Corruption? Just tax it!

Don't fight corruption. License it, regulate it and tax it. Then leave a receipt.

A recent report stated that Malaysia lost RM1.08 trillion in illicit outflows in the last decade.

Though a bit of an eyebrow-raiser, most will probably tell you that the news wasn’t all that surprising.

Some might even argue that corruption (bribery, graft, money politics) is pretty much the Malaysian way of life.

Got caught speeding? That’s RM20 to the cops. Don’t want to do that pesky driving test? Just palm that RM200. Want that business contract? Cough up those commissions. Want to climb the political ladder? Hand over those filled envelopes to your party chiefs.

Najib-Taib media scandal: The corruption of perception

The advertising critic Randall Rothenberg has suggested that there is something called a Media-Spindustrial Complex, which encompasses advertising, public relations, lobbying, polling, direct mail, investor relations, focus groups, jury consulting, speechwriting, radio and television stations, and newspapers - all of which are in the business of twisting and turning and gyrating the facts to suit a certain pre-designated goal.

Lies can now be told as truth and perceptions built around fantasy as long as you pretend to sell something else. This is the root of all manner of advertising and something that Malaysians have been sold onto for decades under the rule of Barisan Nasional.

2 firms, 2 Scorpenes and a path of death and corruption

French naval ship builder DCNS seems to be a favourite of the Malaysian Defence Ministry and is lead consultant for Malaysia’s own upstart company to build naval vessels - Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd.

Boustead Naval Shipyard (BNS) is a young start-up, which had its beginnings as PSC-Naval Dockyard (a sub-company of Penang Shipbuilding Corporation).

It was in 2005, after the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) brought to light gross management irregularities in PSC-Naval Dockyard's handling of the building and delivery of the New Generation Patrol Vessels (NGPV) for the Royal Malaysian Navy, that a major revamp was put into place to salvage the NGPV project.

Under the intervention of the Malaysian Government, a new management team was put in place and the project was revived. Boustead Holding Bhd, also a GLC, took up a 37% stake in PSC, becoming the single largest shareholder. As a division of PSC, PSC-ND therefore merged into Boustead Holding Bhd and renamed under Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd.