nepotism

Nepotism. We have always come across this term and not everyone understands what it actually means. Let’s get the dictionary’s definition of what the word means.

a

“The giving of special favor to one’s relatives, especially good jobs, because one is in a powerful position”

From the definition given, that seems kind of like what every family should do. Always give preference to one’s close family members first as a priority. Is that perception entirely wrong? Isn’t that what every typical Chinese family will do? To enrich its future generation. I believe the other races also should have this perception deep inside their culture. If that is not the case, then we can argue that it boils down entirely to human nature itself, if one is in a position of power, why not use that power to create a better life for one’s family members, relatives and close friends? I believe everyone in majority, irregardless of race thinks that way. So what is actually wrong with nepotism, one may ask.

In Malaysia, just ask a layman on the street what he thinks of his elected representative in Parliament. More likely you will hear him say that the elected representative is going to get rich beyond his wildest dreams. Actually you cannot blame him from saying so when in majority, most of the elected representatives are really getting rich beyond their wildest dreams. Most of the aspiring politicians have one aim to gain power; when you are in power, lots of opportunities open up miraculously. This perception is open to debate of course, but for the time being let’s put it that way. Now you are in power and able to make lots of money. What do you do next? Common sense speaking, time to share the “wealth”. Who do you share them with? A stranger on the street or your close family members? I believe the answer should be quite apparent. The question right now is where should we draw the line on nepotism rather than eliminate it entirely which is quite impossible to begin with.

If one is a self-made millionaire with a huge organization, then nepotism should not be criticized here. Of course, that person would like his management board comprise of trusted members and who can you trust if not your own family members. You can’t say he is not doing the right thing just because he didn’t choose the best person to do the job because every consequence to his business, he has to bear himself including losses and even bankruptcy. That is his prerogative. No problem with nepotism here. However, what if the person is holding a public office in a government? By virtue of his position, he will be able to grant government projects to his family members. Something is definitely not right here, because in this case, it is not his own skin that he is putting at risk here but rather the skin of the entire nation! Taxpayers’ money is being channeled to your own relatives. No way could this be right in any way you look at it. As stated earlier, it is basic human nature to enrich its own kind so how do we go about this?

To kill off nepotism in public office there are only two ways one can think of. The first one is to have an honorable elected government leader that is not corrupted. Let’s move on to the second option since this is not just near impossible but chances to find such leader are virtually zero, because power corrupts. The second option will be to put into place a machinery within the government that can keep in check for any nepotism to occur. This is called check and balance. To have an effective check and balance system, there is only one way to achieve the objective that is to ensure the check and balance system is free from any influence by the ruling government. This is because if the ruling government has influence on this system, then the credibility of such system will be highly questionable. Therefore, to implement a perfect check and balance system a committee should be formed to helm it. The committee must have the following characteristics:

1) Comprise of politicians from the ruling government and opposition.
2) Comprise of intellectuals that have no affiliations with any political parties.
3) Politicians within the committee must be free from any party WHIP order.
4) All government tenders must be presented to this committee and the debates are conducted in public eye.
5) All members of this committee must declare their assets periodically.

It is wishful thinking to eliminate nepotism entirely, but with proper system in place, this problem can be mitigated to an acceptable level.