Sick to the stomach? What are you doing about corruption?

 

Corruption makes you sick to the stomach, doesn’t it?

So, you can imagine how sick I felt when I came across this research paper published in the Asia-Pacific Journal on Public Administration and Policy. It was published by one David Seth Jones in July 2022 on the perceived degree of corruption in Malaysia, examining how our consecutive governments have dealt with the problem.

He says that corruption remains rampant in Malaysia because of the ineffective implementation of anti-corruption measures. The culture of money politics based on cronyism between political operators and business leaders have left our grandiose anti-corruption slogans ineffective.

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This, together with political interference to frustrate enforcement, especially against prominent personalities, and the clearly limited impact of such preventive measures, have made Malaysia’s fight against graft impotent.

The research concludes that with our political and business culture, and the style of governance practised, the ‘political will’ to battle largescale corruption in Malaysia does not exist.

Are we surprised or shocked by this?

Malaysia seems to be the corruption capital for the region, if not the world. Just look at the scandals ranging from the 1MDB fiasco to the latest LCS debacle.

I am not an academic or researcher to vouch for the veracity of David Seth Jones’s research. But, as an ordinary Malaysian who witnesses events in the country, whilst keeping an interested eye on the political landscape, I am not really shocked or surprised by his findings.

In previous columns here I have argued that things will not get any better unless we, the citizens of Malaysia, wake up to this fact. We are in the throes of an endemic corruption crisis and bad governance, which will bring our beloved country to its knees.

Yet Malaysians are getting waylaid by unimportant side-shows.

We must stop with the race-baiting, and with taking up polarised positions. Malaysians must wise-up to the attempts at radicalising every issue by making it always about race and religion. Unscrupulous politicians are turning the governance of our nation into this polemic endeavour against race.

Locally made fictional movies, cultural events, and even insignificant comedy clubs get people so riled up, yet no one is actually bothered about corruption. Malaysia is now ranked 62 out of 180 in the latest global corruption perception index, when just a few years ago, in 2019, we were ranked 51.

While the country is sliding down, Malaysians are more concerned with smokescreens and mirrors that deflect from our real problems.

How have we collectively reached this stage of ineptness? Can we quell the slide, and put a halt to widespread corruption in the public services?

Perhaps, here is an example we can borrow from.

Uruguay, from once being an epicentre for corruption, now ranks 18 out of 180 countries in the latest global corruption perception index, and is the least corrupt in South America.

Malaysia and Malaysians can, and should learn from this country.

In recent decades, Uruguay has progressively improved. This country is a rare modern phenomenon, where their society has succeeded in curbing corruption. They have successfully pushed a virtuous cycle of institutional change toward better governance.

Progressive action on the part of Uruguay’s citizens and their non-deferential behaviour with the ‘elites’, when it came to public policies, were essential in transforming the country from one of the worst governed and corrupt nations, to its current position.

In 1985, civilian rule was re-established in this country, and with this came the creation of political parties that were formed from old alliances. But social and civil society groups made huge efforts to build coalitions with others who shared similar aspirations.

For instance, the urban sector which was badly hit by economic crises, started channelling their demands through a new coalition called Frente Amplio (Broad Front). This partnership of social and civil society groups became a real political option for the citizens against the traditional ‘elites’ in power.

This new coalition brought in fresh demands for fair access to public resources, accountability, and better-quality public services.

Eventually, successive Uruguayan general elections saw only those politicians who delivered on, and were credibly committed to their announced reforms, actually get elected. And, this started changing the incentives of ‘elites’ to act in certain ways, and it made it extremely difficult for cronyism to prevail.

Over time, political, administrative, and economic reforms reduced any politician’s opportunities to usurp state resources for private purposes.

The people of Uruguay have shown us the way. Ordinary citizens like you and me can influence the national landscape by changing the narrative. We are the only ones who can ensure that we have a safe, stable and fair country.

As citizens of Malaysia, we can engage, not only by voting in elections.

We must also be engaged in social and civil organisations, and get involved by direct participation and by actively joining public hearings and deliberations. Each of these expressions of collective action complement each other.

These types of complementary actions are urgently necessary to make changes in Malaysia.

So, the Uruguay example shows us that if we stick together and demand change collectively, using various modes of engagement, eventually the elites will succumb.

But, if we continue to be sycophants, and are blindly devoted to politicians, or follow an assortment of chauvinistic groups and opportunistic religious practitioners, we will remain divided.

This will surely mark our downfall.

If we want to change Malaysia, and we really should, as citizens we need to be committed to a reformist agenda. But first, we must change ourselves and start acknowledging the real problems that our country is beset by, and forget the smokescreens thrown in our direction.

So, does corruption make you also ‘sick to the stomach’ or can you ‘stomach more’? - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.