Is this our nation's future: CLIMBING CORRUPTION, SLIDING ACADEMIC STANDARDS?

To Malaysia, 2012 should have been a year of accelerated transformation. Everything seems to have been on the track but unfortunately, several year-end international rankings seem to have exposed the "king's new clothes."

In the 2012 corporate bribery survey, Malaysia is right at the bottom. 50% of respondents contacted by Transparency International have replied affirmatively when asked whether they have lost contracts due to bribes offered by their rivals during the past one year, attesting to the fact that commercial bribery is indeed serious in this country.

According to Global Financial Integrity's latest report, some RM196.8bn of black money made its way out of Malaysia in 2010 alone, the second highest in the world. During the past decade (2000-2010), a whopping RM871bn flowed out of the country through illegal means, equivalent to a loss of RM33,000 for each of the country's 27 million inhabitants.

Getting more corrupt and less intelligent too!

In addition, survey by Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) also shows that Malaysia slides the most in mathematics and science performances among 59 countries polled..

It is not true to say that the government's Economic Transformation Programme has resulted in more foreign investments, as Q3 manufacturing investments plummeted 26.1% to RM6.2 billion, against a sharp increase to about US$20 billion for our neighbour Indonesia.

International rankings aside, we also fumbled in a number of domestic issues. While the transport ministry has reiterated that legal issues pertaining to the AES system are non-existent, Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail lately declared that all prosecution procedures against AES violators would be temporarily halted.

In another development, the MCMC recently awarded eight 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) permits, with companies having no telecommunication experiences clinching the lion's share.

Don't let the rot infect 2013

Rampant corruption, sliding academic standards, stagnant administrative and executive capabilities, lack of transparency in the award of contracts, etc. are all old issues. The ETP is not half as great as the government has wanted us to believe, and irregularities are still very much alive.

Without checking on corruption, the country's valuable resources will be squandered. Without substantial effort to improve the calibre of Malaysians, there is no way we can achieve our vision.

If such things are allowed to roll into 2013, we won't expect ourselves to see any significant breakthrough in the new year.

We are not lacking talented people or ambitious plans. We are severely in want of political wisdom.

Leaders with political wisdom would place national and community interests above their own.

Because they bother about their positions, we have seen our national debts climbing and undeserved money handed out generously.

Because they fear losing their power, administrative agencies have been spared from the rod despite deteriorating efficiency.

-Sin Chew Daily