After ranking second for the most powerful passport in the world, Singapore has another cause for rejoicement — the recent release of the Annual Corruption Index sees our Little Red Dot placed seventh for the least corrupted country in the world.
For your reference, here’s the scoring from Transparency International’s (TI) website:
Admittedly, we cannot deny the globally conceded fact that corruption will never fully fade away from humanity as long as greed still holds a place within, which is further reinforced by TI’s advice. It cautions that high-scoring countries “cannot afford to be complacent”, and cites that even they are not immune to various potential acts of corruption.
Anyway, it’s an improvement following the rankings last year, when Singapore ranked eighth — which was an improvement in terms of the scoring as compared to 2015, but lost out overall as the Netherlands took over.
This year (with a ironic twist), Singapore repeats its 2014 performance with a score of 84, but it’s back in the saddle of the seventh placing, with Netherlands once more placing just one rank below.
Countries such as Somalia, South Sudan, North Korea, Venezuela don’t score that well in the index, with Somalia continuing its streak of being last in place out of 176 countries.
The director of Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) of Singapore Wong Hong Kuan has since released a statement that they will “continue to battle corruption without fear or favour so as to uphold the highest level of integrity and incorruptibility in Singapore.” Keep fighting the good fight, guys.
TI also made sure to address the recent changes in attitudes across the world (*cough* Trump *cough* Brexit):
“When traditional politicians fail to tackle corruption, people grow cynical. Increasingly, people are turning to populist leaders who promise to break the cycle of corruption and privilege. Yet this is likely to exacerbate – rather than resolve – the tensions that fed the populist surge in the first place.”
Grim days ahead.
