Malaysia seeks new way of fighting corruption

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

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has suggested that government servants be transferred as one way of fighting corruption in the civil service.

This suggestion has received a mixed reaction with some approving it while others are calling for caution to be exercised as such a move will create inconvenience to those with spouses.

Still, the proposal should be given due consideration as there is no real single formula to deal effectively with graft among the civil servants.

In today's context, it is no longer possible to deal with this pressing issue by the usual method of catching the culprits in the act as prevention can play an equally important role in reducing the incidents of corruption.

It is actually better to prevent corrupt practices from taking place and that measures be introduced to provide the minimum opportunities to the government workers to commit such criminal acts.

It has been found that those employees who have been working in the same department for too long are more likely to be involved in malpractice.

The errant ones would have more than sufficient time to establish their links and once they are known to be on the take, some members of the public would no doubt resort to bribery to get things done more quickly.

For the enforcement officers, they would be able to link up with those businessmen who are prepared to pay just to be left alone to carry out their operations without having to adhere strictly to the rules.

The only way to break up such an illegal arrangement is to transfer the officers to another area where it will take them some time to establish such links in a new environment.

But it will not deter those who are bent on using corruption to supplement their income and being transferred will be a minor inconvenience as they can easily cope with the new situation.

The only way is to make the public aware that it does not pay to use bribery as a way of solving their problems with the government departments or local councils.

It may be easier to discipline the public than the civil servants who are aware that if there are no complaints against them, then neither the police nor the Anti-Corruption Agency will be able to act.