Ramasamy pans Cuepacs
sec-gen for ‘rationalising’
graft
The former Penang deputy chief minister says fear alone cannot be used as a defence for engaging in corruption.
In a statement, Ramasamy said Cuepacs secretary-general Abdul Rahman Nordin had “presented a disturbing narrative” in saying that some civil servants were pressured to accept bribes.
Rahman had claimed that those who refused to accept bribes would receive bullets in the mail or see their families harassed. He also suggested that those who offered bribes were the root of the problem.
However, Ramasamy described such reasoning as flawed, saying the notion that fear justified corruption was unacceptable.
“Fear alone cannot be used as a defence for engaging in corruption,” he said.
“Rahman’s stance not only undermines Malaysia’s law enforcement system but also portrays the country as lacking order.”
Ramasamy said if civil servants faced intimidation, police reports should be filed immediately and that Cuepacs, as an umbrella organisation, should support its members in reporting such cases to the authorities.
He said that as a senior trade union figure, Rahman’s view of corruption would likely hinder Malaysia’s progress in improving its CPI ranking.
He also said that trade unions should hold Rahman accountable for “rationalising” corruption on grounds of threats and intimidation.
He said it was “regressive and damaging” to place more blame on those who bribe than on the recipients, and that Rahman had crossed a line as a trade union leader by offering “such a distorted perspective of corruption”.
“Leaders like him should champion integrity, not make excuses for corruption,” he said.
Malaysia recently reported an unchanged score of 50 and 57th-place ranking in the 2024 CPI.
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