Integrity Units Must Be Proactive Not Reactive Or It S All A Waste

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From Walter Sandosam
The prime minister recently urged Malaysians to rise above championing their own race and religion, and to instead focus on national development and fostering greater unity.
This is a commendable call and a timely reminder which we, as Malaysians, have either conveniently or inadvertently forgotten. It should be the focal point to direct our energy.
These two key elements – unity and development – are crucial to drive economic progress. It should not be taken lightly.
Another often overlooked critical element to drive the nation’s progress is integrity. The dire lack of it, as evidenced by the numerous corruption cases, in the nation’s psyche has unfortunately proved detrimental on multiple platforms.
The lack of integrity is the prime mover behind the endless cases of corruption, both in the public service and corporate sectors. It ranges from the basic form of bribery, where money changes hands, to stark naked abuse of power in either approving the award of a tender or speeding up decision processes related to it.
On this broad spectrum, enforcement agencies continue to hit the news for the wrong reasons when there are allegations of operating as, or working with, corrupt syndicates.
Have we, as a by-product of the rapid industrialisation and development of the country, completely lost our integrity in terms of moral values? This is a paradox, noting that our country places much emphasis on religion and religious values.
Offence is easily taken by certain quarters on religious issues when no offence was intended or envisaged in the first place. Not much latitude is given here. Yet all religions postulate good moral values.
It appears corruption has sunk its teeth into the populace, be it the giver or receiver. There is also collateral damage when social personalities are drawn into the melee.
In an effort to curb the menace of corruption, both public and private entities have set up integrity and governance units (IGUs), presumably to share what constitutes integrity. Technically, this then translates into good governance practices.
There is the Institut Integriti Malaysia and the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance to promote knowledge on this front, which should translate into good governance practices, logically buttressed on integrity.
Sadly, this isn’t the case.
A recent episode at a city council highlights an instance in which the IGU is investigating and preparing a report on an incident where it appears that a board member has had some degree of influence on the awarding of a contract. Whether this allegation has merit, or not, is left to be seen.
IGUs are meant to be proactive and not reactive, more so when the horse has left the barn! Where was it when such poor governance was practised?
It appears they were meandering in the dark and are now tasked to investigate what could have been prevented if they were up to speed in their work.
Surely the “CEO” of this entity has let slip a chink in the armour of good governance. Upskilling is needed on this score.
IGUs were born out of the need to have proactive preventive measures placed in organisations to avoid the possibility of “corrupt” activities seeing the light of day.
The reality is that the essence of what the IGUs is meant to do, and its scope and areas of responsibility, have not been fully understood by both boards and senior management teams.
The IGU’s primary function, if correctly understood, is not only confined to education on what constitutes integrity. If that were the case, then it only has academic value.
More importantly, it is to ensure that good governance processes are in place to prevent any party from being able to exert undue influence on decision-making processes, more so when there is a monetary gratification element.
This spills over to ensuring from the onset that parties awarded contracts do not have family relationships with decision-makers including the board.
This is the crux. If it cannot be appreciated, then we have lost the plot. Some acknowledge IGUs are “good-to-have” without fully optimising their potential.
We must remember that IGUs add on to the overhead costs of an entity. Invariably, it is passed on to the customer. Hence, it should be a productive venture.
At the end of the day, let’s go back to the drawing board on the basic moral value of integrity. If that can be imbued in our psyche, we can reach much greater heights. - FMT
Walter Sandosam is a former MACC oversight panel member and an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

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