And if you're wondering why these public officials continue doing it, a minister has come out to give an explanation.
Living beyond their means
According to Malay Mail, Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan, a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Parliament and laws, said that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had conducted studies on acts of corruption among government officials.The two main reasons why they indulge in corruption, according to Takiyuddin, are greed and wanting to live a life way beyond their means.
On top of that, Takiyuddin said in a written reply to parliament that the lack of integrity among the government officials and the opportunity to commit the acts are also to be blamed for the high number of corruption cases in the country.
“Among the main causes that cause corruption to happen among public servants are their tendencies to have a lifestyle beyond their means, greed, the existence of room and opportunity to commit acts of corruption and low levels of integrity among the officers involved,” he was quoted as saying.
To combat corruption in the government, Takiyuddin said that the government ordered federal departments and state departments to develop their own respective Organisational Anti-Corruption Plan (OACP) to identify the causes of corruption.
The OACP is part of an initiative under the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) 2019-2023, which was introduced by the previous Pakatan Harapan government to eradicate corruption in the country.
Now that they've talked the talk, hopefully the government can now walk the walk.