In the film The Godfather, Don Corleone cautions his hot-headed son Sonny against violence, pointing out there are gentler ways: “A lawyer with his briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns.”   

There’s a moral in there somewhere, surely. 

For Marlon Brando, it was a line in yet another movie. But  for an Ex-PM and his substantial sidekick Fatboy, it may have been A Life Lesson to Live By.

Certainly, it’s one school of thought. Now compare and contrast our responses to malfeasance to those of the Japanese of whom the phrase “to a fault” must surely have been invented. 

Plot’s like this. Principal of junior high school in Japan needs pick-up. Been that kind of day. Enters self-service deli, pays for regular coffee, but presses button for “large” cup.   

He’s spotted. Flagrante delicto as it were. Such drama! Caught in Takasago,  seven-hours from Tokyo. Self- righteous, if you know what I mean. No sense of humour. Or mercy. It’s four days before Christmas.  

Rough justice is understating things. By February, he’s done and dusted, dismissed from work, his teaching licence revoked. No kidding – it’s what the  Asahi Shimbun reported. 

He’s also lost his retirement pay, about RM525,000. Nothing to sneeze at in a country with low inflation.

You have to feel for Ex-PRIN. He’s remorseful too, which is more than can be said of EX-PM: he’d  thought the truth was such a rare and precious commodity it had to be doled out sparingly.  

But I digress. Let’s go back to the ex-principal. At an interview, the 59-year old said he had acted impulsively and was “truly sorry.”

Ex-PRIN also admitted he’d done it 4 times before. In total, he’d underpaid Y$490. That’s not quite enough to bankrupt said deli: it’s  around RM15.56.

Did the punishment fit the crime? Even ordinary Japanese wondered. 

Dismissal is the most severe punishment for a public servant there. That’s followed by suspension from work, a pay cut and, least of all, a reprimand. EX-PM had thought a reprimand was fair in his case. He would have even settled for a pay cut but there was just no satisfying some people. 

But in Japan Ex-PRIN had been a repeat  offender. His dismissal, therefore, was deemed “appropriate.” 

Now what would the Japanese have thought of  Ex-PM having his 12 year sentence – for stealing over RM42 million from public coffers – cut in half?

And what would they have thought of senior Malaysian lawyer Zaid Ibrahim’s comment that RM42 million was “small change,” implying, presumably, that EX-PM had been hard done by?

He must think he was because he’s not leaping about with joy as well he might: a rubber tapper was recently sentenced to seven years for stealing RM77. 

Again, the Japanese might have asked: Would said tapper have the same chance of being pardoned on the not unreasonable grounds of, say, extreme poverty?  

OK, maybe not. It was the Malaysian Way: Justice is open to everyone in the same way as the St Regis.

For perspective, here are some facts for the Japanese to ponder. It’s about  1Malaysia Development Bhd, the state fund allegedly looted by EX-PM et al.  The amount stolen from it is estimated at US$4.5 billion while its total debt had reached US$7.8 billion at last count. That’s  RM48.4 billion at current exchange rate levels and rising as we speak. 

It’s certainly not “small change”. 

ENDS