HOTEL stays, meals with ministers and merit points for attending special talks. These are among the rewards dished out to easily influenced students in public universities, which plant the culture and belief that corruption is not only acceptable but necessary.

This culture is then validated when students see politicians, businessmen and community leaders engage in graft and get away with it.

This was revealed by student leaders to The Malaysian Insight following a study by the Malaysian Integrity Institute on perceptions of corruption among students in three public universities.

Although the majority of its 402 respondents knew what constituted graft, the study found that a worrying number thought that it is not wrong to accept gifts or demand extra rewards for their work.

The perception that certain corrupt acts were acceptable stems from the low value given to integrity and honest work in campuses, said Awang Syazuan Shafiq Awang Jaya of Muslim youth student group PKPIM.

“When a premium is put on academic success at any cost, students learn that integrity and moral values are less important,” said Awang Shafiq, who is PKPIM secretary.

This happens even when students take courses on morality and religious values, he said.

“The belief is that we need to get good results no matter if we cheat or plagiarise.”

At the higher end of the spectrum are the rewards for being pro-establishment or keeping quiet about campus issues, such as extra fees or derelict facilities, said another student leader Anis Syafiqah Md Yusof of Universiti Malaya (UM).

For instance, student activists who are pro-establishment get invited to special training camps in expensive hotels where they get to dine with ministers.

“Those who attend special politically themed talks, such as on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), are rewarded with merit points,” said Anis.

This culture creates a belief that siding with authority is a rewarding path, she said, and it leads to the practice of offering gifts in return for something.

The IIM study found that more than a third or 35.8% of its respondents felt that receiving gifts in the form of cash, goods or services in return for doing one’s job was not a form of corruption.

More than 37% also found that it was not wrong to make extra demands for outstation work even when lodging had been provided.

On the flip side, said Anis, those who complained about the university to its administration, whether it is about fees or facilities, are stigmatised.

“For instance, if they are applying for on-campus student housing, the ones who complain are always the last on the list.”

Rot from the top 

Former UM student leader Fahmi Zainol said student perceptions of corruption are another reflection of the wider acceptance of the practice in society.

That despite the government’s official stance that it is going all out to stamp out bribery and graft, the reality is that these practices are still widespread. And students can see that, said Fahmi.

“Bribery is considered normal. Not engaging in corruption, on the other hand, is considered unusual. For instance, it is normal to use your connections get a job after graduation.

“This is why the practice of appointing family members into a company is considered acceptable,” said Fahmi, referring to another IIM finding.

More than 20% of respondents said appointing family members into positions within a company or department was acceptable.

The only way to eradicate these beliefs is for the war on corruption to start at the very top, they said.

There is no use talking about eradicating corruption when scandals, such as 1MDB, continue to dominate the headlines and no one is punished for it, they said.

Malaysian authorities have continued to insist that there was no wrongdoing in the debt-laden state firm despite convictions in Singapore over money-laundering and forfeiture suits in the United States.

Anis urged IIM to practise what it preached and study corruption and integrity among civil servants and politicians.

It is impossible to tell students who are using politicians and senior civil servants as role models not to practice corruption, said PKPIM’s Awang Shafiq.

“If you don’t punish people on top, how do you expect people below to get the message? The example must come from the top.” – July 20, 2017.