Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) defended its position with regard to the National Feedlot Center scandal on two fronts: through the issue of a statement and in a press conference on Dec 16.

In the statement quoted by Bernama, MACC denied that it had not taken any action. It said that it did scrutinize the complaint from NGOs regarding the abuse of a government loan to purchase luxurious condominiums by National Feedlot Corporation (NFC), and found no element of corruption, and hence passed the case to the police.

In the press conference held after a programme at their academy, MACC chief commissioner Abu Kassim Mohamed said that since the scandal was exposed in the 2010 Auditor General’s report in October, MACC had already been studying it.

Abu Kassim said the issue of MACC probing the case does not arise. He explained that the commission’s earlier move to pass the case to police was in response to the particular complaint of irregularity in using the loan to purchase the condos.

Since it was a case of misuse of public loan, it was forwarded to the police for further investigation.

Abu Kassim further said that the public could have misunderstood MACC, not knowing its working procedure. He stressed that MACC has always practiced the principle of probing corruption without fear or favour, regardless of whether the persons involved are cabinet ministers or ordinary citizens.

We take it from this Abu Kassim statement that the earlier “passing the buck to police” move relates to only the condo purchase and not other aspects of the scandal.

Therefore can Abu Kassim now tell us whether MACC is investigating the entire NFC debacle?

Why the eerie silence?

And please tell us why MACC has steadfastly kept its eerie silence for the past two months while the controversy has been raging inside and outside parliament.

There have been numerous press conferences and Internet postings that produced heaps of evidence of corruption, abuse of power, collusion, breach of trust and criminal negligence by ministers and government officials in the award of project and disbursement of loan.

Never mind, Abu Kassim, about your “without fear or favour” claim but just tell us plain and simple:

(a) whether you agree or disagree that there are elements to justify MACC moving in

(b) and whether you have started investigation in earnest

Undeniably, this is a high-profile scandal that affects vital national interests. The credibility of the entire Malaysian government will hinge on its resolution.

So will Abu Kassim please be honest for once and tell us what exactly is the status of the MACC investigation?

And what has MACC done in the past two months towards seeking out the culprits and restoring some semblance of rule of law to this country?

No more hypocritical rhetoric please; just simple, honest answers.