Stop lying, keep our system clean
I Sthere 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.