KUCHING: Honesty and trustworthiness are the best weapons to resist the corruption temptation, says Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Integrity and Ombudsman) Datuk Talib Zulpilip.
He said organisations and companies that practice high integrity would usually be able to perform well long-term.
“Many companies and organisations fail because they do not follow the reality principle. Integrity means telling the truth even if the truth is ugly.
“Integrity is the most important principle of leadership because it demands truthfulness and honesty.
“It is crucial, especially for those in positions of leadership. They must be sincere, open, transparent, trustworthy, honest, have principles and are not easily influenced by any party,” he said before launching the Senari Synergy Anti-Bribery and Corruption (ABAC) Policy programme here on Monday (Aug 24).
Emphasising on the need of having integrity, Talib, who is also Jepak assemblyman, said organisations would be seen as dependable and accountable.
“Thus, it will be easy for them to earn people’s trust and gain influence.
“Apart from that, it is very important for a leader to have high integrity so that development projects in his area can be implemented perfectly.”
Talip further said that integrity was also very important as it was the vision of the state government to become a developed state with high integrity by 2030.
“In fact, the Sarawak government is the first state in Malaysia to sign the integrity pledge. We were the first state Cabinet ministers to take such a step.
“The effort was started by former Chief Minister, the late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem in 2015.
“It was continued by Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg. All state Cabinet leaders were required to sign corruption-free pledges on Jan 25, 2017, two weeks after he was appointed as the new Chief Minister.”
He also reminded organisations to abide by the law and not take advantage to enrich themselves by abusing the trust placed on them.
“Therefore, I would like to remind all grassroots leaders to always carry out their duties and responsibilities with high integrity so that corruption can be reduced.
“Without integrity, an organisation will not be able to perform and function properly.”
