COME February, it will be the time of the year for Transparency International (TI) to announce its ranking of 180 countries in its annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).
Putrajaya, whose plan is to make Malaysia among the 25 “cleanest countries” in the world, will await the publication of the 2025 CPI report with bated breath.
Last year, TI ranked the country 57th, a rung it has been stuck at since 2023. No movement up for three years means breaking into the company of the cleanest countries is going to get tougher by the year.
Like in 2023, Malaysia scored 50 points out of a possible 100 (perceived to be very clean).
The highest score last year — 90 out of 100 — was obtained by Denmark, followed by Finland (88) and Singapore (84). The three are certainly doing something we are not. More on this later.
While commending Putrajaya on its ambitious target of being among the top 25 countries by 2033, TI-Malaysia (TI-M) is of the view that the country must do more to hit the target.
In its calculation, the country needs to score 68-70, meaning there must be an improvement of two points every year.
That adds up to six points — four for the preceding two years and two for the 2025 CPI. A tall order. But the question is: why is Malaysia stuck at rank 57 for two consecutive years?
Depends on whom we ask. To TI-M, the answer is straightforward. Businesses — the key players in the CPI — feel corruption is still a problem in the public sector.
Can’t blame these movers of capital for perceiving corruption to be a problem in the public sector when they are bombarded by media headlines of this or that public officer being arrested for corruption.
While Putrajaya maintains that institutional reforms are being implemented as quickly as possible, many businesses view the rollout as too slow for their liking. Like it or not, what they “see” is what we get in the CPI.
The nation’s graft-busters, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, has a point, too, when it says the people seem to rely solely on MACC to end corruption.
Each time the CPI is announced, people tend to blame the commission for the poor ranking. The nation must know that MACC is a graft-buster, not a graft ender. Prevention of corruption is the job of many, both in the public and private sector.
Top-ranked Denmark and Finland do not make the curbing of corruption the sole responsibility of the graft-busters. It is a multi-institutional job. Look at Singapore, the third cleanest country in the world. There, too, it is the job of many.
Starting with Putrajaya, which holds the integrity compass, to the public service to the enforcement agencies to the rest of society, all must contribute. Many hands make light work.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
