KUALA LUMPUR – Non-governmental organisations must work with agencies like the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to ensure reports lodged by whistle-blowers are followed up with action.
“We need to make these institutions more open and accessible, to ensure that the people feel their complaint is important,” said Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Centre) executive director Cynthia Gabriel at a webinar conducted jointly with the Undi18 youth movement on Friday.
The two-hour discussion aimed to shed light on the matter of whistle-blowing by the public, especially youth.
Undi18 co-founder Tharma Pillai kicked off the session by highlighting the limitations of the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010.
“Even though we have the act, there are limitations to it.
Are we really protected? One of the issues is that there are various other laws, such as the Official Secrets Act 1972 (OSA), that limit information from being shared in the public domain.”
OSA prohibits the dissemination of information classified as an official secret.
“If you contravene, or report information that is covered by, OSA, you can be fined or jailed,” said Pillai.
An example of this is the case of former PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli, who acted as a whistle-blower on the National Feedlot Corporation scandal. He was later charged over his actions.
“Even though what you’re doing is fundamentally right, your rights are not being protected,” said Pillai.
“We need legislative change to encourage whistle-blowing. You have to allow disclosures to be made through other networks.”
C4 Centre member Sudhagaran Stanley spoke about the presence of corruption at every level of society.
He cited an article by The Vibes, titled “Cartel in police force plotting my ouster: IGP”, and pointed out that graft goes all the way up to the top levels of government.
“Former inspector-general of police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador talked about police cartels, people trying to control the police force from the outside by using their influence to appoint individuals connected to them to key positions in the force.”
He also highlighted the case of Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam, who made public her teacher’s alleged trivialisation of rape.
“So many people have since come forward to speak out about their bad experience, while many have questioned the authorities and shown support for Ain Husniza.
“Because of her coming forward, we are having discussions on this topic. Parents are more aware, and know how to prepare their children to face such teachers in class.
“We see how the whistle-blower is creating an impact. We want to ignite discussions on reform and to effect change.”
Corruption has now become a norm, he warned.
“The country is bleeding billions of ringgit due to corruption. Our country is doomed to fail if we don’t address the problem, from the grassroots level up to the governing level.” – The Vibes, June 30, 2021
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