IN SABAH, EVERYTHING BOLEH?

In Sabah, everything seems Boleh

Published on: Saturday, January 28, 2012

By: Disgusted

OUR maid who is Filipina, was approached by a lady at the KK bus terminal on 15th January 2012, who claimed she was from Semporna and that she will be able to "atur" for her to acquire a MyKad and birth certificate for RM1,000.

I advised her to not to entertain the offer for I knew then that the woman must be a "runner" and she will get into trouble or lose her money altogether.

I knew about such goings-on during my frequent tour of Semporna in the early 90s.

It involves the issuance of MyKad, Malaysian passport, birth certificates, false statutory declaration, false land titles, etc, and it was an open secret back then just as it is now!

At that time a figure of RM500 was the asking price for just Mykad or the blue IC.

Your report "Mobile Court Scandal" (DE 21.1.2012) has added a new dimension to the problem in that, obviously it has become more lucrative so much so that even court staff have been drawn into it.

It is anyone's guess how many such documents have been issued over the years and how much money must have changed hands!

It must be absolutely gut wrenching for Tan Sri Richard Malanjun, Chief Justice of Sabah and Sarawak, to accept that a scheme which he introduced to help people who lived in far flung areas of Sabah to obtain their Mykad, etc, was abused by his court officials who falsified the signatures of magistrates and forwarded the documents to the National Registration Department for the issuance of Mykad, etc.

This is a despicable and treacherous act and the authority concerned must deal with it seriously.

The introduction of the Mobile Court in Sabah was for a noble cause and sincere effort by the Judiciary and was well received and appreciated by all levels of the society. It is a crying shame that it was abused by some greedy and irresponsible court staff.

To merely "transfer" the official concerned is disgraceful and does not reflect the severity of the offence committed and is certainly sending the wrong message. Surely, there are laws or civil service regulations that can be invoked to punish these culprits!

What is most disappointing to read was the admission by the court that the outcome of the investigation by Tawau police in that incident involving a court staff last year was still awaited.

So much for police efficiency.

Sadly, in Sabah, everything seems to be "Boleh". I recall many times in the past (incidents highlighted by your valued newspaper), where individuals were arrested by the police for falsifying or producing Mykad, birth certificates and other documents, equipments and remnants of completed Mykad and other documents seized by the police.

These so called "raids" were conducted in Kota Kinabalu, Papar, Tuaran, Lahad Datu and Tawau and of course, Semporna. The incidents captured the attention of the public who, of course, eagerly awaited the outcome of the cases. Sadly, no one has ever been brought to court and charged.

Why? Only God knows! I am sorry if I sound cynical but how else should we Sabahans feel and who else can we put our trust?

Maybe when the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) is set up, if ever, then Sabahans will come to know to truth. In the meantime, the rot will continues, judicial officials who commit such act will get "transferred elsewhere and continue to draw his or her salary as if nothing ever happened and surprisingly the rot has spread to our own justice system itself!

When Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak recently announced the formation of a special Task Force to review and improve the Public Service New Remuneration Scheme (SBPA), I believe it was for good reasons. He realised that there is a serious anomalies and disparities gap between the lower income groups and the highest in the civil service.

He made the announcement in front of 7,000 Pahang civil servants.

He said "The Government will carefully consider the scheme so that all be satisfied with it" Apparently, under the SBPA, 36 top-tier civil servants in the "Premier Service" category will earn basic salary of RM36,000.00 a month.

The Attorney-General will earn a staggering monthly salary of RM80,000 while the Chief Secretary to the Government RM60,000.

The scheme ignited anger and disapproval of the 1.4 million civil servants when it was revealed that a top-ranking government servant will be paid as much as RM80,000 a month while some drivers will just get RM1.70 increase in monthly wages and some desk clerks just about RM100 pay increase.

Such was the dissatisfaction to the scheme that the Government was forced to form a special task force to look into the matter and review the scheme urgently and its implementation has been postponed.

It is the glaring anomalies and disparities such as this in the salary schemes of civil servants that drive some lower officials to commit corrupt acts in order to make end meet and sustain their families.

It breeds contempt and disrespect. Let us hope the revised SBPA will address this problem and will be able to give the Civil Service a cleaner image.