COMMENT | If the government is serious about curbing graft, one quick way is to totally revamp land allocation and conversion in Malaysia, where there is tremendous leeway for graft and huge money to be made by bribing people in charge.

In the last five years alone, hundreds of billions of ringgit that could have been state revenue have been lost due to avoidable land corruption. The government can easily save that amount in the next decade and 10s of billions each year.

Malaysia lost about RM277 billion to corruption between 2018 and 2023 - in a mere five years, said the MACC. While this covers all sectors, land is a major contributor because of its high value and systemic vulnerabilities.

The figure for this since independence in 1957 would have been stupendous. There are two points at which corruption occurs. The first is when state land is allocated, and the next is when land-use conversion takes place.

RM4.5 trillion corruption losses

According to one 2023 estimate, the cost of corruption in Malaysia...