In ordinary life, it is argued that one generation is about 30 years. Therefore, me being already 60 plus, and my dad being 90 plus, and my grandchild being a week old; I need to now to look at life issues from a 4G perspective, especially to address lack of transparency in good governance at the level of local government. But, why do I frame it as a 4th generational model of moral corruption?

It is simple. In 1955 my father was elected a town councillor for Sungai Petani. Elections were held for local councils then. I was already five years old and vaguely remember many people coming to visit my dad and they always talked about “approval” for development projects.

I used to also hear my dad complain about “losing green spaces” originally approved as playgrounds, and then being taken over for other purposes by the same developers. One space right in front of our house had faced that immediate reality.

Last week also, I came to understand that a formal feedback we had presented to a Selangor Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) subcommittee was discussed at a closed-door meeting with Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) councillors who were asked to respond to our complaints.

I had informed the state government that I would stop paying my assessments to MBPJ if they do not take my complaints and issues seriously. Was I serious?

You better believe it, and my real complaints started when the mayor did not even acknowledge receipt of my letter, sent by Poslaju. It defined, to me at least, the attitude of the mayor towards residents who pay their taxes and follow the rules. She appears to honour developers and land thieves more. I then proceeded to complain to the speaker of Selangor. She acted.

My complaints

The Sun highlighted these ‘Fraud hearings’ in their headlines on Thursday and Friday last week. My complaint is not covered by any Official Secrets Act and therefore I am free to write my complaints into my column with Malaysiakini .

First, I will repeat an anecdote to understand and appreciate my perspective. I clearly remember, the very first day we visited the Mimos Berhad complex before we moved into their Bukit Jalil complex. The contractors were busy laying carpets for their move the following week. My problem was that I observed that there was dust and dirt on the cement floor and the carpet layers were simply ignoring it and overlaying the carpet.

I asked my Mimos boss: “why are they not cleaning up the dirt instead of simply covering carpet over it?” I did not get an answer.

After 50 years of Umno governance, we still do not have an adequate answer to my 95-year-old dad’s concerns about why people’s green spaces are regularly stolen by developers. Or even my question as to why we do not clean up dirt before we make so many false promises and policies about fighting corruption. And my final question: why do we pretend and cover up dirt with mere carpets; when God sees all?

Therefore, from those days when my father was a councillor till today, such theft of public lands happens, every day, in every one of our 145 or more local authorities. And the different ministers of local government are none the wiser and most Administration and Diplomatic Service (PTD) officers serving in these ministries are “apparently not even aware of this problem”. Really, or are they part and parcel of the problem?

I will list one case-example of my seven complaints registered against MBPJ.

Rape of our green lung

In 1985, when I was allocated a choice of 52 houses being developed by SPPK Sdn Bhd in Phase 3 of the Kampung Tunku development, I went to meet my good friend, Abdullah Satar, who was then the president of MPPJ.  I had only one question for him: Was the land behind my first choice house on SS1/29; it was hosting a playground with a skating rink and badminton courts; but were they protected and preserved as a green area?

He showed me a map of Petaling Jaya town area and said that it is painted green on the map and the colour cannot be changed without an approved legal process involving the whole Council by law.  Therefore his conclusion was, it will always remain a green lung because you must be consulted before any development.

Last week, as it would be, I met the same former president but in the former green lung, for a funeral, but now with a huge mosque built over it and without due process being followed. So much for the former president’s certain legal views.

The abusers were so well-connected to Umno that even the then-assemblyperson for Kampung Tunku and the former PJ Utara Member of Parliament could not change the reality of the statutory rape of our green lung in 1999.

Fighting 4th generation corruption

When I first consulted the late Prof Syed Hussain Alatas ( right ) about ‘fighting corruption’, he gave some personal advice which I have considered and always taken to heart. He said, “Never work with the government of the day to fight corruption. It must always remain a citizens’ fight against the abuse of rules and procedures, and the misuse of power to cover faults and inefficiencies.”

I now believe that the only way to fight corruption and bribery (individual actions of perversion) is to ‘shed the light on corruption’. Therefore, we the citizens of PJ and netizens of other jurisdictions  as well, have come together, to “occupy our areas and arenas with the concept of ‘shine the light on corruption’, and we really believe that it will slowly but surely expose corruption and reveal corrupt systems”.

That is what my friend, Derek Fernandez, was trying to do last week, as an expert witness, at the closed-door hearing of the Selcat sub-committee. If the Selcat is actually serious about this issue of abuse and corruption by the MBPJ officials and their allies, they will leave no stone unturned to expose all the corrupt individuals and abusive systems.

The Umno perspective about this issue in the last 50 years appears to have been: close one eye against the dirt under the carpet and somehow the dirt will disappear. The close-one-eye culture of most Malaysians will not help fight corruption. What we need is Selcat’s approach of “shedding the light on corruption”, which they have started to do, and this process will soon begin to reveal the dark places and spaces of life for residents of Petaling Jaya.

This follows 50 years of abuse and complete disregard for the rule of law principle; by the close-one-eye culture being promoted and propagated by all of us, mindlessly. It is a trip to Abilene.

We, the Citizen RANGeRs, or the residents and netizens who will generate evaluation reports from our places and spaces, will therefore continue our work to “shed more light on corruption and abusive systems”. And, as argued by religious scholars or even scholars of religions; this effort to shed light upon all aspects of life will always reveal and expose ‘darkness of any form or nature’.

May all of us good citizens expose darkness by shedding light on dark places and spaces for our common benefit. God will then bless us as a nation-state.