Change starts with rakyat who refuse to be bought, says Hussamuddin

SHAH ALAM - Malaysians need to change the standard by which they choose leaders, placing integrity as the main criterion rather than being swayed by money or someone's skill at winning people over.

Yayasan Sinar Untuk Malaysia (Rasuah Busters) chairman and Yayasan Warisan Ummah Ikhlas (WUIF) founder Datuk Hussamuddin Yaacub said this needs to start with the people themselves before they can demand integrity from their leaders.

He said Malaysians sometimes support any leader who gives them money, flatters them or impresses them with the way they speak, even when their words do not match their actions.

"Right now we ourselves have a lot going on and sometimes we will support whichever leader gives us money.

"Those who are good at buttering us up, whose way of speaking impresses us, but who say one thing and do another. That is why I think we need to build integrity first," he said.

He was speaking at the Interviu programme "#Malaysia100 Tahun: Masa Depan Negara Di Tangan Rakyat", hosted by Haizir Othman at Kompleks Karangkraf on Friday. The programme also featured Rasuah Busters chief executive officer Nurhayati Nordin.

Hussamuddin said the first priority in the #Malaysia100 vision is integrity, as change requires politicians and leaders who are themselves people of integrity.

"In our vision, the first priority is integrity, because to make this change, we need politicians or leaders who have integrity," he said.

He reminded Malaysians that building a nation of integrity needs to begin with the individual before expanding to the family, village, district, state and eventually the whole of Malaysia.

Once Malaysians make integrity their main standard, he said, they will choose leaders based on that value rather than other interests.

"Leaders should emerge as the best among the best. But when the people themselves are willing to take money and sacrifice their principles, that is the quality of leader we end up with," he said.

Hussamuddin also said Malaysia needs to rebuild the nation's moral values and character so society has a clear standard for judging leaders, adding that as public awareness grows, politicians will no longer be able to lie, knowing they will be rejected if they do.

He said the change needs to be driven from the ground up through a people's movement that begins with the individual, and that Malaysia's target of reaching 100 years of independence in 2057 could serve as the starting point for choosing leadership capable of steering the country towards a better future.