There was a small Malaysian demonstration in Melbourne yesterday. They called it BERSIH which means clean (thats why the picture of the minion cleaning itself)

The demonstration was small compared to the one in Kuala Lumpur. The focus here was on change in electoral system unlike in KL which demand for a change in Prime Minister. Considering how lives have been turned upside down in the Middle East after major changes of government without proper consideration to a comprehensive reform, a drastic change is not necessary a good change. Tearing down an old house is only part of the solution. Building a new replacement is a more important consideration. The change need to be done properly and systematically.

Xi Jinping approach at cutting the root of government corruption is a good start at governmental reform. However the root of the issues is still on how to motivate the government officials to stay clean. Singapore has gone on a different approach by paying its civil servant well and hoping theyll not be tempted to go the other way. That approach takes a long time to change and may not be suitable for China considering the size of its civil service. But it is still something to consider.

Ensuring that civil servant are sufficiently paid is not enough, there need to be a change in both process and culture.

Modern practice dictate that the person who request for a purchase, the one who makes the purchase, the person who accepts the delivery and the person who finally makes the payment are not the same person. But in China the person in charge often manages all four areas which easily opens up potential for corruption. The idea is not new. The proper implementation of it is.

A more difficult change is actually that of culture. The idea that the CEO is only the representative of the company and that the assets are own by the company seems to exist only on paper. When a person becomes a manager of a department, that person seems to assume whatever in in that department is his. Maybe Im wrong in feeling that way and that this is only happening in a few areas. However if the employee have the culture of understanding the difference between what is personal and what belongs to a company who is not a person, then they can be more confident to ensure that assets dont get move around without proper authority.

In Malaysia, the idea of bumiputera being the sons of the soil and therefore they are entitled to whats on the land has resulted in some local elites to feel that they have the rights to major assets of the country. The original idea was to help the poor Malay reached ownership of 30% of the economy which was and is dominated by the Chinese. Unfortunately the scheme got manipulated such that it profit a small group instead of the poor majority. That is why there is such a huge out cry about $700 million dollars being deposited the personal account of the Prime Minister.

Corruption can never go away as long as human has greed. What is needed is strong leadership, proper control and an education on cultural change towards a different way of thinking. I leave you with the message from a protester that, at the end of the day, that is what we are all just trying to achieve.