SOUTHEAST ASIAN BLOGGERS NETWORK

Friday, May 25, 2007

SOUTHEAST ASIA'S Most Corrupt Countries!


This is NOT one of those "hey-we-are-better-than-you" post. Let me just be clear with it first. This is not to annoy, provoke or ridule as well, no no no.

This is to...uhmm...to... just to "inform". There -- to inform. Although I know this is old news; I havent found any list on the net that put together the 11 nations of Southeast Asia on this issue.

The Corruption Perceptions Index is a brainchild of the Berlin-based organization Transparency International. They are not one of those mediocre "survey" companies that're up for some quick buck or fame releasing ill-conducted indexes -- no they're not. Rest assured, this org is an internationally recognized pulse meter. There. Take that!

Anyways, here's the ranking of the 11 SE Asian countries in terms of the most corrupt government from top (the least corrupt) to bottom (the most hellooo!-are-you-ok? governments);

10. Singapore 9.4
--Of course, who else? They placed beautifully in the world ranking at 5th! What can we say? Small nations are easier to manage. Kudos to the Singaporean government. In my next life, I wanna be Singaporean (or Malaysian) :-)

9. Malaysia 5.0
--Three thumbs up to the government's announcement to raise their public servant's pay to a whopping 30%! (I think more than that, I'm not sure) That's how they do it. Make the government employees happy to eradicate corruption. Very simple, really. Wait... are taxi extortions classified as corruption? If it is, Malaysia's rank would significantly fall way, way below Haiti! :-)

8. Thailand 3.6
--The score is not too impressive but better than 100 other countries (163 total worldwide) on the list. The low score was mostly because of Khun Thanksin, who else?

5. Laos, Vietnam and East Timor 2.6
-- Three countries share the 5th spot with their alarming 2.6 score. I can drive without a license in Laos and when caught... I pay the police 50,000 Kip (200 Baht, RM20, US$ 5) and I'm on my way. But hey! I offered them -- they didn't ask for it, ok?

--I have no comment with Vietnam, I haven't seen anything yet. And what's with East Timor? Mr. Horta has a lot of cleaning up to do.

4. The Philippines 2.5
--Having scored lower than Communist Laos & Vietnam is something very alarming, really. But when I was there a month ago, I didn't see anything suspicious. My British buddy who lives in Mindanao Island (apparently the most corrupt of all places in the country) and he doesn't share the same opinion with TI. He even had the experience of being lectured by a policeman and lambasted by a government employee when he tried to offer a bribe. They just refused to be bribed. Those people are worth praising, don't you think?

3. Indonesia 2.4
--Corruption surveys like these are never kind to Indonesia. They really wanted to maintain the reputation, don't they?

2. Cambodia 2.1
--If they are one of the most corrupt, why are they still poor? --I mean the government employees. I go to the Thai-Cambodian border from time to time to play casino. Those same Cambodian Immigration officers who asks for an additional 200 Baht "processing" fee are the same people for like what?-- 5 years ago!? If they get 200 Baht per transient and have more than 2,000 people goes in and out of Cambodia everyday... where do the money go? They still look the same to me!

1. Burma 1.9
--The Military Junta who rules Burma (Myanmar) won't let it go without a fight. The International Community has been bullying them for years but they are still sitting comfortably. Siting the ASEAN's agreement of non-interference, I'm gonna limit my comment on their way of government, I'm not gonna say anything except .... HEY! YOU IDIOTS! FREE AUNG SAN SUU KYI! NOW! -- There. Thank you.


If in case you're wondering Brunei is not on the list, well, as expected; not enough information on them. Brunei is Brunei. They belong to another category. They wouldn't care much, they got lotsa mullah anyway.


Normally, people won't take anything if you do NOT offer anything.

Having said that, I wonder who's really making our governments corrupt?

Us or them?

It's BOTH but mostly US! We keep electing them, dammit!
There. Take that!


****

If you want the full list, click here.

Related post: 2007 Edition

11 Comments:

Sofia for BiSEAN said...

Let Mayanmar alone. The world have shown them how to revolt peacefully (Philippines, Poland, etc. etc.) but they refuse to take the hint. Well, up to them.

Anonymous said...

I agree. Corruption is a two way street. They won't get anything if we don't let them. And they keep doing it because we keep electing them anyway. So they think it's ok. It's our loss. But here in Finland, we don't have anything like those.

Anonymous said...

The least corrupt to the most corrupt. The richest to the poorest. Goes side by side doesn't it?

I wonder if corruption is brought about by poverty. Oh yes, it is. Aboloutely.

Anonymous said...

I like your posts on the comparisons of the S.E asian countries. Very interesting and insightful! (Especially the one on each country's tagline and the street signs). More of these please! :)

Riki The Dark said...

Wow, that the Philippines didn't land in the Top 3 spot is a good change...a very slow change but still better than no change at all (and it could also get worse). The policeman and government employee your friend mentioned definitely deserves a gold medal for being honest and trustworthy public servants! Thanks for sharing, River!

Anonymous said...

This post proves that you can be sexy and vain but still be socially conscious. Well, done!

Misterhubs said...

Oh yes, corruption exists in the Philippines, especially in such government offices such as the Bureau of Customs and the Department of Education, Culture and Sports. I hate to admit it, but it's true.

franx said...

Your information is true. I don't know why SE Asia like to do this. Make other people suffer and the country can't develop well

Anonymous said...

Should we have a SEA ministry of Good Governance headed by Singapore or something? This is when the idea of unifying our governments comes clashing. Imagine our President/PM is Singaporean and Vice president is Filipino then a coup will rise in Burma and takes over. Wow!

Anonymous said...

I hope you also post the following

1. Most wired SEAn contry (internet users in Souteast Asia)
2. Percentage of people who watch tv per country.
3. Number of tourist arrivals per country.
4. Remittances per country
5. Foreign workers per country
7. Literacy rate
9. Most vibrant movie industry ( I heard that Thailand's movie sector is doing well)


more power.......and thank you for giving us a new perspective on how we see things here>>>>

Anonymous said...

Not really much corruption here in Brunei, probably in between Singapore and Malaysia... Corruption Bureau here pretty tough... on us commoners, not so on the Royal Family...who do all the corruption...if you could call it that. Not being offensive in any way here, just telling the truth

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