Can You Steal RM1.9 million and be at Peace?

Every few weeks, Malaysia delivers another episode of “I Swear I Didn’t Steal That Much.”

The latest star is a 29-year-old former accounting officer, who was charged in the Balik Pulau, Penang Sessions Court with four counts of criminal breach of trust involving more than RM1.9 million. Between 2020 and 2023, she allegedly made over 200 transfers from her company’s account into her personal one - before leaving her job to sell mooncakes. 

As sum of RM1.9 million is not small. And it makes you wonder - why do people keep doing this when it’s obviously not going to end well? Especially someone who knows how accounts work. The money trail doesn’t vanish into thin air. CIMB isn’t your grandma’s cookie tin. Every transfer, every sen, gets recorded. Yet somehow, people still think they’re smarter than the system.

 

Source: https://simple.wikipedia.org

Maybe it starts small. A few thousand ringgit “borrowed” because the boss is stingy, or because the company underpays and overworks you. You justify it - “I’ve earned it.” Then you do it again. And again. By the tenth time, guilt is no longer the problem - it’s your spending limit. 

And honestly, can you blame people for thinking it’s okay? Because out there, we’ve got folks who take millions or billions - with public funds and still walk around giving speeches about integrity. The worst that happens? They switch political parties or cry on TV about being “victimised.” 

So maybe it’s not pure greed. Maybe it’s frustration. Maybe it’s watching people with titles and influence get away with daylight robbery while you’re stuck calculating credit card balances and eating instant noodles. You see injustice long enough, and at some point, you stop fearing consequences - you just want your slice of the pie. 

Greed is never satisfied. It always whispers, “Just one more.” Until one day, the whisper is drowned out by a police siren. 

And while some people have the luxury of calling corruption “allocation,” the rest of us call it what it is - a very expensive life lesson, paid in instalments of stupidity. This is not a new phenomenon. We have been through this with many of our PMs involved – the problem is there is no real enforcement or seriousness in stamping-out corruption, fraud and scams. So, if the “taikohs” can do it, why not me? The silly thing is even the opposition don’t blare about this but more on alcohol, dress code and the outward form of religiosity!  This needs a people movement, like Bersih, to stop the malaise. If not, we are on a sliding slope to another “banana” republic! 

Reference:

Can You Steal RM1.9 million and Still Sleep at Night?, Fa Abdul, https://newswav.com,
8 October 2025