A tribute...

A tribute to Ahmad Noordin Zakaria

In his private life, Tan Sri Ahmad Noordin Zakaria was as low-key as one could be, so much so that when he passed away last week, the event went practically unnoticed.

The funeral of a truly great Malaysian hero took place with no fanfare and no remembrance by much of the nation which is really a great pity because he was an outstanding icon for all upstanding, incorruptible and dedicated civil servants.

He served as Auditor-General from 1975-1986, undoubtedly Malaysia's most famous one, and brought a new meaning to the word for a generation of Malaysians who had not heard that word before.

He did this by simply keeping an eagle eye on government expenditure and bringing to the public view many instances of excessive expenditure. But sadly, despite his disclosures, the wastage kept taking place.

He refused to be cowed by any other influence and persisted in doing his job faithfully and with dedication despite snide remarks by those in power which included the Prime Minister for part of that period Datuk Seri (now Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Ahmad Noordin also headed the commission which investigated the Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) scandal, Malaysia's first big financial scandal, when government-owned Bank Bumiputra, through its subsidiary, lost some RM2 billion by dubious lending in Hongkong in the late seventies and early eighties.

That was talk of the town for many months, especially after an auditor sent by Bank Bumiputra to investigate the case in Hongkong was murdered and his body dumped in a banana plantation.

Ahmad Noordin and his team investigated the BMF scandal in his trademark, no-favours style and the revelations implicated complicity at some levels of government causing some irritation to Mahathir when it was made public in the eighties. Mahathir was reported to have said: "You have created doubts and suspicion about them without their being able to clear themselves. It is elementary justice that people must be allowed to give their side of the story."

After he retired from public life, Ahmad Noordin was not the sort to seek publicity. But he left a legacy behind which showed that it was possible for a civil servant to do his job and do his job well.

This was what he had to say when he received the Ramon Magsaysay for government service in 1985, a year before he retired: "I have been given

this award for just doing the work for which I get paid. I did not think much about getting recognition. If the result of what I am doing in the line of duty has brought about an impact of some benefit to society, that in itself, is already reward enough for me."

If only more people did the work for which they got paid.