玛丽安莫达《星洲网》专栏评论:
KLIA 事件只是
冰山一角吗？
❝多数大马人都同意，以前杜绝贪污的努力是半吊子的。小虾米被抓，但鲨鱼却被允许逍遥法外。贪污已经成为我们的生活方式。❞
本文是自由撰稿人玛丽安莫达（Mariam Mokhtar）2023年7月5日《星洲网》英文评论Is the KLIA incident just a tip of the iceberg?的华文译稿，刊载于7月6日的《星洲网》言论版。全文如下（文内小标题为《人民之友》编者所加）——
多数国人对一名部长终于对涉嫌贪污的政府官员采取了迅速和果断的行动感到高兴。
上周四，旅游、艺术及文化部长张庆信前去吉隆坡国际机场（KLIA）救出一名被移民局官员扣留的中国游客。同时也是民都鲁国会议员的张庆信表示，这不是他首次介入。然而，这位部长的行动得到了褒贬不一的评价。
张庆信由反贪会官员陪同，在凌晨3时到达机场。他声称接获大马驻广州总领事馆的电话，指有一名中国人被移民局官员拘留。
MATA主席赞赏张庆信的行动
张庆信的行动也得到了大马旅行社协会（MATA）主席莫哈末卡立的支持。他对张庆信为铲除我国入境处的贪污所做的努力充满了赞誉。
大马人早就知道移民局官员贪污，要么是他们的亲身经历，要么是在全国任何一个入境处或移民局遭受痛苦待遇的朋友或同僚所讲述的悲惨故事。那些愿意正式表达对所受待遇不满的人，会发现他们的投诉遭到掩盖。同时，许多受害者因为害怕可能的报复而不敢举报。
巫青团长指张部长“凌驾法律”
对张庆信的行为感到愤怒的人包括新巫统青年团团长莫哈末阿克玛，他要求首相安华对张庆信采取行动，因为他涉嫌滥权，违反了吉隆坡国际机场的安全条规。阿克玛说，任何个人都不能凌驾于法律之上。
然而，阿克玛似乎忽略了这样一个事实：他的前党魁、被定罪的重罪犯纳吉的行为就凌驾于法律之上，他在一马发展公司（1MDB）丑闻中的角色鼓励了他的政府中的贪污行为。这包括贪污的公务员和政治人物。
CUEPACS不满张部长“干扰”
同时，全国公共及民事职工总会（CUEPACS）主席阿德南也对张庆信干扰公务员职务的行为感到不满。他说，如果此事如网媒所指，这就意味着张庆信违反了国家安全条规并干扰公务员职务。
阿德南说，部长的擅闯行为违反安全程序和该部的标准作业程序。他还说，部长的行为是不恰当的，应该在当局履行职责时给予充分的信任。
贪污已经成为我们的生活方式
多数大马人都同意，以前杜绝贪污的努力是半吊子的。小虾米被抓，但鲨鱼却被允许逍遥法外。贪污已经成为我们的生活方式。
40年来，没有政治意愿来处理贪污的公务员。除非政府认真铲除，否则贪污将继续存在。
另一方面，我们必须为我们臃肿和低效的公务员队伍提供拨款和支付费用，但与此同时，我们却无力对抗那些索要和收受大量贿款的贪污公务员。难怪国家的债务高达1兆4000亿令吉？
同时，意志坚定的张庆信说他已经准备好面对内阁，回答与他的介入有关的问题。
我们要的是坚定果敢反贪行动
我们希望采取坚定、果断的行动来解决贪污官员。我们已经厌倦了空洞的承诺。
大马人应该向巫青团领袖和CUEPACS主席提出的问题是：“哪个是最贪污的政府部门？”
实际上，一个更好的问题是：“哪个政府部门不贪污？” ▅
Is the KLIA incident just
a tip of the iceberg?
By Mariam Mokhtar
▲ Mariam Mokhtar is a Freelance Writer.
Majority of the rakyat are pleased that a minister is finally taking swift and decisive action against alleged corrupt government officials.
Last Thursday, Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing went to the rescue of a tourist from the PRC, who had been detained by immigration officials at KLIA.
Tiong, who is also the MP for Bintulu, has alleged that this is not his first intervention.
However, the action of the minister has received mixed reviews.
Tiong went to KLIA at 3 a.m. and was accompanied by MACC officers. He claimed to have received a phone call from the Consulate-General of Malaysia in Guangzhou about the detention of a Chinese national by immigration officials.
Both the Ministers for Internal Affairs (Home Minister) and Transport are investigating Tiong’s allegations which will soon be presented to the cabinet.
Tiong’s actions are also supported by Mohd Khalid Harun, President of the Malaysian Association of Travel Agencies (MATA). He was full of praise for Tiong’s efforts to eradicate corruption at the country’s entry points.
Malaysians have long known about corrupt immigration officials either from their first-hand experience or from the harrowing tales related by friends or work colleagues who suffered at any of the country’s entry points or immigration offices throughout the nation.
Those who bothered to officially express their dissatisfaction with the treatment they received would find their complaints swept under the carpet.
At the same time, many who suffered do not bother lodging complaints for fear of retaliation.
The people who were furious by Tiong’s actions include Umno-Baru Youth chief Dr. Muhamad Akmal Saleh who demanded that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim take action against Tiong for allegedly abusing his position by breaching security protocols at KLIA.
Akmal said that no individuals should be above the law.
However, Akmal appears to have overlooked the fact that his former party leader, the convicted felon Najib Abdul Razak acted above the law and his role in the 1MDB scandal encouraged acts of corruption in his administration. This includes corrupt civil servants and politicians.
Meanwhile, Cuepacs president Adnan Mat was also unhappy that Tiong had interfered with the duties of civil servants.
He said that this matter, if proven true as alleged by an online news portal, meant that Tiong had violated national security protocols and interfered with the duties of civil servants.
Adnan said the intrusive behavior of the minister had violated safety procedures and the department’s standard operating procedures.
He also said the minister had acted inappropriately and should have given full trust to the authorities whilst they discharged their duties.
Most Malaysians agree that previous efforts to stamp out corruption were half-hearted ones. The ikan bilis get caught but the sharks were allowed to escape scot-free.
Corruption has become our way of life.
For four decades, there was no political will to deal with corrupt civil servants. Unless the government is serious about eradicating it, corruption is here to stay.
Unless the government is serious about eradicating it, corruption is here to stay.
On one hand, we have to fund and pay for our bloated and inefficient civil service, but at the same time, we are powerless to act against corrupt civil servants who demand and accept massive bribes.
Is it any wonder the nation is in debt to the tune of RM1.4 trillion?
Allegations about corrupt government officials including politicians are numerous. Corruption affects people from all walks of life.
One person who was walking in downtown Kuala Lumpur came across a construction site and witnessed two policemen on their motorbikes asking for the site supervisor. The policemen then allegedly demanded a payment of RM50 for each worker on site.
The site supervisor revealed that it was common practice for policemen to treat migrant workers as their automated teller machines (ATMs).
It was easy money. It was either pay up or be threatened with some issue over the workers’ documentation.
Ordinary households are not spared either. Some people allege that a maid’s application or renewal should only take a few days and not a few months. In most cases, a sweetener must be paid to move the papers from the bottom of the file to the top.
Many Malaysians who have been stopped by traffic policemen or JPJ enforcers who told them they had jumped the red light or violated another traffic rule, are familiar with the words: “Macam mana mahu settle? (How shall we settle this?)
These victims often pay up because they do not want the hassle of wasting more time over false charges. All they want is to quickly leave.
Meanwhile, a determined Tiong said that he was prepared to face the cabinet and answer questions related to his intervention.
He should not be surprised to learn that his actions are fully supported by most Malaysians.
We want firm, decisive action to tackle corrupt officials. We’re fed up with empty promises.
The question Malaysians should pose to both the Umno-Baru Youth leader and Cuepacs president is: “Which is the most corrupt government department?”
Actually, a better question would be: Which government department is not corrupt? ▅
