The leak of 11.5 million files from the world’s biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca, is causing tremors throughout the world. Iceland’s Prime Minister has just resigned over his offshore dealings with Mossack Fonseca, a US$2 billion corruption trail leads all the way up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, footballer Lionel Messi faces accusations of tax evasion, six members of Britain’s House of Lords are accused of hoarding offshore assets, and the families of at least eight top officials of China are linked to offshore deals that allegedly involve the hiding of millions of dollars.

Among those named in the leak is Mohd Nazifuddin bin Mohd Najib, son of the Malaysian Prime Minister. It is said that he held directorships in two companies based in the British Virgin Islands, which were created in 2009 and 2012, when Najib was already Prime Minister.

Now, as expressed by Tourism Minister Nazri Aziz, there is nothing illegal with keeping money overseas. All Malaysians have the right to do so, and unless there’s proof of corruption, tax evasion, money laundering or some other crime, Nazifuddin too is entitled to this right.

Offshore banking, as one Reddit user puts it, is like keeping your piggy bank at a friend’s house because his mother doesn’t check his savings as often as yours does. That isn’t a problem, but when everyone starts keeping his savings at that friend’s house and his mother asks why all the money is there, some people are going to get into trouble.

It’s all in the intention. You don’t like to be checked upon by the government, but the money in your piggy bank could have been money you stole and you were trying to keep your secret with the help of lax laws, here represented by the friend’s mother.

The outrage over the Panama Papers is one rooted in a global zeitgeist. People are clearly agitated by the selective enforcement of laws. True, such things are usually too technical and soon dismissed by the layman, but after years of hearing stories of economic inequality and legal inequality, the small people understand that they have a bad deal, whatever the legalese surrounding the issues.

The problem is that it often feels like there are two sets of rules, one for ordinary people and one for the rich and powerful. The leak simply confirms what people have suspected all along. We are asked to trim our belts while the rich contribute less to the economy by taking advantage of tax havens like the British Virgin Islands.

Of course, Nazifuddin remains innocent until someone can prove that he indeed was attempting to break the law by having two secret offshore companies. No one deserves to be marked as a criminal before proof is presented, and Nazifuddin deserves that much respect as a human being.

However, the only way forward from the Panama Papers is a new era of transparency. Secrets are all too easily dredged up into the light in this digital age.