A recent press release from Transparency International Malaysia revealed interesting findings of the 2017 Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) – Asia Pacific Region.
In this survey, only 50 percent of Malaysians feel a responsibility to report incidences of corruption. For the Malaysians who are more reluctant to report corruption, a majority of them cited a “fear of negative consequences” if they choose to report.
The second most common reason many Malaysians do not want to report corruption was that they do not know where to report such instances in the first place.
If a cop is corrupt, do I report it to another cop?
This fear appears to be have some evidence for it, though, as it was revealed that 16 percent of Malaysians who have reported corruption stated they suffered backlash for it, such as getting fired from their jobs.
Interestingly, 23 percent of Malaysians reported having engaged in bribery in order to access basic public services.
The top three services Malaysians reported paying bribes for were police, registry/permit/identity, and healthcare services.
On top of that, the GCB also revealed that 53 percent of Malaysians think that the government is not effectively fighting corruption.
However, this survey also found that 55 percent of Malaysians feel like they have the power to make a change in the fight against corruption.
Looks like not all hope is lost!
This adds to recent news and discussions regarding the state of corruption in Malaysia.
Earlier this week, the Prime Minister’s press secretary, Datuk Seri Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad, refuted Tun Dr. Mahatir Mohamad’s statement that Malaysia is one of the 10 most corrupt countries in the world.
He cited Transparency International’s 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Malaysia 55th out of 176 nations, making us “the 55th least corrupt country in the world”, according to his statement.
However, Malaysia was listed in TIMES as the top 2 most corrupt before. Why? You know I know lah.
Also read: Malaysia Rated 2nd Most Corrupt Country In The World