Holding on too long can breed corruption: PM
K KabilanPublished: Mar 20, 2001 1:27 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM
The likelihood of corruption occurring is high if a person holds on to the same position for a long time, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.
The likelihood of corruption occurring is high if a person holds on to the same position for a long time, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.
"The holding on to one position for too long a time can bring about corruption. When a person is given a little bit of authority, eventually corruption will take place," said Mahathir in his address at the 'Business and Integrity: The Way Forward' seminar in Kuala Lumpur this morning.
The seminar, attended by about 400 participants, was jointly organised by the Anti-Corruption Agency, the International Trade and Industry Ministry and the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry.
Mahathir is Asia's longest serving leader in Asia, being at helm since 1981. He has indicated that he will step down at the end of the current parliamentary term in 2004.
Society's role
In his speech today, Mahathir said it is evident that wherever people with power and authority are present, the possibility of corruption will be there.
"Such practices do not profit anyone. The society must understand the perils of corrupt practices.We must understand that corruption is a criminal act, is insulting and an embarrassment to the society. Only the society can deter corruption from spreading," said Mahathir.
He also said that proper religious teachings could also deter corruption.
Later at a press conference, Mahathir admitted corruption was prevalent in Malaysia, especially in the business sector. He, however, added that it was difficult to detect the guilty parties.
He also said the opposition parties loved to accuse the government of corruption adding that they (the opposition parties) were more guilty of corruption.
"PAS is also corrupt. They practise moral corruption by falsely promising a place in heaven for those who support them," he said, adding that such tactics were very effective against those who have little religious knowledge.
Chinese votes
He said the opposition had also criticised the government over the decision to maintain the rotation system for the Sabah chief minister post.
"If we had abandoned the system, they would have criticised us for not keeping our election promises," said Mahathir.
On the Malay unity talks between Umno and PAS, Mahathir said he was willing to forget party politics to meet PAS leader Fadzil Mohd Noor to discuss matters relating to Malay unity.
He said that PAS was imposing conditions as an excuse for them not to meet Umno. "They have the Malay votes. They now need the Chinese votes and that is why they insist that we talk about national unity," said the prime minister.
Corruption index irrelevant
Earlier, in a question-and-answer session with the participants of the seminar, Mahathir was asked on the recent corruption survey by Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (Perc) which placed Malaysia just below average.
Grading countries from a scale of zero to 10, with zero being the best grade possible and 10 the worst, Perc said Malaysia got a score of 6. Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan were rated as the least corrupt economies in Asia by the survey.
Mahathir said the index was biased and had taken into consideration matters such as the New Economic Policy which was implemented to profit all bumiputra.
"They are also angry and envious that we allow the bumiputra to be successful. Their consideration on what amounts to corrupt practises is very different from ours," he said.
The prime minister said that the government was involved in social engineering exercises to benefit the bumiputra as this group was lacking in terms of socio-economy.
"I don't care about their assessment as we must ensure balance between the races for continued stability," said Mahathir.
Dow Jones effect
Mahathir also said that the corporate governance of businesses was more transparent now compared with the situation a few years ago, stating that the lack of such governance was not the reason for the continuous fall of the market index at the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.
He said that it was easy to manipulate and pressure share prices and that the fall of share prices could not be attributed to ineffective corporate governance.
He also said that he found it difficult to understand why the KLSE should plummet following the fall of the Dow Jones Index.
A weak US market last Friday resulted in lower share prices in KLSE and other bourses. KLSE closed at 658.61 points on Friday and yesterday at 665.26 points. Today, the market closed at 656 points.
On Friday, the Dow Jones slipped to 9,973 points, down 317 points while US electronic stock market Nasdaq dropped 42 points to finish at 1,972 points.
Mahathir said that the local companies were doing well with some companies making billions of ringgit in profits. He said the KLSE should not be used as a yardstick to measure the Malaysian economy.
Lots of job opportunities
"We must see the overall economic growth of the country to measure the strength of our economy," he added.
He also said that if the lack of corporate governance was the reason for the fall of the KLSE index, then similarly the lack of such governance was also the reason for the drop in the Dow Jones index.
He also attributed the retrenchment of employees here to the downturn in the US economy, adding that the companies that had retrenched their staff had relied on supplying products to the US market.
"Eighteen percent of our exports are to the US but I am confident those retrenched will be able to find work soon. There are ample job opportunities here as can be seen from the two million foreign labourers working in the country," said Mahathir.
"The holding on to one position for too long a time can bring about corruption. When a person is given a little bit of authority, eventually corruption will take place," said Mahathir in his address at the 'Business and Integrity: The Way Forward' seminar in Kuala Lumpur this morning.
The seminar, attended by about 400 participants, was jointly organised by the Anti-Corruption Agency, the International Trade and Industry Ministry and the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry.
Mahathir is Asia's longest serving leader in Asia, being at helm since 1981. He has indicated that he will step down at the end of the current parliamentary term in 2004.
Society's role
In his speech today, Mahathir said it is evident that wherever people with power and authority are present, the possibility of corruption will be there.
"Such practices do not profit anyone. The society must understand the perils of corrupt practices.We must understand that corruption is a criminal act, is insulting and an embarrassment to the society. Only the society can deter corruption from spreading," said Mahathir.
He also said that proper religious teachings could also deter corruption.
Later at a press conference, Mahathir admitted corruption was prevalent in Malaysia, especially in the business sector. He, however, added that it was difficult to detect the guilty parties.
He also said the opposition parties loved to accuse the government of corruption adding that they (the opposition parties) were more guilty of corruption.
"PAS is also corrupt. They practise moral corruption by falsely promising a place in heaven for those who support them," he said, adding that such tactics were very effective against those who have little religious knowledge.
Chinese votes
He said the opposition had also criticised the government over the decision to maintain the rotation system for the Sabah chief minister post.
"If we had abandoned the system, they would have criticised us for not keeping our election promises," said Mahathir.
On the Malay unity talks between Umno and PAS, Mahathir said he was willing to forget party politics to meet PAS leader Fadzil Mohd Noor to discuss matters relating to Malay unity.
He said that PAS was imposing conditions as an excuse for them not to meet Umno. "They have the Malay votes. They now need the Chinese votes and that is why they insist that we talk about national unity," said the prime minister.
Corruption index irrelevant
Earlier, in a question-and-answer session with the participants of the seminar, Mahathir was asked on the recent corruption survey by Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (Perc) which placed Malaysia just below average.
Grading countries from a scale of zero to 10, with zero being the best grade possible and 10 the worst, Perc said Malaysia got a score of 6. Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan were rated as the least corrupt economies in Asia by the survey.
Mahathir said the index was biased and had taken into consideration matters such as the New Economic Policy which was implemented to profit all bumiputra.
"They are also angry and envious that we allow the bumiputra to be successful. Their consideration on what amounts to corrupt practises is very different from ours," he said.
The prime minister said that the government was involved in social engineering exercises to benefit the bumiputra as this group was lacking in terms of socio-economy.
"I don't care about their assessment as we must ensure balance between the races for continued stability," said Mahathir.
Dow Jones effect
Mahathir also said that the corporate governance of businesses was more transparent now compared with the situation a few years ago, stating that the lack of such governance was not the reason for the continuous fall of the market index at the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.
He said that it was easy to manipulate and pressure share prices and that the fall of share prices could not be attributed to ineffective corporate governance.
He also said that he found it difficult to understand why the KLSE should plummet following the fall of the Dow Jones Index.
A weak US market last Friday resulted in lower share prices in KLSE and other bourses. KLSE closed at 658.61 points on Friday and yesterday at 665.26 points. Today, the market closed at 656 points.
On Friday, the Dow Jones slipped to 9,973 points, down 317 points while US electronic stock market Nasdaq dropped 42 points to finish at 1,972 points.
Mahathir said that the local companies were doing well with some companies making billions of ringgit in profits. He said the KLSE should not be used as a yardstick to measure the Malaysian economy.
Lots of job opportunities
"We must see the overall economic growth of the country to measure the strength of our economy," he added.
He also said that if the lack of corporate governance was the reason for the fall of the KLSE index, then similarly the lack of such governance was also the reason for the drop in the Dow Jones index.
He also attributed the retrenchment of employees here to the downturn in the US economy, adding that the companies that had retrenched their staff had relied on supplying products to the US market.
"Eighteen percent of our exports are to the US but I am confident those retrenched will be able to find work soon. There are ample job opportunities here as can be seen from the two million foreign labourers working in the country," said Mahathir.
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