PM Lee Hsien Loong at Official Opening of the Corruption Reporting & Heritage Centre

Director of CPIB and guests, very happy to open the Corruption Reporting and Heritage Centre.

Last year, I launched CPIB’s roving exhibition. In fact, almost every year I attend a CPIB event. There is a purpose to it. It is to emphasise the overriding importance of keeping Singapore clean and incorrupt. A clean system is not the natural way things are. Corruption happens in every society, and is ultimately driven by human nature and greed. There will always be individuals who will be tempted to break the rules. When someone does, we must make sure they are caught and severely dealt with, because otherwise more will be tempted to try. Beyond a point, people will have a new idea of what is acceptable, and we will be in a bad state. So for CPIB’s 60th anniversary celebrations in 2012, 5 years ago, they had all three PMs past and present attending – Mr Lee Kuan Yew, ESM Goh Chok Tong, and myself.

Singapore’s success depends on keeping the country clean and corruption-free.

PM Lee

Everyone knows that Singapore has maintained a high standard of honesty, with a clean and incorrupt system. By international rankings, we do very well. Whether is Transparency International, World Bank or PERC (Pacific & Economic Risk Consultancy), we rank as one of the least corrupt societies in the world. CPIB tables an annual report on corruption to Parliament. Last year, the number of corruption cases fell 11 per cent from what was already an all-time low. Many countries send officials to study our experience. They want to know how we do it, what laws we have, how our system is organised. Quite a few have in fact done similar things as we have done. They set up anti-corruption agencies like the CPIB, they promulgate codes of conduct for civil servants, and they pass stiff laws against corruption.

Yet corruption does not always disappear. Just look around us, in many countries, so often corruption is accepted as the natural state of things. It is entrenched, and becomes impossible to eradicate. Because once it has gone into the system, without money, people cannot get elected, so clean candidates or political parties have no chance. You need money to get elected. If you have not got elected, you need to recoup that money; the system perpetuates itself. It reaches a point where people are no longer outraged by corrupt officials, but resigned to the way things are. Because they believe that even if they kick out one batch of leaders, whoever replaces them will behave exactly the same.

In contrast, we in Singapore have developed a system and culture that eschews corruption. Elections do not cost a lot of money. Singaporeans expect and demand a clean system. They do not condone giving, accepting, or asking for “social lubricants” to get things done. People believe that they can make it because they work hard, and not because they have special connections or paying extra “fees”. That is the way things should be. People readily report corrupt practices when they encounter them and they trust that the law applies to all, and that the Government will enforce the laws without fear or favour. Businesses too have confidence that in Singapore, rules are transparent and fairly applied. The public service is professional. Officers are imbued with the right values, they embrace the ethos of public service, and they are paid fair and realistic wages, benchmarked to private sector practices and earnings. This reduces the temptation for public officers to accept a bribe, and makes the problem of fighting corruption manageable. We have a system that works, and we must keep it that way.

This two-in-one Corruption Reporting and Heritage Centre (CRHC) exemplifies our attitude towards corruption. It is a physical place for members of the public to walk in and report suspected corruption cases in person. It shows that Government treats complaints on corruption seriously and transparently. We will investigate any complaint on corruption thoroughly. In fact, many successful CPIB investigations arise from tipoffs by the public. So we encourage members of the public who know of or suspect any corrupt behaviour to step forward and inform CPIB. This CRHC is also to educate the public. CPIB used to have a heritage centre, but it was housed inside the CPIB HQ. Unless there was a reason you have gone into the CPIB HQ, it is not so easy to see the heritage centre. This one is open to the public, and much more accessible. It even has a new MRT station – Stevens station – just at its doorstep. Here, the public can find out more about how the CPIB tackled high profile corruption cases in the past.

The CRHC will reinforce the message that every Singaporean plays a role in fighting corruption. This is why we publicise corruption cases prominently. I am happy that CPIB has come up with a creative way to engage the public through a short story competition. I encourage CPIB to continue looking for opportunities to put the message out.

Singapore’s success depends on keeping the country clean and corruption-free. The courts, the Government, civil servants, police officers – all must continue to uphold the highest levels of professionalism and integrity. But the public also play an important role to maintain our social norms to eschew corruption and uphold the standards. Our founding leaders left us a clean system, built up over more than half a century. It is a legacy that we can be proud of, and should do our utmost to protect.

I am very happy that this place is now open for business. I hope that it does not have too much business, but I hope it will get the message through.

Thank you very much.