The culture of corruption is entranced in our society and at all levels of government agencies. In the last 10 years under the rule of the previous government, this culture has become somewhat of a normal practice. This was a result of our top leaders themselves being involved in varioud abuse of power and breach of trust scandals. Top leaders and government agencies had no fear or guilt for accepting bribes. This is evident by the statistics provided by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) where it stated that 63.30% of the complaints it received is on the public sector.
On the other hand, citizens of this country were guilty for contributing towards this normalization. It takes a hand to give, and another to accept. This, somewhat became the way of life for many, until the effects of mismanagement and corruption were being felt by society at every level. People started to reliase that the high cost of living and low wages they were receiving is due to the bad management of our country.
As the Pakatan Harapan government (PH) took power in May 2018, Malaysians had a new breath of life. The victory of PH, gave Malaysians a new hope and a new beginning. In line with PH’s manifesto on reforms, the fight against corruption and the building of a new Malaysia on principles of good governance, the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) was established.
The fight against corruption is now the No. 1 priority of the government of Malaysia. The government realises that if it wants to lead Malaysia into a prosperous country, we would have to lay out concrete plans and actions to combat the corruption and integrity problem at all levels of society.
C4 center has been actively involved at every levels of society in bringing this message ahead. We have been involved in advocacy at the federal government level and raising awareness at the grassroots level. We believed that one of the important strategies in the fight against corruption and in advocating for the good governance agenda is to engage young people who are key in setting the landscape and path towards a new and clean Malaysia.
This workshop touched on issues of corruption and how it destroys our community and how it is affecting our society; also to raise awareness on the concept of integrity and good values. The program was designed to help participants look into themselves as the cause of the problem. Our goal was to inspire young people whom are involved in this porgram to be able to bring back and create a wave of positive energies in the environment they live in. They need to be the voice of change and soldiers of good values in our society. This was a unique and critical workshop. Youths are the future leaders of our contry. The reform towards a corruption-free Malaysia begins with them.
The workshop was held on 10 December 2019 in conjunction of International Anti-Corruption Day (9 Dec) and International Human Rights Day (10 Dec). It was also the first of its kind ever organised specifically for youths in the State Government of Perak.
Title of event: The Role of Youth in Improving Transparent Governance Workshop (Peranan Belia dalam Meningkatkan Tadbir Urus yang Lebih Telus)
Date: Tuesday, 10 December 2019, 9.00am – 5.00pm at Tower Regency Hotel, Ipoh, Perak
Speakers:
- Welcoming Speech by Cynthia Gabriel, C4 Center
- Opening Speech by the Honorable Mr Teoh Yee Chern, State Assemblyman and Speaker of the Perak State Youth Council
- Facilitator 1: Sudhagaran Stanley, C4 Center
- Facilitator 2: Michael Xavier, Managing Director and Trainer, SpeakRight Consultancy
- Panel Speaker 1: Ms Fariza Omar, Head of Public Education Unit, Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)
- Panel Speaker 2: Mr Mohamed Fisul Ismail, Director, State Audit Department, Perak
- Moderator: Ms Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, C4 Center
Welcoming Speech by Cynthia Gabriel, C4 & Opening Speech by Honorable Mr. Teoh Yee Chern, Speaker of the Perak State Youth Council. 
Session one, participants were divided into groups representing different government agencies and how can they be corrupt and its effects to the people. 
Session two, facilitated by Michael Xavier. 
Session three, Forum on Youth’s Role in Establishing Good Governance. 
This event ended with a Closing Speech by the honorable Mr Howard Lee, the Chairman of Perak State Executive Council for Youth and Sports & Human Capital Development. The zest of Mr. Howard is felt by everyone in the hall. He reminded everyone the objective of us contributing to the society; our commitment to become the agents and friends of agents in the efforts to do away with corruption altogether. He mentioned cooperating with different government agencies to create viral anti-corruption materials and content for the public to prevent corruption from being our culture. He invited everyone to come up front to make a pledge to not commit corrupt practices and report when there is one.
The pledge was personally written by Mr. Howard Lee and was read out together by all the participants. The translated text for swearing in as follows:
The Youth Declaration on the Role of Youth in Improving Transparent Governance
We are dedicated to:
- Fight corruption from the grassroots level;
- Create a generation of youth that is free from corrupt practices;
- Ensuring transparent governance in all organizations, associations, departments, agencies and non-governmental organizations;
- Solidifying ethical leadership, good governance, accountability and respect for the law;
- Support immediate and drastic actions on any offenders regardless of political ideology, or position within the government or externally;
- Report to the relevant authorities if there is any misuse of power or compromises;
- Ensure proper stewardship of the procedures in governance;
- Create a clean and inclusive ecosystem for the youth.
The Honorable Mr. Howard Lee Chuan How
Chairman of Youth, Sports and Human Development Committee
State of Perak
Dated 10/12/2019
