Former MACC adviser Ramon Navaratnam said there needed to be a system that would ensure strict confidentiality of reports, and Transparency International (TI) Malaysia president Muhammad Mohan called for earnestness in amending the Whistleblower Protection Act.
MACC recently said only 0.01% of the 1.6 million civil servants in Malaysia were brave enough to report corrupt practices in their departments.
The Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) said concerns over personal safety and job security were among the reasons for this.
Navaratnam said something must be wrong with the way reports of corruption were being handled if people were not confident of being protected.
He told FMT he believed the fear of being exposed was also present among businessmen and members of the public.
“There must be absolute confidence in the secrecy and integrity of the system,” he said. “I’m afraid MACC has not built up that reputation sufficiently.”
Muhammad told FMT that TI Malaysia long ago submitted recommendations to Putrajaya’s Legal Affairs Division for amendments to the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 .
“But there seems to have been no progress for the last 10 months,” he said.
He said the amendments would improve the protection of whistleblowers and should encourage more people to report corrupt practices in the public sector.
He noted that according to the 2020 Global Corruption Barometer survey, 71% of Malaysians surveyed thought of corruption in the government as a big problem.
Navaratnam said MACC should work with Cuepacs to come up with a foolproof system of handling corruption reports, saying this would build confidence in civil servants.
“If they can’t blow the whistle, then the system does not work,” he said. “So it’s incumbent on the MACC to talk to Cuepacs.”
But he also said the fight against corruption should not be left to MACC and the civil service alone.
“It has to be a comprehensive, dynamic and concerted effort backed by a strong political will to stamp out corruption. Otherwise, we’ll continue in the same old ways or get even worse.”