On the Beat | By Wong Chun Wai

Back the ACA in this massive op

According to ACA director-general Datuk  Ahmad Zaki Hussin, the Oct 15 date is not
an  extension of the Sept 26 deadline
given earlier.

He explained that the latter was meant for 
the RTD officers and driving school personnel involved in the scam to
come forward.

Irrespective of his clarification, Ahmad 
Zaki should not expect an avalanche of people surrendering their
“flying licences.''

Many Malaysians are sceptical with the 
warning given by the ACA, assuming that 
they do not have sufficient information.

Some have even called it a bluff. Whether 
they are right or wrong remains to be seen.

Prosecutions of dirty RTD officers will 
certainly help to convince errant personnel.

Motorists who had bought such illegal documents, or had asked someone else to
sit for  their driving tests, must be
prepared to face  the consequences.

Some segments of society have this misguided perception that only RTD
officers  and driving school owners
should be brought  to book. The law of
demand and supply is  obvious. If there
are no bribe-givers, there  will be no
takers.

The ACA has been criticised by some 
quarters for going after the RTD, saying 
these are small fishes and that such corrupt  practices have been going on for some
time.

We should not lose sight of our focus. Instead of merely picking up one or two
officers, the ACA has cast its net for a swoop.

To launch such a big-scale operation is 
certainly not easy, whether they are small or  big fishes.

In any case, Malaysians have hardly been 
forthcoming to lodge reports against corrupt officers.

In fact, if the number of “flying licences'' 
is as big as reported, most of us are guilty by  having contributed to the corrupt
practice.

It is better late than never. We should support the ACA in its efforts to right
a wrong.

Criticism has also been levelled against 
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ling 
Liong Sik for corruption in the RTD. These  critics can't see the forest from the
trees.

It should be noted that the ministry's functions are not merely confined to
conducting  driving tests. The scope of
duties is wide,  ranging from road safety
to securing more  shippers to use our
ports to getting more  landing rights for
our planes.

Today, our ports and KLIA are among the 
best in the world.

While the RTD comes under the Transport 
Ministry's jurisdiction, the general public is  unaware that the issuing of commercial
vehicle permits, including taxi licences, is under the ambit of the
Entrepreneur Development Ministry.

For the record, the Transport Ministry has 
been supportive of the ACA actions.

As citizens, we should give moral support 
to the ACA  and not debate whether
the  crooks are only small fry or whether
Dr  Ling should resign.

It is significant to note Datuk Seri Ong Ka 
Ting's statement that the Cabinet has directed all enforcement agencies
to take concerted action to weed out illegal video arcades.

The Housing and Local Government Minister has a message: It is not just the job
of  the local authorities but also the
police.

Malaysians would certainly like to see the 
ACA sustain its high-profile fight against  corruption after the “flying licence''
case.  There will be renewed faith in the
graft busting agency if it continues to work with  such zeal.