Corruption
Corruption and Young Generation
Event date: 02 June 2021
INPUMA (International Institute of Public Policy and Management), held their second policy talk with “Corruption and Young Generation” that is part of INPUMA Policy Talk Series: The Corruption Complex in Malaysia.
On this discussion INPUMA invited YB Tuan Mohd Shahar Abdullah, Deputy Minister of Finance II, Azura Nasron, Chairman of the Academic Liberation Movement, Danni Rais, National Alliance Youth Chairman for Negeri Sembilan, Dr.Khor Swee Kheng, Associate Member (INPUMA), and YB Tuan Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, Member of Parliament for Muar. Moderated by Danial Rahman, Director at Sunway Education Group.
The purpose of the discussion is to raise awareness among the younger generation about their great role in making Malaysia free of corruption and exposing young people to the government's efforts and initiatives in fighting corruption.
Let’s read down below what are their thought and perspective of corruption:
YB Tuan Mohd Shahar Bin Abdullah, Deputy Minister of Finance II
Corruption is a global phenomenon, no country is immune to the disease of corruption. Integrity must be cultivated, to prevent corruption in the workplace. Young people should be seen as role models in the workplace.
Azura Nasron, Chairman of the Academic Liberation Movement
We often ask why corruption still persists? According to Syed Hussein Alatas in his book The Sociology of Corruption. There are 3 reasons: First, we do not have a single moral stance to fight corruption. Second, the issue of justice. Third, do not respect dignity, and are not ashamed of the damage
How are we going to fight corruption if the government stands on a very big corruption. But if we can't talk about this openly, and we think what the government is doing is good, I think this is a big problem. When we talk about a broken system, I will talk about the election issue itself, because the election issue is the most controversial issue because there is a lot of money politics that applies to the election issue (donations, funds that we don't know the name of, etc.). It is the peak of corruption.
And what if they have entered the government, what about the law, their policy that will be brought into the government so that we not only fight the issue of corruption but the issue of power itself and we know power and corruption is something that is difficult for us to fight. So the words we often hear is "Power tends to corrupt, Absolute power corrupt absolutely".
When talking about the correlation between religion and values, she shared that “religious values that we see now are more on the perception of what people see (i.e. praying, wearing hijab, etc.) but it still hasn’t touched the inner values of people. Most religious leaders are used by the government to side with the government”.
My hope is for the students, who will return to their villages, they are the ones who will lift the problems of poverty, so my hope is for them.
Danni Rais, National Alliance Youth Chairman for Negeri Sembilan
Corruption is a disease and destroys the culture and moral values of society
Corruption also does not allow the meritocracy system to remain. Because with the bribery of their promises by leading something, those who should not be the best choice instead rise to the top ranks, while those who are suitable are not considered.
Politics and corruption like sister and brother, they go hand in hand. This is the public's perception of politics.
Even though mainstream media and social media holds an important role in reporting corruption issues, but it’s still depends on who owns the media. The protection of whistle-blowers are very important. This will provide safety for people to report corruption.
Dr.Khor Swee Kheng, Associate Member (INPUMA)
Why is there corruption: 1. human nature; 2. political economy in Malaysia.
People are always looking for advantage or benefit for themselves (human nature) is commonly used as an excuse to accept corruption.
Corruption happens in almost all countries, however those countries have these 3 crucial factors that Malaysia still does not have: 1. corruption prevention system; 2. detection of fraud, abuse, corruption; 3. system that can respond to any corruption actions.
Salary raise in the government or private sector might decrease corruption, but this is not a determining factor. This might have worked in Singapore, but not yet in Malaysia. The overall system needs to be reformed.
There is no magical solution for this issue. There needs to be a comprehensive solution to combat corruption.
YB Tuan Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, Member of Parliament for Muar
The reality is that sometimes we find a leader who is clean, competent and trustworthy, but because of the system he has to play the game, so there needs to be a thorough system overhaul.
In 2014, the Corruption perception index, there was a very good increase from 61 to 51, this is not a cultural issue, but a reform from a legislative point of view brought by one of the leaders, Tan Sri Abu Kassim, which requires asset reporting for all ministers and officials. Minister.
What other reforms can we make? Political funding act, Spending on elections need to scrutinize. Decentralize powers is equally important. "Flash fund" used by the Prime Minister needs to be under control.
These days, social media holds an important role to eradicate corruption. Media reports are critical in reporting corruption issues.