Truth must be told to uphold integrity of a government.

Today, in the staronline, I read about the fighter jet engine which we only get to read about a year after it went missing from the Sungai Besi Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) airbase.

According to the Malaysian Prime Minister, there was no cover-up as a police report was made. The Defence Ministry and the RMAF cooperated fully with the authorities to ensure a thorough investigation.

At the time of the incident, the Prime Minister himself was the Defence Minister. At present, that position has been taken over by Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi who said it was an inside job.

As a result of the investigation into the stolen jet engine, it was reported that a brigadier-general and 40 other armed forces personnel had been sacked.

What is puzzling is the fact that the brigadier-general continued to receive his pension and other retirement benefits. Upon being questioned on the matter, the Prime Minister said such decisions depend on the wrong that was committed and that it would be up to the armed forces to decide. Another puzzling fact is that the full report on the incident has not yet been completed.

Incidents such as these tell us a lot. We know that a jet engine went missing a year ago. Therefore, it must have happened some time in 2008. Which month in 2008? Now we are at the end of 2009. How come the citizens of Malaysia were not aware that a theft had taken place so many months ago? Why were the authorities so quiet about such a loss from a supposedly very secure place? Looks like we may not know a good number of things.

The jet engine went missing. Was it misplaced. Was it a theft? How can such a big engine go missing from such a security area? It is mind-boggling to read of something as big as a jet engine disappearing from such a high-security area as a RMAF base.

As for the brigadier-general, to be sacked and yet still receive a pension as well as other benefits, it looked like merely a light slap on the wrist; perhaps an encouragement to others to do likewise; for such negligence or .....(Could be be worse than just negligence?) If it is an inside job which is what is claimed by the present Defence Minister, then it must have been a planned offence. And if an engine can disappear so easily from the security area, there cannot be any security at all, can there?

Another puzzling fact mentioned was the incomplete report. Certainly, since the people who have done the wrong have been sacked, the evidence must have been collected with the verdict reached, everything is complete and all that is needed is to write the report. How long did they need to write such a report?

There are still too many questions left unanswered on this issue. The Defence Ministry and the government must be more transparent to reassure the citizens that there is nothing amiss in the handling of this matter.

The truth must be told or one day it will be exposed by other quarters.











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