40% of expats say graft a serious problem

Over 40 percent of expatriates living in Malaysia think corruption is a significant problem here.

This was revealed by a survey conducted among 230 expatriate families from 32 different countries published in the March issue of Expat magazine in a report entitled ‘Expats share their views on corruption in Malaysia'.

It was clear that expatriates agree that corruption is a problem, and that the current levels of corruption have a negative impact on foreign investment.

The publisher of the magazine, J Andrew Davison, wrote in an editorial on the issue that there is widespread recognition that corruption has a negative impact on a country's economic development.

"Its existence creates a hidden cost for the country and often leads to sub-quality work. Equally important, it adversely impacts the country's international image.

"Multinationals usually avoid locating their operations in countries with widespread corruption unless it is essential to achieve their business objectives."

Davison added that he had been in regular contact with the government's National Key Results Areas department in charge of fighting corruption.

"In December they have asked us to do a survey to get a better idea of the expat's views.

"The replies came from a mix of working expats, their spouses and retirees living here. Over half have lived in Malaysia for over five years, so they have a fair amount of local knowledge."

Police force the worst

However, they do not consider it as bad as the situation in most other Asian countries. Most welcomed the government's efforts to address the problem and many had views on how it should be done.

"Many expats are in a position to influence investment decisions so clearly they need to be convinced things are changing."

Expatriates who have lived in Malaysia over two years were also asked if they felt the situation had improved since they arrived here.

"The overwhelming majority felt that the situation was essentially unchanged from their arrival. Only 11 percent felt the situation was improving, while 17 percent thought the situation had worsened since they arrived."

Awareness of the government's efforts was very high but not all expats are convinced the government will succeed.

Just under half of the respondents felt the current efforts would work, with most of them recognising it would take time. Only 15 percent thought the efforts would fail, but over one-third were not sure of the outcome.

Expatriates were also asked to share their views on those areas where they feel corruption is a problem.

"We specifically asked about the police, government and day-to-day business.

"Not surprisingly, most felt that corruption was worst in the police force. This appears to be the result of a high number stating they had been asked for money for traffic offences.

"... When we exclude expats with no exposure to this area, some 75 percent indicated they had been asked for money," said Davison.

Expatriates who have had dealings with the government also felt corruption was prevalent in getting approvals and in major government contracts.

Their views about corruption in day-to-day business varied but the situation was seen to be slightly less serious in this area.

The survey report added: "Nearly two-thirds of the expats said they did not know how to report corruption, so clearly there was a need to educate the expat community about this. The challenge then is to get them to report it.

"The majority of expats are not sure if they would report it and only 37 percent said they would definitely report it if they came across it.

"The main reasons given for not wanting to report it were fear of reprisals (particularly loss of their visas), a concern that nothing would happen and the degree of hassle involved in making the report."