MSIA TODAY: "Lee Kuan Yew and Corruption - Singapore Style"
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Article source: http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/24276/84/
Lee Kuan Yew and Corruption - Singapore Style
Posted by admin Tuesday, 14 July 2009 11:38 By Shahidan Said
Lee Kuan Yew’s recent visit to Malaysia saw a flood of predictable commentaries from his admirers in blogosphere. Most members of his fan club have probably neither read anything substantive on the history of the struggles of the people of Singapore, nor grasped the significance of Singapore’s comprador role in Empire’s scheme of things in the region.
We have become accustomed to the standard chorus of mindless sheep-like bleating from such admirers who describe Kuan Yew as an outstanding statesman. One such hagiographical contribution in the blogs recently was from Tunku Abdul Aziz, who describes himself…’ as a dyed in the wool admirer of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s Minister Mentor…because Lee undoubtedly played an important and historic role in the creation of Malaysia as a political entity.’ Tunku Aziz further adds, ‘ Enriching himself or his family has never been part of his game plan…He has never wavered in his belief right at the outset that corruption, humanity’s greatest curse, was not going to be a feature of Singapore’s governance model… Singapore operates a justice system that is incorruptible.’
Let us examine these assertions a little more closely. That Singapore has achieved an excellent record in cleaning its civil service from corruption, thus ensuring its citizens get their service as of right and are not subjected to the under table tolls imposed by corrupt civil servants as is often the case in Malaysia, is indeed without dispute. We should do all we can to strive to achieve such desirable standards without compromise in Malaysia as well. While successful in wiping out corruption in the sphere of routine day-to-day level of interaction between civil servants and citizens, it is absurd to conclude that this achievement suggests that Singapore has an incorruptible governance model. While the elimination of corruption at this level is a necessary condition, it is not a sufficient condition to describe Singapore as having an incorruptible governance model.
As an activist in Transparancy International, Tunku Aziz waxes lyrical about Lee Kuan Yew’s achievements from a one-dimensional prism of an anti-corruption campaigner. He addresses the issue of corruption at the formal expression of this cancer to the exclusion of addressing corruption at the level of political power, which is different to the day-day-day corrupt practices most citizens face in their daily lives as they go about their business. In other words, corruption must be addressed holistically, including at the macro political level. Beneath the corruption-free image that is projected lays a corrupt social order in which citizens’ lives are policed at their work place, in their housing schemes and in educational institutes by the ruling party. All the levers of power and decision making are controlled by the PAP and dissent is ruthlessly crushed. This is a model of the corporate state. The reward for acquiescence in this scheme of things is a higher standard of living than that enjoyed by the citizens in the hinterland.
The very structure of the PAP, which has ruled Singapore since independence, is totally corrupt. The PAP is not an open party, but operates on an exclusivist principle whereby cadres are introduced and vetted on a secretive basis. This Leninist principle of organization is to ensure that the leadership - meaning Kuan Yew, his cronies and their children - are assured control of the party, as they indeed have been in control for the past half century. This method of membership selection ensures those privileged to belong to the party remain grateful for being given entry to the exclusive political organisation. It is a system of perpetuating the position of the leaders who have let you into the inner sanctum of the only ‘legitimate’ political organisation in Singapore.
In his excellent book on Singapore and Lee Kuan Yew, TJS George draws parallels with the Vatican’s process of electing the Pope. The Cardinals are selected through a secretive process by the Pope and the Pope is in turn selected through a secretive process, excluding all other members, by the Cardinals. At the level of power and decision making, Singapore’s elite, without doubt, ranks among the most corrupt globally.
Singapore’s treasury has been denuded of tens of billions of dollars in the recent collapse of Lehman Brothers and other financial institutions in which investments were made through Temasek Holdings. This sovereign fund is managed by Kuan Yew’s daughter-in-law. Don’t hold your breath for any consequences to arise for the mismanagement of the people’s money, nor is there going to be an open discussion of these loss-making adventures anytime soon. Should Transparency International not concern itself with the opaque non-transparent decision making affecting Singapore’s citizens by members of Lee’s family on issues such as these? ‘Enriching himself or his family has never been part of his game plan’, asserts Tunku Aziz in tribute to Lee’s incorruptibility. Should the handling of sovereign funds and other national treasures without accountability by members of the Lee family not raise questions?
This very corrupt structure of the party was one of many charges laid against the PAP, resulting in its expulsion from the Socialist International (SI), an international social democratic movement whose members include the European, Japanese and Australian/New Zealand labour parties. The SI found the anti-trade union laws and other repressive legislation implemented by the PAP to emasculate the labour movement violated SI principles. Other repressive laws cited were the printing presses ordinances carried over from colonial rule to curtail freedom of expression. In fact newspapers with articles critical of the regime have also been closed down and editors of newspapers detained. The student’s unions have seen their leaders who are not pro-establishment victimized and even tried in the ‘incorruptible’ courts on trumped up charges. Most damning from the point of view of the SI was the PAP’s use of the Internal Security Act to detain opposition leaders, some for decades.
How do the MT commentators praise Kuan Yew as a statesman when there is a mountain of evidence to prove that the PAP is, and has always been, a repressive party run by thugs? How do these commentators oppose the repressive legislation here in Malaysia but support it in Singapore?
To assert, as Tunku Aziz does, that ‘Singapore operates a justice system that is incorruptible’ in view of the accumulated evidence to the contrary is therefore astoundingly stupid. True, as mentioned above, in the mundane day-to-day crime prevention/business sphere, the justice system delivers. Has Tunku Aziz been in deep slumber when media critics and opposition activists have been railroaded through Singapore’s ‘incorruptible’ judicial system into bankruptcy and political oblivion over the years? The US State Department likes to protest such infringements of human rights violations which occur in countries that are not hitched to the US bandwagon. Singapore is given an easy ride even when one of its own US citizens, formerly a Singapore national, was last year sentenced to several months’ imprisonment for questioning the integrity of the ‘incorruptible’ justice system in Singapore. No wonder, then, that in a poll in the Singapore press, quoted by opposition activist, Dr Chee Soon Juan, in an interview with Lorraine Hahn on CNN’s Talk Asia, “… 93 percent of Singaporeans have indicated that they are fearful, that they were afraid to speak up even if they didn't agree with government policy.” ( http://www.singapore-window.org/sw02/020529cn.htm)
The railroading in court of Dr Chee Soon Juan and his wife into bankruptcy is a recent example in a series of such cases. The Singapore Democratic Party blog reported the following exchange in the PAP controlled ’incorruptible’ court last year:
“During cross-examination of Mr Lee Hsien Loong, Mr Davinder Singh repeatedly objected to the questions. And yet the hearing was to assess the plaintiffs' reputations so that damages could be decided.
And yet every time the questions about the Lees' reputations were raised, Mr Singh objected. And yet none of what Dr Chee tried to ask was reported in the press.” http://www.yoursdp.org/component/content/article/1-singapore/487-why-let-reality-get-in-the-wayChee (to Lee Hsien Loong): Would you refer to pg 192 of your AEIC, para 3 and read it to us.
Mr Lee Hsien Loong starts reading. Just before he gets to the words he uttered about fixing the opposition and buying over his supporters, Mr Davinder Singh stands up.
Singh: Objection, Your Honour.
Judge: I'll read it.
Chee: Mr Lee, you read it.
Judge: Dr Chee please tell us the relevance.
Chee: This paragraph will show it's true of him –
Judge Move on, the question is disallowed.
Chee: He has used words like "fix" and "buy votes". He's here to tell me that his reputation is based on so much. I'm here to demolish it, when he buys votes -
Judge: Disallowed.
Chee: Let it be recorded then. Mr Lee, come out and don't hide behind your counsel. You have every opportunity to answer the questions. You allow your counsel to cover -
Singh: Objection, Your Honour.
Judge: Court has taken note of Dr Chee's conduct.
Chee: Mr Lee, please refer to pg 39 of your AEIC sub-heading "lack of transparency." Do you agree with the last line and last paragraph that the GIC operates in secrecy?
Singh: Objection. Dr Chee is seeking to reopen the issue. This article relates to the offending words. The meaning has been taken to be false. The question of liability is done.
Chee: Turn then to pg 75 of your AEIC, bottom of the page. Is the Government transparent? Do you agree with this statement?
Singh: I object.
Judge: Irrelevent.
Chee: Do you believe the funds belongs to the people?
Singh: Irrelevent.
………….
Chee: Do you think that your Ministers spend too much -
Judge: Disallowed.
Chee: I put to you that the PAP is bent on greed and power.
Singh Objection.
Judge: Sustained.
Chee Refer to pg 9 of your AEIC. Is the information on the cost of labour of building HDB flats available?
Singh: Objection.
Judge Sustained.
Chee: Is information on the cost of material of building HDB flats available?
Singh: Objection.
Judge Sustained.
Chee: Do you agree that the HDB is operating in secrecy?
Singh: Objection.
Judge Sustained.To suggest, as Tunku Aziz does, ‘…that Lee undoubtedly played an important and historic role in the creation of Malaysia as a political entity’ gives Kuan Yew more credit than he deserves. Colonial rule in Malaya, Singapore and the Borneo territories of Sabah and Sarawak became untenable, due principally to the anti-colonial movement and also because of strong opposition to colonial rule in its neighborhood by Indonesia.
Kuan Yew initially acted for the leaders of the anti-colonial movement who were detained by the British as their legal counsel. As his Machiavellian traits unfolded, he supported the Chinese educated left and at the same time collaborated with Sir William Goode to instigate the detention of these anti-colonial activists while laying the blame for the detentions on the Brits.
He thus maneuvered himself into the mainstream of the anti-colonial movement led by the PAP while his colonial masters detained all the senior leaders of the PAP: Dr Lim Hock Siew, Dr Poh Soo Kai, Said Zahari, Lim Chin Siong, Chia Thye Poh and over a hundred other leaders representing a cross section of trade unionists, academics, and student leaders. Some of these leaders were held under detention without trial for over a decade and a half. In fact, Chia Thye Poh was a prisoner of conscience for a longer period than Nelson Mandela.
Kuan Yew wanted Singapore to be in Malaysia desperately because he wanted to expand his power base from the red dot to its hinterland from where he could speak on behalf of a larger constituency as he trotted around the globe as a US-sponsored leader in the region. He did not feel constrained to negotiate with Tengku to oust the MCA from the Alliance coalition and replace it with the PAP so that he could speak on behalf of the Chinese.
Though Kuan Yew’s relationship with China and his Chineseness is evoked by the Chinese chauvinists on MT as his strong armour, that relationship is actually skin deep. He has always been and remains to the present a man described by some Commonwealth leaders as yellow outside, but white inside. He has been a reliable puppet to the US imperial agenda in the region, including the US containment of China strategy. He provides naval facilities to the US navy and was championing their effort to introduce US Marines into the Straits of Malacca to purportedly fight potential terrorist threats.
The US strategy is, in fact, to control all the choke points such as the Straits so that it will be able to turn off the energy flow to China when it deems it necessary. Over 70% of China’s energy needs flow through the Straits. The resistance to this part of the China containment policy was provided by Malaysia and Indonesia whose leaders argued the introduction of US marines into the Straits of Malacca would violate the sovereignty of the littoral states.
Lee Kuan Yew was a supporter of the US war of aggression against Vietnam in which some three million Vietnamese were killed and many more injured. US armed forces personnel fighting their war of aggression in Vietnam were rewarded by Kuan Yew with the opening up of Singapore as a Rest and Recreation destination for these forces. Well, we all know what that means: US dollars flow in while the dignity of local women gets violated.
We should also recall the US invasion of Iraq to get rid of its arsenal of WMDs, which turned out to be a pack of lies. One of the puppets in this region to support the US invasion, which has unleashed a civil war under US occupation and has caused the death of 1.3 million Iraqis and has turned more than 4 million Iraqis into refugees, was Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew, together with like-minded puppets, wanted to provide the US with the fig leaf of legitimacy for the invasion after the US-led war-mongers failed to secure UN Security Council approval. The US presented its murderous enterprise as having the popular support of a 30-nation coalition of the willing. Lee Kuan Yew was one of the willing. In taking Singapore to war in Iraq, the people of Singapore were not consulted by this paragon of incorruptibility.
Do people like Tunku Aziz, who admire Lee Kuan Yew, not understand that their mentor is justifiably deemed a loathsome opportunist by progressive political opinion as their mentor has partaken in an orgy of death and mayhem by joining a coalition that launched an illegal and immoral war to support US imperialism, a war that is deemed by the Nuremburg Principles as the most heinous crime against humanity?
Original link also has 26 comments on the page at time of this posting.
Note: I did not read the article in its entirety and am just putting it up as it seems like a topic members of this forum would like to read.
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Too long to read.
Thanks for posting
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same. i didnt finish reading it. only read a tiny bit. but i read the comments on the source article and it appears that msians think lky and sg isn't as bad as the author wrote (:
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Originally posted by Vigelic:
same. i didnt finish reading it. only read a tiny bit. but i read the comments on the source article and it appears that msians think lky and sg isn’t as bad as the author wrote (:
Well, if they stay in singapore, they may change their mind about him. -
Originally posted by Fantagf:
Well, if they stay in singapore, they may change their mind about him.
become singaporeans -
This article hits the nail on the head with more details revealed that Singaporeans know so little about.
The PAP was not only started by Lee Kuan Yew, Toh Chin Chye, Goh Keng Swee, Rajaratnam, E.W. Barker, Jek Yoon Tong, Lim Kim San, Ong Pang Boon, and other lesser known names, but had also included other names that were white-washed from our memory by distorted re-writing of historical details.
Who were these professionals - Dr Lim Hock Siew and Dr Poh Soo Kai, who stand alongside other lesser known names that included: Dr M K Rajakumar, James Joseph Puthucheary, and A. Samad Ismail - all of whom were prominent anti-colonial activists ?
These names were lost amidst the more publicised persecution of Lim Chin Siong, Chia Thye Poh, and Said Zahari who were locked up under the ISA.
In case anyone believe that the Malaysians have no right to comment on Singapore's History, it is best that we remember the historical facts of Malaya and Singapore that led to this state of affairs.
The politicians of the 1950s had no border dividing Malaya and Singapore when the people of Malaya and Singapore travelled freely without passports as both were ruled by the British Colonial Government as a common territory.
In the 1950s, many of the political leadership in the political parties in Singapore were born in Malaya, and nearly half of the early Singapore State Government were Malayans.
Today, the peoples of Malaysia and Singapore are identical whether amongst the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Eurasians and even amongst the minority ethnic races.
All share common spoken and written languages, and spoken nuances in dialects, common ethnic food, religions, cultures, social values and aspirations that are characteristics and unique to the different ethnic or racial communities.
Even to this day, cross-border marriages continue to bond the people on both sides and extend the long thread of family ties across the border since the Colonial Days.
For those keen on politics of the 1950s - read the following:
What price have we paid for today’s success?
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It is very sad to see PAP regime brainwash people with their rubbish propaganda history and deny people the truth.
The very structure of the PAP, which has ruled Singapore since independence, is totally corrupt. The PAP is not an open party, but operates on an exclusivist principle whereby cadres are introduced and vetted on a secretive basis. This Leninist principle of organization is to ensure that the leadership - meaning Kuan Yew, his cronies and their children - are assured control of the party, as they indeed have been in control for the past half century...
Singapore’s treasury has been denuded of tens of billions of dollars in the recent collapse of Lehman Brothers and other financial institutions in which investments were made through Temasek Holdings. This sovereign fund is managed by Kuan Yew’s daughter-in-law. Don’t hold your breath for any consequences to arise for the mismanagement of the people’s money, nor is there going to be an open discussion of these loss-making adventures anytime soon...
Kuan Yew initially acted for the leaders of the anti-colonial movement who were detained by the British as their legal counsel. As his Machiavellian traits unfolded, he supported the Chinese educated left and at the same time collaborated with Sir William Goode to instigate the detention of these anti-colonial activists while laying the blame for the detentions on the Brits.
He thus maneuvered himself into the mainstream of the anti-colonial movement led by the PAP while his colonial masters detained all the senior leaders of the PAP: Dr Lim Hock Siew, Dr Poh Soo Kai, Said Zahari, Lim Chin Siong, Chia Thye Poh and over a hundred other leaders representing a cross section of trade unionists, academics, and student leaders. Some of these leaders were held under detention without trial for over a decade and a half. In fact, Chia Thye Poh was a prisoner of conscience for a longer period than Nelson Mandela...
Though Kuan Yew’s relationship with China and his Chineseness is evoked by the Chinese chauvinists on MT as his strong armour, that relationship is actually skin deep. He has always been and remains to the present a man described by some Commonwealth leaders as yellow outside, but white inside. He has been a reliable puppet to the US imperial agenda in the region, including the US containment of China strategy. He provides naval facilities to the US navy and was championing their effort to introduce US Marines into the Straits of Malacca to purportedly fight potential terrorist threats.
The US strategy is, in fact, to control all the choke points such as the Straits so that it will be able to turn off the energy flow to China when it deems it necessary. Over 70% of China’s energy needs flow through the Straits. The resistance to this part of the China containment policy was provided by Malaysia and Indonesia whose leaders argued the introduction of US marines into the Straits of Malacca would violate the sovereignty of the littoral states.
Lee Kuan Yew was a supporter of the US war of aggression against Vietnam in which some three million Vietnamese were killed and many more injured. US armed forces personnel fighting their war of aggression in Vietnam were rewarded by Kuan Yew with the opening up of Singapore as a Rest and Recreation destination for these forces. Well, we all know what that means: US dollars flow in while the dignity of local women gets violated...
Lee Kuan Yew and his filth.
Shame on you fake chinese baba bastard.
Not chinese pretend chinese.
You are a disgrace to the peranakans.
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eh????chia.....dignity of woman violated....???never heard.....even with gulf wars today...i still dun see wimen get violated.its only drunks or crackhead young soldiers who do dat criminal offence.
remembered seventh fleet came into spore n apprached a sporean guy n his gal..of course they scoffed at them US military folks n walked off soon after.
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lee kuan you is not a chinese or peranak,,,,,on closer examination of his forehead ,he seems to be a cross between a yeti and a space alien of grey type.
could they have an association in the past way back in time???
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Summarise this long article if 1 sentense which will be: "Lee Kuan Yew is corrupted"
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and in conclusion..so are all Singaporeans
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All Singaporeans are corrupt ?
All Singaporeans cannot compare to the fallen angel who will corrupt everyone entering her Bar - with wine, women and song.
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n that is y PAP stands for pay n pay
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Originally posted by Atobe:
All Singaporeans are corrupt ?
All Singaporeans cannot compare to the fallen angel who will corrupt everyone entering her Bar - with wine, women and song.
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Originally posted by Ah Chia:
It is very sad to see PAP regime brainwash people with their rubbish propaganda history and deny people the truth.
Lee Kuan Yew and his filth.
Shame on you fake chinese baba bastard.
Not chinese pretend chinese.
You are a disgrace to the peranakans.
A very passionate and emotional but one-sided story. I read the story is more about subjective rather than objective analysis. A good twist of English words to paint an interesting script. -
her father's bar to be exact...
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why do people go to angel's bar, or anybody's bar, then say they are corrupted by wine, women and song, and they pay for it somemore?
people enjoy being corrupt, singaporean, human being.... hahaha...
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Originally posted by Vigelic:
same. i didnt finish reading it. only read a tiny bit. but i read the comments on the source article and it appears that msians think lky and sg isn’t as bad as the author wrote (:
I know many people here cut and paste long walls of info, but they only read a tiny bit. and I bet the rest of the people also never read, or read a bit, and start discussing.those for PAP and those against, no neutral ground, this is how singaporean discuss poltics, at least in malaysia you have umno, pas, dap....many sides
of course msians don't think lky and sg not so bad when mahathir now ask how did the msian government spent S$104b in oil money over the last 6 years, nobody asked him how much he spent don't know how many billions over the last 20 years, crisis or no crisis.
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Originally posted by sgdiehard:
why do people go to angel's bar, or anybody's bar, then say they are corrupted by wine, women and song, and they pay for it somemore?
people enjoy being corrupt, singaporean, human being.... hahaha...
Surely you can accept that "nothing is free in this world" - even getting oneself corrupted has to be paid for, what more when one is drawn into angel's bar by the women offering their company with wines and songs.Even angel has to pay for the costs in running an environment to corrupt us and take our hard earned money.
With not much else in clinically clean Singapore, is there anything in Singapore that is comparable to the excitement found in Patpong or Makati ?
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Originally posted by sgdiehard:
I know many people here cut and paste long walls of info, but they only read a tiny bit. and I bet the rest of the people also never read, or read a bit, and start discussing.those for PAP and those against, no neutral ground, this is how singaporean discuss poltics, at least in malaysia you have umno, pas, dap....many sides
of course msians don't think lky and sg not so bad when mahathir now ask how did the msian government spent S$104b in oil money over the last 6 years, nobody asked him how much he spent don't know how many billions over the last 20 years, crisis or no crisis.
There are no neutral ground taken as people make up their mind very quickly when detailed facts are made known.Those who prefer to take the side of the PAP ignore the costs of the past, present and the future for Singapore for the sake of the material gains.
Those who prefer to take the side of the Alternative Parties do so with their eyes opened just as wide - knowing that the cost does not justify the material gains.
Can material gains be measured by the sacrifices made to our political rights that only a few in the PAP Elite Leadership reserve for themselves ?
Even the small core of PAP cadre are given limited political rights to exercise even as they belong to a selected group to be in a position to vote for the party leadership.
What political rights do Singaporean possess when the ballot which they have are limited to vote in an election that is weighted heavily in favor of the PAP - which control the Election Committee that draw the electoral boundaries and election rules, as well as the AG's chambers and Police Force that selectively apply the Law, Election Office is not neutral and placed under the PM's Office, controls of the broadcast and print media, and passing legislations that hamstrung the Alternative Parties ?
All in all, LKY has been "filling the stomachs of Singaporeans so as to dull the brains" - and in the process has silently and slowly stripped the political rights of Singaporeans that were originally guaranteed by the Constitution.
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Defamation suit flying again?
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those for PAP and those against, no neutral ground, this is how singaporean discuss poltics,
Most Singaporeans do not care about political affairs and are ignorant of politics.
The minority of people who discusses politics are those who are already politicised, so they already have certain opinions about politics, so they are not neutral.
I think in general, only depoliticised people would support PAP.
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Originally posted by Ah Chia:
Most Singaporeans do not care about political affairs and are ignorant of politics.
The minority of people who discusses politics are those who are already politicised, so they already have certain opinions about politics, so they are not neutral.
I think in general, only depoliticised people would support PAP.
Because PAP does have capable people in their ranks, just because the senior leaders are screwed up, doesn't mean that every member of PAP is corrupt. Dr Tony Tan, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan and Teo Chee Hean are ministers I do admire due to their abilities in administration and government. -
Moral of the long post; "Who isn't corrupt."
I am also corrupt. I also practice bribery.
I see corruption everyday.
Blatant Malaysia style, traditional India style, motivational North Korea style, corruption is all around.
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Corruption cannot be corruption - when it is respectably made legal by exercising the political power to maintain the "farce of respectability".