Controlling Greed - The brake pedal to corruption

INTEGRITY simply means being honest and doing the right thing even in the absence of anyone else. Some of us might appear to be honest because we do not have the opportunity to do something wrong. There are others who try to maintain honesty for a fear of losing fame or being reprimanded socially or legally. And there are some, who strive to remain honest for the fear of punishment or for a dream to be rewarded in the life hereafter.

Yet, there are others who do not care about integrity - simply because corruption brings “fortunes” for them. To them “benefits” of being corrupt outweigh the harms for themselves.

We know stories of parents stealing food for their starving children, or people relying on an illegal source of income for their survival or to treat their ailing loved ones. At the same time, we know stories of billion dollar corruption by those who are not in need of any necessities or luxury - they are simply kleptomaniacs.

A lack of integrity is often measured with the corruption index of an organisation or a nation. At its core, the corruption index of an organisation reflects the lack of integrity at an individual level. Hence, the issue of integrity is often addressed by preparing and training an individual to remain honest, by blocking any possible loopholes that otherwise would allow one to do wrong things, and by incorporating legal dictum and policy to punish anyone who is proven to be guilty of a lack of integrity.

All in all, integrity is a major issue in every sector of life both in public and private sectors - be it in business, academia, and administration.

For ages, the measures to curb corruption did not eliminate it. Perhaps, that history of the predicament of not being able to eliminate corruption throughout human civilization forced us not to dream of “zero” corruption while we have goals for zero hunger, zero poverty, and even zero carbon emission as the 2030 UN sustainable development goals! Nevertheless, we want to instil integrity in each of us to eliminate corruption.

Perhaps the starting point of addressing the goal of eliminating corruption lies in the answers to the question of why one loses integrity. A former President and CEO of Institut Integriti Malaysia (IIM) and former Director General of the Department of Integrity and National Governance (JITN), Datuk Dr. Anis Yusal Yosoff answered that question in a simple one word - greed. To Datuk Anis, greed makes one lose their integrity.

Albeit, wanting to have more than one need or wanting to live beyond one’s means can make one greedy - eventually losing their integrity or becoming corrupt. When greed is the cause of losing integrity - then controlling one’s greed would control corruption.

Looking candidly, we shall find ourselves in the competition of making wealth in this modern world. We have built a society where economic prosperity has become synonymous to success in life. We measure success in our life using the scale of wealth. As if the purpose of life has become synonymous to economic prosperity.

One may argue that economic prosperity is important to serve mankind and humanity and necessary to come out from the predicament of poverty, malnutrition, and illiteracy. But in reality economic prosperity has failed to reduce those burdens.

According to an Oxfam report published in 2023, the richest one percent had nearly two-thirds of all new wealth created since 2020. The amount is equal to almost twice as much money as the bottom 99 percent of the world’s population. That accumulation of wealth by handful is not helping the rest.

One may ponder and relate the purpose of declaring an annual list of the richest people in the world. What good does it bring to the rest of humanity?

With such stories, we educate ourselves and the next generations with the success stories of how fast one became a millionaire in their lives. Knowingly or unknowingly we infuse our hearts with the desire to earn or accumulate wealth.

Like it or not, the fact is, that not many in the world have become wealthy through a purely honest effort. At the same time, the reality is not everyone has the ability to become wealthy in an honest way. Nevertheless, the ingrained desire to become wealthy left some with no choice but to resort to one or another kind of corruption and remain relevant in the competitive world of wealth.

That raises the inevitable question - how to control our greed to become wealthy beyond our means and necessity that otherwise would provoke a corrupted part in our soul.

Going back to Datuk Anis's view on greed as the root cause of losing integrity, there is a need to address how we can control our greed. Perhaps, we shall not be able to control greed unless we stop competing for wealth or measuring success in the scale of wealth. We need to deeply realise that the purpose and success of life are immeasurable using the scale of wealth. In addition, there is a need for us to realise the inevitability of the end of life in death when the wealth we earn will be left behind.

On one hand, we are trained and programmed to acquire and accumulate wealth, on the other hand, we remain oblivious to the inevitability of ending our life in death and leaving the world empty handed. Again, many of those who believe on Judgement day tend to ignore the magnificent reward in the life hereafter for those who despite their struggle strive for a righteous honest life.

Whether anyone believes on the Judgement day - the realisation of the purpose of life and the inevitability of the end of life in death is important to control our greed. That in turn will minimize corruption if not bring that down to zero.