The investigation report into the Double-Six Nomad Crash should never have been classified under the Official Secrets Act and should be been made public 47 years ago in 1976 as its declassification reveals no public security aspect to justify its classification under the Official Secrets Act for nearly five decades.
It should have been made public to explain the tragic death of Sabah Chief Minister, Fuad Stephens, three Sabah state ministers and seven other passengers on the flight.
It is a lesson that the government of the day, whether federal or state, should practise transparency and accountability among the principles of good governance at all times to secure public confidence.
The classification of the Double-Six Nomad Crash on June 6, 1976 for 47 years had given rise to various theories of political conspiracies which could have been avoided if the Federal Government had acted with transparency and accountability in 1976.
It is a lesson that the government of the day, whether federal or state, does not know best what is good for the country and state. What is always needed is a responsible “check and balance”.
This lesson is all the relevant now, as the nine-week Parliamentary meeting of the two houses of Parliament which ended on Tuesday was the worst parliamentary meeting in Malaysian history in disuniting Malaysians by the unprecedented polarisation of race and religious relations based on lies, falsehoods and fake news – promoting all sorts of political conspiracies – with minimal check and balance.
Before Parliament met, the PAS President, Hadi Awang, set the pace by alleging DAP of promoting Islamophobia, which he could not substantiate after five months.
During Parliament, Perikatan Nasional (PN) MPs used the proceedings to insinuate lies, falsehoods and fake news, like Penang State Government banning azan and Malaysians having to sell their organs to survive, causing a news heading: “Racism reaches new heights in Parliament”.
If PN leaders and MPs can tell lies, falsehoods and fake news in and outside Parliament, how can we ensure that Malaysians practise the fifth principle of Rukun Negara on “courtesy and morality”?