Nipping Corruption in the Bud

The people feel these concerns, which are henceforth known as the National Key Result Areas (NKRAs), urgently needed to be addressed if Malaysia is to achieve a developed nation status by 2020 as envisaged under Vision 2020. Another NKRA to address the increasing cost of living was later added to this list in July 2011.

The government had to come up with the plans and solutions to address the six ‘ills’, monitor their implementation, and assess their progress. Thus over a period of six weeks from Oct 5 to Nov 13, 2009, some 240 government and private sector officers from various ministries, government agencies and industries conducted intense brainstorming sessions in 6 laboratories – one for each NKRA – to work out the details and develop the implementation framework for the respective NKRAs.

The Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers and top leaders of the civil service spent significant amounts of time with these labs to monitor progress and challenge the participants to set higher targets and faster delivery times. On January 1, 2010, the MACC was appointed as the secretariat for the NKRA against corruption. A new division – the NKRA Corruption Monitoring and Coordination Division was established with Dato’ Hisham Nordin as its Director. The NKRA Division acts as the secretariat that monitors and coordinate the implementation of all initiatives outlined in the GTP.

In the Fighting Corruption NKRA Lab, Dato’ Hisham together with 40 senior government officers from various ministries and agencies together with their counterparts from the private sector came out with 45 strategies that would reduce graft in the country. They then presented their research findings and implementation plan and mechanism to the top management of the relevant ministries and agencies involved in fighting corruption to get their feedback, support and commitment in implementing these initiatives.

These recommendations were later displayed for public viewing during the three GTP Open Days held separately in Petaling Jaya, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. These Open Days served to obtain public inputs and feedbacks regarding the government’s planning and implementation under the GTP. Based on these feedbacks, plans were further fined-tuned and then published in the GTP Roadmap on January 28, 2010.

The NKRA Corruption Monitoring and Coordination Division found that the three most corruption prone areas are in the regulatory and enforcement agencies, government procurement and grand corruption (politics). Therefore top priority is given to regaining public confidence in regulatory and enforcement agencies, reducing leakages in government procurement and tackling grand corruption. The division identified nine initiatives or big wins to be achieved by 2012. These initiatives are to establish the:

1) Convicted Corruption Offender Database (previously known as Name and Shame Database) 2) Special Corruption Courts 3) Whistle Blower Protection Act 4) Integrity Pact 5) MyProcurement Portal 6) Parameter of Support Letter 7) Hot Job Rotation Policy 8) Compliance Units 9) Reward and Recognition Policy

Through these initiatives the government aspires to nip corruption at the grass root level by reducing corruption through enforcement and compliance, enhance transparency to improve the CPI score and improve public perception on the integrity of the government and civil service.

By the end of 2012, these initiatives have produced the following results:

Regulatory and Enforcement Agencies • Details of 1,172 corruption offenders were published in the MACC’s Convicted Corruption Offender Database • The 14 special corruption courts have processed over 404 cases and completed 258 cases in 2012. • 75% of corruption trials were completed within a year. • Under the Hot Job Rotation Policy, enforcement agency officers located in ‘hot spot’ locations for longer than three years are flagged for relocation. • Compliance Units established in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Royal Malaysian Police Force (PDRM), Royal Malaysian Customs, the Road Transport Department (JPJ) and the Immigration Department. • Enforcement Agencies are increasingly turning to automation to minimise human contact and opportunities for corruption. • Automated Enforcement System (AES) for traffic laws. 14 AES cameras have been installed at various accident-prone areas in the Klang Valley and Perak. • Reward and Recognition Policy for enforcement officers who reports on corruption. • Launch of the anti-corruption mascot Agent Lang, tied in with pre-existing MACC hotline 1800 88 6000 for all corruption complaints • The establishment of an Integrity League Table, which will allow the public to view comparative performance of local authorities. • In the November 2012 TNS perception survey the Regulatory and Enforcement

Agencies were rated 2.94. This rating was based on a score of 1 to 5, with 5 being extremely corrupt and 1 being least corrupt.

Government Procurement • A list of 6,688 tenders for government contracts and the successful bidders have been posted on the MyProcurement Portal for public viewing. • 142,628 Integrity Pacts between the government and its vendors or suppliers have been signed. • 154 companies have signed the Corporate Integrity Pledge (CIP). By signing the CIP, these companies is making a unilateral declaration that they fight corruption and uphold the Anti-Corruption Principles for Corporations in Malaysia in the conduct of their businesses.

Grand Corruption • Malaysia’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ranking rose six spots from 60 in 2011 to 54 for 2012. • The Whistleblower Protection Act has led to an increase in the number of corruption complaints received by the MACC. The identity of 96 individuals were protected under the Act.

• Announcement of political funding reforms to make the political fund management transparent. • Tabling for the Creation of the Central Asset Management Corporation to manage, maintain and preserve the value of confiscated assets • Issuance of Public Service Reform Booklet to promote awareness on and adherence to the correct system, process and procedures in government departments and agencies. • The Government has issued a Circular on Online Public Engagement on New laws/ Change of laws, requiring government departments and agencies to seek public opinion before proposing amendments to existing laws or introducing new bills. • Parameter of Support Letters – these were often used to coerce civil servants to ignore government policies and processes in awarding government contracts/tenders. Instructions have been issued to civil servants not to make decisions based on the support letters but based on the merits of the case.

The fight against corruption does not only involve making governments and corporations more effective and transparent, it also entails making people more honest and raising their anticorruption consciousness to a new level.

In this respect, the Fighting Corruption NKRA has successfully carried an anticorruption awareness and education programme. With the assistance of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Anti-Corruption Secretariats have been established in 20 public universities and 27 teacher training institutions nationwide. Additionally, elements of anti-corruption and noble values have been incorporated in the secondary school syllabus. Meanwhile, the MACC and the Malaysian Institute of Integrity (IIM) will be conducting seminars on integrity, procurement, and on auditing requirements for members of parliament.These seminars are meant to provide the MPs with an overview of the dos and don’ts for politicians.

Undoubtedly, some of the GTP 1.0 initiatives will be enhanced while new ones will be included in the GTP 2.0.