malaysiakini-Not FAIR to Compare Our CORRUPTION with Singapore LAH!

Malaysians and Singaporeans share many common traits such as the so-called Asian values and the love of food; as seen by the many places where one can get food on a 24-hour basis.

In fact we share the same heritage as both countries have a population that came from the same "mother countries" during the colonial days and earlier - China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and nowadays from farther as locals are marrying more and more "ang moh" and bringing them home.

But that's where the similarities end. TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL has to go and spoil it all by publishing their Annual Report for 2008 and according to this malaysiakini article Malaysia slips further in corruption rankings .

It is like comparing competitors in a handicapped race - you must understand that Singapore started their war against corruption the day that Lee Kuan Yew took control and decided that good government was an essential requirement for Singapore's success and progress - that included reducing corruption and being transparent in most government matters.

Malaysia, with the abundance of natural resources, indulged in wanton excesses and announced many times they would take action against corrupt practices each time the Auditor-General's Annual Report got published and of course a few persons got arrested but each year the report gets longer as the GDP increases.

So we should stop comparing with Singapore or we will end up with heart-burn. After all they are a world-class nation but with little soul and you can't drive more than 90kph anywhere on the island. In Malaysia even our tour buses easily speed in excess of 110kph.

As for the police, well we know that they have such a cosy relationship with top politicians that between them they have managed to bury the IPCMC that would have created an important tool to instill more discipline in the force.

Maybe we should ask TI to create a new table but excluding Singapore. I mean it's really discouraging - it's like being placed in a 100m race where Usain Bolt is competing.