It was to be an important forum to discuss an important issue - integrity. But it seems the subject is one few bother to know, if the attendance at a forum today is any indication.

It was a total letdown at the ‘Integrity at Work’ forum organised by the MCA Integrity Watch Group (IWG) in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

Why? Because only five turned up.

A Malaysiakini rep who was present sent in this rather ‘neat’ message to the office, “I’ve waited almost two hours for the function to start. In the end, 500 people turned up (minus the two zeros). Yes, correct - only five (5) participants were present.”

He said the number of reporters (about 10 of them) even out-numbered the participants.

“The forum is well intended but it is badly organised,” he added.

Started late too

One of the forum speakers, Agensi Perkerjaan Source CEO Shahul Hameed Dawood told Malaysiakini that he decided to cut short his 45-minute speech to 20 minutes due to the ‘outstanding’ attendance.

As expected, he expressed disappointment with the turnout, saying that he spent quite some time to prepare his paper.

However, he commented that it was a good initiative from the organisers.

Moderator Dr Daphne Loke could not be reached for comments.

The free admission forum was held in the KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall. It was to start at 9am but was delayed till 10.15am because of the lack of participants.