KUALA LUMPUR – Advocacy organisation Sekhar Institute, supported by The Vibes, will conduct a webinar, titled “Battling Corruption and Patronage”, today, from 10am to 12.30pm.
The virtual forum brings together diverse speakers, who will discuss the origins and causes of corruption and patronage, and the conditions that foster these issues.
They will also suggest practical solutions to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has persisted since last year.
The speakers include:
1. Prof Terence Gomez, dean of the Faculty of Economics and Administration, Universiti Malaya;
2. Fahmi Fadzil, Lembah Pantai MP;
3. Muhammad Mohan, president of Transparency International Malaysia; and,
4. David Hashim, founder/CEO of Veritas Design Group.
The discussion will be moderated by P. Gunasegaram, executive director of Sekhar Institute and editorial consultant of The Vibes.
Petra Group chairman and CEO Datuk Dr Vinod Sekhar will give the opening address, and the master of ceremonies will be Petra Media executive director Patrick Teoh.
Please click here to register, or follow the webinar live on The Vibes’ Facebook page.
Explaining the rationale for the webinar, Sekhar Institute said all doubt of corruption’s existence at the very top in Malaysia disappeared with the emergence of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal, which started unravelling 2013.
This culminated in the prosecution and conviction of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. Other top leaders also prosecuted over corruption include former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
According to a report by the auditor-general, some US$7 billion (RM30 billion) in funds went missing. Influence and lack of governance at a government-linked company resulted in loans being taken out and subsequently siphoned off. At least RM4.5 billion was stolen.
Corruption has been among the major problems in Malaysia for decades. Despite numerous attempts, little headway has been made to stem its spread.
Over the years, there has been a continuous and relentless descent into the abyss, with many people living way beyond their declared means, said Sekhar Institute.
Public polls have shown that a dismaying number of the populace believes that corruption has spiralled out of control, and has reached levels that make it a danger to the economy and livelihoods. For instance, a majority of Malaysians believe that police are corrupt. If this is indeed so, how is it even possible to bring the scourge under control?
“It is important that we do find some answers – the very survival of the nation is at stake. The United Nations estimated that US$2.7 trillion was the global cost of corruption in 2018, some 5% of the world’s output of goods and services then,” said Sekhar Institute.
“Extrapolating the cost of corruption this year to the Malaysian economy works out to RM70 billion per year, or 5% – that’s per year – of the output of RM1.4 trillion. This does not take into account other costs, such as the continuous deterioration in competitiveness, for instance.” – The Vibes, February 3, 2021
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