It is not easy to report corruption due to the hassle of following it through, say shopkeepers and hawkers who were part of a survey involving 1,000 residents in the Selayang Municipal Council, a suburban municipality north of Kuala Lumpur.

Most (46 percent) felt that it was not easy to report corrupt practices, compared with 36 percent who thought it was easy and the rest who were unsure.

Delays in addressing the complaints and the lack of punishment meted out against the culprits were among the reasons cited as the 'deterrents'.

"Interestingly, those who perceived difficulties in complaining were much more likely to envisage the need to follow up.

"It may be that the felt necessity to follow up had led respondents into thinking that it was not easy to lodge a complaint," stated the recent survey conducted jointly by corruption watchdog Transparency International and the Malaysian Institute of Management.

The study, funded by the Netherlands Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, was based on a strata sampling of 250 each from among users of local council services, hawkers, shop owners and households.

The findings also revealed that most of the respondents (58 percent) felt there was a need to follow up on complaints against corruption. Only 33 percent felt there was no such need and the rest were unsure.

Lengthy process

A majority of the respondents, particularly the Malay and Indian Malaysian respondents, homemakers and users of local council counters, felt it was necessary to follow up on complaints lodged.

"The respondents felt that while there were channels for complaints, it was important that they were acted upon promptly by the relevant authorities.

"This is evidenced by the fact that respondents reported having had to waste a great deal of time and effort in following up on their complaints before knowing the outcome," the survey stated.

Hawkers and shopkeepers appeared to be more aware of the channels to report corrupt practices, compared with homemakers and users of local council counters.

The findings also showed that 80 percent of those who thought it was easy to report on corruption felt that it was safe to do so. This is in contrast with the two-thirds of those who perceived difficulty in doing so for fear of repercussions.

"[In all] slightly less than half of the respondents thought it was safe to report on corruption, with the Chinese being much more likely to be uncertain of the safety aspect of it compared to other ethnic groups."

Condoning bribery

The Selayang Municipal Council will be discussing the survey findings in its regular full board meeting tomorrow, followed by a press conference later.

The survey covering ratepayers in Selayang Baru and Bandar Baru Selayang which have a combined population of 164,000 people, also showed that businesspersons, Chinese Malaysians and higher income earners were more likely to condone bribery and commit it.

Yesterday, Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo, who admitted to not having seen the findings, nevertheless questioned the authenticity of the survey and dismissed its findings.

The findings took two months for data collection alone and were released last week at a forum entitled "Putting local council governance under the spotlight: Is local council governance up to the mark?"

Copies of the survey have been sent to Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka Ting, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Rais Yatim, the municipal council, the Anti-Corruption Agency, the police and the Road Transport Department.

Respondents numbered 979, comprising 582 Malay Malaysians, 261 Chinese Malaysians, 125 Indian Malaysians and 11 others (Bangladeshis and Indonesians) in the 30-39 age group, with men outnumbering women 684 to 295.