FIKIR KRITIS category
Malaysia slips a bit in Corruption Perception Index
by Maria J. Dass
PETALING JAYA (Sept 23, 2008) : The people's perception on the state of corruption has not changed despite concerted efforts by the government to beef up the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) and put in place mechanisms to combat corruption.
Malaysia’s corruption perception score for 2008 remains at 5.1 -- the same as last year -- and its ranking down from 43 out of 179 countries in 2007 to 47 out of 180 countries in 2008.
Although Malaysia is placed second among the Asean countries, its world ranking is way below Singapore's, which stands at No. 4.
Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden rank the highest in the world -- with identical scores of 9.3 of a possible 10 -- and the lowest is Somalia, with a score of only one.
Transparency International (TI) Malaysia president Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam said today that when it comes to corruption perception, Malaysia "just has its head above the water".
"If we start sliding below five, then it is the start of the slippery slope leading down where we need to avoid," he said.
"Among the contributing factors to this perception index is the failed link between poverty and the misallocation of resources, unfair distribution, and the exploitation of the poor by the rich."
He said that while efforts and measures to fight corruption have been put in place, there must be strong will power to implement them by the leaders elected by the people, but if these leaders themselves are corrupt, then it make it all the more difficult.
Admitting that perception is something that will take time to alter, Navaratnam said Malaysia’s CPI reflects this, having moved form 5.1 in 2005 to 5.0 in 2006, and then back to 5.1 in 2007 and this year.
"This shows that all that the government has done has not made any impact on the perception. People don’t believe the changes are real or meaningful because they do not see the difference," he said.
Tan Sri Ramon NavaratnamNavaratnam said the perception will have an impact on business and foreign direct investments as people will shy away from doing business in a country where their cost goes up because they have to fork out money to get things moving.
"If the government is not moving then the people must act," he said.
"Leaders who do not fight corruption should be replaced because the country cannot carry on like this. Other countries have move forward while we seem to be heading for the slippery slope.
"The government will have to walk the talk if the people tell them 'if you don’t sack the people who are corrupt, we will sack you'."
Navaratnam said Asean countries need to do more to address corruption, too, because most of them have fared poorly in ranking and score.
Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin Khas, a TI executive council member and committee member of the Umno disciplinary committee, said addressing money politics in the party is an uphill battle.
He said among the measures being discussed to curb this are putting in mechanisms for transparency in the funding process, enacting laws. ande public funding for political parties.
Malaysia slips a bit in Corruption Perception Index
by Maria J. Dass
PETALING JAYA (Sept 23, 2008) : The people's perception on the state of corruption has not changed despite concerted efforts by the government to beef up the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) and put in place mechanisms to combat corruption.
Malaysia’s corruption perception score for 2008 remains at 5.1 -- the same as last year -- and its ranking down from 43 out of 179 countries in 2007 to 47 out of 180 countries in 2008.
Although Malaysia is placed second among the Asean countries, its world ranking is way below Singapore's, which stands at No. 4.
Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden rank the highest in the world -- with identical scores of 9.3 of a possible 10 -- and the lowest is Somalia, with a score of only one.
Transparency International (TI) Malaysia president Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam said today that when it comes to corruption perception, Malaysia "just has its head above the water".
"If we start sliding below five, then it is the start of the slippery slope leading down where we need to avoid," he said.
"Among the contributing factors to this perception index is the failed link between poverty and the misallocation of resources, unfair distribution, and the exploitation of the poor by the rich."
He said that while efforts and measures to fight corruption have been put in place, there must be strong will power to implement them by the leaders elected by the people, but if these leaders themselves are corrupt, then it make it all the more difficult.
Admitting that perception is something that will take time to alter, Navaratnam said Malaysia’s CPI reflects this, having moved form 5.1 in 2005 to 5.0 in 2006, and then back to 5.1 in 2007 and this year.
"This shows that all that the government has done has not made any impact on the perception. People don’t believe the changes are real or meaningful because they do not see the difference," he said.
Tan Sri Ramon NavaratnamNavaratnam said the perception will have an impact on business and foreign direct investments as people will shy away from doing business in a country where their cost goes up because they have to fork out money to get things moving.
"If the government is not moving then the people must act," he said.
"Leaders who do not fight corruption should be replaced because the country cannot carry on like this. Other countries have move forward while we seem to be heading for the slippery slope.
"The government will have to walk the talk if the people tell them 'if you don’t sack the people who are corrupt, we will sack you'."
Navaratnam said Asean countries need to do more to address corruption, too, because most of them have fared poorly in ranking and score.
Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin Khas, a TI executive council member and committee member of the Umno disciplinary committee, said addressing money politics in the party is an uphill battle.
He said among the measures being discussed to curb this are putting in mechanisms for transparency in the funding process, enacting laws. ande public funding for political parties.
Category : FIKIR KRITIS
No comments:
Post a Comment