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19 July, 2004

Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Abdullah Haji Ahmad Badwi has on April 23, 2004, unveiled his masterplan to make integrity the cornerstone of his administration. The previous drive of modernization and industrialization have delivered tremendous growth and wealth to the nation and has transformed Malaysia from a mainly agrarian economy into the dynamic economy that it is now. However, the national economic transformation has left significant imprints of the country’s social fabric, pertinent among these is the erosion of the value system. Environmental degradation, irresponsible civic behaviour and corruption were widespread. The materialistic mentality has underscored various facets of the Malaysian life.

Realising that change is urgently needed, the Malaysian premier has formulated the National Integrity Plan. It is a strategic plan to provide direction for all sectors to participate towards enhancing ethical values and integrity. It is also the objective of the Plan to improve awareness, commitment and participation of the citizen towards enhancing integrity. The scope of the plan is holistic and wide-encompassing. For the first 5 years,  the plan outlined 5 objectives to be achieved namely:

1. To continuously and effectively combat and reduce incidence of corruption, malpractices and abuse of power;
2. To enhance efficiency in the delivery system of the civil service and to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy;
3. To improve corporate governance and business ethics;
4. To strengthen the family institution; and
5. To improve the quality of life and the well-being of the society.

To ensure the complete implementation of the Plan, the Prime Minister also announced the formation of the Malaysian Integrity Institute. The institute is an independent agency tasked with the role of monitoring and coordinating the implementation of the Plan. Primary functions of the Institute include:

1. To undertake research and conduct training and education  pertaining to community and institutional integrity;
2. Develop a database on ethics and integrity;
3. Formulating policies to enhance ethics and integrity as well as advising the government on programmes to enhance integrity; and
4. To continuously monitor and ensure the implementation of the Plan.

Many believe that the establishment of the Plan and the Institute is an important step towards enhancing level of governance and transparency in Malaysia.