A New Fight Against Corruption in Malaysia

Kangkung or water spinach is a cheap dish in Malaysia... but the vegetable has been the talk of the nation for a while.

It started with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s speech earlier this month...

He cited kangkung as an example of a commodity that has dropped in price because of the actions of his administration.

But he complained that the government is often criticized for rising prices, but ignored when prices go down...

The kangkung jokes went viral ever since...

Ambiga Sreenevasan is a leading activist who chaired the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections or Bersih.

She explains why Malaysians are furious about the Prime Minister’s speech.

“Malaysians have a brilliant sense of humor. The problem is it shows that they’re not in touch with the people on the ground. And they don’t realise that this is not about kangkung, but a lot more than that. I think if prices went up, people can accept it if the government was also doing its best to tackle corruption. In fact, if they did take those things seriously we may not have to face such a price increase. So that’s what is getting people angry.”

The government recently asked Malaysians to tighten their belts in the face of price hikes.

But some ministers continue their lavish lifestyle, throwing birthday parties and weddings at luxurious hotels in Kuala Lumpur.

“Oh you can see it in the houses that are built, in the entertainment that they have, the weddings.. lavish lifestyle... cars that they drive... the number of cars that they have... so people are not blind. And they can see that you travel overseas all the time. Those are the things you can cut down. You cannot tell people to tighten their belts but you carry on spending. It’s not right.”

A recent survey shows that corruption and bribery are now seen by many Malaysians as common practice.

58-year-old retiree Vince Lee says he almost became a victim.

He was driving with his motorcycle when he was suddenly stopped by a police officer.

“They deliberately stand in place where motorists are going to get caught. It’s actually an entrapment. They block you in places where they know motorists will break the rule. That’s a very obvious way to get money from people. But I refused to pay a single cent. I went to court. I explained to the judge. Thank God the judge accepted my explanation and I got away scot-free.”

Malaysia has an official body, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

But anti-graft activists like Ambiga Sreenevasan says there’s a lack of political will from the government.

“MACC maybe doing its job. But ultimately the decision to prosecute goes to the Attorney General. And I believe there’s a government intervention because you can see there’s selective prosecution.”

This marks the launching of a new group, the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism, or C4.

There are a number of human rights NGOs in the country tackling corruption.

And C4 claims to be the first civil society’s response to the rampant and endemic problem.

C4 co-founder Cynthia Gabriel says one of their main campaigns involves educating rural people about corruption.

“In rural areas, it becomes very problematic. Because they’re fed with mainstream information and they’re made to believe that they need to be loyal to certain political forces. This is a very important moment to celebrate civil society because we’re now telling the government that we will not tolerate corruption anymore. We are here to fight graft. And mostly how our taxpayer’s money has been mismanaged and abused.

Cynthia hopes that C4 can push the government to be more transparent and accountable.

“Only the corrupt will be afraid of an organisation like C4. There will be a lot of people celebrating C4, and there will be a lot criticising C4. And you know that they would probably afraid that their own practices will be exposed. So we know who is who then.”

Retiree Vince Lee says it's best to start fighting corruption from oneself.

And he says he’s started the discussion about corruption within his family.

“I will tell them not to either offer or accept bribe to get things done. For example it could be in the work place where your supperior tells you to do certain  things to get promoted faster. If you feel that it’s not the right thing to do, that shouldn’t be done.”