Students learn myths, realities of corruption

(Seated from left) Thavarajah, Zaharom, Zakri and Nungsari speaking about bribery and corruption at the event. — ONG SOON HIN/The Star

UNDERGRADUATES at Universiti Malaya (UM) heard from industry professionals on real-world corruption issues.

The panel consisted of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission former director of investigations Datuk C. Thavarajah, Khazanah Research Institute chairman Dr Nungsari Ahmad Radhi, Allianz Centre for Governance director Zaharom Nain and Allianz Malaysia Berhad chairman Zakri Khir.

Speaking to students from the Faculty of Business and Econo­mics, the panellists spoke about a variety of bribery cases.

“Corruption is not always con­ducted in plain sight.

“It can be as vague as a dinner invita­tion, disguised as a treat,” said Thava­rajah.

He recounted an instance where he was invited to a dinner while he was investigating a corruption case.

Unbeknown to him, one of the dinner guests was someone Thavarajah was investigating.

“It was not good for an anti-corruption investigator to be seen having a free meal with someone under active inves­tigation.

“It was a very uncomfortable dinner for me.

“You must know why you are invited and who will be in attendance. That is a crucial lesson I learnt,” he said.

Students from UM’s Faculty of Business and Economics and invited guests listening attentively to the anti-corruption sharing session.

On another occasion, Thava­rajah’s son had unknow­ingly accepted a bribe in the form of a gift hamper from an individual who was under pending investi­gation.

“I instructed my son to return the hamper to the sender, who then thought I was unhappy with the gift and wanted an even bigger one!” he said.

“Not only do you have to fight against corruption, even your family needs to be aware about accepting inappropriate gifts.”

Last year, Allianz Malaysia set up the Allianz Centre for Gover­nance (ACG) on the UM campus to advance research on gover­nance and business integrity.

ACG serves to advocate for good industrial governance and to discourage unethical practices.

Zaharom cautioned that bribery was gradually integrating itself in the daily lives of Malaysians, adding that anti-corruption practices was in the hands of Malaysian youths to stop the spread.

“As the new generation for the nation’s future, you have the choice to prevent untrustworth­iness by advocating for an honourable environment.”

Zaharom urged the audience to stop idolising dishonest people regardless of their success.

“Their success may seem alluring but hidden behind their accomplishments is the mass abuse of power.”