Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has once again spoken out against corruption among the people, saying that it cannot be tolerated and should be eradicated.

"We cannot allow it to spread. We must arrest it and eradicate it," he was quoted as saying in a Bernama report.

Abdullah was commenting on a speech by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday at the Transparency International Malaysia Integrity Award presentation ceremony in which he called for Malaysians to avoid corruption or risk losing the country to the most persuasive corrupters.

In a New Straits Times report today, Mahathir was quoted as saying that Malaysians should know the dangers of corruption and bribery and to avoid them like poison.

"Unfortunately, there are many Malays and other Malaysians who see corruption as an easy way to get rich," he said.

Meanwhile, Abdullah who is also the Home Minister said he was unaware of any reports of Home Ministry staff being involved in corruption.

"The ministry has not received any complaint. If there is any (made) through the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) and the police, an investigation will be conducted," he added.

Malaysian malaise

The deputy prime minister also clarified that the Home Ministry would be recruiting 23,000 new police officers over the next five years and not over the next two years as reported by the media yesterday.

"We plan to recruit 23,000 personnel. The 4,000 already approved will be recruited over two years and the rest, as required, that is over five years," he said.

Abdullah has spoken out strongly against corruption on several occasions, notably during a hard-hitting speech he gave to the Oxbridge Society in March this year.

The deputy premier had called on Malaysians to stop relying on the government as a "provider of contracts and concessions" and fight corruption.

He also criticised what he termed the "first world infrastructure and third world mentality" malaise, while noting that Malaysian businesses still lacked world-class management and working practices to be competitive.

Corruption Perceptions Index

In a survey of 102 countries published in August last year, Transparency International ranked Malaysia the 33rd least corrupt country in its list based on an index designed to measure corruption perceptions.

The least corrupt country was found to be Finland while the most corrupt, Bangladesh.

Several other countries in the region, with the exception of Singapore (at fifth place), have also been ranked less favourably as compared to Malaysia.

Thailand is positioned (in the list of increasing corruption perceptions) at 64th place, Philippines at 77th place, Vietnam at 85th place and Indonesia at 96th place.

Brunei and Cambodia were not ranked.