YOURSAY | ‘For the few that gets exposed, a lot more go under the radar.’

COMMENT | Abandoned school, a 'pontianak' and accountability

Headhunter: Malaysiakini columnist Fa Abdul’s description of the abandoned school fits perfectly of a failed state. The usual story of a huge amount of rakyat money spent on a project which failed miserably due to endemic corruption and at the end of the day, no one is made accountable.

We read this almost on a daily basis with no end in sight. The perpetrators are still in power and fighting among themselves over the spoils, while agencies like the MACC are even getting into the act.

We can only wring our hands and keep paying tax for them to steal. And those convicted of being the most corrupted in history are still walking free and proudly displaying their arrogance and thumping their nose at us peasants. Nothing short of a people’s revolution will stop it.

BluePanther4725: This abandoned school of SK Danau Perdana in Taman Desa, Kuala Lumpur, as mentioned by Fa is just one of the many failed government projects during the corrupted Umno/BN era.

Now Perikatan Nasional (PN) is continuing with the corruption legacy. Nobody will do anything about this abandoned school project funded by the rakyat's tax money as all the parties and cronies involved have received their huge payoff and are happily enjoying their rich, luxurious life. Only the people are left to suffer.

So, we ask ourselves, do we still want to vote for this kind of irresponsible government like PN/BN in the 15th general election? Do we want to repeat this mistake over and over and suffer the same consequences? We need to wake up from this nightmare.

The Wakandan: I agree. SK Danau Perdana is just the tip of the iceberg. It takes a former resident to expose it, but one does not have to look really hard for the many government projects that suffered a similar fate.

Not only do they become dens for 'pontianak' (ghost), drug addicts and zombies, but they have also become eyesores because humans cannot live in the same realm with them. More importantly, these are examples of taxpayers’ money being flushed away and lost into the unknown.

There is no mechanism, even if there is, to correct the anomalies, there is no political will to enforce it because dig a bit deeper, it will surely lead to any one of those politically connected, the real breeder of the 'pontianak'.

We cannot live with this situation anymore. Eventually, all our blood will run dry after being sucked by these creatures.

Sanakyan: When you have the same type of people from top to bottom in the civil service and various ministries, all camouflaged by the call of race and religion, what can you expect?

Public buildings such as schools, stadiums, government buildings, etc, have collapsed due to shoddy construction and questionable practices, but who cares.

The news might be in the media for a short period of time when the crooks themselves will put on the mantle of concerned leaders and sanitise the public with sweet nothings.

Then, as usual, it is back to more looting. Integrity, honesty and the will to earn a decent living is not in their dark souls. Greed for money and perks overrides all morality.

AdeK: I've always wondered how much it costs to build a school for hundreds of students. No surprise that it's considerably less than it costs to buy a house for a former premier.

I am glad to see our tax dollars are not being wasted on our young people who are the future of our country and instead are wisely spent on old billionaires as a reward for decades of fleecing the nation.

Jaded: Yes, a sad fact indeed. Expose after expose, but this still goes. Rampant and careless development that benefits no one but the politicians that permitted them.

For the few that gets exposed, a lot more go under the radar. Yet despite the exposes, these politicians continue to get voted in. That's Malaysia for you.

John YC Toh: Malaysia is a country willing to compromise on anything so long as it seems to be ‘politically correct’.

Awarding building contracts is just a good example where we are willing to live with unqualified or underqualified people unable to perform their duties in accordance with established standards.

If we continue to appoint half-past-six contractors, how can we ever expect that those who are underperforming will ever be able to meet the standards required?

Or is Malaysia willing to be a half-past-six country run by a half-past-six government, served by a half-past-six-civil service and surrounded by half-past-six contractors and suppliers?

Oriole: This is probably just one example of many similar ones around the country. But accountability only comes when people speak up on issues of child welfare, safety of schools, educational needs, etc.

The more the silence, the lesser the accountability. And as a result of such silence from adults, vulnerable groups like children pay the price.

We need to name and shame the people in charge including the ministries and ministers involved, the enforcement agencies that are supposed to care about people's safety, environmental issues, etc, the district offices, departments and DGs (director-generals) under whom these harmful practices were perpetrated in the people.

And we must never forget the man at the top who enabled such careless practices, especially since the credo is: Do no harm.

Pensieve: "I hope the government will be responsible for their actions...," writes Fa.

It’s not going to happen, Fa, as both the unelected "government" and large segments of rakyat are in complete denial as to the dire straits we are in now.

Life in "Kayangan Land" is still pretty fine and the habits of the well-trained voter pool is a tool that can be used to garner votes ad nauseam.

"Hope" is not the solution. There comes a time when prayers and hope must drive the right action.

It will take courageous action on the part of the few good men and women left in the country to influence/guide the nation out of this mire of systemic institutionalised corruption.

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