Covid 19 pandemic and corruption are the two biggest problems facing Malaysia in the coming new year
In his article “Pandemic vs Endemic”, Dr. Mohamed Rafick Khan said he is more concerned and worried about corruption than the Covid-19 pandemic, as “corruption is so bad that it has gone to every level of society”.
He said: “It’s hard to comprehend that a person who give salam, praise the Lord, and pray five times a day has no issue to engage in corrupt practice.
“How does one explain when people with positions have been convicted with corruption charges are enjoying a cult following and now being treated like a celebrity that is our last salvation to save the country?”
I do not agree with Dr. Rafick.
I think the Covid-19 pandemic and corruption are the two biggest problems facing Malaysia in the new year which will begin in three days’ time.
We seem to be in a runaway situation as far as the Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia is concerned.
Despite my call more than six months ago for an “all-of-government” and “whole-of-society” strategy and approach in the war against Covid-19 pandemic, and for Parliament to set up a Select Committee on the Covid-19 pandemic, nothing has been done.
We have overtaken China, a country where the pandemic started and which has a population 40 times that of Malaysia, in cumulative total of Covid-19 cases, although fortunately not in the cumulative total of Covid-19 fatalities, on Dec. 16.
We are now No. 74 in the world among countries with the most cumulative total of Covid-19 infections, with 106,690 cases, while China is ranked No. 80 with 87,003 cases.
At the rate of our daily increase of Covid-19 cases, and that of Myanmar, we are likely to replace Myanmar as No. 69 as the country in the world with the most number of cumulative total of Covid-19 cases in three weeks’ time, and surging ahead to be among the top 30-40 countries with the most cumulative total of Covid-19 cases.
By that time, around the Inauguration Day for the new United States President on January 20, 2021, the United States would probably have 25 million Covid-19 cases and the world close to 100 million cases.
Health experts are calling for a different strategy in Malaysia’s fight against Covid-19 to avoid further strain on the public health system.
This should be the top item of the agenda of the Cabinet tomorrow, and an announcement of a new strategy to bring the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic under control should be announced after the Cabinet meeting.
But Malaysians are also entitled to ask whether Malaysia will overtake China in the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) just as Malaysia had overtaken China in cumulative total of Covid-19 cases on December 16, 2020, a feat that was supposed to be impossible considering that China has a population which is 40 times larger than Malaysia!
In six of the nine years of the Najib administration, the TI CPI was below the half-way mark, and Malaysia’s TI CPI ranking fell the lowest level of No. 62 out of 180 countries while the TI CPI score fell to the lowest level 4.3 out of 10 in 2011 and 47 out of 100 in 2017.
The country was promised that under the Najib administration, Malaysia will achieve the target to be in the top 30 countries in the TI CPI 2020.
I dread to read Malaysia’s TI CPI 2020 which will be released next month.
Studying the TI CPI ranking and score for the 24-year series of TI CPI from 1995-2018, there is no ground for anyone to believe that the target of Malaysia being ranked in the top 30 countries of TI CPI in 2020 could be achieved under the Najib administration.
From the TI CPI record of the Najib administration from 2010-2018, it is likely that China would have overtaken Malaysia in the TI CPI series before 2030.
Countries which had been down on the list of the TI CPI ranking in the first series in 1995, like China, Thailand, India and Indonesia, were fast catching up to Malaysia’s level, which had regressed since 1995.
China was ranked No. 40 with a CPI score of 2.16 out of 10 in 1995. In 2018, China was ranked No. 87 with a CPI score of 39 out of 100.
At the annual average rate of China’s improvement and Malaysia’s regression of their CPI score in the last 24 years, China would overtake Malaysia, both in ranking and in score well before 2030
Fortunately, this trajectory was stopped when the Pakatan Harapan government took over, and in the TI CPI 2019, although China improved both its TI CPI rank and score to No. 80 and 41 points out of 100, Malaysia achieved the best TI CPI performance in 25 years with a single-year improvement of six points for TI CPI score and 10 placings for TI CPI ranking – ranking of No. 51 and score of 53 out of the 100.
Malaysia was poised for a new era of anti-corruption in Malaysia by achieving better TI CPI score and ranking every year from TI CPI 2019, and embark Malaysia on the road to become one of the world’s top 30 countries in public integrity before 2030.
But the Pakatan Harapan government was short-lived, as it was toppled by the Sheraton Move conspiracy which brought in the backdoor and illegitimate Perikatan Nasional Government.
Dare the Muhyiddin Cabinet at its meeting tomorrow take the policy decision to make 2021 the “Anti-Corruption Year” to ensure that while Malaysia had overtaken China in cumulative total of Covid-19 cases in 2020, China cannot overtake Malaysia in TI CPI whether before or after 2030?