MACC must shoulder responsibility for its own bad image

Written by  Mariam Mokhtar l Corrupt Barisan Nasional

In the wake of the latest controversy involving the suspicious death of a Customs officer found dead at one of its premises, it is timely to take a good look at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

In July 2010, the MACC operation review panel said that the media should “protect” the anti-graft body in order to encourage foreign direct investment into the country.

During a press conference at the Malaysian Anti Corruption Academy (MACA), Aminah Pit Abd Raman said the press had been unfair in its coverage of the MACC: “We are talking about image. This is the country that we love, you are the press. You can write one negative article that will effect investment for an example but you can also highlight the positive things.”

She asked the press to rebuild MACC’s image because the papers only gave a few column inches to the MACC's acheivements She expressed disappointment that the press was critical of the MACC.

She said, “If you love the country, then all of us must a play a role in rebuilding MACC’s image especially the press.”

Last week, during the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the death of Teoh Beng Hock, the words of the panel member, Aminah, have returned to haunt the MACC.

It is evident that the public was not overly harsh when it demanded the MACC present itself as a professional image. It is the MACC which has let both the nation and its own (MACC) members down.

The RCI on Teoh Beng Hock revealed that not one but two Selangor MACC officers were downloading porn on the fateful night of the DAP aide's death.

The report compiled by the independent private investigator Michael Leslie Squires, detailed that five of the six computers belonging to MACC officers had been analysed.

The tests revealed that on the night of July 16, 2008, two officers - Raymond Nion and Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus - were downloading pornography on their computers.

Squires’ check on Ashraf's computer revealed that he had download movies, music and visited various pornography sites between midnight to 1.20am on the night that Teoh was being interrogated at the Selangor MACC headquarters.

Similar findings had been made on Nion.

The computer check on another MACC officer, Khairul Anuar Alias, found that also used his computer to download movies, cartoons and music between midnight and 2.55am on July 16.

Another MACC officer Mohd Anuar Ismail used his computer to download music and photographs.

Squires also checked the computers belonging to the former Selangor MACC deputy director Hishamuddin Hashim and found that he had not used it for any Internet browsing on July 16, 2009.

Out of the 5 officers mentioned, 4 were involved in the illegal downloading or either pornography, movies or music.

This means that 80% of the MACC staff are doing illegal acts during work.

It is all the more serious as the MACC is supposed to be an anti-corruption law enforcement agency, and yet 80% of its workforce is not doing the work it is supposed to be doing.

It is any wonder only the small cases of corruption get solved whilst the big ones are simply swept aside, possibly swept under the carpet.

The MACC has insufficient time to solve the big cases because its staff is busy doing illegal downloads of pornography.

How many people work in the MACC? This outfit probably needs to be downsized and streamlined to be more effective. Why should the taxpayer pay for 80% of the MACC staff who are not working but who download pornography at work?

For the purposes of the RCI, only those who were presumably connected with Teoh were investigated. Perhaps the other staff should also have their computers examined for illegal downloads.

It would be interesting to see how many other MACC staff are downloading pornography on their work computers.

There is a culture of complacency in the MACC. This usually happens because the man at top permits it.

The former head of the MACC was Ahmad Said. He served in various capacities in the ACA (Anti-Corruption Agency before it became the MACC), including as director-general before being appointed MACC chief commissioner.

Ahmad Said’s son, a pilot, was caught bringing child pornographic material into Australia. The son pleaded guilty and paid a fine for the offence.

Ahmad Said worked his way to the top. Many people contend that he would have known what was happening in his outfit. Unless of course, he is one of those bosses who remain clueless.

Ahmad Said has gone. So how much does his replacement, the MACC chief commissioner Abu Kassim Mohamed know about his outfit? Is he aware that his officers pretend to be hard at work, till late at night and into the early hours of the morning? Does he know they sleep on the job but watch pornographic films in the office?

The MACC review panel members were worried about the MACC image because the press seemed unkind to the MACC in its reporting.

Well, the public was worried about the image of the MACC only because MACC officers did not do any work but seemed to be downloading pornography.

These officers go to work and probably have access to the government’s own, super fast internet access, to do illegal downloads. The rest of the country has to make do with a slow internet connection.

Now that the RCI has revealed what the MACC do during the day, the MACC panel members will see that the press was right to criticise the MACC for its negative image and for the fact that the MACC does not do much work.