This, says the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), is why more than half of those arrested for corruption were under the age of 40, a generation that is sometimes referred to as “Gen Y”.
This was revealed by MACC deputy chief commissioner (prevention) Shamshun Baharin Mohd Jamil, who said out of 2,329 people arrested by the anti-graft agency in the last three years, 1,267 were under 40.
“It’s not due to lack of awareness among the youths, but it depends on the environment. From what we can see, the Gen Y always want the easy way.
“Which is why we have to instill the awareness from a young age, from school. This is so they will be better prepared when it comes to issues concerning corruption, once they start working,” Shamsun said.
He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a forum titled, “Supporting the MACC in fighting corruption in Malaysia”, here today.
Also present at the forum were Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) chief executive Wan Saiful Wan Jan, Transparency-International Malaysia president Akhbar Satar, and Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism’s (C4) executive director Cynthia Gabriel, among others.
Meanwhile, Shamsun said the public shouldn’t be afraid of lodging a report with the MACC if they suspect corrupt practices were taking place, as they will be protected under the law.
“If we do not get any information, it would be difficult for us to take action.”
Shamsun said that under the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010, the identity of informants will be protected.
“Maybe it is a matter of not many people knowing that the Act also protects informants from disciplinary action in their organisation,” he added.
The Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 was passed in May 2010 and came into force on Dec 15 the same year.
The act protects whistleblowers who lodge a complaint to an officer from an enforcement agency of corrupt practices in the public and private sectors.
This includes the police, the customs department, the road transport department, the immigration department and MACC.
Other agencies include institutions such as the Securities Commission, Bursa Malaysia and the Companies Commission of Malaysia.
On a separate issue, Shamsun said MACC has appealed to the government to reconsider the slashing of its budget allocation for this year and to provide more funds for it to function more effectively.
The allocation for MACC is RM216 million. Last year it was RM251 million and in 2015 it was RM294 million.
“We need extra funds so we can continue with our plans.”
The same was echoed by Akhbar, who said MACC may have the power to act against those who are corrupt, but without sufficient funds, it would be difficult for the agency to operate at the optimum level.
“That is why we suggested for the funding of MACC to be distributed by the parliament, and not the government,” he said.