THE Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for the first time yesterday organised its Open Day in conjunction with the International Anti-Corruption Day 2014.
MACC deputy chief commissioner Datuk Mustafar Ali said the event would bring the public closer to the country’s anti-graft body, parallel to its approach of making MACC, people-friendly.
The International Anti-Corruption Day is celebrated every year on Dec 9 with this year’s theme being Break the Corruption Chain.
“However, for Malaysia, we chose the theme ‘Public-Private Partnership in Combating Corruption: Issues and Challenges’ as we want to break and end the chain of corruption. It is more important for the MACC to have good cooperation with all parties to eradicate bribery,” he said at the event which took place at the Mid Valley Convention Centre.
Mustafar said in line with MACC’s concept this year which focused on identifying and improving interactions with parties representing the people, the event had garnered the support and confidence of the people from all walks of life who would work together with the commission to fight corruption.
“Eradicating corruption is a collective effort between the government and the public as MACC on its own will not be able to get rid of such crime.
“The people must understand that it is not the sole responsibility of the commission to combat corruption, we need their help.
“Corruption is slowly declining but if that partnership and understanding are not there, structural corruption will still exist and take deeper root,” he added.
A forum and a dialogue session, talks by distinguished speakers adept in integrity practices, exhibitions and performances by anti-corruption secretariats from public universities and fun learning activities for children were among the events held.
The forum which focused on the issues and challenges facing the public and private sectors in collaborative effort towards the fight against corruption featured industry officers such as Petronas chief integrity officer Datuk Samsiah Abu Bakar, SME Corp chief executive Datuk Hafsah Hashim, Top Glove Corporation Berhad executive director Lim Cheong Guan and Datuk Saw Choo Boon who is co-chairman of the Special Task Force to Facilitate Business (Pemudah).
Meanwhile, the dialogue session with Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan and Mustafar himself gave audiences the opportunity to discuss and interact with them on the ongoing efforts to strengthen integrity and governance to combat corruption.