Be wary of gift-giving culture - Razali

People, mainly civil servants must be wary of the gift-giving culture so that it is not geared towards wastage or encourages criminal acts such as corruption, said Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Razali Ibrahim.

In fact, he said, they were asked not to accept any gifts to avoid the occurrence of corrupt practices that affect the smooth running of a nation's administrative machinery.

He said action should be taken as an initiative of the government's efforts to curb corruption through effective internal controls of the organisation as well as creating preventive action plans.

"Companies such as Petronas took the initiative not to give (or receive) gifts. The move is seen as avoiding wastage and indirectly we are able to reduce corrupt practices," he said here yesterday.

He said this to reporters after officiating the 14th Convocation of the International College of Yayasan Melaka (ICYM) at Dewan Seri Negeri, Kompleks Seri Negeri in Ayer Keroh here Saturday.

At the ceremony, 848 ICYM graduates received their scrolls each with 211 of them receiving the Malaysian Skills Certificate, three received a bachelor's degree from Universiti Utara Malaysia and the rest diplomas. -- BERNAMA