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Corruption is already a culture in Malaysia under Mahathir's 22 years of reign Media Statement by Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew (Petaling Jaya, Thursday): The last person to have some credibility to complain about corruption in this country is none other than the former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. I almost laugh when I saw his recent comment in the newspapers. But he was certainly correct to argue that once corruption becomes a culture, it will reach a point of no return and eventually bring disasters to the country. But he was certainly not very honest when he remarked that corruption used to be under the counter and now has started to surface above the table. As a matter of fact, corruption has grown in a pace unseen in this country during his time. Corruption has long become a culture in Malaysia under his reign and the consequences have been disastrous. It’s certainly much more serious than what have been depicted by the controlled mainstream media. It’s hypocrisy of first degree for Mahathir to imply that corruption was not serious during his reign. Although I always differ with Datuk Wong Chun Wai in many of his writings in the past, I must agree with him that Mahathir was never seen to be a leader who was serious in fighting graft. Besides talking about corruption and money politics (a form of corruption) or shedding a few tears here and there, what has he really done when he was the Number One leader in the country? People close to me knew that I used to describe his tears as crocodile tears. Practically every government agency has become rotten and corrupt under the Mahathir’s administration. Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was then the deputy prime minister. He certainly cannot run away from his responsibilities totally. In the past, I have made numerous police reports, hoping that the police could start investigations into various alleged corruptions and abuse of power. Names include Tun Ling Liong Sik, Tun Khalil Yaakub, Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy, Tan Sari Adnan Yaccob, Datuk Yap Pian Hong. You may want to ask me what has happened to all these police reports, and whether any investigation has been carried out by the authority. Abdullah so far has failed to keep his words on the issue of fighting graft. How could he possibly fight corruption merely with words? Mahathir has proven to us that words and slogans (not even tears) cannot fight corruption. We are still waiting for the 18 high-profiled "Who and Who in Malaysia" to be brought to court. We are also waiting patiently for the Prime Minister to adopt the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) and 125 recommendations submitted by the Royal Commission on Malaysian Police.   Our patience is thinning by the day. Actions speak louder than words. Show us you mean business, Mr. Prime Minister. (02/6/2005)   * Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew, DAP International Secretary and NGO bureau chief