The Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center)

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On 24 May 2024, Selangor State Executive Councillor on Investment, Trade and Mobility Ng Sze Han pushed back on concerns surrounding the appointment of Asia Mobility Technologies Sdn Bhd (Asia Mobiliti) as a service provider for Selangor Mobility’s Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) system in June last year. This comes amid public backlash over the company’s links to Federal Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh, through its co-founder and CEO Ramachandran Muniandy, who is her husband. C4 Center is extremely concerned with the potential conflicts of interest in the appointment and the lack of transparency regarding the appointment process. MACC Chief Commissioner Azam Baki stated that there was “no issue” with the appointment as Yeoh’s Ministry had no direct ties to the Selangor State Government. C4 Center is dismayed that the head of the MACC could have a dismissive view on a matter that raises serious questions of misgovernance and conflict of interest. Asia Mobiliti disregarded the need for an open tender process – claiming it would cause “a monopoly in the state”. C4 Center disagrees vehemently with this argument. An open tender process encourages competition and openness in the procurement process. C4 Center strongly urges that: ·       The Selangor State Government makes available the details of Asia Mobiliti’s appointment in full, and commits to making all procurement related information publicly accessible. ·       The MACC conducts a comprehensive probe on this issue for any potential instances of abuse of power or undue influence. ·       The Federal Government accelerates the enactment of a Government Procurement Act, in line with UNCITRAL’s Model Law on public procurement. Respective State Governments must also ensure that state-level procurement is regulated in a transparent manner. ·       All public procurement laws must include provisions for a grievance mechanism to remedy contracts that may be tainted with abuse of power or conflict of interest. ·       Studies must be conducted to introduce a legal framework on regulating conflict of interest as part of a Code of Ethics for ministers, members of parliament and state assemblypersons, as well as their family members and associates.

C4 Center CEO Pushpan Murugiah was invited to a Taklimat and Sharing session hosted by the National Water Services Commission or Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara (SPAN) where he provided some insight on the concept of Conflict of Interest (COI) and what its implications are. Conflict of interest may differ from various industries, cultures, & countries, and so clarifying the boundaries of COI according to different situations is of unique necessity. There is no one size fits all solution. Addressing conflict of interest issues require effort from multiple angles; from setting up robust internal whistle blower mechanism, good governance policies that applies to top management & board members as well as staff & employees, and transparency in service procurement processes. There are many policies of international standards that can be customised and adapted to local contexts. Conflict of interest is only the tip of the iceberg in the large ecosystem of corruption. An ecosystem so broad and complex, the provisions of the MACC Act are not equipped to address. Therefore, it becomes even more important for organisations to go beyond what is expected in order to curb corrupt practices.

PRESS STATEMENT Reappointment of Azam Baki as MACC Chief highlights continued failure of Government to enact institutional reform On 12 May 2024, Chief Commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Azam Baki was reappointed to hold the office for another year, following a previous one-year term extension conferred in 2023. The Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center) reiterates that the credibility and independence of the MACC remains in question so long as the appointment process of the Chief Commissioner is not reformed. C4 Center calls for greater momentum in the implementation of extensively discussed reforms to decentralise and democratise Executive power. As previously highlighted by C4 Center, it was revealed through investigations by a journalist that Azam owned millions of shares in two publicly-listed companies while he was the head of MACC’s investigations department. Furthermore, an MACC probe in April 2022 into Justice Nazlan Ghazali was declared non-compliant with proper protocol by the Federal Court in February 2023. Were these seriously controversial incidents taken into consideration by the Prime Minister before deciding on his reappointment? The reappointment of an individual plagued with scandals he has not answered for, to such an important office is already disappointing. However, the fundamental issue here goes beyond Azam alone. The institutional capacity to combat corruption in Malaysia shall remain impaired without sufficient devolution of the powers which have been centralised in the hands of the Prime Minister. Critically, the lack of accountability regarding the appointment of the MACC Chief Commissioner is a severe detriment to the credibility of the institution, and must be remedied without delay. Therefore, C4 Center reiterates that Azam Baki’s disconcerting reappointment must catalyse the expediting of comprehensive reforms to the appointment process of the office of the MACC Chief Commissioner.

On April 25th C4 Center, along with the members of the Rasuah Busters coalition, attended a consultation session with the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) YB Tuan M. Kula Segaran and various officers of the Legal Affairs Division (BHEUU) including the Deputy Director General of Policy & Development Dr Punitha Silivarajoo on the proposal to establish the Malaysian Ombudsman office. Representing C4 Center were our Founding Director Cynthia Gabriel, CEO Pushpan Murugiah, and Policy and Legal Research Officer Prishanth Linggaraj. This session was an opportunity for civil society organisations to share our baseline expectations on the development of the Ombudsman Bill. Important points of emphasis included measures to safeguard the body's autonomy, sufficient resourcing and budgeting, and constitutional issues. Prishanth also presented a brief summary of C4 Center's report "Structuring the Malaysian Ombudsman Office", to give the Deputy Minister and BHEUU officers a clearer picture of the key considerations that they must take into account in order to create a viable and progressive Ombudsman office. Ancillary topics were also raised during our discussions, such as the amendments to the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 and the contours of the proposed Parliamentary Services Act. C4 Center is grateful that BHEUU continues to show significant interest in engaging civil society when developing their reform proposals. Our discussions gave us some details on the present status of the Bill's development, and we are excited to continue working closely with BHEUU to advance this reform agenda to completion.

Last month, C4 Center had handed over advanced copies of our report on waste colonialism and the plastic waste trade to representatives of both Malaysian and Japanese governments. On 25 April, an advanced copy of the report was presented to the Malaysian Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES), Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad. During the recent fourth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4) session in Ottawa, Canada, our report co-author, Wong Pui Yi, handed over advanced copies to members of the Japanese delegation, Hiroshi Ono, Vice Minister, Global Environmental Affairs, Ministry of Environment Japan (MOEJ) and Kojima Michikazu from Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization (IDE-JETRO). At INC4, an advance copy of the report was also handed to Kei Ohno Woodall, from the BRS (Basel/Rotterdam/Stockholm Conventions) Secretariat. The report, “Ending Waste Colonialism, Governing Plastic Pollution: Japan’s Opportunity to Lead Asia out of the Plastic Crisis,” written by Wong Pui Yi, Wong Si Peng, and Nabila Zulkeflee is now available for download at https://lnkd.in/gmyfJ3tB.

In 2022, Malaysia was the top importer of plastic waste from Japan. Out of a total of 563 million kg of plastic waste exported by Japan to other countries, 179 million kg was sent to Malaysia. The sheer scale of Japanese plastic waste exports calls into question the effectiveness of Japanese efforts in supporting programmes to tackle waste management and marine debris in Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia. Malaysia already has limited capacity to recycle domestic waste, with only 24% of key plastic resins recycled in 2019. This report examines the governance of the plastic waste trade by considering the case study of Japan as an exporting country and Malaysia as an importing country. This report discusses trade and pollution through the lens of waste colonialism, and raises questions about the transparency, traceability, and accountability of the governance frameworks. Finally, the opportunities for a global agreement on plastic pollution in addressing waste colonialism are explored.  The full report is available for download on our website at https://lnkd.in/gmyfJ3tB 

It was our pleasure to host His Excellency José Luis Pardo Cuerdo, the Ambassador of Spain, on 26 April at our office. What was meant to be casual get-to-know session became a “roundtable discussion” that went on for almost 2 hours. Many important topics were discussed, including the context of corruption in Malaysia, CPI rankings, and the perception of corruption from various communities. We also shared the many reforms we advocate for and what we expect from the Madani government. We were happy to share our work, perspectives, insights and expertise on Malaysia's challenges in addressing corruption. Thank you to His Excellency for honouring us with your presence.

Join us on Tuesday, 7th May, for a talk at a book launch titled “Business Ethics” by Sunway University’s Dr. Rodney Toh. There we will cover issues of bribery and the culture of gift-giving, what the differences between the two are, and how best to regulate it. Venue: JC2, Sunway University Time: 4:00pm to 6:00pm Date: Tuesday, 7th of May 2024

Recently, C4 Center was invited by ATC Penang to give a talk on contemporary corruption issues and the need for better governance in the country. Our CEO, Pushpan Murugiah, conducted the session and introduced the future lawyers to C4 Center’s card game, ‘Build My-Town’, which simulates how an MP may develop their constituency as well as their parliamentary role by tabling and passing legal reforms. C4 Center extends our greatest appreciation to ATC Penang for the opportunity and we look forward to future collaborations.