About 500 people turned up for Rafizi Ramli's rally. Although the number is embarrassingly small, especially after weeks of rhetoric, it was still a sad day for my country.
Sadder still because the government (or was it the palace?) decided that Azam Baki, the object of Rafizi's strange obsession, will be replaced by a former judge as the MACC chief commissioner.
Salahuddin Hisham, the seasoned blogger, was pissed. "Well done, Rafizi, you have succeeded in replacing Azam with a "kawtim" former judge." I believe kawtim refers to one who is too easily persuaded.
Zaid Ibrahim, a former Minister, hotshot lawyer and astute political basher, is equally in awe. "Who does the King appoint as the new Chief Commissioner? A former High Court Judge, whom I can't recall at all? Strange appointment to a position of great importance to the nation.
Why not Khushairy, who is no. 2 ...?". Zaid made it clear he was not blaming the King as the appointment was made, in reality, by PMX.
The content creator Caprice, who used to look up to Rafizi, said of Azam Baki as "the best chief commissioner the MACC has ever had". You don't have to take Caprice's word but MACC's track record under Azam Baki says it: since he took over our ranking in the world corruption index improved from 62nd out of 180 countries in 2021 to 61st in 2022, 57th in 2023 and 2024, and 54th in 2025!
Malaysia aims to be in the Top 25 least corrupt nations by 2033.
That is why it was a sad day.
On the flip side, the rally was a tiny one even after PAS said at the 11th hour it would send its army of protesters to beef up the numbers. Too bad for Rafizi but Rafizi being Rafizi, he still had the audacity, even in the face of failure after failure, to talk excitedly about forming a new political party in June as if anyone other than those few hundreds cared.
Azam Baki's sportsmanship, on the other hand, is at a different level. Asked about the new appointment by the King, he said the fact that his tenure had been extended an unprecedented 3 times is a "penghormatan besar" or a great honor.
To be honest, I don't know if the appointment of Abdul Halim Aman (AHA as in the old disco song That's the way aha aha I like it), the former High Court Judge of Malaysia, was made personally by
the Yang Di-pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim (he said so, it was all over the news the day before Rafizi's stupid rally took place) or by the PMX as alleged by Zaid Ibrahim.
But what I know is NOT everyone has faith in Azam Baki's successor who will clock in on May 13.
And I kinda see Zaid Ibrahim's point. Why not Khusairi Yahya, the MACC No 2, who has great experience in dealing with white collar criminals and immigration. Why an ex-judge?
This is not the first time a chief commissioner has been appointed from outside the MACC. Azam Baki's predecessor Latheefa Koya, a politician, was appointed personally by the then Prime Minister. And what good did that do for the state of corruption in the country?
For now, I will reserve my comment about AHA because just like uncle Zaid Ibrahim I too can't seem to recall anything spectacular about the former judge (other than the fact he is from Melaka my state) but what I know for sure is this: he will be up not just against the biggest and baddest crooks in this country, the Corporate Mafia, but AHA will be fighting desperate politicians who will protect and defend the crooks, even if they had to rally against him.
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