Education Key To Cultivating Culture Of Transparency, Integrity - Shamsul Azri

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 18 (Bernama) -- Educating the public about corruption is crucial to cultivate a culture of transparency, accountability and integrity, Chief-Secretary to the Malaysian Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar said.

He pointed out that Malaysians needed to be exposed to the detriments of corruption as early as primary school level up until tertiary studies.

"School and universities should teach values of honesty and ethics to instil a sense of responsibility in future generations," he said as a panellist of an expert seminar themed 'Negative Impact of Corruption On Human Rights' held by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) at Palais des Nations, Geneva, today, which was made accessible online.

Shamsul Azri said such education was of impetus as corruption could weaken institutions, discourage foreign investment and foster a culture of impunity where bad behaviour is normalised. 

In this context, he stressed that public participation and engagement also need to be encouraged as they build a society that resolutely opposes corruption.

"Citizens must actively support anti-corruption efforts and hold leaders accountable for their actions," he said. 

Shamsul Azri also recognised that efforts in combatting corruption could never be accomplished in-silo and needed a strategy which he coined as 'AI' - Associated and Integrated. 

"Associated means executing strategies by the whole-of-nation principle, while integrated focuses on the whole-of-government concept," he explained, as he stated the country’s willingness to collaborate with international communities to ensure anti-corruption commitments are translated into tangible actions.

"To ensure that corruption does not stand in the way of development and our people’s full enjoyment of human rights, we look forward to working with all our partners and the international community, especially the United Nations," he said. 

In this regard, he said that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is expected to co-host the Regional Summer Academy of the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) in Kuala Lumpur next year. 

Meanwhile, Shamsul Azri highlighted Malaysia's strides in combatting corruptions and explained that the government had introduced several key initiatives aimed to cut down bureaucratic 'red tape' and facilitate business operations in the country. 

He cited several initiatives, including the establishment of the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) Special Task Force, the Public Service Reform Agenda 2024-2030 and the Demerit Performance Evaluation system (DEEP).

The government, he stressed, believed these initiatives would help to boost the country’s ranking in the CPI, which Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had mandated the country reach the top 25 within the next 10 years. 

According to the Economic Outlook 2025 report released by the Finance Ministry last month, Malaysia ranked 57th out of 180 countries in the CPI in 2023 as compared to 61st in 2022.

-- BERNAMA