Singapore loves touting their stringent corruption-free practices, and it seems to be proven when the republic was found to be among the top 10 least corrupted nations in the world.
The latest Corruption Perceptions Index released by non-governmental organization Transparency International ranked 167 countries according to their scores in the perceived level of public sector corruption. Singapore may have placed eighth in the whole list, but the country’s scores have progressively dropped since 2012.
Regionally, Singapore is in the top tier. Neighbouring nations rank significantly lower, with Hong Kong placing 18th, Malaysia placing 54th, Thailand placing 76th, Indonesia placing 88th and the Philippines placing 95th.
Asia Pacific as a whole didn’t put up an impressive performance in the latest rankings. “Between Australia’s slipping scores and North Korea’s predictably disastrous performance, this year’s index shows no significant improvement,” notes Srirak Plipat, Director for Asia Pacific. “Has Asia Pacific stalled in its efforts to fight corruption? This year’s poor results demand that leaders revisit the genuineness of their efforts and propel the region forward with actionable measures.”
Malaysia was particularly singled out for their 1MDB scandal — which apparently has been solved this morning.
“This year’s poor results demand that leaders revisit the genuineness of their efforts and propel the region beyond stagnation. They must fulfil promises, and ensure efforts aren’t undermined in practice.”
