SOUTHEAST ASIA'S MOST CORRUPT COUNTRIES OF 2007

The 2007 Edition of the Corruption Perception Index was released by Transparency International last Thursday (06 Dec). Based on our blog post here of the 2006 Edition; do you think your country’s corruption problems improved?

Here's the ranking of the most corrupt countries in Southeast Asia 0f 2007 from top (the least corrupt) to bottom (the most corrupt);

SE Asian Rank / Country / CPI Score

10. Singapore 9.3
-- The Lion City is again (and of course) the least corrupt of all the nations in our region. Although their score went down 0.1 point, their world ranking went up from 5th to 4th and shares the league with Denmark, Finland, New Zealand and Sweden. *Majulah Singapura!*

9. Malaysia 5.1
-- The nation of the rainforest showed us how to do it. Raise the government employee’s pay to avoid temptations. Malaysia ranked No.43 in the world together with South Korea.

8. Thailand 3.3
-- Our score went down 0.3 but our world ranking improved from 108th to 84th. I really don’t know where the statistics are coming from. It certainly didn’t come from our police. Our Police force is one of the strictest and rigorously checked in the region and I am very proud of them. The corruption must be coming from somewhere else.

7. Vietnam and East Timor 2.6
-- No changes in the scores and ranking for Vietnam and East Timor this year. But Laos dropped out!

5. The Philippines 2.5
--No change in score at 2.5 and their world ranking went down to 131st. The current president’s popularity is the lowest since Marcos. Why do they ask each and every elected leader to step down – instead of working together? Too much precious time is wasted. The Philippines shares the spot with Libya, Yemen and Iran.

4. Indonesia 2.3
--As usual, corruption surveys like these are never kind to Indonesia. The score went down 0.1 points and they ranked 143rd in the world. What does Southeast Asia’s biggest economy doing wrong?

3. Cambodia 2.0
-- I took a little pause when I was preparing this list feeling a little hopeless. But no – we shouldn’t give up on Cambodia. One of these days, they’re gonna change for the better so fast…we wouldn’t know what hit us.

2. Laos 1.9
-- What happened? Laos went down from 6th to 2nd in SE Asia. Their score went down with a whopping 0.7 points! Foreign assistance from Vietnam, Thailand and Japan is going to somebody's pocket. Ha!

1. Burma 1.4
-- Burma, whew! What can I say?...They are on the bottom list in the world with Iraq and Somalia (the 2 collapsed states). Is it really that bad in Burma?*sigh*

What’s your view? Since CPI scores are based mainly on citizen’s perceptions, do you think these ranking reflects your own opinion?

If it does, where does corruption occur in your country?

Share it.

****


**Again, Brunei is not on the index again. Brunei is Brunei. They belong to another category. Long live the Sultan!

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