LAXENBURG, Jan 22 — The number of corruption cases being reported in Malaysia is increasing because the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government has put in place the relevant mechanisms for the rakyat to have no fear to highlight cases of graft at all levels.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said this during his lecture entitled “Fighting Corruption in Malaysia: Achievements, Challenges and Perspectives” at the International Anti-Corruption Academy here yesterday. 

"When we asked the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) on the number of corruption cases currently, they said there has been an increase.

“But these are not new cases but those under the previous (Barisan Nasional) government.

“The people are now no longer afraid to report any activities of corruption because we are giving them protection, including under the Whistleblowers Act,” he added.

Dr Mahathir told the Academy that he would classify corruption as being in two stages — ‘Under the Table’ and ‘Over the Table’.

“When a country is in the ‘Over the Table’ stage, this spells trouble as now people voluntarily offer bribes for services rendered by government officers. This becomes a norm of that society.

“When a country is in the ‘Under the Table’ stage, there is still hope to fight corruption as people do not offer bribes voluntarily but are forced to do so to get approvals for their projects, etcetera,” he added.

Dr Mahathir reiterated that it is impossible to completely eradicate corruption.

“Laws alone are not enough. In some countries there is total corruption — from top to bottom.

“In some countries it is minimal. These countries have a culture that is against graft — the people are against corruption.

“But this attitude has to be cultivated from when a person is very young.

“If you have such a culture, then the laws not very necessary,” he added.

Dr Mahathir also told the audience that among the steps that his government has taken to battle corruption is for all ministers, including himself to declare their assets to the MACC.

“We have also decided to limit a prime minister to two terms in office, that is 10 years.

“When I was the PM the previous time, I served for 22 years. So, this now means nobody can break my record,” he said to laughter from his audience.

After his lecture, Dr Mahathir left for the Grand Wien Hotel to meet with Malaysians living in Austria and Slovakia for a dialogue session.