KUALA LUMPUR, 23 Oct 2009: The Whistle Blower Act will be formulated to encourage informants to expose corrupt practices and other misconduct, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Announcing the formulation of the Act when tabling the 2010 Budget in Parliament today, he said the move would provide immunity to informants from civil or criminal charges.
The formulation of the Whistle Blower Act was among the measures taken in the implementation of the National Key Result Areas (NKRA) to eliminate corruption.
In implementing the NKRA, Najib also announced that 14 Special Corruption Sessions Courts and four Special Corruption Appeal High Courts would be established.
Currently, there are only two special courts in Kuala Lumpur and another two in Shah Alam.
Najib also said efforts to enhance the image of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) would be carried out. These would include organising international conferences on combating corruption, carrying out awareness campaigns through the mass media, and promoting better public relations.
He said these measures would be aimed at improving public perception of and confidence in efforts at eliminating corruption, as well as ensuring that government processes and procedures were adhered to.
“These measures will ensure that the country is better ranked in the Corruption Perception Index,” he added. — Bernama
Alibabamahahtir says
The Whistle Blower Act.
Okay, let’s blow the whistle [on the] Scorpene submarine [issue].
Najib also said efforts to enhance the image of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) would be carried out. These would include organising international conferences on combating corruption, carrying out awareness campaigns through the mass media, and promoting better public relations.
Okay, lets sue the MACC for murder.
hj jamaludin says
Aiya, only whistle blower ma! Tuipan angin sahaja. [What’s the big deal] about this whistle blower act? The act will be “gone with the wind”.
Gopal Raj Kumar says
Christmas to bring good cheer! Chinese New Year to bring Ang Pows and Mandi Saffar to cleanse your souls. Hooray, we’ve found answers to all our ills in pious platitudes rather than in turning paradoxes into platitudes.
Whistle blower legislation in every country in which it has been implementd through legislation provides only boundaries by which one may blow that whistle.
It serves as a curb or limitation on the rights of the blower and the conditions under which they are allowed to blow to be heard rather than as an a warning to the offender.
What on earth will whistle blower legislation do to curb corruption? On the one hand there is a hazy definition for the term corruption which is of itself a hazzard.
There also then exists a reluctance on the part of government and public interest groups to define corruption by legislative means.
Additionally and fatally there are few law makers and lawyers who can add anything constructive to an argument which requires critical thinking in this field.
In legislating against corruption one has to define corruption or expand as widely as is practically possible any exisiting definition, remove generous defences and increase and make mandatory penalties for defined offences under the banner of corruption in the law to make it more effective.
[…]
Salleh says
Then Malaysia will get into the Index and we will live happily ever after.
The whistle blowers might fall from the 13th floor or drown in the river or get into an accident. After all, accidents do happen!
fedup says
Be careful, citizens, it [might be] another ploy to use against any opposition… They protect informants? What if fabricated evidence was used against someone? What then? How can there be justice in that case?