Remove bad apples from civil service or risk spread of corruption, says ex-minister
Former minister Salleh Said Keruak agreed that raising the salaries of civil servants will not curb corruption.
PETALING JAYA: A former federal minister has warned that the failure to remove “bad apples” in the government could see the festering of corruption in the civil service.
In a Facebook post, Salleh Said Keruak said only a small percentage of civil servants were corrupt.
Salleh, the communications and multimedia minister from 2015 to 2018, said that the majority of them were honest.
“But if we do not remove the corrupted ones, then it might spread like cancer.”
Salleh also agreed with Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief Azam Baki that raising the salaries of civil servants would not curb corruption.
“The practice of corruption is among those who are greedy, without self values and integrity.”
Azam had yesterday cautioned against raising the wages of civil servants without addressing the deeper issues that create opportunities for corruption.
He said merely increasing their salaries would not curb graft as low wages and poverty were not the main factors in civil service corruption.
He said corruption was about “greed, opportunities, and systemic flaws in procedures and governance”.
On May 1, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that the wages of civil servants would be increased by more than 13% effective December this year.
Chief secretary Zuki Ali was later reported as saying that the number of corruption convictions among civil servants had decreased to 70 in 2021, and 21 in 2022.