MACC must have more bite

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has been praised for the progress made in strengthening its position as the nation’s graft buster.

However, members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Corruption have proposed more sweeping changes to the law to allow the MACC more bite and independence.

Committee member DAP vice-chairman Dr Tan Seng Giaw said the recommendations were the result of extensive meetings with MACC officers and feedback from several quarters.

“Though the committee felt there has been progress in the MACC, it wants more to be done to strengthen the commission’s integrity while giving it greater independence,” he said.

Barisal Nasional’s Kota Belud MP Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, who sits on the MACC panel, expressed support for efforts to further transform the commission.

“In principle, I agree with the suggested changes although there are several issues that need to be carefully looked at to ensure the proposed new laws are fair and impartial to all parties,” he said.

He noted that recent efforts to enhance MACC under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s political transformation programme had shown positive results.

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Building a united front against corruption

More than 150 government-linked agencies (GLCs) and private corporations across Malaysia have signed the corporate integrity pledge as an assurance that their operations are free of corrupt practices, said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

MACC deputy chief commissioner (prevention) Datuk Sutinah Sutan said those who had signed the pledge included multinational corporations, GLCs, state government agencies, small and medium enterprises as well as several other private organisations.

“We are happy to see more companies coming forward and at the same time, would like to welcome others willing to seek help on practising good governance.

“The signing of the pledge is vital to ensure there is no fraud or graft in their procurement processes and other aspects,” she said after witnessing a signing ceremony between the State Agriculture Development Corporation (SADC) of Perak and MACC at the Perak state secretariat building.

In his speech, Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir commended SADC for being the first government agency in Perak to sign the pledge and further hoped that more agencies will follow the lead of SADC.

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Malaysia does better in CPI

Malaysia has moved up six notches to 54th place in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2012 which is conducted by Trans­parency International (TI).

The announcement made by Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) ranked Malaysia third among Asean countries, behind Singapore (5th) and Brunei (46th).

“Malaysia’s position has improved slightly, staying in the mid-range average, indicating that many steps undertaken by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak through the Government Transformation Prog­ramme (GTP) to fight corruption have shown results,” said TI-M president Datuk Paul Low when announcing the CPI 2012.

This year, a total of 176 countries were assessed using an upgraded methodology.

Moving away from the old scoring system of one to 10, the new CPI scores range from zero to 100 with zero being most corrupt and 100 being corruption-free.

Malaysia scored 49 while Singa­pore scored 87 and Brunei, 55.

TI also stated that while none of the 176 countries in the list obtained a perfect score, two thirds of the countries scored below 50, indicating a serious corruption problem.

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Malaysia now ranked 54th, up six places from 2011 in graft index

Malaysia has improved in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2012, moving up six places to 54, says Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M).

Malaysia is ranked third among Asean nations behind Singapore (3) and Brunei (46).

“Malaysia's position has improved slightly staying in the mid-range average, indicating that many steps undertaken by Prime Minister Da-tuk Seri Najib Tun Razak through the Government Transformation Programme to fight corruption have shown results,” said TI-M president Datuk Paul Low when announcing the CPI 2012 here yesterday.

This year's assessment for 176 countries was based on an upgraded methodology. Instead of scores ranging from 1 to 10, the new CPI scores range from 0 to 100. (0 being most corrupt and 100 corruption-free).

Singapore scored 87 and Brunei 55, while Malaysia received a score of 49. Denmark, Finland and New Zealand tied for first place with scores of 90 while Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia were at the bottom of the list scoring eight out of 100.

Low praised the Government for its commitment in fighting corruption as Malaysia is the only country that included the CPI as part of its Key Performance Index (KPI) in fighting corruption.

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2012 Corruption Perceptions Index: Malaysia Up 6 Spots From Last Year

THE National Key Result Areas’ (NKRA) anti-graft initiatives have made an impact, with Malaysia improving its standing in the 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) when it shot six spots up to 54th position from last year’s 60.

It was a marked improvement from 2011 when the country fell four places down from 2010’s 56th position.

In releasing the index figures yesterday, Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) revealed that out of the 176 countries involved in the CPI survey last year, Malaysia also ranked third among Asean countries, ahead of Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia.

The three countries ranked 88th, 105th and 118th respectively.

Singapore, which was placed third in the world, was the top anti-graft performer in Asean, followed by Brunei at 46.

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Agencies pledge to work together on transborder corruption

KUALA LUMPUR: The top brass of anti-graft agencies from all over the world are committed towards working together in the fight against transborder corruption.

“For the future, we will not only appreciate each other's problems but commit ourselves to making concerted efforts to assist and support member states,” said Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief Datuk Seri Abu Kassim Mohamed.

“We all have strengths and weaknesses, but as has been shown, collaboration is not only possible, but desirable, too,” he said as the Sixth International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA) Annual Conference and General Meeting ended yesterday.

Association president Prof Cao Jianming said it was the common aspiration among member states to strengthen information exchange and promote technical assistance.

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