HIGH-LEVEL INDIVIDUAL INTEGRITY NEEDED BEFORE BEING GIVEN RESPONSIBILITY

KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 (Bernama) -- An individual's integrity must be ensured before they are employed in any organisation, especially for positions involving public trust and responsibility.

Chairman of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Operational Evaluation Panel Datuk Ahmad Rosli Mohd Sham said integrity should not only be cultivated throughout a person's career, but rather should already exist and become a fundamental value within an individual before entering the service.

In an interview with Bernama TV titled 'The Price of Integrity: Threats and Slander', he said the strength of an organisation or country depends on the quality of its human capital.

Therefore, individuals who are given responsibilities involving the interests of the country and the public in Malaysia must have a high level of integrity because this value reflects their quality.

He added that the importance of integrity is also reflected in national legislation, especially when integrity violations are often associated with corruption offences.

Therefore, integrity-related violations involving corruption are classified as criminal offences under the anti-corruption law, he explained.

Ahmad Rosli also stressed that the people need to hold on to strong values, including sincerity and integrity in carrying out their respective responsibilities.

"No matter how skilled or intelligent a person is, if integrity is absent, that person can become antisocial and bring problems rather than being useful to the organisation or country," he said.

According to him, a country plagued by corruption will face failed projects, weak law enforcement, and erosion of public trust in the authorities.

In this regard, agencies such as the MACC play an important role in ensuring that integrity is upheld in order to build a developed and effective country with efficient public service delivery.

-- BERNAMA