INTHEBLACK September 2024 special edition - Flipbook - Page 33
MALAYSIAN PERSPECTIVE
In Malaysia and some other South-East Asian countries, there are incidences where disgruntled or victimised staff
resort to surat laying, or “poison pen” letters, taking aim at alleged wrongdoing by individuals or companies.
responses from 500 organisations throughout the
Asia-Pacific region, including Japan, South Korea,
Mainland China and Southeast Asia. The report reveals
that 70 per cent of respondents see whistleblowing
as a way of improving an organisation’s culture of
ethics and integrity, 66 per cent see it as a means
of detecting fraud and other misconduct and about
60 per cent see it as a strategy to “foster a positive
and transparent working environment”.
Acknowledging the importance of transparency,
Tan says it is crucial for whistleblower hotlines or
forums to be accessible to people at the lowest levels
of an organisation.
“Generally, the people at the top know how to raise
an issue. They have access to the board and all the
rest of it, but it is the people on the factory floor, the
lower level or junior staff who need that ability to
raise concerns.”
© Adobe Stock
“They tend to be anonymous and there can be an
overflow of them but, at the end of the day, someone
who writes a poison pen letter is still a whistleblower,”
says PwC forensics and risk partner Alex Tan.
“If there is a deluge of poison pen letters, that
means there is a good chance that there could be
some troubles within the organisation.”
Tan says the Malaysian Government has taken
a proactive stance on whistleblowing, unveiling
a policy a few years ago to permit anonymous
whistleblower reports.
In May 2024, Prime Minister Anwar bin Ibrahim
announced the country’s plans to offer rewards to
whistleblowers as part of its 2024–2028 National
Anti-Corruption Strategy.
Such moves come as some other Asian nations seek
to ramp up whistleblowing provisions. The 2023 Asia
Pacific Conduct Watch Survey from Deloitte collated
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