Scourge of Corruption

By W Gaban

Keeping the government clean is a basic fundamental practice that guarantees a nation's health,
welfare and prosperity. Government must set the standards for citizens behaviour. Without a clean
government people will continue to live in fear. Fear ultimately leads to social problems.

A society grip with corruption lives in fear because of the anticipation that in order to get something
you have to bribe someone or use money for favour. For a low income family such anticipation
causes stress and anxiety. Such “pay for favour” lifestyle is tedious causing our human psyche to
trigger a mechanism in the brain for ways to find an easier way to achieve a task.

Finding an easier way or a better solution is a human trait that is uniquely more profound in
humans. There is nothing sinister or wrong about finding a better way to get a head. In fact, society
encourages it! It is a healthy mark of ingenuity and intelligence. However, it is also subject to
abuse.

Abuse causes fear:

People are seekers of love and fulfilment. We continually seek inspiration and meaning in our lives.
We are all special with unique likes and dislikes. The old adage, “different strokes for different
folks” aptly describe how best to gain the person's favour. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder'
also describes how we interpret beauty. The point is we are all different. Some are more aggressive
and prone to anger, some may have a bully mentality, some are timid, some are smarter than others
and some just wants to live a simply life. Such vast range in human personality and characteristic
often times lead to an abusive behaviour.

When abuse exist, fear occurs! Where there is too much fear there is also burden. While living
should be a thing we look forward and enjoy, fear becomes a burden that destroys that anticipation
of happiness.

Abuse comes in many shapes and forms, some self-inflicted such as an alcoholic. Some could be
external infliction such as spousal abuse in the form of physical or verbal abuse. Some could be
coercion in the form of monetary inducement and some could simply be abuse of favours.

Although, there may be different shades of abuse, one thing is consistent that they are all abusive.
No matter the level of severity, abuse is abuse and it is never a good thing.

The type of abuse this paper is concern is the abuse of power in the form of corruption. As a
country we create a government to protect and care for the people. A government is also the
protector of life. A government therefore guarantees the people's quality of life. It is about a
government “of the people, by the people and for the people.”

Government of the people:

A government is a public entity, that means it is not own by an individual. People in the form of
citizens in a sovereign country own the government. We the people own this government. Each of
us invests on the government. We create a government to help the people. Each citizen has an
'inalienable right” legally as investors in the government. We mould and choose the shape and form
of our government through elected representatives, as in a democratic system where there are
choices to choose from.

In forming a government we use politics as the means to form a government. Our democratic
system allows us to have more than one opposing parties. Each parties declare their beliefs,
manifesto, ideas, plans and etc., to the people. People in turn decide who and which party they
prefer to form the government by voting.

Voting is the ultimate act of selecting a representative for the community in a democratic system.
Voting ensure that the people have the last say. Voting is the most important political act by the
individual. This is the power that each of us possess. It is our ultimate weapon for change in a
democratic and civilized society. So we must consider voting as sacred if we truly want a
government of our choice.

Choice is our natural right:

Choice is our natural right. We are all born with a choice. Choice is a product of freedom. When
we have freedom we have choice! Democracy or a democratic system is synonymous with freedom
and the freedom of choice. This is our automatic rights under the heavens.

Democracy prevails because of the promise of freedom! Fair minded people find it honourable and
honest to be fair to all people. Freedom breeds fairness! Freedom and fairness breeds happiness!
So Democracy is a favoured form of political system because of its positive reinforcement to the
human condition. It is good for human beings because it does not hinder the human capacity to
improve. Here is where we can aptly say “the sky is the limit.”

Is there any wonder why all democratic nations are generally more successful than countries with
other forms of political system? It is no coincidence that China after a long experiment with
communism in its purest form turned to democratic principles as it embraces capitalism. Again fair
minded people realized the superior intelligence of the democratic principles.

We have a democratic system, but we are not using it correctly. We are not practicing true
democratic principles. In effect, we have abused it! We have skewed democracy! We messed up
our democracy because some people in our midst abuse it. These few spoilers made it hard for the
rest of us.

These people cheated us by calling it democracy when in fact they are utilizing a different form of
social and political system. They call it democratic when in fact they are being dictatorial. They
call it freedom when in fact they forced you to conform to their way of life. Being authoritarian is
their response to absolute power, so where is democracy?

Because the abuse to our democratic system, we are now faced with a tradition of corruption. Each
one of us wants to get ahead but because our democratic system is dysfunctional, we therefore
resort to corruption to get ahead. We practice corruption in almost all aspects of our community
life.

Corruption has become an uncontrollable disease that threatens widespread strife in our social and
political framework. Our society and our nation can never reach a “developed status” because we
are descending upon the world of the haves and the have nots. The gap between the rich and poor
continues to stretch, and if left uncheck, ultimately there will be anarchy.

Warlords emerge within our ranks as we helplessly endure a life of fear and despair. The cycle of
fear and despair engulfs our livelihood until, hopefully, a miracle comes along. That miracle may
take many years to appear and meanwhile we live a meaningless existence. This scenario is what
many Filipinos and Indonesian have experienced for decades. Much of the Arab world lives in this
scenario. Almost everyone living under dictatorial regimes exist in fear and despair. Malaysia is
dangerously heading in the wrong direction today unless there is an about change on the
fundamental purpose of government.

When we have a government based on race or a government promoting a religious bias, democracy
stifles. When democracy stifles, abuse and fear resurface. All the negative vibes begins to sprout.
If left uncheck, soon chaos will ensues. Fortunately, democratic system has a tool to set things
right, but we must use this tool properly if we hope to change things around. If we hope to steer the
course of a dark history onto the bright dawn of the future we must employ this tool to change the
type of government. This tool is called the voting booth! We must use the power of the voting
booth. We must vote to change a corrupt government.

Corruption must be destroyed:

Lew Kuan Yew said, 'When the PAP government took office in 1959, we set out to have a clean
administration. We were sickened by the greed, corruption, and decadence of many Asian leaders..”
Singapore under Lew Kuan Yew's leadership successfully eradicated the scourge of corruption in
his country. Because he successfully completed this mission Singapore became an economic
powerhouse even for such a tiny place barely visible along the tip of the Malayan peninsula. It is a
remarkable story and one we can only envy. Surely we can emulate such a noble feat, especially in
this day and age with Singapore as our role model we in Sabah can eradicate corruption. To fulfil
this task we must have the same 'deep sense of mission” like in Singapore. We may have to change
the format somewhat to adjust to certain nuances in our country's custom, but the ultimate goal is
the same. After we have completed this mission successfully, the results for our country will be
amazingly delightful. I can already visualize the pride and honour that are displayed in the faces of
Sabahans. It would be a joyous occasion, which will bring pride for generations to come.

Corruption in Sabah is one of the biggest scandals of this country. Corruption is practice at almost
all levels of government bureaucracy and at all levels of administrative and operational staffing rank
and files. The extent of corruption ranges from minor to major offences from the lowest ranks to
the highest ranking officials. The problem is so huge that we will have to fire everyone in
government and start over.

The extent of corruption is so rampant that it has become expected in most cases. People have
become helpless to corruption that it has somehow become accepted in the mind-sets of many.
Stemming the scourge of corruption will be a daunting task for any administration to partake. Yet,
for a country to progress into a developed nation corruption must be destroyed. It must not be a
way of life in our society. Corruption is a form of abuse! A good and healthy society cannot
emerge when corruption continues to become a way of life.

Lee Kuan Yew, aptly describes what is well known in Southeast Asian countries and Sabah is not
immune to this social disease. “For example, the first official contacts foreigners have when
entering a country are immigration and customs officers. At many airports in Southeast Asia,
travellers often find themselves delayed at customs clearance until a suitable inducement (often
hard cash) is forthcoming. The same tiresome practice is found among traffic police; when stopped
for alleged speeding, drivers have to hand over their driving license together with the on-going rate
in dollars to avoid further action. The superior officers do not set a good example. In many cities
in the region, even hospital admission after a traffic accident needs a bribe to get prompt attention.
Petty power invested in men who cannot live on their salaries is an invitation to misuse that power.”

“Customs officers would receive bribes to speed up the checking of vehicles smuggling in
prohibited goods. Personnel in the Central Supplies office (the government procurement
department) provided information on tender bids for a fee. Officers in the import and export
department received bribes to hasten the the issue of permits. Contractors bribed clerks of works to
allow short-piling. Public health labourers were paid by shopkeepers and residents to do their job
of clearing refuse. Principals and teachers in some Chinese schools received commissions from
stationery suppliers. Human ingenuity is infinite when translating power and discretion into
personal gain.” Corruption no doubt so widespread in Asia, but notice also that countries that has
rampant corruption are third world countries where the government has no social infrastructure and system in place to address the issue.

For Sabah to improve and march forward to become a developed country we must destroy
corruption in our society. The political party that can address this issue will become the champion
that can catapult Sabah into one of the most prosperous country in Asia. This is a proven fact and
the role model for this is Singapore. Because the government of Singapore was determined to
change the world of corruption, it is today well known as the premier success stories in the world.

With overwhelming odds Singapore became a bright and shining light for all the world to envy.
According to the institute of Management Development's World Competitiveness Yearbook 1997
ranked Singapore as the “least corrupt for the countries in the whole world giving 10 points as the
perfect score for the country with no corruption. Singapore was ranked as the least corrupt country
in Asia with a score of 9.18, ahead of Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan. Transparency International
(based in Berlin) placed Singapore in seventh place worldwide in 1998 for absence of corruption.”

“Malaysia’s score in Transparency International’s corruption perception index has been slipping for
the fourth year running; on a 10-point scale, where 10 represents no corruption, Malaysia dropped
from 5.1 in 2008 to 4.5 in 2009, 4.4 in 2010 and 4.3 in 2011.” Malaysia can never hope to become
a developed nation at this rate. There is great suspicion among observers that if not because of oil
revenues from Sabah, Malaya could never sustain its economic growth rate. Sabah is not even a
factor in Malaysia's economic index since Sabah's economic performance comes last among all the
states in Malaya.

Lee Kuan Yew said, “We made sure from the day we took office in June 1959 that every dollar in
revenue would be properly accounted for and would reach the beneficiaries at the grass roots as one dollar, without being siphoned off along the way. So, from the very beginning we gave special
attention to the areas where discretionary powers had been exploited for personal gain and
sharpened the instruments that could prevent, detect, or deter such practices.” “In 1960, we
changed the outdated 1937 anticorruption law and widened the definition of gratuity to include
anything of value.” He continues, “The most effective change we made in 1960 was to allow the
courts to treat proof that an accused was living beyond his or her means or had property his or her
income could not explain as corroborating evidence that the accused had accepted or obtained a
bribe.”

According to Lee Kuan Yew, “It is easy to start off with high moral standards, strong convictions,
and determination to beat down corruption. But it is difficult to live up to these good intentions
unless the leaders are strong and determined enough to deal with all transgressors, and without
exceptions. CPIB officers must be supported without fear or favour to enforce the rules.”

I believe if we interview everyone in government we will be able to document thousands of pages
of testimonies of individuals describing their experiences with corruption. The problem is so
widespread that it has become a generally accepted practice. This is wrong and must be destroyed.

Society's attitude towards this practice must change. In order for Sabah to destroy corruption,
corruption must be addressed comprehensively. It will encompass society as a whole. Honesty and
pride must be thought at home then in schools and in business and governments. If we seriously
want to destroy corruption we must face it at all levels of society's existence. We must put a system
in place that discourages corruption. The government agency that enforces compliance is not the
only course of action. In fact, we must have a system of compensation for government employees
that commensurate with the private sector income scale. If our government officials are fairly
compensated we cut off another reason for people to resort to corruption. This is what Singapore
did and it has work very well for Singapore.

When there is no threat of corruption people have less fear to worry. Their effort to excel in society
gets a major boost. A beginner in business can start a business easily and quickly to find success
based solely on his or her hard work, skills and dedication. There will be no difficulty in getting a
trading license, a permit, a drivers license or any formal certification to allow you to do business.
With such ease there will be more middle class in society. The gap between the rich and poor is
small. People who want to find success can surely attain it without restriction from government
bureaucracies; so people have no excuses not to survive well. A society must put in place a scenario
where everyone gets an opportunity in life. Where there is no such thing as a failure unless it is for
only one reason: the choice to fail.

America is known as the 'land of opportunity” not because there are plenty of material things on the
ground for the picking. It is a land of opportunity because the government has put in place a system
of doing things in all walks of life in a way that is simple, straight forward, honest, transparent, user
friendly, non-discriminatory, affordable, and accessible. It is the epitome of what freedom can do to
society.

Everyone has an opportunity to walk in any shoes he or she chooses. For example, if you wish to
be a nurse, the government provides you information and assist you in achieving your goal to
become a nurse. If you wish to obtain a drivers license, the process is very simple, by following a
few steps you are on your way to get a drivers license and when you have completed the
requirements you only pay a small fee in the amount of US$25. The time it takes you to obtain
your drivers license will depend on you and not the government.

Contrast this with Sabah, where there is a minimum requirement that will take you at least a month
before you can get a license. The government forced you to take driving lessons even though you
already know how to drive. Then there is a waiting time to received you license. The whole
process takes one or more months to complete with several hundreds or thousands of ringgit to
churn out before you can receive your license. This may be minor inconvenience as we have gotten
used to the system. Nonetheless, this is a classic example of inefficiencies and a backward system
that becomes a bottleneck to progress.

There is no common sense approach to administration and operational procedures. Everything is
done based on autocratic principles and less on respecting and meeting the people's needs. People
are seen as incompetent kids therefore government has to babysit each and every one of us to ensure
compliance. This is the attitude of the government of the day.

But this all come about because of the discriminatory mandate task to this government. With the
ruling government's philosophy of racial and religious supremacy doctrine it is only to be expected
that inefficiencies will occur as good government is not supposed to be in the business of
discrimination. Every citizen should be treated equally with full respect. When government starts
discriminating people based on race and religion it is simply quite impossible to become a
developed country because how can you claim “developed nation” status when many parts of the
citizenry are marginalized based on race and religion.

Corruption cannot be fully destroyed when government practices a doctrine of discrimination based on race or religion. America went through a transformation in the 70's and remove all barriers of racial discrimination before it transform itself as the wealthiest nation on earth.

Singapore embraced the ideology of equality for all and remove all racial barriers and everyone
knows how Singapore is one of the strongest economies in the world today even at its disadvantage
leverage of being a tiny country.

Unlike Singapore, the Malaysian federation is a huge nation with vast natural resources and yet
Malaysia's GDP cannot even surpassed Singapore. It is clear that any fair minded individual can
see the dilemma we are in.

If you speak to a South Korean today they can tell you that Malaysia is at least 15 years behind
South Korea. Isn't it ironic when in 1960 Malaysia was technically and politically more advanced
than South Korea. We inherited a British system of government, which was a more superior system
of government than any of the Spanish, Russian or Chinese had during that time, but after UMNO
took over from the British they squandered everything because of discriminatory doctrine of race
and religion.

This is a doctrine that Sabah must never emulate. We Sabahans must not be limited and subjected
by the incompetence of UMNO. We can surpass their incompetence and built a society that is just,
fair and modern. We must not wait for Malaya to feed us but rather we must feed our self and
become strong.

We can become a develop nation faster than Malaya if we change our system to favour a nondiscriminatory doctrine. We can run a government based on common sense and destroy corruption in our culture in order to put ourselves on the right track to become a rich and prosperous nation.

“The percentage, kickback, baksheesh, slush, or whatever the local euphemism is a way of life in
Asia: People openly accept it as a part of their culture. Ministers and officials cannot live on their
salaries to the standard of their office. The higher the are, the bigger their homes and more
numerous their wives, concubines, or mistresses, all bedecked in jewellery appropriate to the power and position of their men. Singaporeans who do business in these countries have to take care not to
bring home such practices.” by Lee Kuan Yew.

According to Lee, “Singapore has shown that a system of clean, no money elections helps to
preserved an honest government. But Singapore will remain clean and honest only if honest and
able men are willing to fight elections and assume office. They must be paid a wage commensurate
with what men of their ability and integrity are earning for managing a big corporation or a
successful legal or other professional practice. They have to manage a Singapore economy that
yielded an annual growth rate of 8 to 9 per cent in the last two decades, giving its citizens a per
capita GDP that the World Bank rated in 1995 as the ninth highest in the world.”

Besides having a law against bribery we must not provide incentives for public servants to reach
beyond his current income. Public servants should be fairly compensated according to the current
market rate and commensurate with their counterparts in the private sector. Singapore is a classic
example of how public servants should be treated to ensure they focus on their job instead of being
distracted by unnecessary monetary incentives.

Singapore, according to Lee Kuan Yew “carried the electorate although the opposition made
ministerial salaries an issue. People want a good, honest, clean government that produced results.
That was what the PAP provided. It is now less difficult to recruit talent from the private sector.

Before the salary formula was implemented top litigation lawyers were earning S$1 to 2 million a
year, while judges were paid less than S$300,000. Without this change, we would never have been
able to appoint some of our best practising lawyers to the judiciary. We also had the salaries of
doctors and other professionals in government service linked to the incomes of their counterparts in
private practice. This salary formula does not mean increments every year, because the private
sector incomes go up and down. When they went down in 1995, the salaries of all ministers and
senior officials were reduced accordingly in 1997.”

Because of Singapore strong adherence to anticorruption efforts it was the only country that
survived the financial crisis in 1997. “Countries in East Asia from South Korea to Indonesia were
devastated by the financial crisis because corruption and cronyism aggravated their woes.”
“Singapore weathered the crisis better because there was no corruption and cronyism that had cost
the other countries many billions in loses.”

Sabah must be the next Singapore if we want a better world for ourselves. Natives must think
outside the box and embrace change that leads to something new and better to meet the modern
world. Poverty among our ranks must be eradicated, but we must achieve financial freedom not
through corruption but by building wealth through legitimate means. To do that, we must first
change this corrupt government. After we change this corrupt government we must then demand
the destruction of all forms of corruptions. We must ensure that the next government make a
conscious effort to address the issue of corruption. If we do this, we will be on the right track to
guarantee our next generation a brighter future.

Corruption blocking Malaysia’s leap into higher-income status, says Nazir Razak

In July 2012 CIMB Group chief Nazir Razak (younger brother to the prime minister told the
Financial Times, “Malaysia must overcome corruption and carry out more market-oriented reforms
if it is to move up from being a middle-income economy.” “Corruption remains a problem and it is
something that needs to be combated,” he told FT.

Nazir also highlighted that there was “still a need to strengthen market forces in general and that is
about rolling back government in business, both in terms of bureaucracies but also in terms of its
direct involvement.” Nazir told the paper Putrajaya must push reforms that give more free rein to
market forces and roll back government ownership of business through privatisations, such as the
public listing of Malaysian palm oil giant Felda Global Ventures Holdings last week, which would
also draw in major world business players like Axiata.

Here is a man who understands market forces, which goes back to my earlier premise that there
needs to be a common sense approach when dealing with the government and economy. What
Nazir failed to realized is that this current government finds itself limited to act according to market
forces because it will be in conflict with its racial and religious supremacy doctrine in order to react
to the market forces accordingly. Is this current government willing to abolish such discriminatory
doctrine so we can move on to develop our nation? Most unlikely, therefore, expect the outcome to
be predictable. Meanwhile, Sabah cannot wait for Malaya to get their act straight. Sabah must do
the right thing strengthen to the “market forces.”

According to a survey published in the latest Global Competitiveness Report (2012-2013) by the
World Economic Forum, five of the major problem facing Malaysia are, inefficient government
bureaucracy, corruption, inadequately educated workforce, poor work ethic and restrictive labour
regulations. In my view corruption is the single most important factor that must first be address
head on. The rest will fall in place once corruption has been address effectively.

For Brian Pinskowski, “Fighting corruption is much more than law enforcement. It’s about
changing culture. Anticorruption must inspire people to raise above naked survival and stealing like
animals to building societies capable of providing for our people and children for generations into
the future.” Corruption must be dealt with before if consumes us all.

Steps to destroy corruption:

We must take steps to destroy corruption. We must learn from the experiences of Singapore and
apply what works for our country. We must take a common sense approach mix with street smart
implementation so that we can guarantee its success. Leaders and administrators must be prepared
to see it through with determination and dedication without fear or favour.

If the plan is well designed, well planned and carefully implemented, there is no reason as to why
we cannot destroy corruption from destroying the very fabric of our society. Knowing which
formula works and what to avoid based on the experiences of other countries such as Singapore it is
only conceivable that we can implement a successful anticorruption program that is sustainable
towards the long term.

By Wilfred Gaban (Director at PIPPA – Progressive Institute of Public Policy Analysis
President of Kadu Foundation – An NGO dedicated to the health and welfare of the KDM community)