Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has once again spoken out against corruption among the people, saying that it cannot be tolerated and should be eradicated.

"We cannot allow it to spread. We must arrest it and eradicate it," he was quoted as saying in a Bernama report.

Abdullah was commenting on a speech by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday at the Transparency International Malaysia Integrity Award presentation ceremony in which he called for Malaysians to avoid corruption or risk losing the country to the most persuasive corrupters.

In a New Straits Times report today, Mahathir was quoted as saying that Malaysians should know the dangers of corruption and bribery and to avoid them like poison.