Times Of Swaziland: STOP LYING, KEEP OUR SYSTEM CLEAN

STOP LYING, KEEP OUR SYSTEM CLEAN
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Editor on 05/04/2024 09:58:00


Is there a Lucifer lurking in our midst that His Majesty the King wants us to
expose and banish from our society?
My mind got jogging when the King preached about lies and deceit in one of the
services over the Easter weekend. His sermon was one of two speeches by leaders
that piqued my interest over the long weekend. The other was a video clip of a
speech by Lee Hsien Loong, the Prime Minister (PM) of Singapore and a member of
the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), with the theme ‘keep our system
clean’.
Character
It was shared to me by someone I respect for walking the talk and who, despite
being viewed as a ‘misfit’ by some, exemplifies the kind of character our
nation sorely needs in its political leaders. The PM of Singapore’s speech
dates back to 2015, but it remains pertinent even now, especially in a society
that longs to learn about the path to economic prosperity. It syncs well with
one of my key take homes from the Easter sermons, where the King expressed worry
about lying and noted how the peddlers of lies had very sweet tongues.
He warned that just as God had banished Lucifer from heaven for deceiving other
angels into thinking he merited worship equal to God, those who spread
falsehoods about others would likewise face the consequences. The King
emphasised the importance of rooting out dishonest people and preventing them
from deceiving others. Those who make a livelihood by spreading false
information about the country should not be exempt either, he said. A society
free from deceit is what he seeks and so do many of us.
It is reassuring that the King can see through the deceit of the liars and their
sweet tongues and hopefully they will stop pulling wool over his and everybody
else’s eyes. With so much going on in the country’s politics, truth needs to
become the currency of engagement.
Decision-makers
Trustworthy and honest people are needed in every part of our society, but
especially among our political leaders. They have a say in the course the
country takes and provide advice to the decision-makers. There are far-reaching
effects of making decisions based on false information.
One nation that has really done something about the corruption and dishonesty in
its public service is Singapore. It is the guiding principle of the reigning
party. In the speech I referred to earlier, the PM of Singapore, Hsien Loong,
lays out the political and social makeup of his country.
He says; “Don’t say I didn’t go to jail, so it’s okay. Keep our system
clean. How must our politics be if we are going to do that? First of all, we
have to be honest. The politics have to be honest; the people have to be clean
and honest also. If you’re not honest, you’re not clean, if you have a black
mark, whether people know it or not, please stay out of politics.
We need honest politicians and we also need voters who can tell the difference
between people who are honest and people who are not. And I was very surprised
yesterday that here on this spot to hear Dr Chee Soon Juan say reputation is
temporary, but character is permanent. I agree. I think Dr Chee has every reason
to know that character is permanent, it doesn’t change.”
The PM goes on to say; “We cannot have corruption in Singapore. We cannot have
wrongdoing in government, we cannot have wrongdoing in high places in Singapore.
That’s why we have the CPIB (Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau) reporting
to me as prime minister and if I don’t give approval to the CPIB to
investigate somebody, the CPIB can go to the president and ask the president for
approval and if the president says yes, the CPIB can proceed against the
PM.That’s why we have the auditor general’s office to keep the government
straight, to keep the statutory bodies straight, and once in a while to find out
whether the town councils are straight or not straight.” The PM said these
were the standards of the PAP and also have to be standards of the opposition
party.
Uphold
“You may be running the government, a ministry, you can be in a statutory
board, you can be in a town council, it doesn’t matter. Whatever level you
are, uphold high standards,” he said. A number of friends and acquaintances
later shared the same speech with enthusiastic ‘thumbs up’ messages,
demonstrating the need for such discourse and action in Eswatini. Transparency
International’s 2023 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranks Singapore as the
fifth least corrupt nation out of 180 total countries. A dismal 130th spot
belongs to Eswatini. If we want this to change, we have to start by following
His Majesty’s advice and put an end to the lies.
Let’s quit deceiving ourselves and start living honestly. Let’s quit fooling
future generations into thinking we are creating a better world when we’re
busy lining our pockets with corruption and greed. Our national development
goals will remain pipe dreams unless the truth takes precedence above all.