Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s pledge to fight corruption in football last week comes timely with the much talked about Ola Bola movie that has swept the nation with its multiracialism message of hope, unity, respect and integrity.
The reality is that over the years corruption and cronyism did indeed destroy the high standard of football in the country where there was a period that Malaysia was the envy of other nations for owning the “dream team”, the darlings of the pitch.
Therefore, patriotic Malaysians, from all walks of life applaud and did the Mexican wave on the affirmative statement by the Deputy PM who is also Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that he will fight corruption in football.
“We don’t want football to be sullied by corruption,” he said and assured that the police will take action if they receive any evidence of corruption among players, coaches, or officials. At the same time, he urged those with evidence of corruption in Malaysian football to lodge reports with police so that action can be taken.
One must remember the incriminating report over a period of 10 years by the Special Branch that 80% of law enforcement and security officers at the Malaysian borders are corrupt and how up to now no serious action has been taken against those who are guilty of ‘trading’ the safety, security and most glaringly the sovereignty of this land with their direct involvement in syndicates smuggling drugs, weapons and humans.
The most glaring of statements by a Special Branch officer is that “the enemy we have to fight is one that operates as an institution. We are dealing with institutionalised corruption so deeply entrenched that expecting internal disciplining is like asking the chief crook to rat out on his runners,”.
How does the Home Minister, also the Deputy Prime Minister plan on fighting corruption in football when he has still not come clean on his next affirmative action against 8 Immigration officers Department based at KLIA who had been arrested by the Special Branch in a major coup in 2011. They had been alleged to be involved in a human-trafficking syndicate.
Dismaying that the 8 officers have since had their detention order revoked after only a few months serving time in Kamunting. What is the real reason behind the revocation? Was there a lack of evidence to charge them? If yes, then who are the real perpetrators?
In an exclusive story, the NST said that the report, compiled by the Special Branch unit, was the result of 10 years of covert, deep-cover surveillance and intelligence gathering at border checkpoints and at different enforcement agencies including the Immigration Department, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), the Anti-Smuggling Unit (UPP) and the police’s General Operations Force.
This is not just a matter of protecting our borders but a more serious matter of lawlessness within defenders of the law, particularly those who valiantly carry the flag to defend and uphold national security, be it from within or from the outside.
These reports have been submitted to the relevant agencies over the years, but as usual, the public is left in the dark on what the next course of action on those who are corrupt and for those who have betrayed Malaysians who have entrusted them with protecting our borders and to ensure that justice is served to the monsters behind human trafficking rings, kingpins and drug lords.
A knee jerk proposal in replacing these border officers with the military will not improve public confidence especially with guilty officers walk free despite being corrupt. Now that 8 in 10 law enforcement officers at the Malaysian border have been found to be corrupt and have a hand in the lucrative trade of flesh, guns and drugs, how many arrests have been made, how many officers have been charged? Where is the check and balance on officers living above their income? Why haven’t any agencies, particularly the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency come forward to probe this damning report?
While fighting corruption in football is timely after the much talked about Ola Bola, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should strive towards regaining public confidence in revealing the Government and MACC’s action on the 80% of corrupt law enforcement officers at the Malaysian border in a 10 year report by the Special Branch which was released in June 2015.