KUCHING, July 1: Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah opines that focussing too much on political ‘witch-hunting’ will make it seems like only politicians are always corrupted.
Although he supports the idea of eradicating corruption including declaration of assets by elected representatives to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), he said it would not be fair to just aim the guns on politicians only, which may also leave a bad impression of politicians in general.
This, he said, would affect the performance of politicians and elected representatives in doing their jobs to help the rakyat, and in the end the rakyat would not benefit.
“Too much focus has been placed on politicians lately, making this profession look very bad in the eyes of the public.
“It is an honour to serve in public office and the government of the day but they must also do their part to ensure that those that those wholeheartedly wishing to serve the nation are not being run down by negative slandering on social media,” Abdul Karim told DayakDaily.
Nowadays, he opined, it seemed like politicians which are seen as being rich or having several houses, nice cars, and branded bags would be deemed as ‘corrupted’.
On the other hand, the same standards do not seem to apply to civil servants, those in government-linked companies (GLCs) or business people, he added.
“I’m all supportive of our efforts to eradicate corruption including declaration of assets for elected representatives, but the government and its leaders sitting in high places must also do their part to correct negative public perception towards politicians as it is noble to serve one’s nation or state.
“It is sad to see after the last general elections (GE14) where ministers declared their assets and net worth, these were openly shown in the media (to compare) who are the richest among all.
“The negative perception created does not look good on the profession and those in this career,” opined Abdul Karim.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong on June 28 confirmed that he would be tabling the motion during the Parliament sitting which began today.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on June 27 said that the government will table a motion in Parliament to compel all MPs to declare their income and assets to the MACC.
“We will table the motion — whether it will be passed or not, that’s a different matter,” said Tun Mahathir. — DayakDaily
