Where corruption, incompetence and avarice are celebrated -Dr Azmi Sharom

Maybe some of you have read the news of that couple videoed ….err…”doing it”, on the balcony of some high rise in Bangsar South (Kerinchi for us common folk).

Being the retiring type that I am, my first thoughts were, “I say, man…not shy ah? Broad daylight some more.”

I am sure there will be some on their moral high horse claiming that this is the end of civilisation as they know it. Such blatant shameless displays reflect a degenerate society on the brink of Armageddon.

Actually, I do think that there is a lack of shame in this country. But what I am concerned about is not the petty concept of shame favoured by the self-righteous.

You know, the people who get their knickers in a twist over the length of skirts, V-neck t-shirts and the like. Or a couple who can’t grasp the concept of which side of the balcony door is outside and which is inside.

No, in my view, if there is any area where the idea of shame is sorely lacking, it is amongst those who wield power and influence.

Let’s take the Electoral Commission, for example.

For one thing, I find it shameful that its officers can’t accept the people’s fears that the re-delineation exercise is really being done to merely maintain and strengthen the status quo.

They don’t seem to care that the spirit of the Constitution, which demands constituencies to be as close as possible in size to one another, has been trampled on to the point where things have become a joke.

And when the court points out to them that the exercise conducted in Sarawak was utterly flawed, instead of apologising to the people that they have messed up, they go on the defensive and are, at the time of writing, thinking of challenging that decision.

This is the kind of arrogance and lack of shame that is endemic in our country.

Politicians living in large homes, far too palatial for their supposed incomes, flaunt their wealth with no shame as their children drive around in luxury vehicles.

God only knows who paid for the vehicles.

Is it any wonder then, that corruption is found at all levels, from the streets all the way up to the corridors of power?

Incompetence, a blatant disregard for principles and avarice are commonplace, accepted and even celebrated.

A friend told me the Japanese have a saying for this: “The wicked sleep well.”

That is the real shame.

- See more at: http://www.rakyattimes.com/index.php/columnist/4097-where-corruption-incompetence-and-avarice-are-celebrated-dr-azmi-sharom#sthash.P9sNTWdL.dpuf