Government Institutions Are Meant To Serve The People, Not Enrich The Politicians

The Abuse Of Such Institutions Have Been Ongoing For Far Too Long

One of the main problems faced by the government, if not the main one, is the lack of sufficient funds to finance pro-people programs that can truly raise the average citizen’s living standards and socioeconomic security.

One effective way of acquiring much-needed funds is by cracking down on all forms of corrupt practices involving unlisted firms and subsidiary companies under Government-Linked Companies (GLCs) through the implementation of institutional reforms.

Such practices have been quite rampant throughout Malaysia for a long time.

This measure will help significantly reduce fund wastage, thereby increasing these companies' profits.

This in turn increases the portion of these profits that are acquired by the government via taxation and dividends, which can then be utilized towards implementing pro-people programs.

Many of the points in this article have been explained by Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) chairperson Dr. Edmund Terence Gomez.

A Tool For Acquiring More Money And Support

Several politicians and bureaucrats from various government ministries use these unlisted firms and subsidiary companies as a tool for patronage to muster support, rent-seeking, sourcing funds for political party activities, etc.

There are many politicians serving as directors and who have been given employment in some of these companies.

As directors of these companies, these appointed politicians are given contracts, some of which are further subcontracted to their respective cronies.

With the profits generated by these companies, some of these directors then declare bonuses for themselves as a way of gaining more wealth.

Apart from that, these unlisted firms and subsidiary companies under the GLCs have long become an economic tool during election season to muster electoral support, particularly among rural communities, by undertaking activities in particularly poor, under-developed constituencies under the guise of implementing corporate social responsibility activities.

Almost Non-Existent Oversight As Well As Monitoring

And given the fact that these companies don’t seem to have much oversight and accountability, this provides a huge opportunity for corrupt activities and subsequently, the accumulation of great wealth and support by the politicians and the bureaucracy.

As a result, corrupt practices such as patronage, rent-seeking, cronyism, and nepotism have become rooted in Malaysian public governance for quite some time now.

More importantly, such corrupt practices throughout the years have wasted a large amount of generated profits by these companies that instead could have been utilized by the government to help improve the quality of life and uplift certain targeted and underprivileged communities within our society through various programs.

Because of this, serious problems such as hard-core poverty and basic infrastructure issues in rural areas persist to this day.

It’s High Time Certain Systemic Reforms Are Conducted

Therefore, for the government to effectively tackle such corrupt practices in these unlisted firms and subsidiary companies, and thereby stopping the wastage of much-needed funds, several political reforms must be seriously implemented at both the federal and state levels, such as:

1. Closing down unlisted firms and subsidiaries that have the same functions and aren’t as effective as current private enterprises within the same sector.

A systematic and thorough review of such companies must first be conducted to effectively identify important details, such as the existing number of such companies and the number of their employees.

The closing down of these companies must be conducted in stages and job security for their employees must be taken care of responsibly by ensuring that there are high-paying jobs available for them.

This move is to boost efficiency and eliminate the wastage of funds in such redundant companies.

The funds from these closed-down companies will then be absorbed into their respective parent GLCs, thereby increasing those GLCs’ profits as well as the portion of those profits acquired by the government via taxation and dividends, which can then be utilized towards implementing more pro-people programs.

2. Imposing a stringent institutional check and balance system with independent oversight institutions towards the whole GLC institution, especially towards the unlisted firms and subsidiary companies.

Parliamentary action committees, led by members of the opposition, should have oversight of these enterprises.

The leaders of these companies should be apolitical and autonomous so that inefficiencies and abuse of power can be effectively weeded out.

This move will also boost efficiency and eliminate the wastage of funds in these companies, thus ultimately resulting in the government acquiring a greater share of the generated profits which then can be utilized towards improving the average citizen’s socioeconomic status.

3. Enacting legislation so that the definition of ‘corruption’ is expanded to include patronage, cronyism, misuse of funds, misappropriation of funds, etc.

Currently, corruption in Malaysia is mainly equivalent to bribery, which only refers to acts of receiving or giving bribes as a reward or incentive for an individual doing or not doing something related to official duties.

This current definition is far too small and narrow.

As such, this measure can significantly help deter various forms of corruption as well as impose effective punishments on individuals engaging in such activities.

The Priority Is To Serve The People, Not The Self-Enriching Of The Politicians

The bottom line here is that government institutions are meant to serve the people, instead of enriching the politicians. Indeed, the abuse of these GLC institutions has been taking place for far too long and is a plague on the country.

Therefore, it is of utmost importance that GLC institutional reforms, such as those listed above, are carried out immediately.

Such reforms can definitely help curb wastage and corruption, thereby providing the government with much-needed funds.

With these acquired funds, the government can then work more effectively towards eradicating poverty, redistributing wealth equitably, and resolving socioeconomic problems, particularly among the B40 in our society.

Originally published at http://reformthesystem0.wordpress.com on August 4, 2023.

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