OUR policemen wear “Saya Anti Rasuah” badges, millions have been spent on the national integrity institute and state governments and govt departments sign anti-corruption pledges.
Yes, we do love a show in Malaysia. We love to bury ourselves in symbolic gestures and high sounding pronouncements but in reality, we don’t have the desire to tackle corruption.
Today, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that all departments under the Home Ministry must sign an anti-corruption pledge.
“The Home Ministry is very sensitive to this as we deal directly with the public. The Royal Malaysian Police, for instance, which are at the front line in maintaining security, are surely exposed to the solicitation or offering of bribes.
“Corruption occurs in the public and private sectors when wanting to speed up a process, avoid penalties or heavy fines, or have something approved.
“If we want our country to be truly developed, rejecting and combating corruption must be made a culture among public servants,” the deputy prime minister said at the ministry’s monthly assembly in Putrajaya today.
So what now? Are cops and immigration officials suddenly going to turn into angels overnight just because some suit put pen to paper?
Will the “duit kopi” disappear instantly? Just like that, after the pledge is signed?
The reality is this is just another stunt in a campaign from a long line of expensive campaigns over the years to get rid of graft.
Last March, the Malacca government signed an anti-corruption pledge. And two months later, a former special officer to the Malacca city mayor was charged with 15 counts of corruption.
Did the pledge work then? Is this why the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) wants the Penang government to sign the pledge too? Because it will surely work?
Eliminating graft goes beyond just signing pledges. It also goes beyond integrity courses or any other ideas that require public shows and a mandatorily-taken photograph to record the moment for posterity.
Malaysia has already dropped by one point and one position in the Corruption Perception Index 2016 done by global anti-graft watchdog Transparency International (TI).
What it needs now goes beyond just signed pledges and prominent badges. It needs action, political will and commitment to get rid of the corrupt and the corruptor – no matter how high or low these people are in society. – July 25, 2017.