Faster than Ministers’ information
Parliament 18.10.05 (2)
By the time the Dewan Rakyat adjourned at 11 pm, two more Ministers had given their replies – Abdul Kadir bin Sheikh Fadzir (Information) and Dr. Fong Chan Onn (Human Resources). At least five other Ministers had been in the House awaiting their turn – Azmi bin Khalid (Home Affairs), Hishammuddin Tun Hussein (Education), Dr. Rais Yatim (Culture, Arts and Heritage), Shahrizat Abdul Jalil (Women, Family and Community Development/Acting Federal Territories) and Dr. Jamaluddin Jarjis (Science Technology and Innovation).
There were several “firsts” in today’s marathon parliamentary sitting. The second one is the speed with which the Opposition could inform Parliament, including Ministers, of the latest developments in the world as a result of the advent of Internet where information travels at the speed of light.
During the speech by Deputy Minister for International Trade and Industry, Husni Mohd Hanadzlah, I stood up to inform the House about the world-wide release of Transparency International (TI)’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2005 – information which MPs and several Ministers in the House were unaware.
I prefaced the disclosure of the TI CPI by linking the AP scandal with corruption, abuses of power and lack of transparency and accountability, which had combined to cause the plunge in the country’s lowly ranking over the years on integrity and good governance.
From the TI CPI 2005, three conclusions are obvious:
(1) Malaysia, which fell from 37th ranking in 2003 to 39th last year remained stuck in the 39th position.
(2) Asian countries which were ahead of Malaysia in last year’s ranking continued to chalk up impressive improvements, as illustrated by the following:
Transparency International Corruption Perception Index rankings
(3) Asian countries which had trailed behind Malaysia are fast catching up, in particular, South Korea which jumped from 47th to 40th in the TI CPI 2005. This should prompt alarm that Malaysia is losing out to South Korea and other countries in yet another important sector critical to the nation’s international competitiveness, viz
If Malaysians are not careful, TI CPI will be another area where Malaysians will be by-passed by other nations with better scores.
We have therefore the sorry state of post- TI CPI 2005, with Malaysia stuck in No. 39 ranking, while countries whether recognised internationally or locally with better or worse rankings in the latest TI CPI 2005, have continued to make substantial progress. The government should regard this as a grave governance, integrity and competitiveness crisis. The question is whether Cabinet Ministers will continue with their bad habits of the past, i.e. pretending that such unpleasant things had not happened, when they should be playing a leading role in promoting integrity and competitiveness.
By the time the Dewan Rakyat adjourned at 11 pm, two more Ministers had given their replies – Abdul Kadir bin Sheikh Fadzir (Information) and Dr. Fong Chan Onn (Human Resources). At least five other Ministers had been in the House awaiting their turn – Azmi bin Khalid (Home Affairs), Hishammuddin Tun Hussein (Education), Dr. Rais Yatim (Culture, Arts and Heritage), Shahrizat Abdul Jalil (Women, Family and Community Development/Acting Federal Territories) and Dr. Jamaluddin Jarjis (Science Technology and Innovation).There were several “firsts” in today’s marathon parliamentary sitting. The second one is the speed with which the Opposition could inform Parliament, including Ministers, of the latest developments in the world as a result of the advent of Internet where information travels at the speed of light.
During the speech by Deputy Minister for International Trade and Industry, Husni Mohd Hanadzlah, I stood up to inform the House about the world-wide release of Transparency International (TI)’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2005 – information which MPs and several Ministers in the House were unaware.
I prefaced the disclosure of the TI CPI by linking the AP scandal with corruption, abuses of power and lack of transparency and accountability, which had combined to cause the plunge in the country’s lowly ranking over the years on integrity and good governance.
From the TI CPI 2005, three conclusions are obvious:
(1) Malaysia, which fell from 37th ranking in 2003 to 39th last year remained stuck in the 39th position.
(2) Asian countries which were ahead of Malaysia in last year’s ranking continued to chalk up impressive improvements, as illustrated by the following:
Transparency International Corruption Perception Index rankings
| CPI Ranking | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 2005 | |
| Hong Kong | 16 | 15 |
| Japan | 24 | 21 |
(3) Asian countries which had trailed behind Malaysia are fast catching up, in particular, South Korea which jumped from 47th to 40th in the TI CPI 2005. This should prompt alarm that Malaysia is losing out to South Korea and other countries in yet another important sector critical to the nation’s international competitiveness, viz
| CPI Ranking | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 2005 | |
| South Korea | 47 | 40 |
| Thailand | 64 | 59 |
If Malaysians are not careful, TI CPI will be another area where Malaysians will be by-passed by other nations with better scores.
We have therefore the sorry state of post- TI CPI 2005, with Malaysia stuck in No. 39 ranking, while countries whether recognised internationally or locally with better or worse rankings in the latest TI CPI 2005, have continued to make substantial progress. The government should regard this as a grave governance, integrity and competitiveness crisis. The question is whether Cabinet Ministers will continue with their bad habits of the past, i.e. pretending that such unpleasant things had not happened, when they should be playing a leading role in promoting integrity and competitiveness.
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