Societal ethics and Lamichhane logics

In his memoir, one of the former Chief Secretaries has written about moral dilemma of holding public positions. If I recall it properly, the phrase runs like this: “During panchayat days, there were ample opportunities to steal, some people were stealing. I too could have stolen without getting caught. But I did not do it. Refraining from stealing does not make one great; simply because one is not supposed to do that. To gain social recognition, one has to contribute something positive.”

The crux of the matter lies here. Nepali society is engulfed in a kind of ethical morass. By the way, the real meaning of ethics is so much close to Nepali phrase thik-bethik (right and what) that I suppose no other language has such pronunciation proximity. In a society the simple act of refunding a bribe money could be a factor for exonerating one from the crime. If convicted in the court, a simple act of admitting the crime makes one legally entitled to have a bonus – a 20 percent discount in penalty. There remains little point in talking about social ethics and morality in such a situation.