Whenever I see the Most Wanted lists, I often have this thought: if we’d only made them feel wanted before, maybe they wouldn’t be wanted now. –  Comedian and singer Eddie Cantor.

A joke being sent around yesterday gave me pause.  

It showed a picture of the former leadership of Malaysia’s once-ruling United Malays National Organisation clustered around its former leader, Najib Razak.

In the photograph, they are convulsed with mirth not least because Najib, his head thrown back, is laughing, presumably all the way to the bank. 

And a caption above reads: “Iswaran took what?? Football tickets?”

To the average Malaysian, the joke is painfully self-evident. On Wednesday, Singapore’s ex-Transport Minister S Iswaran was charged with 27 counts of bribery and corruption involving more than S$384,000 (RM1.34 million). It included over S$160,000 (RM560,000) in event (football, the theatre) and flight tickets from, billionaire Ong Beng Seng.

The alleged transgressions pale beside Najib’s epic theft from 1MDB, a sovereign wealth fund he set up when he was premier. The exact quantum of the loot isn’t clear, but the sums were heroic and in the billions. In contrast, it made Mr Eswaran’s alleged wrongdoing almost pointless, even vaguely Winnie-the-Pooh’ish. 

That was the joke, but it could be on us. Such was the scale of the 1MDB plunder that it’s inspired books and even a 2023 Netflix documentary – Man on the Run – gripping enough to scream Malaysia’s name on to the world stage. 

By cracking down on its powerful, even for misdemeanors, Singapore sends out a compelling message about its values. Would that we might do the same. 

Not even close. There are those who are currently agitating – or secretly hoping – for the First Felon’s early release. 

Jibby has so far served 17 months of his 12-year sentence for corruption, and he faces more charges in three separate criminal trials. Even so, he has seemingly had enough and, through his lawyers, has indicated he wants out through a royal pardon. 

And, no kidding, it’s being taken with all the gravitas of a Lord Denning argument.   

When it comes right down to it, it could boil down to education. Najib’s co-conspirator in the 1MDB saga is the Man on The Run himself, Low Teck Jho, a corpulent crook who’s now on Interpol’s list of wanted fugitives. 

Nevertheless, he is a very rich fugitive. Add to that, educated: the substantial swindler was reportedly an alumnus of the Wharton School of Business, one of the most prestigious business schools in the world: its finance programme is widely considered the gold standard internationally. 

It must have been, for the paunchy pilferer hit on the idea for a sovereign wealth fund to steal from. We will never know but perhaps he was inspired by Dr Mahathir who, when he was premier, often exhorted his countrymen to “Think Big”. 

Jho Low went one step further. He Thought Galactic enough to grace the screens of Interpol and end up as a plausibly deniable guest of the virulently anti-corrupt Communist Party of China. 

It all goes to show the truth of what Theodore Roosevelt observed over a century ago: “A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.” 

ENDS