Malaysia: Get serious about graft
Malaysia: Get serious about graft
Sin Chew Daily, Asia News Network, Selangor, Malaysia
Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi revealed lately
that Anti-Corruption Agency's statistics showed that 1,342
Malaysians had been apprehended for alleged involvement in
corruption cases between 1998 and end of last year. Among those
arrested, half of them were civil servants.
Although many Malaysians have grown accustomed to the rampant
corruption, bribery and malpractice, the Deputy Prime Minister's
remarks continued to give us a shock.
Corruption exists everywhere in this world, and pretty
frequently too. No matter how developed a country is or how
powerful a politician can be, they can still have something to do
with the chronic corruption problem.
Corruption is everywhere, even in countries with well
developed administrative systems such as Britain and the United
States. A powerful politician like French President Jacques
Chirac has also come under probe for alleged corruption when he
was a mayor of Paris.
Corruption among public servants is an old problem inherited
since the last century, and will continue to be so in the 21st
century. If we are not going to do something drastic about it,
the problem is set to deteriorate further to become a malignant
tumor which will imperil the whole society and nation.
Statistics released by the Anti-Corruption Agency may just be
a tip of the iceberg as many corrupt officials have so luckily
escaped the round-up operations.
Corruption is generally an outcome of the following two
conditions.
Firstly, personal attributes such as a person's behavioral
conducts, will-power and lifestyle. If a person is greedy, his
will-power weak, and has a passion for extravagant life, he is
more likely to accept bribes from others.
Next we have the environmental problems. If the society is
corrupt and everyone worships materialism, people will tend to go
all out for material gains or job promotions. If most people in
the public or private organizations abhor corruption, abide by
the laws and perform their jobs dutifully, the incidence of
corruption will definitely be reduced.
The government has offered numerous perks and benefits for
public servants, including low-interest housing loans, car loans,
incentives, overtime allowances, medical expenses, etc. But why
are they still so corrupt?
Some say the government should perhaps emulate the "carrot and
stick" approach of Singapore to effectively reduce corruption.
Singapore has done quite well because not only do her civil
servants enjoy attractive pays, they will also have to pay a very
heavy price if they try to be corrupt.
In Malaysia, although the government has offered attractive
benefits for public servants, it is nevertheless unable to wipe
out corruption mainly because we do not have strict anti-
corruption legislation.