The effort to combat the perception and reality of corruption must be mobilised simultaneously, says Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s office Datuk Razali Ibrahim (pic).
He said this was because a report on the corruption barometer indicated that less than 5% of the population had witnessed the act of giving and receiving bribes, in contrast to the low percentage of Malaysians with a positive perception of the government’s effort in tackling the issue.
“Only 31% of Malaysians find the government’s efforts to combat corruption as good. But the same survey also showed that only less than 5% of the population had seen a corrupt act or given bribes.
“We should view these two angles together. Don’t just talk about the perception when the reality of the acts is low. When it is good, we must accept the reality that our nation is good,” he said when winding up the committee stage debate on the Supplementary Supply Bill (2013) at the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was quoting the 2013 Transparency International Barometer on Global Corruption report issued by Malaysian chapter of Transparency International in July.
According to the report, the percentage of Malaysians who had a positive perception of the government’s effort in combating corruption dropped from 49% in 2011 to 31%.
Razali stressed that other than dealing with corruption, the issue of negative perception must also be dealt with by all quarters including the opposition if they were truly serious in combating the scourge.
He said the government has also stepped up its efforts by agreeing to set up a service commission to recruit personnel for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. However, he added that the matter was still being studied and needed the support of two-thirds of the Dewan Rakyat as it involved an amendment to the Constitution. – Bernama, September 26, 2013.
