Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) welcomes the decree of His Royal Highness Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah that ordered all government departments in the state not to present him with gift in any event he attended.

According to media on Oct 1, 2014, Sultan Nazrin made the decree at the Perak State Council Meeting on Sept 8, 2014. His Royal Highness instructed all the events organised by state government departments and agencies not to present any gift to him and Raja Permaisuri Perak, Tuanku Zara Salim.

TI-M sees this as a positive development in order to preserve the integrity of the expectations of the people. TI-M is also confident that the people and leaders at large will welcome this development and we should consider this as a national practice in the near future.

In the view of TI-M, the sultan of Perak, who has been emphasising integrity in the administration and management services, has portrayed a classic example, and also in line with his speech during the 47th anniversary of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on Oct 1, 2014.

TI-M hopes the federal government and the other state governments will take a similar step to issue directive to all departments at the federal and state levels. Such a step should be followed by government-linked companies (GLCs).

Thus, our Prime Minister, Najib Abdul Razak, should instructs all governmental agencies both at federal and state levels, as well as GLCs, to cease the presentation of the customary mementos in all governmental and private sector functions, where ministers or state exco members officially open such events.

The state and central leaders, including members of the administration should emulate the sultan of Perak and should issue strict instructions to all government departments and the private sector in order not to give any gifts at the opening of the program or activity. Furthermore, such measures will be an important step to save the cost of organising the event.

Najib should also take a step further by discarding the need for different F1 uniforms specifically tailored for an occasion. It’s understandable if these F1 uniforms are meant to be used again and again but, unfortunately for taxpayers, they tend to be made specifically for just one occasion. The prime minister’s repertoire of uniforms in his closet holds testimony to this.

And also not forgetting the door gift which one receives as a participant or as a delegate of a conference.  It has become so common that no civil servant would want to put a stop to such waste of money. We just have to be frugal!

TI-M has had issued similar recommendation in 2012, which had demanded that all parties to emulate initiative to adopt a No Gifts Policy. There are only a small number of private companies and GLCs which had adopted and put into practice such a policy.

Strengthening culture of integrity

TI-M strongly believes that this step will lead to strengthening the culture of integrity, conducting business in an open and transparent manner and thus helping to address corruption in the long run.

TI-M would like to stress that the support of various parties to implement internal control mechanisms including leadership by example or hiring integrity employers is crucial if we are to tackle corruption in a comprehensive manner, and to materialise the ‘jihad’ mission of combatting corruption as emphasised by the sultan of Perak.

Most of the organisations were reluctant to impose tight controls which might be costly, and reduce profits and bonuses. But according to the 2014 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) reported that an average of five percent of revenue is lost to workplace misuse and fraud.

DR KM LOI is secretary-general of Transparency International-Malaysia, which is an independent, non-governmental and non-partisan organisation committed to the fight against corruption.