Lying to cover-up misdeeds – is it halal? July 28, 2013 FMT LETTER: From Ravinder Singh, via e-mail The malaise with our civil service, most visible in the case of police lock-up deaths, is that the culprits either get off scot free or with a mere slap on the wrist. This is no deterrent for future failures to perform, but rather a tacit approval of misbehaviour. It only emboldens those who are inclined towards misbehaviour to misbehave and get away smiling. Dr M’s administration had taught the civil servants that (1) laws are a hindrance to development and (2) that if you tell a lie and repeat it often enough people will believe it is the truth. This culture of administration was epitomised by Dr M when he was furious with Musa Hitam over the Papan Radioactive waste dump issue early in his long reign. The Asian Rare Earth factory in Papan in the outskirts of Ipoh, Perak, had been storing its waste in drums within its premises. The aging drums started leaking and after complaints from the residents that their health had been affected by the radioactivity, the factory was required to construct a proper dump complying with international specifications for such facilities to store those drums. A site on a hillock nearby was chosen to construct the storage facility which consisted of several trenches dug into the ground. Each trench was approximately 25m long, 3m deep, 5m wide at the top and 3m wide at the base, i.e. like a flat bottomed V when seen in cross section. The bottom and side-walls were supposed to be lined with strong, 4-inch thick steel reinforced concrete. Within walking distance of the hillock, on lower ground, were kampong houses. It is very hard to believe there was no corruption involved. There must have been officers responsible for inspecting the trenches under construction. This was not a kampong well that was being made. Did they do their work at all? If so, they were clearly closing both eyes to what was going on. Why did they do so? Did they close their eyes on their own, or were they under instructions to close their eyes? It is the concerned residents (some of whom had already been affected by the high radioactivity in the area) who were monitoring the construction. Seeing the extremely shoddy work, they complained. They complained because there was not an inch of concrete, let alone steel-reinforced concrete. Any fool could see this as the “RC concrete walls” of the trenches had started breaking off and falling into the trenches. No way any radioactive waste could be stored in these trenches as no sooner it is put there, it would leak into the ground and into ground water and end up in the streams and wells below the hillock. The cries of the residents were met with assurances after assurances from the authorities that the trenches were being constructed according to specifications. Frustrated, they appealed to and even begged the PM, Dr M, to visit the dumpsite and see for himself whether the statements being made by the departments concerned had an iota of truth. No, Dr M’s pride (or arrogance?) would not move him to do such a thing. He could not acknowledge that there were weaknesses in his administration. If he did go, he would have to pull up those who had closed their eyes. That would besmirch his “perfect” administration. He had been very critical of Tunku Abdul Rahman for being a humble and simple PM, who he implied in his ‘Malay Dilemma’ was not fit to be a PM. Events took a drastic turn soon after. Dr M went on overseas leave for about three weeks. Musa, his then deputy, took over as acting PM. The Papan residents now pleaded with Musa to visit the site and see for himself. This down to earth man did exactly that. He must have been shocked by what he saw for straightaway he condemned the trenches as unfit to store the radioactive waste. Musa had done the right thing but little did he envision what was in store for him. As soon as Dr M returned, Musa was hauled up for having brought disrepute to the government. Yes, Musa was actually scolded and given a lecture that when any government department or agency had taken a public stand on any matter, immaterial whether rightly or wrongly, that stand had to be defended to the end. Musa had therefore brought shame and disgrace to the government by his admission that the poor people of Papan were correct and all the government statements on the dump had been wrong. Musa could not take it that he was expected to lie to the nation to defend some corrupted people who had been giving false reports on the construction of the dumps. He immediately threw in the towel and said good-bye to the “perfect” administration of Dr M. Curious to know who was right, Dr M or Musa, I went to have a look at the dumps. The complainants were 100% correct and Musa was straight and honest. I saw huge chunks of the cement plaster applied to the sidewalls that had broken off and fallen into the trenches. At places, the plaster was only about half an inch thick. Yes, it was just cement plaster whereas the specs were for trench lining with 4-inch thick steel reinforced concrete. Any untrained person could see this but officials responsible were claiming it conformed to the specs and Dr M was supporting them to the hilt. What did Dr M teach the civil servants? Take some action to placate concerned people or complainants (in this case, order a dump to be built), then care two hoots how the dump is built. If complaints come about the construction, tell a lie and keep repeating it over and over until the people wear out and resign to the fact that they cannot do anything and stop complaining. It’s unbelievable that a Medical doctor should throw the Hippocratic oath that he had taken into the drain upon becoming Prime Minister. Of all people, with his medical training, he should have been the most concerned person about the health and well being of the residents of Papan. He should have easily understood the predicament of the people exposed to high level of radiation. But no, he was out to prove that his government was the best, was infallible, even if he had to lie to do so and get the whole government machinery to lie with him. After Dr M introduced his “tell a lie …” philosophy, I heard a Muslim friend saying that it is not wrong to tell a lie if the purpose of telling a lie is for the “good” of an organisation. He was talking of some trade union matter. May I humbly ask Muslim scholars to tell us when it is halal to tell a lie, and when it is haram to do so. Was it right in Islam for Dr M to lie about the radioactive waste dump? Is it right in Islam to say that the “good image” of a government must be defended even if lies have to be told and repeated, as preached by Dr M? We see this legacy continuing as in the case of “toilet-gate” at SK Seri Pristana. The school does something drastically wrong, the school creates stories about non-existent renovations to defend its wrongful action and even goes to the extent to stage a “sandiwara” buka puasa in the toilet canteen, the Education Ministry goes to the scene beating its chest that it will take appropriate action only to repeat the stories of the school administration. And to placate the irate parents and public the deputy Minister performs his own “sandiwara” of a RM10,000 on the spot personal donation with a promise of more to come to expand the school canteen. If the school canteen can accommodate 500 as reported, then it is big enough and needs no expansion. A 500 capacity canteen can easily cater to the 600 to 700 students in each session as it is school SOP to break up the recess into two sessions. Compare this with how Singapore handled the case of its police officer charged with the murder of two persons. Was it disgraceful or honourable for Singapore to admit what had happened, and do so immediately and very openly? And compare this with how our police handled the few hundred cases of “sudden deaths” in custody? When will Malaysia divorce itself from the “tell a lie…” legacy of Dr Mahathir?
Posted on: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 02:17:36 +0000
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