OPENING SPEECH AT THE SEVENTH REGIONAL SEMINAR ON GOOD
GOVERNANCE FOR SOUTHEAST ASIAN COUNTRIES —“ENHANCING INVESTIGATIVE ABILITY IN CORRUPTION CASES”
Datuk Hj. Mustafar bin Hj. Ali*Your Excellency, Mr. Shigeru Nakamura, Ambassador of Japan to Malaysia,
Mr. Kunihiko Sakai, Director General, Ministry of Justice Japan,
Dato’ Abdul Wahab bin Abdul Aziz, Director of the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Academy,
Mdm. Akane Tomoko, Director of the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for thePrevention of Crime and the Treatement of Offenders (UNAFEI),Visiting Experts,Senior officers of UNAFEI and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission,
Dear Participants, ladies and gentlemen,
Very good morning and assalamulaikum,
It gives me great pleasure indeed to welcome all to the Seventh Good Governance Seminar onanti-corruption jointly organized by UNAFEI and MACA. I would like to extend a special
welcome to our international
international delegates,delegates, especially
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the future in Malaysia, perhaps in a private capacity.
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and to meet the overall policies.

*

Director of Investigation, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

-5-Looking forward I would like to suggest what I will call “A Good Governance Doctrine”, one
which will help governments, state enterprises and those who run them remain worthy of the trustof their citizens.
Ladies and Gentlemen;
In Malaysia, fighting corruption is the priority agenda of the government. Nonetheless, thegovernment alone would not be able to successfully eradicate corruption. The establishment ofMACC is only a part of the official mechanism to fight corruption but the Commission, however
effective it is, would not be able to fully eradicate the scourge without the support and trust by allparties concerned.
Fighting corruption needs the will power of everyone — the government, organizations,communities and each and every individual. No single organization or nation can win the war
against corruption without the concerted efforts and cooperation of the citizenry.
First and foremost there must be sustained and committed leadership that embodies the corevalues of good governance. Direction starts at the top. Leadership can make good governancebecome a reality. When senior management is committed to transparency, integrity andaccountability, and lives by these standards, it will set the tone for staff.
All organizations need a soul, a compass to guide them regardless of the pressures or turmoil
which will come their way. Let me suggest a very short list of these values, those that I see as
essential.
Integrity and Probity sit above everything. If everyone in an organization acts with integrityand probity there will be no room for corruption. Staff will be hired on merit and professional
competence not because of whom they know. All payments will be properly recorded; all decisions
will be made based on judgment not graft.
Transparency and Accountability. Information is power — an adage often quoted — and it
belongs to the people unless there is a threat to national security. For the majority of state
enterprises this will rarely be the case. People should always have the information accessible tohold their institutions to account.
In working with staff over the years, I have discovered that they kept coming back to this setof values as those most important guidelines for them in the delivery of their responsibilities.
Working in this kind of cultural indoctrination is not built overnight. There must always be
consistent and sufficient regular training and retraining to ensure the old and new employees staythe course.
This leads me to another very important point. Just as ethical behavior guides an organization,
good governance also requires a robust legal and regulatory framework, properly enforced toensure legitimacy. This includes a clear mandate for State enterprises enshrined in laws that drive
operations.

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Unfortunately in many countries although these structures are nominally in place, they areoften either ignored or not enforced. This leaves people unprotected, and creates the kind of
uncertain environment that drives investors away. If a state enterprise, for example, cannot
guarantee that a contract will remain in force if there is a change of government, investors will
think twice before committing resources in that country.
Finally, indeed, every issue raised is the illustration of the objective, principle, measure andmechanism for implementing the integration, policies in order to achieve the significant objectiveof this course, the creation of the anti-corruption awareness through good governance is the social
safety net, reducing crime, vulnerability as well as corruption reduction among the mothers of thecrimes. In this connection, we strongly believe that with joint efforts together and active
participation among the anti-corruption entities, we will be highly effective.
However, we must acknowledge that what we have done so far has not wholly answered ourneed. In this regard, all of us must exert utmost effort and ability to continue the anti-corruptiontask and never be satisfied, and the true demand of the fight against corruption should never end
here.
Thank you for being here. I wish you an enjoyable and productive seminar and God bless.

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