A corruption-free Malaysia

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi promised to put graft fighting amongst the top priorities of his administration. The Malaysian Institute of Integrity (IIM) was set up to coordinate the government’s efforts as part of the overall National Integrity Plan (NIP). Today, one year later, where does Malaysia stand on the road to a corruption-free society?

Datuk Dr. Sulaiman in his speech outlined the role of the institute in fighting corruption and presented the Malaysian context on the situation of graft in the country. He stressed the no giver no taker theory, emphasising the need for all sectors of society to provide the back-up and to support the framework, policies, laws and punitive measures imposed by the government.

Tan Sri Dato’ Dr. R.V. Navaratnam, in his capacity as moderator, helped facilitate a lively discussion drawing further comments and input from the audience. A recurring question amongst the audience was the set up of IIM such that it has no enforcement power, and thus is only able to make recommendations to the government. The government is not obliged to take up these recommendations.

In addition areas of concern included:

- the government’s reluctance to allow for local government elections
- the need for a free and independent media as a corruption watchdog
- Whether the government intends to make the Anti-Corruption Agency an independent entity
- Whether there is an intention by the government to reduce its involvement in the issuing of licenses, as this area is one cited as being most prone to graft practices by government authorities.

Many questions remain unanswered, but there was a general agreement that every sector of society need to work together to remove corruption from Malaysian society. According to the perception index developed by Transparency International Malaysia scored 5.0 on a scale of 10, ranking 39 amongst 146 countries. A score of 5.0 is neither good nor bad, with higher scores being the more transparent ones. Malaysia’s neighbour Singapore is amongst the top 10 best performers, with a score of 9.3 (year 2004). The National Integrity Plan aims to improve Malaysia’s score to 6.5 by the end of 2008.

If Malaysia is to move up on the index and achieve its vision 2020 and continue to attract foreign investors and drive its economic development, much remains to be done in terms of ensuring accountability and transparency for investors’ confidence.

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