An alternative governing system not unlike the powerful and influential Italian Mafia will one day replace the existing government if corruption continues to thrive, cautioned a leading corporate figure today.

Speaking at a forum cum dialouge on the second anniversary of the National Integrity Plan (NIP) - Malaysia's anti-corruption blueprint - well-known corporate figure Megat Najmuddin Khas said Malaysia was en route to such a destruction.

"Failure to address corruption will result in a rule by Mafia, not rule of law, and it will be fuelled by a desire to form an alternative government arising from the loss of confidence in the judiciary and administrative institutions."

If left unchecked, he warned, the legitimate order of business will 'be swallowed up' by a growing underground economy spurred by corruption.

"Gambling is among the top three industries within this alternative economy which competes with the real economy. Malaysia is also globally notorious for piracy and smuggling," he told an audience of nearly 600 invited guests at the event organised by the Malaysian Integrity Institute (MII) in Kuala Lumpur.

"During the last World Cup, Malaysia was the seventh biggest betting nation on the planet with illegal bookies making a kill, further enriching the local Mafia. He also cited Malaysia's notoriety as the biggest exporter of illegal CDs, video CDs and DVDs.

Megat Najmuddin, 62, is president of the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance and Federation of Public Listed Companies, besides sitting on Umno's disciplinary board.

Interdependence

As the world's 18th biggest trading nation touching a RM1 trillion turnover, he said Malaysia was very dependent on the outside world and had to compete against emerging economic powerhouses China and India.

"Too many rules and regulations, and too little enforcement is the most frequent public complaint that creates a negative perception which turns away investors and tourists.

"This is why it's very important for all government agencies such as the police, immigration and others to address public perception."

Expressing sympathy for government enforcers in mounting successful prosecutions, he said the lack of evidence was the most frustrating aspect of anti-corruption probes.

He also believes that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi needs all the support he can get from politicians, the civil service and the people.

"He is trying hard to fight corruption. But he's all alone and he can't do it by himself. He also has political problems.

"Where are the politicians in this crusade? Very few cabinet ministers can even look at the mirror (rakyat) when talking about fighting corruption," he said, repeating calls to remove Malaysia's race-based political system to address quota-based appointments.

The absence of top politicians from the forum-dialogue session was later noted by the floor.

Speaking from the floor, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan stressed that the underground economic network with international syndicates was a real threat and 'we must stop them before they rule'.

"Some of these are in fact legitimate businesses with close political connections, making us feel sometimes that our efforts are wasted. For instance, a kingpin was recently detained and later recommended to be released," he said, implying political intervention.

"This sends a wrong signal down the line with personnel feeling demoralised because even if the crook is apprehended, there is nothing we can do if we are then forced to release him," he said.

Former MII president Dr Sulaiman Mahbob said all boiled down to individual integrity and professionalism, and narrowing the income gap among the races.

"We need to bring back the good planning culture we had before [...] like in the 1970s. Good planning includes identifying and monitoring risks and problems."

Individual will

He acknowledged that procurement was the most cited aspect of poor administration, with the government losing on negotiated tenders for almost all contracts.

"We must do away with negotiated tenders for regular jobs such as constructing roads and schools and move towards open tenders in order to account for actual economic cost.

"If at all we must have negotiated tenders, it must be factored on intellectual property and to be prepared within a specified time-frame."

Sulaiman was recently made executive director of the National Implementing Directorate to monitor the proper implementation of the 9th Malaysia Plan.

Besides several top civil servants, there were representatives of political parties, non-governmental organisations, and national and state chambers of commerce.

The three-day event was officiated by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Bernard Giluk Dompok, who also heads the parliamentary select committee on integrity.

During his keynote address, the minister said the success of the 9th Malaysia Plan was pinned on a high ethical implementation by the civil service.

"Social and political unrest will emerge when the rakyat see inequalities around them. The NIP and MII were created to avert such a situation and improve the administration.

"Inculcation of integrity is a slow process and there are definitely many issues to be addressed which the government is aware of," he said, citing the US Enron scandal as a classic example of a lack of an internal integrity mechanism.

New MII president Dr Isahak Yeop Mohamad Shar, in his opening remarks, said the MII has published the NIP in Tamil and Mandarin, and launched a quarterly journal.

"We have plans to hold seminars on integrity for local authorities in May and several related international events in the coming months."

These are the Organisation of Islamic Conference Anti-Corruption and Enhancing Integrity Forum jointly-organised with the ACA and Wisma Putra in August, and the World Ethics and Integrity Forum in November.

Working together

He said MII has embarked on several studies this year including to determine the effect debts have on the tendency of civil servants to accept bribes as well as to formulate a national integrity development index.

Approached later, Musa Hassan he said people needed to understand the constraints and obstructions the police faced from various quarters.

"Our hands are tied due to certain reasons, for instance, in cases of well-connected business operators and local authorities who refuse to shut down illegal premises despite numerous police raids.

"We can only recommend for their licences to be revoked but it is the jurisdiction of the local authorities to do this. We can only continue to raid the premises repeatedly."

Given this scenario, he said, people shouldn't be quick to blame the police when culprits get away scot-free.

"The problem lies with the local authorities for not acting on complaints. As enforcers, we should be working together and not against each other."

In closing, Transparency International Malaysia's president Ramon Navaratnam, who moderated the session, said the private sector would shun bribes if not for inefficiencies.

"There must be much more political will than is being currently displayed in order to speed up the implementation of the NIP. The leadership must be tough to dispel the notion of being soft."