Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Paul Low, who is in charge of the implementation of transparency and integrity, had said during a recent interview with Sin Chew Daily that the government was planning to draw up regulations to curb the “revolving door” phenomenon in the country.
His re-mention of “revolving door” reminds me of something in the past.
On Sept 23, 2009, Low, who was then president of Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M), unveiled the Global Corruption Report 2009: Corruption and Private Sector, highlighting the complicated interpersonal relations involved in the PKFZ project in Port Klang.
He described the phenomenon that entailed politics, public services and the private sector as a “revolving door”.
His report instantly sparked furious controversies. He subsequently announced his resignation on Oct 5, and was sued by the PKFZ contractors.
However, he was later re-elected TI-M president during an emergency general meeting due to the absence of other candidates, and eventually managed to have the defamation suit against him struck off.
After the 2013 general election (GE13), Low was appointed a minister when Prime Minister Najib Razak announced his new cabinet line-up. He insisted that he did not represent the Malaysian Chinese community in the government but he worked for the interest of the whole country.
Eight years on, Low made mention again of the “revolving door” which is still very much in existence since he first highlighted the phenomenon eight years ago, and pledged to do all he could to block another revolving door.
He proposed that the government draw up regulations to prevent senior civil servants who are involved in decision-making and the awarding of government contracts, from subsequently taking up senior positions in relevant companies after their retirement.
It is indeed inappropriate for a senior government official to move over to the private sector immediately after retirement, as no one can guarantee that the senior official has not already channeled some benefits to a particular company where he could then go and “reap the fruits of his labour” upon retirement.
It is also inappropriate for a civil servant to profit from the government’s confidential information, or maximise his own gains through the vast interpersonal relations he has built up while serving in the public sector.
Such regulations to enforce a post-retirement cooling off period have been in place in many countries, and should be implemented here in Malaysia as well.
That said, moving from a government department to the private sector does not constitute the only form of revolving door, as we still have public-private collusion and the so-called “unspoken rules” in government institutions.
For instance, the unspoken rules in the police force are themselves eye-popping.
The New Straits Times reported that seven senior police officers in Melaka were sheltering gambling dens and illegal massage parlours, and after the investigation was initiated by the MACC, a message suspected to have been authored by a police officer began to spread in the police force’s WhatsApp community, complaining of “unspoken rules” within the police force whereby police officers had no choice but to make some outside income as they spent several thousand ringgit extra every month to sponsor events and entertain visiting senior police officers.
Deputy Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also home minister, subsequently instructed Bukit Aman’s Integrity and Standard Compliance Department (JIPS) to work with the Special Branch to probe the allegation.
Soon after, an 18-point integrity instruction began to circulate within Bukit Aman’s Gambling/Vice/Secret Societies Branch (D7) that includes the rules that sponsorship is strictly prohibited in the police force and that large-scale welcome ceremonies for visiting CID chiefs and other senior Bukit Aman officers should be avoided.
Be it Low’s revolving door or the police’s unspoken rules, corruption exists in more ways than one when it has become a habit or a way of life in our society.
Low highlighted eight years ago that the fight against corruption had been unsuccessful because those commissioned or given the powers to fight corruption had not been able to effectively carry out their duties probably because of instructions from someone higher-up, or just due to inefficiency or the lack of independent operations on the part of enforcement authorities.
Disappointingly, the efforts to combat corruption over the years have produced little effect. For example, the Political Donation and Expenditure Act (PDEA) has yet to be tabled in Parliament.
No doubt, corruption has wreaked tremendous damage on society. The corruption factor could have a place in the existence of omnipresent illegal slot machines in the country, for instance.
More often than not the authorities have opted to downplay the severity of this whole issue. While the annual National Transformation Programme Report 2016 indicated that the KPI for fighting corruption was only 79%, it fell short of elaborating on why this was the case.
From revolving doors to unspoken rules, there are many examples of public sector corruption. Plugging one or two graft channels will not make much difference. What this country needs is a thorough systemic reform.
Lim Sue Goan is deputy executive chief editor of Sin Chew Daily.
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