A THIRD OF STUDENTS IN THE COUNTRY DO NOT THINK IT IS WRONG TO OFFER A BRIBE !!!

Students who see nothing wrong in offering bribes

March 02, 2011 Kota Kinabalu: A third of students in the country do not think it is wrong to offer a bribe.

Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) Deputy Chief Commissioner (Prevention) Dato Sutinah Sutan said this came to light in the latest studies conducted by the MACC and UTM.

"For me this is alarming, Bribes are an indicator of the lack of integrity.

Perhaps corruption and bribes has become so much a way of our lives that we don't feel it is a crime," she said at the Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Integrity Day programme on Tuesday.

She said bribes can come in many forms and gave examples such as receiving or giving bribes as a reward or influence for some help in connection with official business, passing up a document containing fraudulent claim to a department with intention to receive profit, making decisions and misuse of power such as taking action where relatives or friends of the officer have interests.

Sutinah, in this instance, spoke of the need to be ethical and to stay away from corruption.

She said the integrity issue in the public sector can take many forms such as slow service, wasting expenditure, putting one's self interests first, being involved in outside business, loafing, wasting time, being late, being saddled with debts, inferior quality of work, a lavish lifestyle exceeding one's earnings, receiving gifts without consideration and wrongful use of power and authority.

Sutinah said Malaysia has ranked "not so good, not so bad" in Transparency International's Corruption Transparency Index (CTI) over the years but since 2008 the ranking has dropped more towards bad.

"The World Bank estimates that corruption worldwide has led to losses worth more than USD10 billion."

Sutinah said the best way to prevent corruption is a holistic approach and managing it at the source.

"As such the strategy used by MACC to prevent graft is based on education, enforcement and prevention," she said.

Meanwhile UMS Deputy Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Amran Ahmed in his speech on behalf of the Vice Chancellor Prof. Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Kamaruzaman Ampon said that the university emphasises the importance of integrity in each staff and student in the university.

"Integrity covers things such as individuals who keep their word and promises, are ethical and hold true to truth and justice, not compromising with unprofessional conduct and not jeopardising the name and honour of the university through their actions.

"For undergraduates, the university also places an importance on the role of integrity in their holistic development.

"Other than enforcing the existing laws such as the Universities and Colleges Act, university constitution and the boarding regulations, various activities that promote the element of integrity among undergraduates are encouraged.

"Individuals who have integrity are able to control their negative emotions and are also able to be highly productive and dedicated to their work.

"We are committed to integrity in UMS and as such, I urge that March 1 each year be the official day to celebrate Integrity Day in UMS." he said.

Also present at the seminar were UMS Registrar Mej. (K) Abdullah Mohd Said and Sabah MACC Director, Jalil Jaafar.