The Kuala Lumpur Society for Transparency and Integrity has decided to award Transparency International Malaysia's National Integrity Medal to the late Tan Siew Sin, Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman and Ismail Mohamad Ali.

In a press statement today, the society said the three were "inheritors and practitioners of the noble values of honesty, integrity and accountability in both personal and public life".

Tan was a former MCA president, finance minister and chairperson of Sime Darby Bhd. He died in 1974.

Ismail Abdul Rahman, who died in 1973, was a former deputy premier and home affairs minister.

Meanwhile, the late Ismail Ali was a former Bank Negara Malaysia governor. Upon his retirement, he became the chairperson of Permodalan Nasional Bhd and later Sime Darby Bhd.

Ismail, who was Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's brother-in-law, died last year.

Examplary contribution

Kuala Lumpur Society for Transparency and Integrity president Abdul Aziz Ibrahim said the trio shared a common attribute, which was an uncompromising commitment to integrity.

"This is a recognition of their exemplary contribution to the country's national integrity system in the course of their stewardship of our political, social and economic institutions.

"The decision to confer the medal to the three could not have come at a more appropriate time in view of the alarming decline in the ethical standards of those who are appointed guardians of public interest," he said in the statement.

The society hopes that the awards will remind Malaysians that "there was a time in the life of a young nation when personal honour, honesty and integrity mattered a great deal more than they apparently do today".

The date for the award presentation ceremony has yet to be decided.

The Kuala Lumpur Society for Transparency and Integrity was established in1998 to promote integrity by raising the levels of awareness and understanding of the damaging effects of corruption.