Corruption has always existed in Malaysia, although never on a grand that it is today, according to the wife of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali.

She said that her 18 years in the civil service, she was offered a bribe on two occasions.

“I’ve never even heard of the word ‘rasuah’ (bribery). It was in the 70s then.

“It is not only now that corruption is taking place, no. I was there before, but it was nothing like today,” she told a meet-and-greet session in Putrajaya today.