The Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (SCAH), which represents 300 Chinese-based associations, has told Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to follow Hong Kong's example in the fight against corruption.

In a memorandum submitted to Abdullah's Chinese affair political secretary, Dr Vincent Lim, the influential assembly hall urged the government to learn from Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

"We support the prime minister's efforts in cracking down on corruption and to give priority to healthcare, education and agriculture," said SCAH president Ting Chee Seng when contacted today.

He said the Anti-Corruption Agency should seek to emulate the success of its counterpart in Hong Kong, which is known to be one of the world's most efficient graft-fighting organisations.

The efficiency of Hong Kong's ICAC is largely due to its multi-layered and independent structure.

It has three key committees - an operations review committee that examines the investigative work of the agency, a corruption prevention advisory committee that looks at corruption prevention studies, and a citizens' advisory committee that educates the public and enlists their support.

Abandon language switch

The nine-page memorandum is believed to be the first submitted by SCAH to Abdullah after he took over the premiership in Oct 31.

The assembly hall also pointed out that the Transparency International's corruption perception index showed that Malaysia has dropped from the 23th spot to 37 th in its global ranking.

"Obviously, corruption is the major issue of concern," Ting ( right ) said.

SCAH also raised the issue of high crime rates in the country and expressed concern that some police officials had been found to be involved in robberies and other crimes.

"We endorsed the setting up of the police royal commission to modernise the police force and to restore its credibility and bring back public confidence in the force," said Ting.

SCAH also backed the government in postponing certain mega-projects but expressed hope that priority is given to building essential infrastructures.

However, the assembly hall called on the prime minister to abandon the controversial policy of teaching Science and Mathematics in English.

It said that students are disadvantaged by the policy and face additional learning difficulties in schools.

The government had formulated the policy in order to improve the level of proficiency of the language among students.

SCAH's memorandum also said that the assembly hall would like to have periodic meetings with the prime minister.