You could pen numerous pages or write a book on how to tackle corruption, its practices, prevention and education, to begin with.

We know that the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in Hong Kong was incepted during colonial rule and its members had since worked tirelessly to change the public’s perception that bribes and kickbacks are an expected and normal part of everyday life, and to reassure citizens that if they face a demand for an illegal payment that the ICAC will be there to investigate and do the needful without fear or favour.

Well, ICAC was established by governor Sir Murray MacLehose on Feb 15, 1974, when Hong Kong was under British rule, its main aim was to clean up endemic corruption in the many departments of the Hong Kong government through law enforcement, prevention and community education.

The ICAC is independent of the Hong Kong civil service. The Basic Law of Hong Kong stipulates that ICAC shall function independently and be directly accountable to the chief executive of Hong Kong.

Previous to the transfer of sovereignty in 1997, ICAC reported directly to the governor of Hong Kong, and appointments to the ICAC were also made directly by his office.

The ICAC is headed by a commissioner.

Since 1997, the commissioner of the ICAC has been appointed by the state council of the People’s Republic of China, based on the recommendations of the chief executive of Hong Kong.

The three divisions are namely:

1. Operations

2. Community relations

3. Corruption prevention

The person in charge of the operations department is appointed by the chief executive and not by the ICAC commissioner. By custom and practice, the head of operations is usually bestowed the title of deputy commissioner.

Most importantly, the ICAC maintain a small specialised unit namely the ‘Witness Protection and Firearms Section’ also independently, which carry out high-risk operations (such as pursuit and conducting house raids), forced entry, witness protection, and training of new recruits in basic firearms skills, since 1998.

Besides, to be a member, investigators have to undergo a battery of physical, written, and psychometric tests, and receive a three phase training if they are selected,which involves multiple tactics in witness protection, firearms and more.

Though the operations department members of ICAC are trained to use firearms, most of them are not armed. However, officers are required to go to the range for their continuous training and annual examination.

There are also investigators (armed issued officers) of the witness protection and firearms section, who are solely the members who have the permit to use firearms. They are mostly trained in the use of, and issued, Glock 19 handguns as sidearms, though Standard Glock 17 or the SIG P228 are also equipped, depend on the situation.

For your information, the members of the witness protection and firearms section also carry an ASP expandable baton and a small pepper spray for less lethal options for protection on the field.
In fact, ICAC is proud to say that up to now, no shots were fired by the team during missions and the unit’s reputation remains good.

The above reports are part extracts from Wikipedia to highlight the good points for Malaysia to enrich their knowledge on how the ICAC function and operate in Hong Kong.

Exactly, this leads the rakyat (people in Malaysia) to wonder how the local Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) functions and operates.

By the way, most people are given the understanding that MACC is entirely an independent entity, which function and operate on its own that is with no strings attached with politicians and people in governance, most importantly without fear or favour.

So MACC should carry out education of the community and also to updates the rakyat of their operations especially for what they do with all the seized ill-gotten wealth, etc, etc.

In the meantime, do continue to keep up with the good work and have lots more successes.

LAU BING is a community activist and writer in Subang Jaya.