Dr. S. Ramakrishnan, December 19, 2014.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was jubilant that the government initiatives to combat graft, the efforts of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Integrity and Standard Compliance Department (ISCD) in the police force and Performance Management Delivery Unit (Pemandu) has enabled Malaysia to moved up to 50th spot among 175 countries in the CPI 2014 ranking up from 53 last year.

Does the ground reality match the enthusiasm of our prime minister? A friend of mine told me how a private company called oracle synergies is stationed within DBKL processing all licence applications. All licence applications payments for restaurants, businesses, entertainment outlets and others receive acknowledgement receipts from this company. While DBKL has their own licencing department why should this function privatised to a private company stationed within the licencing department? Isn’t it corruption, nepotism and worse still lost of valuable revenue for DBKL. Last year DBKL had to raise their assessment rates to meet the increasing expenditures thus burdening Kuala Lumpur residents.

The Malaysian embassy in Nepal, a foreign worker sending country, is collecting fees for a private company that is not physically present for Visa processing. In Katmandu Malaysian home ministry made it mandatory for medical centers that conduct health checks for workers to install software developed by Malaysian IT firm, Bestinet Sdn Bhd. These mandatory installations have increased medical inspection costs from Rs1500 to Rs4215 (RM140) per worker, making the total cost including visa at Rs11225 (RM373) as opposed to the previous cost of Rs6525 (RM216). Why should home affairs ministry appoint a private company within the embassy to collect visa processing fee?

Malaysian public perception towards corruption has remained unchanged around 77% since 2005 according to Merdeka center. The survey showed that 56% of Malaysians feel the government’s fight against corruption leaves much to be desired despite the Transparency international’s 2014 ranking improvements. Merdeka center found that 51% of Malaysians especially the younger voters felt that the annual auditor-General’s report on pilferages, wastages and overspending are not taken seriously. TI’s CPI ranking for Malaysia may have improved but the government sponsored corruption continues unabated.

DBKL and Home ministry allowing private companies to collect revenue which belongs to the government shows the systemic and systematic corruption which may not be detected by the Transparency international’s 2014 corruption perception index (CPI). These private companies cannot be collecting government revenue for themselves without the tacit support of the ministers. It’s open secret that crony companies are awarded contracts without any tender.

Land in federal territory is being quietly transferred to Umno cronies at very low prices. Corruption is more institutional in Malaysia and therefore Transparency international may not be able to detect. PKFZ, National Feedlot Centre (NFC), 1MDB, MAS, 6P just to name a few are some of the major scandals but no one is convicted yet. The costs overrun in the KLIA2 construction from 1.6 billion to 4 billion yet there are cracks, water stagnating (ponding) and uneven runways. How do we classify them? Isn’t it corruption too?

Despite the rampant institutional corruption cases, Malaysia has improved ranking in the Transparency international’s 2014 corruption perception index (CPI). While Malaysian government may have taken initiatives to combat graft but Malaysians’ perception on the government’s seriousness has not improved. The fact that MACC, PEMANDU and ISCD are under prime minister’s office shows that these agencies are not independent, accountable to prime minister and not the public, not transparent and protected under Official secret act confirms the perception that the government is not serious in combating graft.