COMMENT | It was reported yesterday that Malaysia has markedly improved in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2019, jumping 10 spots from the 61st place in 2018 to be ranked 51 last year.

Transparency International Malaysia, which revealed this in a press conference, also informed the public that the country’s score also showed a significant improvement with an increase of six points from 47 in 2018 to 53 points last year.

The score of 53 is the highest since 2012, when the score began to be measured on a 100-point scale. Previously, it was measured on a 10-point scale. Prior to 2012, the highest score for the country was in 1998, when Malaysia garnered a score of 5.3 out of 10.

In 2017, Malaysia’s TI CPI ranked 62, which was the lowest for Malaysia in 25 years since 1995, with a score of 47 out of 100; while in 2018, Malaysia was ranked 61 out of 180 countries with a score of 47.

TI-M president Dr Muhammad Mohan (above) stated that the improvement was due to the new government’s measures in combating graft. He said that swift action on 1MDB, SRC International Bhd, Felda and Tabung Haji scandals, the arrest of several political figures for corruption and money laundering, and greater media freedom all contributed to this...