Malaysia has so much potential and should already have been a developed country by 2020. What went wrong? Is it still on the path to a developed nation with high income GDP? Some say that Malaysia’s economy is on not on track because of it’s rampart corruption. How far is this true? As the economy for the year 2022 is projected to expand 5.5 percent which sounds reasonable considering the inflation in 2022. With a GDP of 315Billion , Malaysia is ranked # 37 from 190 countries 

Economies that are afflicted by a high level of Corruption are not capable of prospering as fully as those with low level of corruption. Emerging market economies like Malaysia tend to have much higher corruption levels compared to developed countries. The hurdle to jump from a 3rd world country to a develo #ped country can’t be gained unless some politicians remain in power. The people need to realize that a country can’t progress with the current policy makers that have no will power to change the corruption perception or even best practices with shady deals and miss use of power. Constant reveal of missuse of power over and over again has put Malaysia on the map of the world for the wrong reasons. As a result, corruption in a nation’s political and economic operations causes its entire society to suffer.

Effects of corruption that can be seen in the short and long term are as follows :

1) Undermining the Sustainable Development Goals.

The nations fail to eradicate poverty, address hunger, secure good health care and high quality education for their citizens, guarantee gender equality and other human rights, reduce inequality, and so on. Vast sums that are lost to corruption could have been used to improve living standards by increasing access to public housing, health, education, rural acess roads, bridges, footpath instead of car centric roads, bike paths, cheap internet access etc.

2) Economic loss and inefficiency.

Inefficiently Allocated Resources.In a corrupt economy, resources are inefficiently allocated and companies that otherwise would not be qualified to win government contracts are often awarded projects as a result of bribery or kickbacks. Terms like networking/ cable are common in this so called muslim country. Some have no shame at all as long as their protect their personal interest.

3) Poverty and inequality.

Imagine 100 people with total wealth of 100 Million.95 people share is RM1 Million which is a total of RM10,526.31 each

5 people share is RM99 Million which means each one has around RM19,800,000. (million)

yet the average will be counted as 100 Million devide by 100 people = 1Million each.

This is inequality and gap between the rich and poor.Unequal opportunity in which advantages arise only for those within a corrupt network. It’s always who knows who. Policitians in this country become multi mullionaires as soon in an instant yet nearly no accountability

4) Rigged economic and political systems.

5) Rising illiberal populism.

Corruption increases inequality, decreases popular accountability and political responsiveness, and thus produces rising frustration and hardship among citizens, who are then more likely to accept (or even demand) hard-handed and illiberal tactics. Those tactics shift the blame for economic insecurity and political decline onto immigrants or other minority groups.

6) Impunity and partial justice

They will be a time when the people can no longer count on prosecutors and judges to do their jobs. The powerful may escape justice. And citizens, especially those with few resources or few powerful allies, may be unfairly accused of crimes, deprived of due process, and wrongly imprisoned. This has happened countless times.

7) Personal loss, intimidation and inconvenience

Retirement funds are lost to fraudsters or tied up in a money-laundering scheme. While the victims of corruption suffer personal loss, intimidation and inconvenience. Scammers are mushrooming and there is less the police can do. Have you ever made a police report and the feedback you get is its just RM300++ or whatever amount. There is a threshold and total number of reports to trigger the police action. This will lead to the public misstrust on the enforcers.

8) Public and private sector dysfunctionality

Empoleeys become demoralized. People begin to doubt the value of hard work and innovation. A surfey has even shown that the young in Malaysia have no hunger to continue/further their studies and jobs like influencor/youtuber are more appealing then underpaids jobs like engineers and officer hard work workers. Why study if you end up in a overpaid/overworked staff. A recent study has even shown that Kuala Lumpur is the 3rd highest over worked city in the world! Why is this? Employers get away by enforcing modern slavery. Yes, Modern slavery is real in this country. People working the corporate sectors 8-5 office hours are expected to stay back to 6pm++ 7pm or even night. Workers going back sharp at 5pm are seen as slackers. Productivity is not measured well and the work life balance culture is not appriciated. This leads to public/private sector dysfunctionality.

9) Failures in infrastructure.

Remember Terengganu sports complex /swimming pool collapse? On and on again, public funded infrastructure are failing.

10) Organized crime and terrorism

The causal arrow goes in both directions. Not only does organized crime cause corruption, but opportunities for corruption left open by a weak, negligent or incapable State can also lead to organized crime.

11) Diminished state capacity

12) Increasing polarization and unrest

13) Climate change and damage to biodiversity

UNESCO sites having rampart mining and logging along its shores. Forest reserves being raped. Places like ROMPIN that were a jungle in the early 2000s, now has no forest at all.

14) Human rights violations

15) Armed conflict and atrocity crimes

16) Public frustration and cynicism

People lose trust in leaders, in social systems .Widespread and corrupt actors are not being held accountable makes the country look weak in the eyes of the world. Corruption perception increases.

In the end, only a goverment with Zero-tolerance of corruption would be ideal. Is it too much to ask from a country that self proclaims itself as a country with Islamic and upper morals? Is it too much to ask?

Remember, when the Goverment Fears the people, there is liberty.