Zero tolerance for corruption

THERE has been a slew of corruption cases that made the news recently, which does nothing good for Malaysia’s reputation nor for instilling trust in institutions. There is also an economic cost to corruption, and the impact is felt in everyday lives of the people, both citizens and non-citizens alike.

In the corporate world and among listed companies, the most recent case involved a shipping company chief executive officer who was released from remand on Wednesday. It is safe to say that many in the country have grown cynical about corruption, given that it remains widespread, from the petty corruption involving local authorities to the headline-busting ones involving billions.

So, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has reiterated his commitment to reform as well as to root out corruption in a policy speech a week ago at the PKR party congress. This makes for good optics, but his reform agenda is largely stalled due to politics, and prominent cases of corruption beg the question of how effective earlier initiatives have been.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry on Lembaga Tabung Haji’s losses from 2017 proposed that the pilgrimage fund’s investments be placed under the Securities Commission’s (SC) oversight. The SC chairman Datuk Mohammad Faiz Azmi did agree that given the scale of the fund’s investments, there should be proper regulatory oversight.

The political will is lacking and the flesh is weak, and if the government is serious about fighting corruption, there must be zero tolerance for it.

The fear of being caught must be drilled down to those thinking of committing corrupt acts, which means that for “no further action” cases, there needs to be transparency in how they are investigated. And yes, even free F1 tickets are a no-no.