Corruption's crippling effect

V.K. Chin, The Star/Asia News Network, Selangor, Malaysia

The business community and the public seem to adopt a "holier than thou" attitude when it comes to corruption. They believe that it is a disease confined to the public sector while it is less of a problem in the business world.

This of course is not the true picture but the public and the media seem to concentrate more on malpractice among civil servants than those in the private sector.

This public interest in a corrupt-free civil service is understandable since bribery can seriously undermine the efficient running of any administration and affect the smooth delivery of services to the public.

Civil servants can become so addicted to receiving corrupt money for every service they perform that the public may lose confidence and trust in the government machinery.

The civil servants have become the targets of unscrupulous businessmen and members of the public who may mistakenly believe that giving bribes is the only way to get things done quickly.

However, such an illegal practice would come to an abrupt end if there should be no givers. After all, it takes two hands to clap.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was therefore spot on when he advised businessmen to stop giving bribes and to conduct their dealings with honesty and transparency.

Members of the public have often complained of corrupt civil servants and how they would like the government to take action against the culprits.

They can quite easily put a stop to this unsavory habit by just refusing to be a party to it. If they do not offer bribes then they would be no corruption.

But this is easier said than done because some dishonest civil servants have come to accept the money as part of the service, even though it is their duty to serve the public.

The public, however, is not prepared to risk the ire of the official who may delay processing or approving their applications for licenses or other permits they need for personal or business purposes.

Those who tender for large government projects are prepared naturally to pay a sizeable amount of under the counter money to get the job.

At the same time, the successful bidders are also ready to pay those in charge of quality control of the projects to look the other way during their inspections.

It is good that the Anti-Corruption Agency is investigating projects that have developed defects or not functioning properly as to whether there is any evidence of corruption.

As the government has to buy billions of ringgit's worth of goods and supplies from the private sector annually, the temptation is strong for the vendors to pay special incentives to secure such lucrative contracts.

As for corruption in the private sector, it may be even more rampant than in the civil servants. The only difference is that it is known as kickbacks rather than malpractice.

Since it involves two consenting parties, those involved naturally do not wish to have their dealings known by others. Allegations will only be made should one party do not keep its part of the bargain.