Major blow for Najib premiership – Malaysia’s worst ranking and score in 15 years in Transparency International Corruption Perception Index 2009

I asked in Parliament yesterday whether Malaysia is heading for the worst Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranking and score in 15 years when TI CPI 2009 is announced in the next few days.

I had expected poor results for Malaysia both in CPI ranking and score, with Malaysia slipping further in ranking from No. 47 to may be No. 50 and to fall to the lowest CPI score ever of 4.8.

But my worst fears had been exceeded when the Berlin-based TI just announced that Malaysia had plunged nine places from last year’s 47th CPI ranking to 56th position while Malaysia CPI index score plunged to the lowest in 15 years to 4.5 when Malaysia’s previous worst scores below 5 were 4.8 in 2000 and 4.9 in 2002.

This is a national shame and major blow for Najib’s premiership

I have no doubt that the mysterious death of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock on July 16, who went to the 14th floor MACC headquarters as a healthy, vigorous, idealistic young man to give his co-operation as a witness but ended up as a corpse on the 5th floor of the building and the the MACC role as Umno catspaw to declare war on Pakatan Rakyat instead of declaring war on corruption were major factors for Malaysia’s worst-ever TI CPI ranking and score.

Will there be any response from Najib to the shocking TI CPI 2009 ranking and score?

From AP

BERLIN – RANKINGS of the top and bottom nations studied by corruption watchdog Transparency International for its annual Corruption Perceptions Index, released on Tuesday.

The index score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts and ranges between zero, which is highly corrupt, and 10, which is very clean.

1. New Zealand 9.4

2. Denmark 9.3

=3. Singapore 9.2

=3. Sweden 9.2

5. Switzerland 9.0

=6. Finland 8.9

=6. Netherlands 8.9

=8. Australia 8.7

=8. Canada 8.7

=8. Iceland 8.7

11. Norway 8.6

12. Hong Kong 8.2

=12. Luxembourg 8.2

14. Germany 8.0

=14. Ireland 8.0 .

.

.

162. Angola 1.9

=162. Congo Republic 1.9

=162. Congo Democratic Republic 1.9

=162. Guinea-Bissau 1.9

=162. Kyrgyzstan 1.9

= 162. Venezuela 1.9

168. Burundi 1.8

=168. Equatorial Guinea 1.8

=168. Guinea 1.8

=168. Haiti 1.8

=168. Iran 1.8

=168. Turkmenistan 1.8

174. Uzbekistan 1.7

175. Chad 1.6

176. Iraq 1.5

=176. Sudan 1.5

178. Myanmar 1.4

179. Afghanistan 1.3

180. Somalia 1.1

AFP

22 Replies to “Major blow for Najib premiership – Malaysia’s worst ranking and score in 15 years in Transparency International Corruption Perception Index 2009”

  1. Nah. Be ready for the deluge of standard answers:
    1) Their methodology is flawed
    2) MACC was demonised by the Opposition
    3) It is early days yet. Give MACC more time
    4) We do things our way. They won’t understand.
    5) It is a Jewish conspiracy to blacken our name
    6) Money politics is not corruption. Wrong of them to include these
    7) PKFZ is not corruption.
    8) Commisions for submarine purchase is not corruption
    9) And the list goes on.

  2. BN’s daring practice of publicly handing out money to the electorate in form of cash, infrastructure upgrade, amenities development etc during the several recent by-elections had done untold damage to the nation’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI). Though BN claimed what they did was not corrupt practice but officers working at the Berlin-based TI were not stupid.

    The kind of corruption (RM50,000, RM20,000 etc) mentioned in Bala’s interview made my stomach heave. Now only I know carpet business in Malaysia is so lucrative!

  3. BN will deny deny deny….afterall…this is 1Malaysia Boleh spirit wat…..Black also can turn to white.

    Remember the corrupted people. Lets all hope and wish that with our combined & concentrated focus of disapproval & disgust (at BN) will move the hand of GOD and send His wrath towards all those who has robbed this nation. We need a MERDEKA…this time not from the British. We need a MERDEKA from BN!!!

    Remember the Mongolian Translator
    Remember Teo Beng Hock
    Remember Perak

    Let not all this be in vain!!….

  4. Malaysia’s index would have been 2.0-3.0, but because of the millions that was spend to lobby for a higher index score it managed to creep up to 4.8. Not possible? Anyone who have been alive in Bolehland will not doubt that rabbits can be pulled out of a conjurer’s hat.

    Nevertheless, it is still a disgrace for Najib’s “1Malaysia” image.

  5. I beg to differ. Malaysia’s score is only 4.5 (not 4.8) – even worse. Check TI’s website at transparency.org

    For your info, in 2008, we are in the same level score as Hungary and some EU countries! But this year, down to 4.5 is a big shame. This year we are worst off than Latvia, South Africa, Jordan, Bhutan, Bahrain, Botswana….. Whereas S’pore has notched up to No.3 !

    Shame not in Najib’s face but in Pak Lah’s face as he was the ‘captain’ since last year. With Najib steering I think he will be the same as Mahathir!

    Talking so much about ‘High Income Country’. What nonsense when we score below average <5.

  6. || Huguette Labelle, chairman of Transparency International, said it was “essential to identify where corruption blocks good governance and accountability, in order to break its corrosive cycle”.
    “Stemming corruption requires strong oversight by parliaments, a well performing judiciary, independent and properly resourced audit and anti-corruption agencies, vigorous law enforcement, transparency in public budgets, revenue and aid flows. ||

    Doesn’t the above appear/sound familiar?

    It is because ours is a classic case study for the converse to happen.

    Watch it Sudan, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Somalia, strong competition to your respective coveted positions is coming.

  7. A Tale of a simple kampung bumpkin and a demigod in Bolehland
    —————————————————–

    Mahathir thinks that he is the greatest thing that has happened in Bolehland. He is living in a glass house but he likes to throw stones at other people’s attap houses. But he doesn’t realise that his priceless, shining house of glass will not withstand the stones that are being hurled back at his house.

    Mahathir thinks that he has achieved a lot and he has a legacy to be proud of. But I say it is damn bullshit. Any donkey who have the power and the money to throw around would have achieved the same thing but at a great cost to him in the long run.

    Let’s make an analogy of why I say Mahathir’s achievements are a feet of clay. Mahathir is akin to a kampong idiot who has touched a TOTO Mega strike of RM20 million. To a kampong’s bumpkin, this was fantastic wealth, which if managed well would last him for 100 generations. But no, this was a stupid, spendthrift guy who immediately upon getting the money advertised himself as the greatest gift to a kampung which had not seen such wealth before. He began to throw money around, buying a big mansion, a hot-rod sports car and pouring gifts on his immediate family members and relatives.

    Soon he hads many admirers in the kampung who became his hangers-on. He became very popular with the kampung folks and with his money he began to control those around him. Whatever he says or do there were many sycophants who would praise him to the sky. Sooner or later he became very powerful. Even the headman of the village, the little police pondok guys were lavished with gifts from him. This went on for a while until the money ran out and his world collapsed on him. He ran into debts and could not lavish any more gifts on the simple kampung folks. Soon he lost respect and became a scourge to his own kampung and many abandoned him. He was reviled by those who once heaped praises on him and he was forced out of the kampung.

    Fast forward to a scenario that had taken place in Bolehland. Mahathir became the prime minister of Malaysia. Malaysia is a rich country blessed with various resources. Becoming the Prime Minister was akin to a bumpkin striking a TOTO mega prize in our imaginary kampung. The wealth of the country became his possessions. He began to launch mega projects and lavished great wealth on his family members, cronies and hangers-on. Everybody in Bolehland was fascinated with this wonder boy who would be able trickle down some wealth down the line with his mega spendings. The world was also fascinated and soon legions of fortune seekers descended upon Bolehland to sell trinklets and expensive baubles to the unsophisticated denizens of Bolehland. The citizenry lavished great praises on him and even considered him as a God. He becaome very powerful and he would not tolerated anyone he considered to be a threat to his powers. With the muted agreement of the majority of Bolehland’s citizens he managed to pass many laws that would ensure that no one could opposed him. He muzzled the Press so that everyday he would be the top dog in the news that sang his praises. He went to war against many imaginary enemies: the judiciary, the monarchy, all reasonable voices of society and the evil Westerners and he won every battles. The police became his hatchet men and goons. He was suspicious of everyone and even his 4 successive deputies were put on pastures when they cautioned him to be sensible. So much wastages and leakages were thrown on mega projects that soon the house of cards came tumbling down during one fine day in September 1999. His reign of terror became so debilitating to the health of Bolehland that he was forced to give up the prime ministership. After he departed, one crisis after another began to strike at the heart of Bolehland.

    Thus, this is the legacy that this lunatic megalomaniac has left behind.

  8. Malaysia’s CPI dropping from 47th to 56th position for 2009 is not surprising to me at all.Just look around,ministers,mps and aduns and Umno/Bn politicians,many of these guys live far beyong their incomes.Civil servants examples are police,customs,JPJ, immigration,labour etc etc etc ,many also live beyong their respective incomes.Yet,despite public complaints,no action has ever been taken.Instead,more offen it seems its okay to take ,rather than action to stop it.There’s a recent feeling that corruption in Malaysia has been a way of life especially among the civil servants,the commercial world and the general public.

  9. Jib says: So wot? We could still send an astronaut to space in 2007. Look at New Zealand, Denmark, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Norway, Hong Kong, Germany, Ireland — they can’t bloody well send any astronauts to space!

  10. Aiya, it is perception only. UMNO’s perception is that all is well and it’s business at usual. We are still far ahead of so many countries, so you folks should be fair in your criticisms. Give us a few more years to continue looting. Boleh?

  11. it is ok, barbados, saint lucia, estonia, slovenie, botswana, or even israel are perceived as cleaner than malaysia.

    surprisingly taiwan is also ‘cleaner’ than malaysia when their ex-president is still in jail for heavy corruption.

  12. the MACC role as Umno catspaw to declare war on Pakatan Rakyat instead of declaring war on corruption were major factors for Malaysia’s worst-ever TI CPI ranking and score. (Kit)
    =========================================================

    Kit,

    You are absolutely right!

    The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission appears to focus on “small fish” and opposition politicians, THE REPORT ADDED.

    http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/world/43778-graft-rankings-singapore-3rd-least-malaysia-focused-on-small-fish

  13. Now we see people blaming Dr Mahathir’s tenure as PM for the state of corruption…finally…when it suits them.

    Wonder where these people were in 1999… refusing to accept Uncle Lim’s call to unite with Keadilan and Pas for the injustice that was so obvious against Anwar Ibrahim. They just turned a blind eye to all these; mumbling `Islam’… `we must have stability’ etc… AND VOTED FOR DR MAHATHIR. Lim Kit Siang was chided and blamed instead.

    But now? Wah… backtracking, I see. This are hallmarks of hypocrites.

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