Malaysia managed to improve its standing in the annual Transparency International (TI) corruption perception index (CPI) by one place at 43 of 180 countries surveyed.

Malaysia scored 5.1 out of a maximum 10 points, up 0.1 from last year, in the CPI which is derived from a poll which gauged public sector perception of corruption among public officials and politicians from multiple expert opinion surveys.

TI Malaysia chapter chairperson Ramon Navaratnam said that the score was praiseworthy as it showed changes had taken place since the last survey.

"But to many of us, it is a regret that it (Malaysia's standing) has not moved up more substantially," said Navaratnam, after announcing the CPI findings which was released simultaneously worldwide today.

Navaratnam hoped that a new trend was taking place in Malaysia and along with more political will, the country's performance in the CPI would improve.

At a press conference later, Navaratnam said that TI Malaysia has not been informed on the justification of the score which was compiled by TI headquarters in Berlin, Germany.

Malaysia is sharing the 43th spot alongside South Africa and South Korea. This year's CPI also saw the inclusion of 16 new countries.

Worldwide, Denmark, Finland and New Zealand share the top rank with scores of 9.4. Neighboring Singapore is placed fourth alongside Sweden.

Regionally, Malaysia falls behind Australia (11), Hong Kong (14), Japan (17), Macao (26) and Taiwan (34).

TI founder slams PM

Earlier, TI-Malaysia founding president Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim ( pix ) in his keynote address delivered a hard hitting speech where he said Malaysia suffered from systemic corruption in the same league as neighbouring Indonesia and Philippines.

"Today, we are in the grip of widespread institutional fatigue. Every major institution of governance - the judiciary, police, Road Transport Department... local governments to name but a few - have been ethically compromised and have become in varying degrees a hot bed of corruption to such extend that public confidence in these institutions has all but evaporated," he said.

Tunku Abdul Aziz blamed "poor, unprofessional and unethical leadership" as the root cause of systemic corruption experienced in Malaysia.

He said that he had high hopes during Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's ascent as Prime Minister in 2003 because the latter's anti-corruption agenda was the "centrepiece of his administration".

"Today, those expectations have yet to be realised, and, if reports emanating from the mainstream media are to be believed, then we have regressed to a point that Malaysia's fight against corruption has become all form and no substance, a heartless and cruel joke on an unsuspecting, susceptible public," he added.

Tunku Abdul Aziz said the experience drawn from other countries show that the battle against corruption would need a strong political will, an effort which he believed have been wavering over the past three years.

His speech was preluded with a short speech by his six-year-old daughter Amelia who spoke on the "evils of corruption", much to the amusement of the audience at the launch.

Also present at the launch of TI CPI index 2007 was Auditor-General Ambrin Buang, former Auditor-General Hadenan Abdul Jalil and Anti-Corruption Agency deputy director general Abu Kassim Mohamed.