leader because they remember how their lives improved under him.

That attachment is difficult to shake. This is why we need more conversations like this, where we explain why gratitude should never mean giving anyone a free pass.

Koel: It is clear that many Malaysians criticising Ummi do so because they confuse the concept of democracy and governance with a feudal set-up.

This is the result of poor education and understanding.

Of course, this ignorance is useful to parties that manipulate 2R sentiments. A prime minister is not a feudal overlord.

He is a servant of the people of Malaysia, appointed for a short period to be responsible for the running of the country.

He is supposed to carry out this role with integrity and commitment to his duty to the country.

He is paid from the contributions of Malaysian taxpayers to do this one job without fear or favour. He is not there to bestow favours on anyone.

If he did so, it is corruption. He is certainly not in public office to enrich himself, his family and his hangers-on.

If he does so, it is corruption. Instead, he is answerable to the people of Malaysia to whom he owes much for getting this appointment.

The people owe him nothing. So what is this nonsense about gratitude? For what? Bestowing favours he was not supposed to in the first place? So what does that tell us? Get a grip.

Exile: The contribution of student activists goes beyond reminding Malaysians that Najib's "jasa" (good deed), however substantial his supporters may consider it, cannot excuse corruption.

More importantly, they are challenging the feudal mentality in which loyalty to powerful individuals takes precedence over reason, accountability and the rule of law.

Rabindranath Tagore, in his celebrated poem “Where the Mind Is Without Fear,” imagined a society where reason is not lost in the “dreary desert sand of dead habit.”

His words remain remarkably relevant to Malaysia, where inherited deference to authority, superstition and unquestioning loyalty can inhibit independent thought.

The willingness of young Malaysians to question political authority represents an important step towards the liberation of the mind.

Democracy requires citizens who can distinguish gratitude from subservience, public service from personal entitlement, and respect from blind obedience.

This intellectual emancipation may ultimately prove more consequential than any change of government.

Wonderful123: Well said! "jasa" can never be an excuse for corruption.

For a country to become a developed nation, it must tackle corruption first; the wealth of the nation and its people will just be stolen by politicians, leaving the rakyat poor.

Seeing more and more young people standing up against corruption really gives Malaysia hope!

V S: Never heard of any politician doing good deeds for the people with their own funds.

Private organisations do this for charities and their employees. Most politicians use their allocation from taxpayers' money to do these deeds.

Most of our self-serving politicians, however, do good deeds for themselves and their cronies, and have ended up being very rich and successful.

Some are also the root cause of major corruption cases in the country in the name of good deeds, through donations being channelled to organisations and individuals.

Monty: Finally, there is a real reason for Malaysians to be optimistic for the future. Good on you, Ummi. You have given me much confidence for the future.

Salvage Malaysia: I am very proud of these few brave students. Don’t we all, as parents, teach our children to earn an honest living? Do we teach our children to steal?

Boboi: Stay the course and shame those politicians.

Ignore the haters. Stay true north. Step by step, we'll right this ship. Purge it of plundering idiots and ignore the haters.

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