Of DVDs and moral standards
What
moral standards do we expect from our leaders?
This
pertinent question rose to the forefront of Malaysian discourse in the past
week. The scandal involving former Health Minister Datuk Dr. Chua Soi Lek,
which will certainly cost him his political career, became the talk of the
town. Within 24 hours of admitting to be the man in the now infamous video and
vowing to ‘fight on’, Mr. Chua resigned from all government and political posts
that he held.
The
official reason for his resignation was for the ‘good of MCA and Barisan
Nasional’. Yet one could certainly detect more than a hint of bitterness in his
press conference that day and the assumption could certainly be made that Dr.
Chua, rather than voluntarily letting go of his position (one which he undoubtedly
spent years to achieve) was instead ‘pressured’ to do so. After all, adultery
and getting caught indulging in it is certainly not Islam Hadhari.
What
happened to Dr. Chua is a modern day tragedy, a lesson to all politicians. One
video tape, one mistake and all would be lost. Years of hard work, of time
bidding and kow-towing, of political maneuvering and at last, the sweet nectar
of success can be destroyed in an instant.
But
this whole episode also exposes the irony and hypocrisy of the Malaysian
public. Ask ourselves, how many of us think that politicians are corrupt, if
not all then a sizeable number of them? Yet we do not pressure or call for
these leaders to resign, even sometimes when evidence of the same is quite
obvious.
Yet
when it comes to taboo, especially involving sex, we are quick to react. We do
not hesitate to cast the first stone, we have no qualms in judging a person to
not be fit to lead. Holier than thou, as Dr. Chua rightly puts it, is a way of
thinking many of us subscribe to.
I
have no doubt that many other politicians ‘strayed’ in ways similar to Dr.
Chua. The only difference between them and Dr. Chua was that the latter got
caught on video.
Dr.
Chua has certainly betrayed his family’s trust in him as a husband and a
father. There is little argument that as far as ‘morality’ is concerned, Dr.
Chua has erred. But to me, his mistake, his lapse in moral judgment is a
private wrong and we have no business to judge him as it does not affect us.
Especially when we ourselves have been guilty of his crime.
If I was to place adultery and corruption on my scale, to
decide which is more damaging, the scales would weigh heavier on corruption.
Corruption is a malaise in society; one episode of ‘closing an eye’ or
‘undertable’ money has far reaching consequences. It’s not difficult for us to
imagine a situation whereby a contract is given to a certain under qualified
contractor due to corruption which results in the end product being vastly
inferior and even dangerous to the public.
But
for some reason, we do not seem care too much about corruption. Yes, we’re all
‘anti-rasuah’ and all that, but it seems that we have ‘accepted’
corruption as a way of life over here. After all, when was the last time anyone
resigned because of corruption? The Auditor-General’s report last year
exposed numerous misuse of public funds, but so far, no heads have yet to roll.
Or are we too busy charging people for participating in illegal assemblies?
By
all accounts, Dr. Chua has done a wonderful job during his time as Health
Minister. If I were in charge of shuffling the cabinet, he would probably be
one of the few to still be around. So it is a shame that he had to go, when it
is so obvious that many others who are far less competent and far more
annoying, who call themselves ministers, are still around.
We
demand a certain standard of morality from our leaders, perhaps above and
beyond that of our own. What irks me is that this ‘moral standard’ is itself
disproportionate; we place more importance in fidelity than integrity in our
leader. To conclude, in Malaysia, if you’re corrupt, we frown upon you but
you’re still okay. But if you get caught with your pants down, out you go!
