By

DATO’ SRI SHAMSHUN BAHARIN MOHD JAMIL

Report the corruption or you will be punished! This is the thing that must be nurtured in every Malaysian mind.

If before, those who fail to report corruption can be warned, but now the matter has been taken action.

Five officers of the Ministry of Finance were fined by the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court after pleaded guilty to not reporting to the authorities after being offered bribes.

They became the first batch of individuals to be fined for allegedly fail to report an offer of a corruption case under Section 25 (1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.

While there are still many people talking about corruption here and there, the MACC continues to actin accordance with the law to prove that we can do anything to prevent corruption based on their respective roles.

If we observed, on each and every one, the action on prevent corruption in Malaysia has actually covered all aspects until failure to report is considered as a criminal offense.

When people still talking about corruption here and there, the MACC has immediately acted accordance to the law to prove that we can do anything in an effort to prevent corruption based on their respective roles.

if we observed, the action to prevent corruption in Malaysia has actually covered all aspects even failure to report corruption is considered a criminal offense. 

That is why the existence of Section 25 of the MACC Act has been recognized by the United Nations on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as one of the good practices through the Implementation Review Group (IRG) Evaluation Results Report on Compliance to Chapters III and IV of the UN Convention on Prevention Corruption (UNCAC) in 2014.

In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that Malaysia is the only country in the world that provides laws for such offenses.

Thus, the charge against the Ministry of Finance officials should be used as a lesson and are minder for all.

In simple words, it is not only rejecting corruption, but do not forget that we have responsibility to report it.

Otherwise, we are also criminal same as the givers.

However, we often hear that there are people who afraid to report or convey information to the MACC because they do not want to take any risk comes after it.

In fact, despite of our fears, more harm will happen if the corruption crime continues.

Generally, knows that corruption is considered the mother of all crimes, it causes drug issues, prostitution and other criminal syndicates.

Our choice to report corruption is ultimately differentiating us between being a hero or a criminal.

We have heard a lot of people, especially public officers who receive recognition or rewards for reporting corruption. The choice is in our hands.

So why should we choose misery when we have the opportunity to enjoy true happiness.

The greater happiness is that we help our country remain safe and secure without crime so that the national aspiration worked through the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP)which is "Malaysia is known for its integrity, not corruption" can be achieved.

So, rest assure that the MACC always ensures the confidentiality of the information provided and the informant is protected and cannot be disclosed to any party under any circumstances.

Remember! corruption must be considered an act of disgust, shame, unforgivable, sinful and must be rejected.