‘I WAS ASHAMED TO SAY I WAS FROM MALAYSIA, SO I SAID WAS I WAS INDONESIAN’: FREE-FOR-ALL CORRUPTION SO BAD & GETTING WORSE, MACC CHIEF PRETENDED HE WAS INDONESIAN TO HIDE HIS EMBARRASSMENT

MACC chief commissioner Mohd Shukri Abdull recounted today that he felt so embarrassed about Malaysia’s corruption levels when on a trip abroad in 2016 that he pretended to be an Indonesian national.

“When someone asked me in English where I was from, I was ashamed to say I was from Malaysia, so I said I was an Indonesian.

“That was our state of (corruption) at that time,” he told a forum in Putrajaya this morning.

Shukri, who has more than three decades’ experience in fighting graft, had retired in October 2016 but was appointed to helm MACC after Pakatan Harapan won the last general election.

The chief commissioner also noted how the country’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) fell from 52 percent in 2014 to 47 percent in 2017.

“It is getting worse. It is worrying indeed, Malaysia is known to the world as a ‘kleptocracy’ (due to the 1MDB scandal), not a country with integrity.

“It is shameful,” he lamented.

Shukri also said that he preferred to be honest about the state of corruption in Malaysia instead of sugar-coating the issue.

“Often when people ask if the corruption in Malaysia was improving or getting worse, the speaker (from MACC) would say it is under control.

“I don’t like to say anything that is not true, I’d rather spell it out frankly,” he added. – MKINI

Corruption getting worse in Malaysia, says anti-graft chief

CORRUPTION levels in Malaysia are getting worse, said Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief commissioner Mohd Shukri Abdull.

He said this was based on several international indicators, surveys and studies.

“People always ask what the level of corruption here is. Normally no one wants to give an accurate answer. For me, it’s worrying.

“The facts are there. Take, for example, the corruption perception index, 2014 we scored 52. We barely passed, it is a C-grade,” Shukri told a forum in Putrajaya today.

He cited various other surveys done by KPMG, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and the Global Corruption Barometer, which show how corruption is worsening.

Shukri said the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal also put the country on the global map for corruption.

“In the last year, we were known in the world as a kleptocratic nation. We were not known as a country with integrity. This is shameful.”

Even businessman and students agree that graft in Malaysia was normal and greasing palms to get things done or moving was a normal accepted practice, he said.

“In the UKM study on students’ perception of graft, 30% were willing to pay bribes if there was a need to realise an opportunity,” Shukri said. – THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT