'No gift policy' hard to practise, says senior MACC officer

It is difficult for the “no gift policy” to be implemented in Malaysia although it has been adopted by certain organisations, said Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy chief commissioner (Prevention) Datuk Shamshun Baharin Mohd Jamil.

"In our culture, there is no such thing as ‘no gift policy’. For example, they say ‘no gift policy’ (is implemented) but still hand out corporate gifts. That means ‘no gift policy’ cannot be implemented,” he told reporters after opening the second Malaysia Anti-Corruption Forum here today.

Instead, he said there should be “a gift policy”, providing guidelines on what kinds of gifts can be received.

"There should be a gift policy on what you can receive or the form and amount of money that can be given. That’s why there must be guidelines on political funding so that it doesn’t simply go into personal accounts,” he said.

-- BERNAMA