Bribery: All in the name of 'Convenience'

This is my comment in Malaysia Today on the article "Bribes and the moral high ground"

It was noted there will be a pay rise for police personnels to reduce corruption in the force.

I support the pay rise. The police pay is actually very low. I've heard of some having only a few hundred ringgit salary. It is almost not possible to survive in KL with that amount of money.

However, I do not believe such move will reduce corruption.

Surprised to read this from New Straits Times but the writer does have some notable points on the bribery issue.

It takes two to tango. The Briber and The Bribed.

Many Malaysians do not think of the big picture when they perform bribes. All they think is their personal convenience as exemplified in this case. They do not want the hassle of lodging a report. They prefer to pay a bribe.

Bad things start from a small way. From such level of bribery, it can become a major issue where it may go into the local council and government.

A RM50 bribe mentality can turn into a RM50 million bribe all in the name of convenience.

Isn't it more convenient to bribe for a license rather than using the traditional hard way?

At the end of day, a system will be established. Everyone seeking to do business or pass certain tests may have to perform bribery. No bribe no pass. No bribe no license.

This mentality will spread into other previously unaffected government departments as well.

Finally, this is where the big picture settles in. When all areas run bribe systems it becomes a Culture or a Norm. The country is then a Corrupted Country.

Corrupted Countries do not go far in economy.

All this happened because of selfishness and "convenience".

It is more "convenient" to park our car at the roadside rather than in parking lots. Convenient for yourself maybe but all other road users are made inconvenient.

It is more "convenient" to bribe rather than report against bribery. I wonder why there is no one who thought it is more "convenient" to steal instead of working for the things that we want.

It is conceptually the same.

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When corruption becomes powerful , it will be the primary role of the government (having the power issued by the citizens) to put an end to the corrupted system.

This is where the government failed. There can be no excuse about it.

The citizens hands would almost be tied with such system. Only the government has the power to put a stop to this provided the chief control of the system is sincere.

However, how do we expect people with serious Corruption Charges and Credibility to stop this wrongdoing?

Good luck....