The Brown Envelop of Corruption

2nd page Straits Times, "too many laws and rules are causing unnecessary problems and laying the seeds of corruption", by Datuk Dr Sulaiman, President of the Institute of Integrity Malaysia (IIM).

He hit the nail on the head. For too many years, our country has been plagued with this "cancer" of society called corruption.

Even the President of the Malay Contractors Association of Malaysia, Datuk Roslan Awang Chik is screaming at the bureacratic red tape process that has long been taken as a norm to get things done in this country. No wonder, many graduates coming out from the local universities aspire to enter government service in the many lucarative departments that has dealings with the public sector. More Side Income, they say.

Datuk Roslan, "Contractors cannot afford delays or they might face problems, but they are simply too many bottlenecks that can only be solved by attaching RM300 to their forms."

Datuk, who can afford delays? Every other person on the street cannot afford delays. The manufacturers cannot, the developers cannot, the shop keepers cannot, even the chicken rice seller cannot - because time is money and time is life.

More delays equals more corruption equals more money. Eventually, the whole nation will recede into recession because nobody in its right moral frame of mind would want to do business here. Look at our neighbor country. Do you want to be like them? Think before you take that brown envelop.

The problem is not the government. The problem is the government servant themselves. The lack of transparency, integrity and morality among them has been like a cloak of darkness for evil deeds to surface in a viral manner. Ever wonder why most people don't like to pay taxes to a corrupt government, even though the money is supposed to be used to improve infrastructures leading to a better lifestyle.

Look at the local government. Datuk Kayveas said, "local governments are acting like secret societies and councillors as mere rubber stamps, echoing the sentiments of their bosses." The next time you view an after-council meeting in your town, count the number of councillors who call their "bribers" on their cell phone outside the hall, and telling them that the deal had been done, now it is time to collect the dole.

We are all dissatisfied but can we say or do anything. Should we introduce democracy in local government elections so that only legitimate and qualified councillors are elected? Or should we wait for whole economies to be destroyed by the influence of this cancer called corruption.

Political corruption affects us all. We elect politicians and political parties in faith and expecting them to act in the public interest. By electing them we give them access to public resources and the power to take decisions that affect our lives. This is a privileged position. The damage that can be inflicted by politicians or parties acting out of greed, or in the service of those who bring to power, is immense. It is not surprising then that people all over the world over are demanding absolute integrity of their political leaders.

In some countries, it is literary impossible to live a normal life there without encountering corruption. As a result, the economy is gravely affected, crime is rife and politics is a sick joke.

Transparency International found that the most corrupt industries are arms, construction and oil. Politicians get kick backs so that the country buy wrong equipment, build rotten dams, broken roads and bridges. Natural resources get siphoned to some offshore bank accounts. Powerful parties rig elections so that they continue to stay in power to protect their siphon acts.

This is happening not only in 3rd world countries but also in Europe and America as well, maybe to a lesser visibility.

(See Transparency International = Transparency International


Bottom line:
CORRUPTION DESTROY LIVES, SOCIETIES, CULTURES, COUNTRIES AND ENVIRONMENT. PERIOD..

What Others say: What is corruption? = What is Corruption?








(for a complete list of the CPI index 2005, refer to: CPI Index 2005