Corruption in Malaysia

Fighting Corruption in Malaysia SPA 501 FIGHTING CORRUPTION IN MALAYSIA A government, for protecting business only, is but a carcass, and soon falls by its own corruption and decay ~ Amos Bronson Alcott Corruption had always been a thorny issue for any government in the world. To a certain extent, the rate of corruption is considered as an indicator of how clean a particular country is. The level of corruption, or more accurately, the perceived level of corruption of a certain country is considered a deciding factor in determining a country’s good standing, as well as it’s earning, which is translated into the GDP and FDI figures. In short, corruption undermines good governance, distorts public policy, leads to misallocation of resources and hurts economic growth. (Bardhan 2003; Rose-Ackerman 2004) Before progressing further into the discussion of fighting corruption in Malaysia, it would be prudent to attempt to give a brief definition of what corruption really is. Various definitions had been given by numerous scholars on the concept of corruption. Deciding on a particular definition while rejecting the rest is not the intent of this paper. However, upon scrutinizing several concepts, it can be said that most, if not all definition of corruption agrees on 3 main ideas, namely; 1) It is an abuse of power, perpetrated by a person(s) in power 2) It is done for personal gain, in monetary or other forms 3) The effect would prove detrimental to the organization, or in a broader sense, to the country. Scholars who are writing about corruption in governments usually add a fourth criterion; “the abuse of public office, for private gain” (World
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Fighting Corruption in Malaysia SPA 501 Bank, 1997a: 12). A unifying and somewhat concise definition is perhaps given by United Nation Development Programme, UNDP; “the misuse of public power, office or authority, for private benefit through bribery, extortion, influence peddling, nepotism, fraud, speed money or

References: : Braun, Miguel & Di Tella, Rafael (2004) Inflation, Inflation Variability, and Corruption. Economics & Politics, Vol. 16 Caiden, G.E. (1981) Public maladministration and bureaucratic corruption, Hong Kong Journal of Public Administration Jon S.T. Quah (1999) Corruption in Asia Countries : Can It be Minimized ?, Public Administration Review Jon S.T. Quah (2001) Combating Corruption in Singapore: What can be learned ? Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Jon S.T. Quah (2003) Curbing corruption in Asia: A comparative study of six countries, Singapore: Eastern Universities Press Lim Hong Hai (2009) Approaching the Public Service: The Basic Issues and Conceptual Lenses New Straits Times (8th December 2011) Poison-pen letters waste resources. http://www.nst.com.my/local/general/poison-pen-letters-waste-resources1.16440 (Accessed 10th December 2011) P. Bardhan (2003) The economist’s approach to the problem of corruption. http://emlab.berkeley.edu/users/webfac/bardhan/papers/number5.pdf (Accessed 14th October 2011) Palmier, L. (1985) The control of bureaucratic corruption: Case studies in Asia, New Delhi: Allied Publishers Pope, J. (ed.) (1996). The TI Sourcebook, Berlin: TI Rose-Ackerman, Susan (2004) The Challenge of Poor Governance and Corruption. http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/Files/Filer/CC/Papers/Governance _and_Corruption_300404_(0.7MB_version).pdf (Accessed 14th October 2011) Sidek, Mohd. Haji Hassan (2010) Garis Panduan Tindakan Ke Atas Sokongan Yang Diterima Daripada Pemimpin Kerajaan, Individu Berpengaruh Atau Mana – Mana Orang Mengenai Sesuatu Urusan Kerajaan. http://www.mampu.gov.my/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=3147895ca717-4f2c-8b19-e5779ee60a77&groupId=10136 (Accessed 15th October 2011) P a g e |26 Fighting Corruption in Malaysia SPA 501 Tunku Abdul Aziz (2005) Fighting Corruption : My Mission, Konrad Adenauer Foundation United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (1999), Fighting Corruption to Improve Governance, New York Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah (2010) Garis Panduan Pelaksanaan Integrity Pact Dalam Perolehan Kerajaan. http://www.treasury.gov.my/pekeliling/spp/spp102010.pdf (Accessed 15th October 2011) World Bank (1997) World Development Report 1997. http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/openmtg/docs/Guimaraes_plenary.pdf (Accessed 14th October 2011) P a g e |27