Corruption has seeped into every level of society. The general opinion is that it is now strongly rooted in the nation’s culture. The majority of Malaysians think corruption in government is worsening and will rise in the coming years based on a recent survey by Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M).
The survey found that over 71% of Malaysians feel corruption is going to be a big problem. And out of all public institutions, Parliament, police and government officials ranked the highest in perception of corruption, with 36%, 30% and 28%, respectively. And 39% of those surveyed expect the rate of corruption to rise.
The negative perception towards politicians and government could be linked to greed for wealth and power, corruption scandals involving political figures, and the recent media reports on some high and low-ranking government servants roped in by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for working in collusion with unscrupulous elements in society to rake in illicit money.
Indisputably, international perception of corruption in the country is damaging Malaysia’s reputation and global competitiveness. It has impeded local and foreign direct investments and flows to the stock market, and this will ultimately lead to sluggish economic growth.
It was found that fraud or economic crime in the country is up. A proactive step was taken to prevent bribery and corruption in commercial organisations when the MACC Act was amended in 2018 to introduce corporate liability for corruption offences. The bidding process for projects in the extraction and construction industries is known to be an area of duplicitous activity.
Political will, good leadership
To rebuild the country’s image there is no choice but for the MACC to go all-out, without fear or favour, to clean the country of corruption irrespective of the social standing of those involved. Politicians should not intervene in the role of this agency, as any form of political intervention will certainly demoralise those entrusted to stamp out corruption.
The success story of a neighbouring country in fighting corruption is due to an effective corruption regulatory framework with its four key pillars of laws, adjudication, enforcement and public administration, buttressed by political will and good leadership. The country’s resources are put to optimal use and it has long been perceived as one of the lowest in the world as far as corruption is concerned and this has drawn investors into the country, resulting in its flourishing economy.
In many countries, this culture of corruption can be due to weak democracy, the lack of political transparency, and civil responsibility. Market and political monopolisation, greed, and the infinite desire of the corrupt to live an expensive lifestyle have also contributed to this.
Corruption unquestionably is going to erode the trust people have in the public sector to act in their best interest. It is going to waste taxes that have been allocated for important development projects. The country’s resources are going to be wasted. The society then has to be prepared to put up with poor quality service.
When government projects, in some cases, are given out without open tenders or through illegitimate or through monopolistic or oligopolistic means, this could lead to “kickbacks”, euphemistically termed as “political donations” – an unjustified recompense following favourable dealings. This concession or favour in corrupt activity is blatant misuse or abuse of public funds.
This immoral practice shows the inefficient allocation of resources and this is going to affect the nation in terms of economic productivity and growth. It will affect the equitable distribution of resources and escalate income inequalities among races and ultimately less money will be spent on social welfare programmes. With leakages due to corrupt practice, public services such as education and healthcare are going to be shoddier, further affecting the living standards of the general population.
Spirit of loyalty
When there are elements of bribery in procuring business projects it is going to incur hidden prices and inflated costs, with partnerships chosen for the sake of convenience rather than quality. This will indirectly affect business set-ups, product quality, investments and employment.
Corruption is going to create a shadow economy where certain economic activities will occur “below the radar”. There will be economic activities that are undeclared and for which taxes that should be paid are not. And those in the formal economy will be taxed at a higher rate to compensate for the loss to the shadow economy.
The government cannot be sitting on its laurels expecting this aberrant practice to wane in due course. This is not going to happen. Hence, there has to be no tolerance to corruption.
The country needs realistic ways and there must be strict laws and political will to overcome this plague until the society in general has learned to say no to corruption. The offenders must be rebuked swiftly and a fast-track special court has to set up solely to handle those charged with corrupt practices.
Not to dampen the spirit of loyalty to the nation, the MACC and the courts must be allowed to do their job independently without any political intervention. It’s time MACC be made an independent body answerable to the Parliament.
Moaz Nair is an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.