Searching for a Remedy: Assessing Malaysia’s Government Procurements Appeals and Grievance Mechanism
On 25 August 2025, the Government Procurement Bill was tabled for its first reading in the DewanRakyat. Within a short span of time, it proceeded through its second and third readings, and wassubsequently passed by both Houses of Parliament. The resulting Government Procurement Act (GPA)2025 now awaits gazettement before it comes into force. The passage […]
Malaysia’s Steel Industry and Climate Commitments: Governance, Gaps, & Pathways
Malaysia has committed to strengthening its climate ambition through Nationally Determined Contribution since 2016. Yet, significant challenges from hard-to-abate industries remain. While the steel industry plays a critical role in national development, it is also among Malaysia’s largest industrial sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. At the same time, Malaysia’s climate governance remains underdeveloped. The […]
Who Holds the MACC Accountable?
Improving Oversight of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission In Malaysia, corruption is a major public interest issue. According to the National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2024-2028, the cumulative estimated loss of Malaysia’s Gross Domestic Product between 2019 to 2023 was RM277 billion. In the past decade alone, numerous corruption scandals have come to light, costing billions in public […]
Navigating Reform: Challenges and Opportunities in the National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2024-2028
In May 2024, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim launched the National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2024–2028 (NACS), a policy programme that seeks to address corruption through a slew of strategies targeted at improving governance and accountability of public service administration. However, the NACS is less ambitious in scope to its predecessor, the National Anti-Corruption Plan 2019-2023, and relies […]
Whistleblower Protection or Suppression? A Decade of Section 203A of the Penal Code
Over the past decade, Malaysia has seen several multi-billion ringgit corruption scandals, most notably the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) case. These scandals have exposed the misuse of public institutions and funds, underscoring systemic vulnerabilities to corruption and abuse of power. Whistleblowers — especially those from the civil service — are crucial in uncovering misconduct. However, […]
Policy Proposal to the Malaysian Government: The Procurement Act
Government procurement has long been considered one of, if not the biggest source of wastage of public funds across governments around the world, and remains the area of governance most susceptible to corruption. Malaysia is no stranger to such occurrences, with some of nation’s biggest corruption scandals being procurement-related. Previous and successive Malaysian governments have […]
Ending Waste Colonialism, Governing Plastic Pollution: Japan’s Opportunity to Lead Asia out of the Plastic Crisis
In 2022, Malaysia was the top importer of plastic waste from Japan. Out of a total of 563 million kg of plastic waste exported by Japan to other countries, 179 million kg was sent to Malaysia. The sheer scale of Japanese plastic waste exports calls into question the effectiveness of Japanese efforts in supporting programmes […]
C4 Center Report: Structuring the Malaysian Ombudsman Office
Why does Malaysia need an Ombudsman Office? To ensure good governance and efficient public service, independent oversight of the public service is crucial. At present, this is managed by the Public Complaints Bureau (PCB) – an agency stationed under the Prime Minister’s Department (PMD) and governed by administrative circulars. It lacks statutory foundation and is […]
COVID-19 and Governance: A Qualitative Study on Government Aid with Communities from Bentong, Pahang and Selayang.
The COVID-19 pandemic saw a global health crisis with far-reaching effects that extended beyond the areas of health alone. Communities that were already disadvantaged were more adversely affected such as the B40 group, women, and children of schooling age – all faced problems relating to loss of income or decrease in quality of life. The […]
MyGov Reform Tracker Report
C4 Center started tracking developments on the implementation of the NACP since it was launched. A total of 11 out of the 115 initiatives are being tracked by C4 Center. Two other initiatives which are not part of the NACP, (Anti-Party Hopping Law and Environmental Governance) are also being tracked and included in this report […]