Mokhtar Stork
INTRODUCTION
Chief Seattle (also known as Sealth), a leader of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes in what is now Washington State is attributed as saying, that ‘spitting on the earth, is spitting on yourself, you belong to the earth, the earth does not belong to you.’
Every generation on this earth has witness unavoidable change. With each transformation, we have not only developed technologically as well as scientifically, but we have enhanced our capacity to kill and to destroy beyond our imagination.
This is understood as modernization. It is an entrepreneurship that is declining in morals and righteousness, producing only decadence, greed, selfishness, self-enrichment, corruption, deceit and destruction. This dominance of the world by the elite and powerful has no boundaries. Humans do not belong to the equation. Instead, humans at the lowest level are reduced to that of being mere numbers or even as animals in the equation.
This trend reflects our indifference to justice; to bring about credible responsible governments, who are interested in serving their nations rather than to figure out ways to remain in office and to enrich themselves at the expense of the people.
MANIPULATION OF SOCIETY THROUGH DECEPTION
In many African countries, the trend is to remain in office forever. It is one of pure self-enrichment. It is usually, the military that takes over, and then consolidates its position without any real change. African countries are rich in natural resources but we never see the wealth returning to the people. In Sudan, for decades the wealth of the nation has been in the hands of the military leadership. No civil government has been able to really govern because the military, like in Myanmar refuse to give up power. You could say that Pakistan is no different in many ways.
The question that arises here is: Why has America or the Western World not established principles of good governance and the enforcement of these principles to benefit mankind? Instead, the world is faced with illegal migrants, starvation, killings, slavery etc. Why do we allow this immoral state to prevail? The rational answer would be because no one really gives a dam: of course, leaders of the world do say something but there is no will to carry it out, and as a result of this moral decadence, we are witnessing the earth being destroy, just to satisfy man’s need to dominate the world as if he owns it.
WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR CONSCIENCE?
What happened to our conscience or at least our ability to recognise right from wrong, good from bad and work towards change? Most throughout the world, are indifferent to what’s going on. They live and let die, so long as they can manage to survive. Most wait until things reach a point as in Bangladesh and Nepal or recently in Indonesia. Why has there been no emphasis by the leadership of the world to make things clear and establish guidelines or institute actions that check such misconduct? [I find it revolting, when I see filthy rich locals and foreigners gorging food, while the majority are poor. What's even worse, is that many of these people literally such the blood out of the poor in really poor countries to enrich themselves! Many rob their nation's wealth and put it abroad. They get away with it while an ordinary person must declare he has a foreign account to Inland Revenue!]
Corruption and Self-Enrichment is prominent in Africa and in Malaysia. To some extent, we are witnessing improvements, but these improvements cannot materialise if the Global Western Leadership puts it foot down to enforce justice. The question that arises here is: Is the West, notably America. A credible enforcer of ‘real justice’ and not ‘self-interest justice’?
NATIONAL DEBT
In simple terms and language, every nation on earth is in debt! There is no end to borrowing to either make ends meet or to promote growth. Frankly speaking, there is no end to this. Why? Because every government needs to keep its people happy to remain in office. So whenever, elections approach, we observe a whole sting of goodies being dished out. What does it come from if you do not have the money? It means, just more borrowing!
BBC live coverage related to the pre-Budget speech given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, pointed out the Priority on Debt Reduction: Chancellor Reeves explicitly stated that one of her three main priorities for the upcoming Budget is "cutting the national debt" (alongside cutting NHS waiting lists and the cost of living). The Cost of Servicing Debt highlighted the high cost of servicing the current national debt, noting that £1 in every £10 of taxpayer money is now spent on paying the interest on government debts. This figure underscores the immense financial pressure on public services.
The US National Debt (which is also quoted in trillions) is around $38 Trillion USD. Malaysian national debt is also in Trillions but in Ringgit, its ok? You must be joking… any Debt is debt to Creditors. Of course, there are many forms of Debt and these can be viewed in different ways. It reminds of business before COVID. Every businessman worldwide had plans based on projections, then COVID came along and many went bust! So, it not really credible to function on projections too much. The GDP-Ratio sounds good but the debt still exists. So far, Singapore, is probably the only country that has managed itself well globally.
NATIONAL ROBBERY
Every nation on earth is now surviving by borrowing from creditors. How long do you think this approach will last? I can understand that reform is needed but it corrections are not enforced over misuse of funds, mismanagement, corruption, and special benefits to the elite worldwide, there is no way to be a Debt Free Country!
Corruption and Embezzlement: High-profile corruption scandals (such as the 1MDB scandal) have directly resulted in the loss of billions of Ringgit, forcing the government to assume the debt or incur massive losses that significantly contribute to the national debt and liabilities. Mismanagement of Public Funds: Funds have been frequently diverted or wasted on non-cost-effective projects or those with inflated costs due to lack of transparency, a phenomenon often associated with political connections and the "revolving door" between the private and public sectors. Narrow Revenue Base: Malaysia's historic reliance on oil and gas revenue, combined with tax collection issues, contributes to a persistent structural deficit that forces borrowing even for necessary public spending. Conclusion for Malaysia: While structural deficits exist, the debt accumulation has been severely and directly exacerbated by major corruption events and the mismanagement of funds tied to state-backed ventures and infrastructure projects. [Reference: Gemini A.I.]
THE ROLE OF GLOBAL LEADERSHIP
The Global Leadership, notably America, because it has the power, needs to introduce a code of conduct, whose main concern is the existence of clean governments. If Trump can apply Tariffs, why can’t he relate them to good governance?
The latest election results in America indicate nothing because, whether it is the Democrats or the Republicans, someone else runs America from behind a screen. I am not speaking about Virginia Democrat Governor, Abigail Spanberger's economic issues, public safety, and health care that enabled her to win but the need for Moral Leadership Globally, which neither of the political parties are capable at the moment due to Israel. Being the first Democrat Muslim Mayor means really nothing in the big picture. What we need is Moral Global Leadership and Enforcement. Citizens of the world cannot allow themselves to be robbed of their right to live decently and fairly. Every past person in office needs to be held accountable over wealth he/she has acquired, when it is obvious that even his or her children could never earn such wealth honestly. [Mokhtar Stork 5 Nov 2025]
