Almost 3,000 Malaysian government employees had been caught taking bribes over the last decade, lawmakers heard on Friday, topping the list of receivers of under the table payments over the past decade and nearly three times more than in the private sector.
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Bribery remains entrenched in Malaysian society despite strong public sentiments for its eradication. High-profile corruption scandals, including those involving several former prime ministers, has done little to dampen the public appetite for an end to what many say is a pay-to-play system that covers everything from passing vehicle inspections to winning a government contract.
Malaysia ranks 57th out of 180 countries in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), second to neighbouring Singapore among Southeast Asian nations.
In a written reply to parliament on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission data, Law Minister Azalina Othman Said noted that 6,585 cases of soliciting and giving bribes were recorded between 2015 and June 30 this year.
Of those caught accepting bribes, 2,965 were public servants, compared with 1,101 private sector employees.
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The ethnic breakdown revealed Malays accounted for 75 per cent of bribe-soliciting cases – 3,690 out of the total – followed by Chinese and then Indians. Yet in contrast, those most likely to pay bribes were ethnically Chinese.