What bribery? ask Chinese, Indian chambers

The Chinese and Indian business chambers in Malaysia cast doubt on an international survey which found that firms here lost deals because they did not pay bribes.

PETALING JAYA: Business chambers and employer organisations in Malaysia said today that they had not heard of members losing business deals due to bribery, despite an international survey suggesting otherwise.

Yesterday, Transparency International Malaysia revealed that 50% of the 101 companies surveyed in the country lost contracts or business over the past year because a competitor had paid a bribe.

But Malaysian Associated Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MAICCI) president KK Eswaran dismissed the results of the survey as not being reflective of what was happening on the ground.

“The issue of corruption is very important, but I’ve never heard of MAICCI members losing businesses due to bribery,” he told FMT when asked to comment.

“And even if they did, there are many avenues they can turn to such as the MACC (Malaysian Anti- Corruption Commission), or the court. And today we have the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010, so [handling this issue] is very simple.”

But Eswaran stressed that the results of the survey did not hold water, saying: “If what the survey says is true, then internationally our ranking would drop, right?”

He pointed out that contrary to the survey results, Malaysia’s ranking in the global Corruption Perception Index (CPI) was improving every year, and the World Bank and International Monetary Report (IMF) report showed the country’s economic growth was good.

“We also have so many investments coming into Malaysia today, for example the Iskandar development project… so if it’s true that bribery is so prevalent, then nobody would want to come here to invest,” Eswaran said.

“We are improving every year, and this is a positive sign that the prime minister under the transformation programme, and Pemandu are doing a good job,” he said.

Survey’s credibility questionable

Even the credibility of the survey was questionable, Eswaran said, citing the “limited” pool of respondents and their possible “alignment” to opposition parties out to smear the government.

“There are thousands of companies out there, and they only surveyed 101 companies.

“Furthermore, as far as I’m concerned, everyone bids for a job. So you cannot simply say you lost it because of bribery. There must be proof of corruption,” he said.

Meanwhile, Leong Hai Kim, who sits in the national council of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM), also said he did not think bribery was taking place among ACCCIM members.

“I don’t think so there are businesses losing deals because of bribery… because the moment you say that, then the MACC will act and there are already laws in place. So no one will do that,” he told FMT.

“It is not necessary at all for companies to pay bribes to survive. We can be charged in court over the issue,” he added.

But he refused to comment further on the TI-M survey itself, saying that he was not aware of the full statistics.

Similarly, Shamsuddin Bardan, the executive director of the Malaysian Employer’s Federation, said that he had not heard of any specific cases of bribery.

Good reflection

But unlike Eswaran, he said that the survey results were a good reflection of the situation in Malaysia and should be taken seriously.

“Normally they wouldn’t complain about the issue, but we know that this [bribery] is happening,” he said, citing media reports.

Shamsuddin claimed that certain areas in the economic industry were rife with graft, but he refused to pinpoint which areas for fear of jeapordising the industry.

He also said that it was not entirely up to the government to resolve this issue, adding instead that the onus was on all members of society to end graft.

“It must be everybody. Society has a duty to stop this. If we had high morale, we would not be indulging in bribery,” he said.