Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-National Coordinator of Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Indonesia, Maryati Abdullah, spoke at the 2nd Annual Malaysia’s War on Corruption Symposium 2015, 11-12 November 2015 which was opened by YABHG Tun DR Mahathir Mohamad-The Fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Mahathir highlighted the issue on setting up community of Malaysian leaders to advocate for more robust anti-corruption agenda. He suggested to the G25 group of prominent Malays that a council of elders need to be established to guide the prime minister in leading the country. The suggestion is based on consideration that the Cabinet would probably give green light to all of Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak’s decisions. “We need an outside council who will not simply nod their head to everything the prime minister says. Though he may not accept their views, at least he could consider what they say,” wrote The Sun Daily, Malaysia.
The symposium held in Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar was attended by State Government from many departments, Anti-Corruption Commission, Police Department, State Owned Enterprise, Businessman, NGOs, Youth and Private Sectors from various background such as extractive industries, bank and etc. The main topic of discussion included ethical leadership, citizen and integrity; leaker, source or whistleblower; unmask the corrupt, freedom of the media as freedom from corruption, youth engagement, Islamic imperatives to curb corruption & promote sustainable development, open data & anti-corruption as well as shared values: priming and anti-corruption culture in Malaysia;
Maryati Abdullah underlined that open data and anti-corruption is a great fit in anti-corruption movement, both in prevention and prosecution. The utilization of open data for citizen report and compliant handling system is important and critical to enforce the integrity system and curb bribery in public delivery in order to improve the quality of services and to some extend enforce whistleblower system.
It’s fit for the people, particularly for Malaysian as higher middle income country in Southeast Asia with an emerging technology penetration and growing demanding for citizen participation in the public policy. The symposium also invited other speakers such as expert, business ethic advisor, consultant, practitioner, policy advisor and other relevant actors in the area of Islamic and culture.