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Ong  Ka Ting should have  referred to the  great Chinese reformer Wang An Shih on the need for both good system and good people to bring about a clean, incorruptible and people-oriented government instead of being an “apple polisher” by comparing Abdullah to Hai Rui, who fell victim to a corrupt, decadent and oppressive system Speech - at Paya Terubong  DAP Chinese New Year 2004 celebration by Lim Kit Siang (Penang,  Saturday): I am not surprised by the statement of the Penang MCA deputy chairman, Datuk Koay Kar Huah, in trying to distort my criticism of the MCA President, Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting for his most inappropriate comparison of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi with  Hai Rui, a Ming dynasty official famous for his incorruptibility but was removed from office by a corrupt system after a short tenure, immortalized by Chinese drama “Hai Rui Dismissed from Office” (Hai Rui  ba guan).  It is clear that Koay does not understand the three  points that I had tried to make, viz:  Firstly, that Hai Rui is a tragic character for although he is famous for his honesty, uprightness and incorruptibility, he is the classic example of the failure of “one man versus the system” – totally helpless in changing or making any significant dent in a very corrupt, decadent  and oppressive system of governance. Secondly, that it is most inappropriate to liken Abdullah to Hai Rui, as Abdullah is the Prime Minister of a modern country who should create the conditions for a system where every Minister and public officer is a modern-day Hai Rui who would not suffer his fate in the Ming dynasty of being impeached and  forced from office by corrupt, decadent and oppressive forces after a very short tenure in his highest post, which was only of middling rank. Thirdly, Ong’s Hai Rui analogy has focused the question all thinking Malaysians have been asking in the “First Hundred Days” of Abdullah, as to whether the new Prime Minister, with his reputation of “Mr. Clean”, could change the system which had caused Malaysia to plunge 14 placings in nine years in the annual Transparency International Corruption Perception Index, i.e.  from 23rd position in 1995 to 37th place in 2003, to rank among the world’s ten least corrupt nations  – or whether he would lose out to the system. There is another reason why Ka Ting’s comparison of Abdullah with Hai Rui at the joint MCA-Gerakan Chinese New Year party  in Penang is inappropriate.  As Abdullah had publicly declared that he does not want “apple polishers”, it would have been more appropriate for Ka Ting to refer to the  great Chinese reformer Wang An Shih on the need for both good system and good people to bring about a clean, incorruptible and people-oriented government instead of comparing Abdullah to Hai Rui, who fell victim to a corrupt, decadent and oppressive system.  In his attempt to eliminate corruption, Wang An Shih, the Sung dynasty statesman, was impressed by two ever-recurrent sources of corruption – bad laws and bad men, that  it is impossible to secure  proper government by merely relying on the power of the law to control officials when the latter are not the right men for the job and it is equally futile to expect efficient government if, having the right men in their proper positions, there is no good system of governance.  According to Wang An Shih, corruption was caused by bad systems and bad individuals.  It was not one or the other. Selecting good people was not enough if the system encouraged corruption.  Next Wednesday, February 4, 2003, will be the last Cabinet meeting for Abdullah’s “First Hundred Days” as the fifth Prime Minister of Malaysia.  Ka Ting should formally propose that the  Cabinet conduct a  review whether the “First Hundred Days”  had  learnt from Wang Ah Shih in having both good men and good system in order to fulfill Abdullah’s pledge of a clean, incorruptible, efficient, people-oriented government which listens to the truth from the citizenry.  The last Cabinet meeting of the “First Hundred Days” should also consider  whether every Cabinet Minister is prepared to become a modern-day Hai Rui, famous in the country and history as honest and incorruptible, and creating a system of national integrity marked, among other things, by  the following features:  Leadership by example by Cabinet Ministers in publicly declaring their assets; Elevation of Anti-Corruption Agency to an independent body answerable only to Parliament and not as at present, to the Prime Minister; Strong and effective Parliament to play a leading role to monitor and wage a campaign against corruption, which it is totally incapable of doing at present; An independent judiciary to fight corruption, whether “ikan yu” or “ikan bilis”; Free and independent Press, backed up with freedom of information laws, to fight corruption. (31/1/2004) * Lim Kit Siang, DAP National Chairman