Despite some hiccups due to the pandemic, the Coalition for Business Integrity (CBI) conference on “Supply Chain Governance in the Era of Globalisation” saw an overwhelming response from some 70 participants.
Jointly organised by CBI with several chambers of commerce, businesses represented different industries in the private sector. Corruption is a “cancer” affecting every sector and strata of society, and the war against corruption can only be won when people from all walks of life stand in solidarity regardless of race or religion.
Keynote speaker, retired Court of Appeal judge, Mah Weng Kwai spoke on several current issues, including the current development in the judiciary as well as his personal encounters with corruption.
Sim Leisure Group’s founder and CEO, Sim Choo Kheng shared his story of being a victim of corruption himself. “I grew up accepting that corruption is normal,” he said. “However, since I started my own business thirty years ago, I have been fighting corrupt business practices.”
He recounted how he was literally chased out of his workplace in Kuala Lumpur after he became a whistleblower against his immediate superior. After reporting to the local partner that his immediate superior had stolen money from the company, he was literally chased out of the company.
“I could not understand why my big boss did not stand up for me until 20 years later when I met his other partner who complained that both bosses were working together to steal money from the company,” he said.
A firm believer in zero corruption, Sim’s company has designed, built, and operated over 300 theme park and water park projects around the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. The list includes Laguna Waterpark in Dubai, Yas Waterworld in Abu Dhabi, Lost Paradise of Dilmun in Bahrain, Legoland in Denmark and Malaysia, and Universal Studios in Singapore. ESCAPE is Sim Leisure’s own designed and built outdoor adventure theme park and waterpark. The Group recently bought over Kidzania in Petaling Jaya.
Another speaker, representing the Christian faith, Tam Wah Fiong shared how his journey in fighting corruption since 1998.
“When we first started our Zero Corruption campaign in 1998,” he said, “we also faced a lot of challenges. It took two years to change the mindset of our own people. Although we have faced many challenges, including losing major contracts, our business has been doing well over the past 23 years.”
Better known as “Pastor” Tam to many who know him personally, the Chairman of Thumbprints Utd Sdn Bhd used his company’s past five years’ record between 2013 and 2017, to encourage more business owners to adopt the business integrity in the conduct of their businesses.
“The growth in our total sales and profit after tax shows that paying a bribe is not always the way to achievements in business,” he said.
What most business owners fail to see is that since Thumbprint decided to go on Zero Corruption, the company has managed to attract major clients who “believe in us.”
What these clients want are approved suppliers who have developed a reputation as companies that conduct their business with integrity. Citing the example of Disney, major corporations like them want suppliers who comply with the laws.
In 2002, when Disney audited the printing company based in Rawang, they found that Thumbprints was capable of managing the gaps they had in the area of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG). Thumbprints had since become one of Disney’s approved suppliers since 2003.
This testimony by Tam confirms another guest speaker, Drago Kos’s doubt whether business owners of any company would want to enter into a partnership with another company elsewhere, where the risks of integrity breaches are “too high” or “simply unknown.”
Speaking via Zoom from Slovenia, the Chair of OECD Working Group on Bribery and International Business Integrity Network and Co-Chair of MENA-OECD Business Integrity Network, said that it is time that the private sector should lead in the anti-corruption campaign.
“With the global superpowers now busy fighting each other for supremacy, it seems that the private sector is more involved now to connect the world in the efforts to push for greater business integrity,” he said.
Other speakers included Shanta Helena Kwakasing (UN Global Impact Network Malaysia & Brunei), AiraAzhari (IDEAS), and Chew Phye Keat (Coalition for Business Integrity).
Established in 2014, CBI is a nonprofit apolitical business organization championing business integrity and anti-corruption in the marketplace for a better Malaysia.
The brainchild of Pastor Daniel Ho, CBI has been providing services to the corporate sector engaging with the government of the day including MACC as well as working closely with international organisations such as ASEAN CSR, UNODC, OECD, and USAID. They will be organising a conference on business integrity targeting Christian businessmen and women soon. Look out for more details in Christianity Malaysia.
In a separate interview with Josephine Yoong by Christianity Malaysia, Christian business owners were encouraged to participate in CBI activities to develop their businesses based on integrity. CBI is currently on a membership drive amongst business entrepreneurs in the Christian community. For more info, go to cbi.org.my or email your enquiries to Cindy.Lye@cbi.org.my.
Note: Christianity Malaysia supports integrity in business practices but is not affiliated directly with CBI or any other NGO. Christianity Malaysia remains an independent Christian media platform, with a role to highlight noteworthy Christian events and news.
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