‘We are still a corrupt lot’

Malaysia ranked 54th out of 176 countries in the Transparency International Corruptions Perception Index, with a score of 49 out of 100.

UPDATED

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia received a Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of 49 out of 100 for 2012, placing it at 54th place among 176 countries assessed by non-governmental organisation Transparency International (TI).

Although the country has improved from last year, where it received a score of 43 out of 100 (0 being most corrupt, 100 being corruption-free), and was ranked 60th out of 183 countries, TI Malaysia president Paul Low described this year’s results as “just average”.

“There is improvement, and that is expected. All the efforts taken by the government, the MACC [Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission], Pemandu have borne fruit.

“But as much as we improve, the issue is whether we can make that substantial jump beyond 50. We remain middling, with an average score,” Low said at a press conference.

According to TI-M, the results for Malaysia were taken from eight different surveys and country assessments by various independent institutions. They were carried out among expert observers such as business people and country analysts, including local experts.

In a separate survey, they also found that 50% of the respondents had lost business in Malaysia due to bribery – the highest percentage among the 30 countries surveyed.

Low said that it was wrong to dismiss the results as being unimportant, as people’s decision to invest in Malaysia – and hence spur economic growth – was based on their perception of the corruption here.

“No matter what you say about perception, whether they perceive it right or wrong, it doesn’t matter.

“Because ultimately, these people, what they perceive, rightly or wrongly, this is how they are going to decide whether they want to invest in our country or not,” said Low.

He said that multinational companies looking to invest in foreign countries were now growing increasingly concerned with government integrity and the issue of corruption.

“Because these multinationals which are investing in any country are subject to [that country’s] laws and some of the laws have extraterritorial jurisdiction.

“So if a country is perceived as highly corrupt, what they are saying is ‘well, it’s quite dangerous for me to put investment in that country’,” said Low.

As proof, he noted that countries with a higher index, such as Denmark, Switzerland, Singapore and Australia all had higher standards of living.

“So for Malaysia, if we want to move up the higher income scale – we can talk about productivity, technology, so many other things – [but] if we don’t have trusted institutions, if we don’t uphold law, if we don’t eliminate corruption, [then it will be useless].”

Malaysia moving in right direction

But Low praised Malaysia for acknowledging the results of the CPI and implementing it into its National Key Results Area (NKRA).

“Malaysia is probably the only country in the world – and this is very brave of them – to use the CPI as its NKRA. No other country in the world has used CPI.

“And it’s good because the government itself cannot control the CPI,” he added.

Low said, in contrast, some countries were not even interested to talk about the results of the CPI as they were afraid further discussion would worsen their index.

“In the case of Malaysia, in the last few years, especially the last three, four years, we have become much more open in discussing issues like this.”

He also lauded the Malaysian government’s efforts in, among others, introducing the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010, establishing 14 corruption courts, publishing more than 1,000 names of corruption offenders on MACC’s website, and publishing more than 5,200 government contracts online.

However, he remained critical of the government’s actions and said more could be done to truly eradicate corruption.

Ways to stop graft

TI-M suggested seven steps to eliminate processes that support corruption:

1. Reforms in the political arena to reduce monetisation of politics and eliminate opportunities for states to be corrupt.

2. Continue to strengthen law enforcement institutions especially the MACC, judiciary and police. Their complete independence must be established to secure the public’s trust.

3. Uphold the rule of law without fear or favour so that abusers especially “big fish” do not have impunity from prosecution.

4. Overhaul the Official Secrets Act (OSA) and introduce a federal Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.

5. Firm and consistent actions in upholding transparency and accountability in public procurement.

6. Tackle systemic corruption by focusing on specific sectors through the involvement of all stakeholders. For example, a coalition involving CIDB, contractors, professional bodies and other regulators in the construction industry could be established to drive the initiative to reduce corruption.

7. Further improve whistleblower legislation to provide wider protection to whistle blowers and encourage more whistle blowing.

It is believed that these steps will help reduce corruption in Malaysia by a respectable margin and help improve its rank in the CPI.

To add to this list, the ex-president for TI-M, Ramon Navaratnam suggested that “a declaration of assets and liabilities should be requested from all politicians before and after the elections to compare and prove there is no corruption involved”.

Commenting on this, Low said it was a fair suggestion but added: “Stop politicising corruption, make it more liberal”.

Corruption at a global level

Malaysia still trails behind neighbouring country Singapore, which scored 87 out of 100 and is ranked fifth out of 176 countries.

Overall, New Zealand proved to be the most steady in its stand for anti-corruption by staying at the number one spot but this time, sharing it with Denmark and Finland.

Low also said: “Indonesia was the country which improved the most to reduce corruption.”

Myanmar left the bottom four and Sudan joined Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia at the end of the ranks this year.