I woke up on Friday to headlines in The Sun blazing “Low-cost flats for the rich” and a dramatic and provocative lead-in paragraph:

SHE is chauffeur-driven in an official four-wheel drive on duties and states her address in official documents as a double-storey corner terrace house in Kota Damansara. But (she) is also the owner of a low-cost apartment in Ara Damansara and happens to be the planning director of the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ).

http://sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=46990

Delving further into the article I learned that around 500 other MBPJ employees, many using the names of wives, husbands and relatives, own low-cost homes in Petaling Jaya. Among them, other directors and deputy directors. Most of these homes are not owner-occupied. Instead they are rented out. So not only are the poor deprived of a chance to own a home at an affordable cost (through the efforts of the state government), they have to fork out a higher monthly rent just to have a roof over their heads.

How is it that we have sunk so low? I’m sure that when they were young these 500 or so people, who have taken the chance of a lifetime to own a home from some poor family, have read or seen Robin Hood stories and identified with Robin Hood and despised the sheriff of Nottingham. Yet now they are a part of a system that robs the poor in order to amass more wealth.

But listen to what this planning director said about the matter:

In a reply to a memo from Deputy Mayor Puasa Md Taib dated Feb 4, she argued that “if the policy is that those earning above RM2,500 are not eligible, then all the other officers involved should be asked to explain.” Moreover, there was a policy introduced in 2001, when the council took over squatter eradication efforts from the state, to allocate low-cost units to council staff.

There was no evidence that she regarded this as something immoral. This is what everyone else is doing. And there is a possible loophole in the system that could be taken advantage of.

What has gone wrong with our society when something like this can be going on for such a long time? What kind of people would contrive to abuse the system and sponge off poor families? The woman who cleans my home once a week tells me of how her friends are often stopped on the street by policemen who would extract hard earned money from them. And she asks, what kind of people would do that? What kind of society are we becoming?

I’m very glad that this matter has come out in the open. The light of moral outrage needs to shine on these deeds done in the dark because these people are blinded by their position, by the notion that “everyone is doing this” and by their materialistic greed.

Further reports in The Sun says that the Selangor government is now looking into the possibility of publishing names of those approved to buy low-cost houses and the Selangor MB has instructed that ineligible low-cost home owners be required to return them to the state.

http://sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=47050
http://sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=47051

What can we do to make sure that such practices would not have the opportunity to become entrenched in our society? Change, as is the mantra in the world lately. When a set of leaders have been in power for too long, rot tends to set in. New leaders who do not have a stake in keeping things the way they were, and instead have a stake in raising their reputation among the electorate will be better motivated to do things that are good and right for the state.

The government of Selangor wants to introduce local government elections – the idea being that the people who will shape the character and quality of local government must be held accountable to those who will be affected by their performance. Companies who vie for contracts will have to compete on their merits rather than on cozy long-term relationships. And making sure that different people occupy those positions every now and then will mean that corrupt and bad practices will not have a chance to become entrenched. The federal government does not want local government elections (read Tricia Yeoh’s piece on this matter here).

The government of Selangor wants to introduce a Freedom of Information Act. So did Penang. The idea here is that the public will have the right to know the actions and decisions taken by the government. This will safeguard the public’s interests, as it will then be much harder to hide corruption and incompetence. In Penang’s experience however, “(it) has since maintained that its legal adviser – appointed by the attorney general – has objected, asserting that such a move would be unconstitutional. Information, the legal adviser has apparently stressed, is controlled by the federal authorities.” And the federal government has no interest in Freedom of Information.

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/politics/pakatan-rakyat/5901-selangor-to-table-foi-act-in-august
http://www.thesundaily.com/article.cfm?id=46957

As citizens we should only be concern with what is good and right, and in this case I think we should support the Selangor and Penang governments in creating an environment where those in positions of power and authority are held accountable. I honestly hope that they will be given enough time to enact the changes and to change the culture of the civil service in the 2 states. Perhaps then the Sheriff of Nottingham will be expelled to a dark time in our history and Robin Hood will no longer need to rob the rich to help the poor and instead will be able to do so through good and responsible government.

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