corruption, anyone?

2009-06-10T09:05:00.000-07:00

"Wouldnt it be nice if everything in life was as easy as black or white? right or wrong? But what would life be without a dash of colour?"

It is inevitable, if I may so take the liberty to say, the presence of corruption in every single country and every aspect of life. Everyone has a price, some higher than others and some perhaps more in kind but a price regardless.

It is idealistically true to say that a country would do far better without corruption, but that is not only difficult but pretty much impossible as well. Everyone says that corruption is a bane of society, but it really is just another hypocritical statement.

Scenario yang klasik

You are going maybe about 10 or 50 km/h over the official speed limit. Around the bend that you cannot see, lies many hardworking policemen earning their keep by setting up speed traps to keep Malaysian roads safe from hell drivers (of course not you! You have a legitimate emergency remember!).

The policemen do not know that that your appendix is enlarging at a rate of 5 cm per sec/ your fake eyelash glue has somehow glued your eye shut/ your beloved cat is being raped by your neighbour’s dog and it has contacted you through telepathy to save it, so one hardworking policeman asks you to pull over.

If you are female, you would most likely bat your unglued-together-by-fake-eyelash-glue eye and play damsel in distress. If you are male, or for that matter female (after your little act fails, which it most likely will) the probability is that the conversation will go like this….

Cop: you driving ini kereta banyak cepat, sudah over the speed limit. I/C dengan licence?
[you were driving real fast, it was over the speed limit, i/c and licence please.]

You: Mister police, boleh bagi saya satu chance?
[mister police, could you please give me a chance?]

Cop: hmmmmmmmmm
[hmmmmmmmmm]

You: Ahem, boleh ‘settle’ tak?
[Ahem, can we ‘settle’ this?]

Cop: Macam mana nak ‘settle’
[How would you like to settle?]

You: Lima puluh ringgit?
[Fifty ringgit?]

Cop: You tau if saya summon awak it will cost RM300?
[you know if I wrote you a summon it will cost tm300?]

*some haggling goes on…..
10 minutes later, you pay him RM 100 and you zoom off for happy hour to quench your thirst and to celebrate that you saved RM200….

As you drive off are you thinking, “Oh my! Corruption is such a horrendous thing, it is killing our country. I think I shall go back to the cop and ask him for a ticket instead so I can be a good citizen and pay RM300 for my heinous crime”

Think about it, how many percent of Malaysians choose to ‘settle’ when pulled over by the police? How many Malaysians would pay a little bit more for their documents to be ready in lightning time? How many Malaysian can swear never to have succumbed to the decadence of indulging in the development of corruption in this country? It all boils down to demand and supply.

While many preach the high purpose in life and the presence of morals, practically next to none practice it. In my humble opinion, corruption is not only present; it is a necessity to keep the balance of society.

The mistake that is obvious in the Malaysian government today is the lack of transparency; it is true that what one does not know would not hurt him but the problem is the Malaysian government is not transparent yet not a solid façade, it is in fact tinted so that it leaves much for speculation and a free for all for one’s imagination.

Having said the above, corruption is a way of life. While it is true that siphoning money and perks along the way does bring down the quality of public system implementations but it has given so many a convenience that they are unable to live without.

The remedy, I feel to the situation at hand is that allow corruption to go on but by a different name, for example, when I was studying in Singapore I had to make a donation of $5000 to the government for them to allow me to continue. Is that meritocracy? But Is anyone complaining?
The difference here is that money is being siphoned without results being shown. There is, I feel, a need for corruption but there is as well a limit.

Paying $2000 for a $0.50 item is ridiculous, but paying $1500 for a $1000 item is still understandable. After all everyone is out to make a living.

Ultimately the mistake made here is that a high price is paid with nothing to show for, the public transport system is atrocious, public housing is an eyesore, public education is a joke, public hospitals are a disappointment and our highways collapse.

Let us just say the scenario swung as such, that our public transport is top notch and our education system is built on a solid foundation to nurture our future generations would there still be so much disgruntlement amongst our people even if there was some under table money passed around along the way?

The rule of thumb here should be to do everything in moderation and to add value to the society before taking from it. If you make some money along the way but give us a quality that is decent or even good, no one will complain.

Everyone says “down with corruption!”, and it IS kind of convincing at times, how many of us can give up the convenience of ‘settling’ a traffic summon?

Corruption will always be present or imminent at the very least. As in everything there are pros and cons, it is with an entire package that we share a love hate relationship.

The virgin post

2009-01-12T20:20:00.000-08:00

This blog is started as a channel for my frustrations and my frustrated adolescent views on love, life and everything else in between.

As a disclaimer, i do not insist that my view points and opinions are always right or always politically correct. i do not claim to be an expert on the topics i touch on, and lastly, i do not say anything with the aim of controversy.

As i type, there are probably 5627278 blogs popping up in cyberspace all at the same time.
As i brood over my first post, there are probably 182873 virgin posts being posted.

i am unique, just like everyone else.

The J-spot

corruption, anyone?

The virgin post