What is corruption?
literally means to destroy (from the Latin corruptus);
is not a rare phenomenon;
takes many forms with different types of participants, settings, stakes, techniques and different degrees of cultural legitimacy;
is not only about stealing: it can also relate to the abuse of power in decision-making processes.
It is a form of behaviour that deviates from ethics, morality, tradition, law and civic virtue.
Corruption may be defined as any conduct which amounts to :
a) influencing the decision-making process of a public officer or authority,
or influence peddling;
b) dishonesty or breach of trust, by a public officer, in the exercise of his duty;
c) insider dealing/conflicts of interests; [and]
d) influence peddling by the use of fraudulent means such as bribery,
blackmail, which includes the use of election fraud.
e) Any person who directly or indirectly accepts, agrees or offers to accept any gratification from any other person to benefit him-/herself or any other person
is guilty of the crime of corruption. The person who makes the offer or inducement to another to commit a corrupt practice is also guilty of the crime of corruption.
Although there is an active and a passive side to the crime,
both parties are equally guilty of corruption.
(The information above is taken from : http://www.anticorruption.info/corr_def.htm)
2004 Asia corruption ratings
According to an enquiry conducted by Political & Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd, a well-known Hong Kong consulting group, Indonesia, India and Vietnam are considered the three most corrupt countries in Asia. The survey covered 12 Asian countries, interviewing 1000 non-resident businessmen working with various Asian countries.
The survey asked them to rate a country’s level of corruption on a scale of 0 to 10. Bangladesh, which for three years in a row Transparency International has rated the most corrupt in the world, was left off the list.
According to the survey's results, corruption has gone down in 8 of the 12 countries with respect to last year. Compared to previous years significant improvements were said to be made in China and Thailand, countries which in year's past had received many negative votes while still ranking number 5 on this year's list. The three countries considered having the least amount of corruption were Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong.
The 2004 corruption ratings in Asia are given below:
Indonesia: 9.25
India: 8.9
Vietnam: 8.67
Philippines: 8.33
Thailand, Malaysia, China: 7.33
South Korea: 6.67
Taiwan: 6.1
Hong Kong: 3.6
Japan: 3.5
Singapore: 0.5
This interesting article can be accessed at : http://www.odiousdebts.org/odiousdebts/index.cfm?DSP=content&ContentID=9627
The ratings might not necessarily be the most accurate but it is an eye opener.
Latest news from BBC :
Tommy Suharto freed from prison.
The son of Indonesia's former President Suharto has been freed from jail on conditional release after serving only four years of a murder sentence.
Hutomo Mandala Putra, also known as Tommy, was given a 15-year sentence in 2002 following his conviction for ordering the killing of a judge.
His sentence was first cut to 10 years, and then reduced further.
It's not surprising Indonesia is on top of the rating. We are not too far from the leaders. This rating was done in 2004. Another 2 under and will be par with Indonesia.
Monday, October 30, 2006
Friday, October 27, 2006
Insensitivity
Insensitivity : The inability to respond to affective changes in your interpersonal environment.
Could this have been the problem with Australia's top Muslim leader? In his sermon, he was reported as saying that women who do not dress moderately as "uncovered meat". He went on to say that" If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside.... and the cats come and eat it, whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem". Maybe he should "meat" with the parents of the Muslim computer engineer who was raped and murdered in Johor. She was covered from head to toe. Of course she didn't stay at home at the time as our government's policy was to educate its citizens regardless of gender and make them productive to support the vision of being a developed nation by the year 2020.
The cleric might not know of such plans or couldn't be bothered with such trivial matters. He had higher aims, to make sure all women were properly covered and stayed indoors! When you give too much power to religious people you can expect a lot of problems. Politicians can be thrown out at the next election but religious people hide behind their 'religious holy books' and it is next to impossible to get rid of them once they are in power.
My question is why did an Egyptian religious man migrate to Australia knowing that women here do not wear the 'hijab'? This is the land of sunshine and beaches, where the people love to surf and swim and sail. Even the Aborigines are not dressed properly by his standards! Why didn't he just stay in the land of 'hijabs' and turbans and long robes and beards? He wouldn't be in trouble now would he? If he had made that statement in Egypt or Saudi Arabia or Pakistan or Afganistan or Bangladesh or Iraq, the people would have clapped their hands and called him their hero. He should go back to Egypt, but I think it's all about personal freedom which you don't get in a Muslim country.
Another example of insensitivity is the 2.00 am raid by religious officers on a visiting American couple in Langkawi, Malaysia who were accused of 'khalwat' (close proximity between man and woman who are not legally married). The American is demanding a written apology from the religious department and compensation for the air ticket he had to buy for his wife who wanted to go back home after that frightening experience.
A new shopping complex, Souq Bukhary, has just opened for business in my city with 'Giant' as their anchor tenant. I heard some non-Muslim girls who wore skirts were barred from entering this complex by the guards! I am not sure if this is true as I have not personally witnessed it. But if it is true, this is no way to do business in a multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious environment. It is not necessary to teach one's customers how to dress in such an environment. How to attract tourists to Kedah????? No wonder the tourists are flocking to Thailand. We have ostriches with their heads in the sand in charge of developing the business in this state.
The same thing happens in Government departments or Government agencies managed by the 'Little Napoleons' who make their own rules. They have the gall to put up notices saying people who are not properly dressed will not be served! These people come to pay bills! The government will of course deny any such rule but will not take action against these 'Little Napoleons' who make their own laws.
The non-Muslims in this country are not allowed to preach to the Muslims. This is law in this country. You can't sell liquor or pork anywhere you like. We have to be sensitive to our Muslim brothers' beliefs. We have learnt to live with each other peacefully and harmoniously for so many years because we respect one anothers' beliefs. That is the key! When we lose this respect and become insolent and insensitive to one another, we will have problems - big problems. I sincerely hope this doesn't happen in Malaysia.
Could this have been the problem with Australia's top Muslim leader? In his sermon, he was reported as saying that women who do not dress moderately as "uncovered meat". He went on to say that" If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside.... and the cats come and eat it, whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem". Maybe he should "meat" with the parents of the Muslim computer engineer who was raped and murdered in Johor. She was covered from head to toe. Of course she didn't stay at home at the time as our government's policy was to educate its citizens regardless of gender and make them productive to support the vision of being a developed nation by the year 2020.
The cleric might not know of such plans or couldn't be bothered with such trivial matters. He had higher aims, to make sure all women were properly covered and stayed indoors! When you give too much power to religious people you can expect a lot of problems. Politicians can be thrown out at the next election but religious people hide behind their 'religious holy books' and it is next to impossible to get rid of them once they are in power.
My question is why did an Egyptian religious man migrate to Australia knowing that women here do not wear the 'hijab'? This is the land of sunshine and beaches, where the people love to surf and swim and sail. Even the Aborigines are not dressed properly by his standards! Why didn't he just stay in the land of 'hijabs' and turbans and long robes and beards? He wouldn't be in trouble now would he? If he had made that statement in Egypt or Saudi Arabia or Pakistan or Afganistan or Bangladesh or Iraq, the people would have clapped their hands and called him their hero. He should go back to Egypt, but I think it's all about personal freedom which you don't get in a Muslim country.
Another example of insensitivity is the 2.00 am raid by religious officers on a visiting American couple in Langkawi, Malaysia who were accused of 'khalwat' (close proximity between man and woman who are not legally married). The American is demanding a written apology from the religious department and compensation for the air ticket he had to buy for his wife who wanted to go back home after that frightening experience.
A new shopping complex, Souq Bukhary, has just opened for business in my city with 'Giant' as their anchor tenant. I heard some non-Muslim girls who wore skirts were barred from entering this complex by the guards! I am not sure if this is true as I have not personally witnessed it. But if it is true, this is no way to do business in a multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious environment. It is not necessary to teach one's customers how to dress in such an environment. How to attract tourists to Kedah????? No wonder the tourists are flocking to Thailand. We have ostriches with their heads in the sand in charge of developing the business in this state.
The same thing happens in Government departments or Government agencies managed by the 'Little Napoleons' who make their own rules. They have the gall to put up notices saying people who are not properly dressed will not be served! These people come to pay bills! The government will of course deny any such rule but will not take action against these 'Little Napoleons' who make their own laws.
The non-Muslims in this country are not allowed to preach to the Muslims. This is law in this country. You can't sell liquor or pork anywhere you like. We have to be sensitive to our Muslim brothers' beliefs. We have learnt to live with each other peacefully and harmoniously for so many years because we respect one anothers' beliefs. That is the key! When we lose this respect and become insolent and insensitive to one another, we will have problems - big problems. I sincerely hope this doesn't happen in Malaysia.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Abuse of Power
I read in the paper (The Star) that the swearing-in-ceremony for Klang municipal councillors has been postponed. Nobody seems to know why! Selangor Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo said, "Maybe some issues have not been settled." What could these issues be?
Could it be because of the Port Klang state assembly man Datuk Zakaria Md Deros building a 'palatial' four-storey house without first getting the approval or because he had not paid assessment for another property in the same area for the last 12 years? The MB said, "no one was above the law". Unless ofcourse that nobody has a lot of money and can employ a very good and crafty lawyer who knows all the loop-holes in the law!
NO ONE is above GOD's law. Everyone of us will answer to Him on Judgement Day, including all the crafty lawyers. In this world it will seem the rich and the politically connected will get out of trouble easily. Let's see what happens in the Klang assembly mans case.
To top it, he was re-appointed to the council together with his son and daughter-in-law! Here's what the daughter-in-law had to say, "If you take it negatively it will be negative. If you take it positively, it will be positive. Our intention is to serve the people." The example of serving has been set by her father-in-law, only he was serving himself! What can you expect for future development in Klang from this bunch? What does this say about our political scenario in Malaysia? Why do we keep appointing people who blatantly abuse their power for their own benefit? The other example is the assembly man from Jasin. When the customs stopped an illegal shipment of sawn timber from Indonesia he made a big hue and cry about it. He said he was fighting for his constituents. It turns out the company involved in the fray was actually his own!
Later on he started to attack the customs department with regards to the disposal of seized luxury cars. It turns out he didn't get the Mercedes he wanted!
With people like these in parliament, do you think they will help to plan for the development of all Malaysians, the eradication of poverty among all the races, give solutions to the unemployment problem regardless of their race? At the moment we find that they are busy with acquiring wealth for themselves. There are probably many more doing the same quietly in the background. When it comes to issues like equity and equal opportunities for all Malaysians, suddenly there will be people drawing their krisses and warnings will be sounded not to offend certain groups of people! This is Malaysian politics. We are champions at speaking out and coming up with slogans against corruption and drug abuse and what nots, but in practice, its sooooo different!
Could it be because of the Port Klang state assembly man Datuk Zakaria Md Deros building a 'palatial' four-storey house without first getting the approval or because he had not paid assessment for another property in the same area for the last 12 years? The MB said, "no one was above the law". Unless ofcourse that nobody has a lot of money and can employ a very good and crafty lawyer who knows all the loop-holes in the law!
NO ONE is above GOD's law. Everyone of us will answer to Him on Judgement Day, including all the crafty lawyers. In this world it will seem the rich and the politically connected will get out of trouble easily. Let's see what happens in the Klang assembly mans case.
To top it, he was re-appointed to the council together with his son and daughter-in-law! Here's what the daughter-in-law had to say, "If you take it negatively it will be negative. If you take it positively, it will be positive. Our intention is to serve the people." The example of serving has been set by her father-in-law, only he was serving himself! What can you expect for future development in Klang from this bunch? What does this say about our political scenario in Malaysia? Why do we keep appointing people who blatantly abuse their power for their own benefit? The other example is the assembly man from Jasin. When the customs stopped an illegal shipment of sawn timber from Indonesia he made a big hue and cry about it. He said he was fighting for his constituents. It turns out the company involved in the fray was actually his own!
Later on he started to attack the customs department with regards to the disposal of seized luxury cars. It turns out he didn't get the Mercedes he wanted!
With people like these in parliament, do you think they will help to plan for the development of all Malaysians, the eradication of poverty among all the races, give solutions to the unemployment problem regardless of their race? At the moment we find that they are busy with acquiring wealth for themselves. There are probably many more doing the same quietly in the background. When it comes to issues like equity and equal opportunities for all Malaysians, suddenly there will be people drawing their krisses and warnings will be sounded not to offend certain groups of people! This is Malaysian politics. We are champions at speaking out and coming up with slogans against corruption and drug abuse and what nots, but in practice, its sooooo different!
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Religious Fanaticism
It's coming to a point where I am not sure I am living in the Malaysia I know. I grew up in a Malay(muslim) community. Our backdoor neighbours were Malay. A lot of my classmates were Malays. We mixed quite freely, played games together, visited each other's homes without worrying about losing our own faith. Today we have the so called 'religious' people telling the muslims in this country not to mix with the non-muslims. The present government is wondering why there is no racial intergration in the schools or the universities! The Prime Minister has his head in the clouds.
You let the worms out of the woodwork and let them sit in management places and what do you expect. Emails like the one sent out by the Takaful Malaysia’s Syariah department head Fauzi Mustaffar forbidding Muslims to wish Hindu friends Happy Deepavali. Where did this guy come from? Is he a real Malaysian or a dropout from the Taliban school?
Ofcourse the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Abdullah Md Zin immediately declared that it was not a fatwa but a personal view of Mr. Fauzi. The fact is he is still sitting there and influencing the many ignoramuses working under him. My friend got so pissed off he decided to send an email to the PM regarding this matter. I wonder if he will get a reply. Below is his email to the PM :
YAB Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Perdana Menteri Malaysia
Bangunan Perdana Putra
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan
62502 Putrajaya.
YAB Datuk Seri,
Laporan Akhbar The Star (11hb Oktober 2006) : E-mail from Takaful man 'not fatwa'
Adalah saya merujuk perkara tersebut di atas dan kepada mukasurat N8, akhbar The Star bertarikh 11 Oktober 2006 dan ingin mengalu-alukan kenyataan Menteri Di Jabatan Perdana Menteri YB Datuk Dr Abdullah Md Zin yang telah menyuarakan rasa tidak puas hati beliau terhadap En. Fauzi Mustafar, Ketua Jabatan Syariah, Takaful Malaysia yang telah menyatakan bahawa mengucapkan "Selamat Deepavali" kepada penganut agama Hindu adalah bertentangan dengan ajaran Islam. Tambah YB Datuk Dr Abdullah, kenyataan oleh En. Fauzi Mustafar hanyalah merupakan pendapat peribadi beliau, dan bukannya sebuah fatwa yang hanya boleh diisytiharkan oleh Majlis Fatwa Negara ataupun Jakim di negara ini.
Apa yang mengewakan ialah kenyataan sedemikian telah dibuat oleh seorang pegawai atasan di sebuah instituti kewangan negara. Tindakan begini sememangnya akan mewujudkan rasa tidak senang dan/atau membangkitkan rasa curiga-mencurigai di kalangan rakyat berbilang kaum di Malaysia. Pada waktu kerajaan di bawah pimpinan YAB sedang giat mengidupkan semula perasaan harmoni dan muhibah di kalangan rakyat jelata, e-mail yang dihantar oleh En. Fauzi Mustafar kepada rakan-rakan pejabatnya adalah amat mendukacitakan.
Malangnya, isu sebegini telah timbul di sebuah jenis institusi kewangan yang terbaru di dunia iaitu yang mempromosikan sistem Takaful. Malaysialah yang menerajui sistem ini di dunia buat masa ini, dan oleh yang demikian, Malaysia haruslah memberi gambaran positif dan universal kepada seluruh dunia.
Berikut adalah sabahagian petikan daripada akhbar Arab News di laman web www.arabnews.com bertarikh 21 Ogos 2006:-
Takaful Growth in Malaysia Fails to Take Off
Mushtak Parker, Arab News
However, the major psychological hurdles for Takaful market penetration remains the lack of players, the low capitalization of Takaful companies, the absence of an established Re-Takaful (reinsurance) market, lack of products, lack of market awareness, poor culture of consumer education, a misconceived religio-cultural distrust of and objection to insurance, and the mixed messages some of the Shariah advisories are giving, endorsing Takaful products in one breath and preaching against them in another breath. (Source: Arab News (The Middle East’s Leading English Language Daily), www.arabnews.com dated 21 August 2006)
Sememangnya, di dalam artikel tersebut, isu agama-budaya (religio-cultural) telah dikenalpasti sebagai salah satu perkara yang membawa salah tanggapan skim Takaful di kalangan masyarakat. Malangnya, kenyataan En. Fauzi Mustafar menepati salah tanggapan tersebut.
Adalah diharapkan YAB selaku Menteri Kewangan Malaysia dapat memberi perhatian dan mengambil tindakan yang sewajarnya terhadap pegawai tersebut.
"Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri & Selamat Hari Deepavali"
Sekian, terima kasih.
K.Viyasan
11 Oktober 2006
I hope the PM will send a clear message to people like him that this is a multi-religious, multi-cultural, multi-racial country where a little bit of tolerence and understanding will go a long way in maintaining a peaceful and productive nation. All of us had a hand in bringing this country to where it is today not just the Malays or muslims. This fact must be taught in every school so that the younger generation will respect one another regardless of race or religion. Our future depends on our ability to live together on equal terms.
You let the worms out of the woodwork and let them sit in management places and what do you expect. Emails like the one sent out by the Takaful Malaysia’s Syariah department head Fauzi Mustaffar forbidding Muslims to wish Hindu friends Happy Deepavali. Where did this guy come from? Is he a real Malaysian or a dropout from the Taliban school?
Ofcourse the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Abdullah Md Zin immediately declared that it was not a fatwa but a personal view of Mr. Fauzi. The fact is he is still sitting there and influencing the many ignoramuses working under him. My friend got so pissed off he decided to send an email to the PM regarding this matter. I wonder if he will get a reply. Below is his email to the PM :
YAB Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Perdana Menteri Malaysia
Bangunan Perdana Putra
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan
62502 Putrajaya.
YAB Datuk Seri,
Laporan Akhbar The Star (11hb Oktober 2006) : E-mail from Takaful man 'not fatwa'
Adalah saya merujuk perkara tersebut di atas dan kepada mukasurat N8, akhbar The Star bertarikh 11 Oktober 2006 dan ingin mengalu-alukan kenyataan Menteri Di Jabatan Perdana Menteri YB Datuk Dr Abdullah Md Zin yang telah menyuarakan rasa tidak puas hati beliau terhadap En. Fauzi Mustafar, Ketua Jabatan Syariah, Takaful Malaysia yang telah menyatakan bahawa mengucapkan "Selamat Deepavali" kepada penganut agama Hindu adalah bertentangan dengan ajaran Islam. Tambah YB Datuk Dr Abdullah, kenyataan oleh En. Fauzi Mustafar hanyalah merupakan pendapat peribadi beliau, dan bukannya sebuah fatwa yang hanya boleh diisytiharkan oleh Majlis Fatwa Negara ataupun Jakim di negara ini.
Apa yang mengewakan ialah kenyataan sedemikian telah dibuat oleh seorang pegawai atasan di sebuah instituti kewangan negara. Tindakan begini sememangnya akan mewujudkan rasa tidak senang dan/atau membangkitkan rasa curiga-mencurigai di kalangan rakyat berbilang kaum di Malaysia. Pada waktu kerajaan di bawah pimpinan YAB sedang giat mengidupkan semula perasaan harmoni dan muhibah di kalangan rakyat jelata, e-mail yang dihantar oleh En. Fauzi Mustafar kepada rakan-rakan pejabatnya adalah amat mendukacitakan.
Malangnya, isu sebegini telah timbul di sebuah jenis institusi kewangan yang terbaru di dunia iaitu yang mempromosikan sistem Takaful. Malaysialah yang menerajui sistem ini di dunia buat masa ini, dan oleh yang demikian, Malaysia haruslah memberi gambaran positif dan universal kepada seluruh dunia.
Berikut adalah sabahagian petikan daripada akhbar Arab News di laman web www.arabnews.com bertarikh 21 Ogos 2006:-
Takaful Growth in Malaysia Fails to Take Off
Mushtak Parker, Arab News
However, the major psychological hurdles for Takaful market penetration remains the lack of players, the low capitalization of Takaful companies, the absence of an established Re-Takaful (reinsurance) market, lack of products, lack of market awareness, poor culture of consumer education, a misconceived religio-cultural distrust of and objection to insurance, and the mixed messages some of the Shariah advisories are giving, endorsing Takaful products in one breath and preaching against them in another breath. (Source: Arab News (The Middle East’s Leading English Language Daily), www.arabnews.com dated 21 August 2006)
Sememangnya, di dalam artikel tersebut, isu agama-budaya (religio-cultural) telah dikenalpasti sebagai salah satu perkara yang membawa salah tanggapan skim Takaful di kalangan masyarakat. Malangnya, kenyataan En. Fauzi Mustafar menepati salah tanggapan tersebut.
Adalah diharapkan YAB selaku Menteri Kewangan Malaysia dapat memberi perhatian dan mengambil tindakan yang sewajarnya terhadap pegawai tersebut.
"Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri & Selamat Hari Deepavali"
Sekian, terima kasih.
K.Viyasan
11 Oktober 2006
I hope the PM will send a clear message to people like him that this is a multi-religious, multi-cultural, multi-racial country where a little bit of tolerence and understanding will go a long way in maintaining a peaceful and productive nation. All of us had a hand in bringing this country to where it is today not just the Malays or muslims. This fact must be taught in every school so that the younger generation will respect one another regardless of race or religion. Our future depends on our ability to live together on equal terms.
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