Malaysia dropped its CPI ranking from 43 in 2007 to 47 in 2008 out of the 179 and 180 countries surveyed in the two years. This drop in position is a blow to efforts in curbing corruption by the Malaysian government. Other Asian nations like Hong Kong moved up two ranks from 14 to 12, South Korea from 43 to 40 and Bhutan moved up one rank from 46 to 45.
More importantly, Malaysia’s score on the CPI has remained at 5.1 from last year which signifies there has been no change on the perceived level of corruption in the country based on the index.
Globally the top scores of the CPI were dominated by Denmark (9.3), New Zealand (9.3) and Sweden (9.3). Singapore also retained its 4th place ranking from last year with a CPI score of 9.2
The Malaysian government has taken measures to fight corruption with the establishment of the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) (1967), Anti-Corruption Academy (2005) and Anti-Corruption Commission (by the end of 2008). According to official ACA statistics there were a total of 590 arrests made on corruption cases in 2007 from January to December while a total of 453 arrests were made up between January to August 2008. This includes high ranking officials as well. However, the results of the CPI indicate that the Government needs to show greater commitment and responsibility to combat corruption effectively in the country.
The National integrity plan (NIP) and the Integrity Institute of Malaysia (IIM) was launched in 2004. IIM is responsible for the implementation of the plan and organizes seminars and workshops for the public and business to get involved in anti-corruption work.
]The government also recognizes that red tape obstructs doing business and serves as an opportunity to for corruption. Therefore, there has been changes in application time for personal documents such as passports and driver’s licences.
Other measures include the setting up of PEMUDAH, a special task force to facilitate business. PEMUDAH is a public-private sector initiative that aims to simplify business operations in Malaysia by improving government services.
Issued by
Tan Sri (Dr) Ramon V. Navaratnam
President
Transparency International Malaysia
