KUCHING: Sarawak has emerged as the first state to adopt and organise the Certified Integrity Officer (CeIO) programme.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the CelO programme yesterday, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg spoke at length on the need to emphasise integrity not only in the state civil service but also in the society as a whole.
“Integrity is a very important aspect of the human life. If you want to judge a person, whether or not the person is of high quality, you judge him not only from his action, but also from what the person has done for righteousness.
“Positive behaviours gain you trust and respect. When you are given trust and respect it calls upon you to have integrity.
“Needless to say, basic to all this is your religious upbringing because it is religion that first teaches us to be a responsible person, not only to the society, but also to God.
“If a person is sincere in his actions, God will facilitate him.”
Abang Johari stressed the importance of self-discipline, saying a person can only hope to improve the lives of others if he has done well for himself.
He said this life’s principle applies to the family.
“If we want to have a good marriage life or a successful family rather, we must provide enough to create a good balance of both moral and physical values which will ensure our children will grow up to be the people we want them to be,” he said.
He said as with the family, so too, how the civil service and the society at large should be educated, guided and nurtured.
He said if integrity is what we want from the people then we and the people must all be taught integrity.
Earlier, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Academy (Maca) Director Datuk Idris Zaharudin in his speech said the programme is a collaboration between the state government and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to realise the country’s aspiration to be corruption free.
According to him, the CeIO accreditation programme is in line with the national policy of creating a society of high moral value.
At yesterday’s event, 44 civil servants underwent an Enhancing Integrity Programme (EIP) by Maca.
More than 800 of state administration members, staff of state departments and village chiefs attended the closing ceremony.
Also present at the event was Minister in the Chief Minister’s Office (Integrity and Ombudsman) Datuk Talib Zulpilip.
