Malaysia: just say "no" to corruption

According to a telephone poll of the usual 1000-ish size, 98% of those Malaysian polled said that those involved in corruption should not be accepted into public office.

Malaysia has recently reformatted its anti-corruption system under the direct authority of the Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, who made it plain from his arrival in office that he would not tolerate the widespread corruption that characterised the Mahathir years.

Although there have been allegations of cronyism and even corruption levelled at Abdullah, none have stuck - and it is suspected that the moves to oust him as Prime Minister have been orchestrated by those whose gravy train was derailled.

The new Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission has made a number of arrests - but it is also learning lessons from Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) which has high-street offices, tip-lines and other easy ways to make contact with suspicions.

However, perception of corruption remains high because of how it directly touches the individuals. Many government services do not work, or do not work properly or promptly without a payment to someone in the supply chain. Employees have jobs not gained on merit and are often unable to properly perform their tasks leading to obvious questions as to how they secured those posts. Council officials hound business owners, often en masse, and hover i the business premises until a payment is made. Others turn a blind eye to organised criminal gangs providing roadside "jockey services" - extorting money from motorists to park in free public spaces - in return for a share of the profits. Permits for premises for businesses are held back for many months but miraculously appear when a payment is made. It can take months for permission to transfer a home title, a period which is readily expedited by those who know how. Police laugh and joke with pimps in the street but do not move them on, leading to obvious questions as to why that would be. The price of a driver being allowed to go free having been identified at the roadside as driving under the influence of alcohol can be as little as MYR50 - or the phone number if the driver is a pretty girl.

These are the reasons that Malaysians see corruption as a serious problem. Abdullah has done a superb job at senior government level, but much remains to be done. But action also needs to be taken to address the problems facing ordinary Malaysians as they go about their business.

And yet, on another level, there are many at all points in the sectors mentioned above who are striving to improve services, and to do so in an honest and fair way. It is an established principle in marketing that a happy customer tells two people whilst an unhappy customer tells eight. And so the word about the good work being done does not penetrate as far as the word about the bad. And, of course, those that are aggrieved are right to be so, and to complain.

The MACC will provide them with the opportunity to do so quickly and easily. Things should improve within a relatively short timescale. After all, Hong Kong was worse - and that's cleaned up its act to the point where corruption is now seen as a close second to drugs trafficking as the evil most people want to eradicate.