About 15 per cent of Malaysians have been involved in giving and taking
bribes, says a study by the Malaysian Institute of Integrity. Dr
Sulaiman Mahbob, the institute president, said corruption was a ‘major
concern’, though the report showed that the bulk of Malaysians do not
practise bribery.
Sulaiman pointed out that Malaysia ranks 39th out of 146 in a
Transparency International survey with a score of five – ‘neither good
nor bad’ – but the institute aims to raise the score to 6.5 and achieve
30th position by 2008.
He said corporates could do more to fight corruption and thus encourage
greater transparency in business dealings. ‘Our study indicates that
the private sector is more prone to give way to bribery,’ he said. ‘In
the Asia Pacific such stakeholder management is often lacking.’
