Thursday 28 Mar 2024
By
main news image

IT IS a rare day when a Barisan Nasional (BN) leader speaks honestly, without fear or favour and hits all the right buttons. And how we crave for such leaders?

Not surprisingly, Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem has grabbed headlines with the major spanking he gave enforcement officials in the state and the warning he issued to timber companies.

He discarded the usual caution and told his audience of the rich, famous and connected that corruption in the state was bad, "vowing to put the fear of God into the people who are dishonest."

Describing the corruption in the timber industry as very bad, he warned enforcement officials that they were on his hatchet list if they did their job "with eyes but are blind, with ears but are deaf and with mouths that are dumb."

Adenan said that he was sure that the MACC would be making more arrests in addition to those made in the past few months.

"Don't mess with me. I mean what I say. I am not interested in platitudes. I do not cakap sahaja," he said in Kuching yesterday.

Now the skeptics would say: "What's new with what Adenan said?"

Sarawak's reputation has been savaged internationally because of the rape of its timber resources and other shenanigans in the state.

Thanks to the sterling work of the Sarawak Report, Radio Free Sarawak and non-governmental organisations, the lid has been lifted off endemic corruption and abuse of power in the state.

Yes, the substance of what Adenan said yesterday was not startling; but the fact that he did deserves some praise.

Why? Because for too long Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders spoke according to a script. And the script usually had two words: "Semua ok".

In fact, in the past few months, only two other BN leaders have spoken without fear or favour on issues such as religion and economy that are close to the heart of Malaysians – Sarawak's Tan Sri James Masing and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

This blessed country needs more of such leaders who actually paint an honest picture of what is going on. Only then can issues and problems be debated and tackled.

What we don't need are slogans upon slogans and talking down from Putrajaya.

We need our leaders to have courage and honesty to speak without concern about political correctness or about upsetting the boss.

Adenan has done the first part well. Now he has to add flesh to the last line he uttered yesterday: "I do not cakap sahaja."

We now wait for action. – Commentary by The Malaysian Insider

      Print
      Text Size
      Share