Rewind to an era before 2014. You will remember that an MP had written a letter to some parastatal organisations offering his services as a lawyer. Now, try to recall what a big scandal that was at the time. It wasn’t a crime; nor was it an illegal act. It was merely unethical behaviour. Reminisce about the number of weeks that fateful act dominated the political environment and occupied the headlines. That was one of many examples of how demanding public opinion was when it came to integrity and straight dealing.

If you want to rewind further back, you will come across the resignations following allegations of corruption and misdemeanor, from Giandev Daby and Lutchmeeparsad Badry in 1980 to Vishnu Bundhun, Kishore Deerpalsing in 1999 and Mookhesswur Choonee in 2001, going through Mahen Utchanah in 1994. In many of these cases, the protagonists were cleared of corruption. But that is not the point. The point is that, at that time, public opinion was stunned by alleged offences and unethical behaviour and the press headlines were relentless in feeding, explaining and condemning such acts.

Fast-forward to today: few acts shock us and fewer still make it to the headlines. Ethical behaviour is no longer expected of public officials. So a video of a minister having a good time thanks to the (un)gracious services offered by his communication attaché, in exchange for acquiring and keeping a very well paid job at the expense of the taxpayer, was fleetingly mentioned here and there without incriminating, let alone ruffling, the minister at all. Another minister was allegedly using the boardroom as a mini cathouse with his staff leaving the duties we are paying them for to stand in watch! It deserved a mention or two in the gossip section of a couple of publications. No shock, no demands for resignation, no nothing. Public opinion was more amused than disgusted.

The result is that the two ministers are still sitting side by side with ministers accused of showering cushy jobs on mistresses, those who engaged in the worst type of looting of public funds; next to a minister who was happily singing in a joyful party with more than 20 people when the rest of us were deprived, through laws enacted by himself, from seeing our close relatives over Christmas! No one in Government was concerned about the gravity of a minister overtly and brazenly breaking laws brought to parliament by himself! Instead, it was those who expressed their wrath at this behaviour who were chastised for ‘interfering in his private life’!

The lowering of standards is such that unethical behaviour is no longer newsworthy. As for prima facie offences and crimes, the protagonists get maximum protection until the very end. When it becomes clear that the evidence is glaring, cases are referred to the ICAC or the police to make sure no one talks about them anymore. That way, everyone is happy. The ICAC and the police do what they do best: shield the culprits from any embarrassment or lawsuits until the cases become cold.

As we got more and more accustomed to seeing our trust betrayed, the new dominant practices have warped our world views and moral compass. Our anger at the absence of moral rectitude has been replaced by apathy, disinterest and mild amusement and our standards and expectations have become very low. A hefty price we have paid without even realising it!