Gauging the extent of corruption - The Sun
Cindy Tham
PETALING
JAYA: (March 5, 2007) Just how bad is the extent of corruption in the public and
private sectors -- in the eyes of people in Malaysia? What needs to be done to
stem the problem?
These
are some of the questions Transparency International -- Malaysia (TI-M) set out
to answer when it commissioned a local survey late last year.
The
findings of the Malaysian Transparency Perception Survey Report will be
announced in Kuala Lumpur today.
The
findings may reinforce what many have feared. "The perception is corruption is
serious and worsening, and not enough is being done by the government to combat
corruption," TI-M president Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam said.
The
respondents were also asked to rank the level of perceived corruption among
government departments and industries, he said.
The
non-governmental organisation (NGO) is the Malaysian chapter of anti-corruption
organisation Transparency International, based in Berlin, Germany, which comes
up with an annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).
"We find
that worldwide, there are some governments, people and countries who have
questioned the validity of the CPI," Navaratnam said.
"It's a
composite of other indices, and not their own survey. Because it is not done by
people in the country but by outsiders, we are not quite sure how they do
it."
Navaratnam also noted that the
number of surveys used to assess a country's performance differed according to
the availability of data.
Last
year's CPI took into account nine surveys for Malaysia's ranking but fewer for
some other countries.
The CPI
is a composite index, using data from surveys on business people and country
analysts to rank countries by their perceived level of
corruption.
Malaysia's ranking slid to 44th out
of 163 countries last year, from 39th out of 158 countries in 2005. Its score
dipped to 5.0 in 2006 from 5.1 in 2005.
Local
officials had questioned the credibility of the ranking, especially when
Malaysia's position fell. A local survey might put paid to such
doubts.
"TI-M is
not against the CPI, but it is supporting it. Our report is to complement and
supplement it," Navaratnam said.
The
survey was conducted by the Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research, which has
carried out polls on social issues, politics and the economy.
Navaratnam
said while the CPI showed how Malaysia stacked up against other countries, the
local survey focused on Malaysia.
"Let's
see what our own people think, not just what the world thinks. Our own people
are more likely to be more honest, have stronger interest to tell the truth,
based on their own standards," he said.
"It is
also to get the government and business sectors to be aware of what people think
of them and to take more initiatives to sow a stronger will and take more
measures to combat corruption, because we feel worsening corruption is
undermining good governance, economic growth and income distribution," he
said.
The
announcement of the local survey cannot be more timely, given the current buzz
over corruption allegations involving Anti-Corruption Agency Director-General
Datuk Seri Zulkipli Mat Noor and a deputy minister.
