Kudos to Akhbar Satar, the former president of Transparency International Malaysia, for once again calling out our politicians for their corrupt behaviour [Leaders must have intellectual honesty and sincerity.] It is not hard to understand his concerns given that corruption of all kinds is now blatant, persistent and pervasive. Political corruption, in particular, has become especially ruinous.

Indeed, every time we think we’ve seen it all, dishonourable politicians find a way to take unethical behaviour to new heights, find new ways to give expression to their greed and lust for power and profit. In the process, they have tainted our national institutions and made a mockery of our democracy.

A deadly pandemic stalks the land; thousands have lost their jobs; people are experiencing real pain and hardship and our politicians can only think of themselves, their ambitions, their agendas, their perks. 

They have rewarded themselves with more cabinet positions than any other government in history. They’ve appointed themselves to more high-paying sinecures in GLCs than any previous administration. They have salaries that most hard-working Malaysians cannot even dream of in addition to duty-free cars and expense accounts. Many of them enjoy lives of unimaginable luxury with holiday homes abroad and garages full of expensive vehicles. Their bank accounts are so bloated that RM2 million is but “loose change” to them. If a law was passed today forbidding anyone with more than RM50 million from holding political office, many seats in parliament would no doubt have to be vacated.

But even all that is not enough to persuade them to put aside their ambitions for once and start serving the people. Their lust for power is pushing the nation closer and closer to the abyss. They are not fighting over ideology or policy nor for principle or some noble cause; it’s just a mad scramble for power.

Of course, they go on and on about “saving” the nation and “ serving” the people and wax eloquent about “bangsa, agama dan negara” but who are they kidding? They are so disconnected from the lives of ordinary Malaysians that they are incapable of hearing the cries of distressed citizens or empathising with their plight. The politicians have become the problem; the question many are asking these days is who will save us from them? If only we could do what Italian voters did recently — sack half the members of parliament and demand greater accountability from the rest of them.


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(CNN)On Tuesday, President Donald Trump taped a town hall with Sinclair Broadcasting Group's Eric Bolling. In it, Bolling asked the President a simple question -- and the answer Trump gave is hugely revealing.

Bolling: "With Covid, is there anything that you think you could have done differently, if you had a mulligan or a do-over on one aspect of the way you handled it, what would it be?"

Trump: "Not much."

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(CNN)Barack Obama, in a moment of catharsis that doubled as a warning against Democratic complacency, blasted President Donald Trump in a speech dripping with ridicule ahead of Thursday's crucial debate -- perhaps the President's last chance to turn around his campaign.

The former President on Wednesday released four years of pent-up frustration in a scathing Philadelphia appearance that is likely to further irk an already irritable commander-in-chief ahead of his showdown with Democratic nominee Joe Biden. The debate in Nashville, Tennessee, comes at a fateful moment in the White House race as fresh polls emphasize the task Trump faces in pulling off another shock election triumph in 12 days.

In a new CNN/SSRS survey, Biden leads comfortably in Pennsylvania, potentially the decisive swing state, with a clear path to 270 electoral votes if he converts leads in Wisconsin and Michigan into wins. That leaves Trump needing the kind of late surge that took him to a stunning 2016 victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton. It also means his clash with Biden, already crucial given that their second debate was canceled after his Covid-19 diagnosis, could be a final opportunity to shake up the race.

But with a staggering 40 million early votes cast, the capacity of either candidate to change the dynamics of the election is becoming increasingly limited. As he geared up for the debate, Trump slammed the whole exercise as unfair, resentful about at a plan to periodically mute the candidates' mics designed to limit his belligerent interruptions and baselessly accusing moderator Kristen Welker of NBC of bias.
He is likely to have been especially infuriated by Obama's mockery and forensic dismissal of his record given his contempt for, and obsession with, the former President. Obama's appearance on the eve of a debate in which Trump's hair-trigger temper will be sorely tested was probably not a coincidence.


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PETALING JAYA: The uproar rages over “No Further Action” (NFA) against Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Khairuddin Aman Razali who breached mandatory home quarantine upon his return from abroad.

The decision to classify the case as NFA after more than 100 days of police investigations was made by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC).

Reason: A health ministry officer failed to issue Khairuddin a 14-day home quarantine order on his return from Turkey in July.


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