Corruption nearly a norm in all levels of society, warns anti-graft advocate

SHAH ALAM - Allied Coordinating Committee of Islamic NGO (ACCIN) opined that corruption is now at a critical level and it almost seems like the practice is being instituted and made as a standard operating procedure (SOP) among communities in Malaysia.

Its CEO, Mohd Jamaludin Shamsudin said it was evident when the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2021 indicated that Malaysia dropped to the 62nd position out of the 180 countries compared to 2020 where the country was ranked at 57.

According to him, corruption has been deeply entrenched, especially among high-ranking individuals engaged in money politics.

“The excuse for money politics is to allow any form of corrupt practices such as abuse in the tender process or direct negotiations until the practices become a norm and is no longer the exception.

“The corrupted practices are widely spread and uncontrolled among politicians as there is no Act of law to limit the use of money politics.

“Other people tend to commit such corrupt practices after seeing the opportunity to do so and this includes civil servants, enforcement agents, corporate groups as well as ordinary people which will soon make the practice as a culture.

“Those who refuse to go against corrupt activities are deemed as rejecting the new norms,” he said.

Mohd Jamaludin said, corruption is a negative practice that is often committed by influential figures such as politicians.

He explained many of the rich leaders conceal their assets so that the public would not know the real value of their wealth.

“The uncontrolled direct negotiation tenders since the mid-80s up until now have made the distribution of government projects done without any proper tender process.

“This will result in low-quality projects with bloated prices and the contract will be obtained by the wrong individuals. This rent-seeking culture has been a dominant practise” he said.