First, why is corruption bad for business and society? Because it does not promote the best use of economic resources and guarantees that the wrong person gets the job. Productivity means using the least resources to produce the most results. Corruption gets in the way of productivity as more resources than necessary are spent.
When the wrong person gets the job, the final product or service is never at its best; and sometimes they are not even up to par. What Malaysians need is well planned, sustainable development. We want modern services and a better standard of living; we want up-to-date medical facilities at par with the world’s best, available to every Malaysian. We desire strong and efficient infrastructure and support systems for a superior quality of life.
We want good schools, roads, hospitals, offices, shops and homes. We want institutions of higher learning where our children can thrive and when they graduate, we want growth that ensures they have secure jobs with increasing incomes. We want progress and we are entitled to want to move forward towards a brighter future for everyone.
We are not against building bridges and big infrastructure projects – what we are wary about is hearing about the equally big corruption that comes along with them. We want progress, but we do not want the corruption that comes with it, corruption that saps our budgets and the integrity of our people and nation.
When bribes are paid, when someone who should not get the job gets it because of corruption, everyone loses, even the very people that got the bribe and the work. The one who gets the bribe does not learn how to get his work done through proper means, the one that takes the work does not do their job well because there is no need for them to.
When there is dishonesty and corruption anywhere in our nation, every Malaysian loses. And we do not want to put up with it any more. Enough is enough, please!
As for the individuals, you and I, we must know that while society can create institutions, legal frameworks, rules and laws to deter corruption, the last line of defense lies squarely on the individual, on us.
In our strategy to combat corruption we must focus on ourselves too. We must convince each individual that we all stand to lose and that corruption will ruin all in the end. Let’s tell our leaders that we want development minus corruption while at the same time promise ourselves that we too will not succumb to it, even if just to run away from getting a police summons.
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