Part Two: Anti-corruption: you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs
By Dr Teck-Yong Eng
So, do you still think we should accept corrupt institutions and we can’t make a difference? If your answer is “yes???, think again. Consider the negative economic consequences and their impact on future generations. Collectively, the people represent the most powerful coordinated force in the fight against corruption. If history is any guide, it is the collective power of people who had fought corrupt institutions successfully, e.g., the French revolution and the English industrial revolution. In the context of newly industrialised countries, South Korea had ousted corrupt institutions via reform movements led by the people and civil societies while Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia share some similarities in terms of starting afresh with new administrations. Thus, the government’s attempt to learn from Hong Kong’s experience (re: ICAC) is quite irrelevant since the ACA is politically implicated (see previous article).
If we change our belief systems and expectations to a new paradigm that corruption should not be condoned, we will make a big stride towards reducing corruption. If we change our attitude of accepting favours and bribes in our daily interaction and business transaction, we will enhance the running of corrupted government offices. If we educate our children that bribery is dishonest, we will make a positive impact on their future.
If the government and the ACA are merely window dressing in anti-graft campaigns, the people must stand up together and form anti-graft societies to monitor public administration and services. To those who benefited from corrupt activities, it is important to realise that corrupt wealth is unsustainable, at least not within the system. At worse, corruption would also deteriorate our standards of living, including the provision of public education and health services.
Who else can the people turn to for a major coordinated force against corruption? What about our Rulers? Are they listening to the people and aware of current economic difficulties? Do they know the truth about the state of corruption in the country and our judicial system? As part of their responsibility, will they ever speak for the people and fight with the people against corrupted institutions? Or they are they merely interested in protecting their own welfare rather than national interests, such as restoring confidence in our judicial system, and questioning apparent abuse and misuse of public funds and resources? Does Malaysia need outside interference such as from the United States?
Isn’t it clear that the government is weak and lacking leadership and the opposition has so far failed to focus on governance (but mainly engulfed in personal issues)? Are politicians really serving the people and making Malaysia a better place to live? Current events and continuing corrupt administrations should motivate our Rulers to restore order and take this opportunity to highlight the economic plight of corruption.
Let’s not forget that citizens may show loyalty to their Rulers, but the strength of a monarchy system hinges on economic stability – which is largely influenced by clean, fair and transparent systems. I believe that we are close to the tipping point with food and basic commodity prices constantly rising, upward inflationary pressures, sluggish economy, poorly maintained public infrastructure and services (also due to corrupt practices), showing no sign of abatement. Again, if history is any judge, fallen monarchies were strongly linked to corrupted institutions. A recent case in point is Nepal, where corruption is institutionally ingrained and eventually led to the abolishment of the monarchy. Thus, our Rulers must act now through measurable and transparent anti-corruption initiatives, such as to ensure an independent judiciary, sanction anti-corruption civil society to monitor public services and set up an independent anti-corruption commission which is empowered to probe and question government administrations.
While the people and Rulers remain our biggest hope to defeat institutional corruption, the opposition must start doing their job and implement measurable anti-corruption policies in their governing states, and table new laws and bills in the parliament. The opposition and courts must introduce tougher laws and severe punishment for corruption as well as strengthen the incentive to inform on corrupt acts. At the same time, there must be preventive measures to foster people’s new expectations and mindset that corruption is not encouraged and not the norm. There should be substantial financial penalties for the consequences of corrupt behaviour including a financial penalty for delaying cases and losing critical documents in court cases.
The media and Internet news portals must be independent in reporting. They must raise the profile of high economic and social costs of corruption. News agencies, civil societies, the public and the opposition could work together to campaign for accurate, timely and unbiased reporting. Independent experts and not-for-profit organisations could publish transparency index of government offices and standards of administration. They could benchmark and compare similar public offices to comply with international transparency standards, such as the 1994 Agreement on Government Procurement under the World Trade Organisation.
The opposition must stay focused in achieving clean governance and in reducing corrupt practices in the administration. For example, government procurement activities are probably the most common source of corruption. Yet, there is little conviction and commitment in the implementation of open and fair competition for public tenders. Corruption in public sector procurement directly leads to a loss of investment, as money, which should have bought capital goods (e.g., hospital services), is siphoned off for other purposes. The opposition must lead by example and uphold ethical standards and civic moral values, such as implementing measurable anti-corruption strategies in its constituencies and raising the successful prosecution of corrupt practictioners.
As noted above, a massive coordinated force to reduce and change endemic corruption in governments and societies would not work without a multi-dimensional approach. Malaysians must change their attitude and our Rulers need to act for the national interest. The government would continue to be corrupt unless there is true leadership from the ruling party that would rise above personal politics and interest. Effective leadership in the government is the least painful way in eradicating institutional corruption. As things stand, it is difficult to see how corruption could become universalism (as exception rather the norms), as political structures and ethos have remained the same for decades. These structures are concerned with coordination and cooperation from various ministries and government departments. For example, a coordinated anti-graft force would be hampered without the cooperation from the Home Ministry and the Police. Examples from the past have shown that it is not insurmountable to get rid of an institutionally corrupt government – the onus is on all of us, to start doing your part in anti-corruption efforts.
Dr Teck Yong Eng is a senior lecturer at King's College, University of London., His work covers economic development and strategy issues and has appeared in business management and strategy journals. He will be writing a regular column specially for the Centre for Policy Initiatives.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr Eng has written three articles previously pertaining to the same subject of Corruption. They can be viewed at the section named Guest Columnists. – YL Chong