More Foreign Graft Busters Heading To MACA For Training
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 5 (Bernama) -- The Malaysia Anti-Corruption Academy (MACA), which was established a decade ago, has made great strides towards cementing its role as a reputed provider of training programmes for anti-graft officers in the Asia-Pacific region.
In the past two years in particular, there was a substantial increase in foreign trainee numbers. In 2014, some 236 officers from foreign anti-corruption agencies attended training at the MACA, with the number almost doubling to 471 in 2015. Previously, the academy only received an average of 73 trainees per year between 2006 and 2013.
The MACA has so far trained officers from Afghanistan, the Middle East, Mongolia, Bhutan and other countries from the Asia-Pacific and African regions.
Its Director Datuk Abdul Wahab Abdul Aziz said the MACA was proud that it has the capacity and ability to offer training courses on graft prevention to not only officers from the public and private sectors in Malaysia but from overseas as well.
The fact that the MACA's expertise was sought after by foreign agencies showed that its course modules designed for officers at various levels were not only competent but met international standards as well, he told Bernama in an interview recently.
The MACA has earned the recognition of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, as well as that of the Vienna-based International Anti-Corruption Agency (IACA), as a training hub for anti-graft officers.
MACA SINCERE IN SHARING KNOWLEDGE, EXPERTISE
In fact, the MACA's Master's degree programme in Social Science (Corruption Studies) - which is the first course of its kind in Malaysia and the Asia-Pacific region - is endorsed by the IACA.
According to Abdul Wahab, in 2014 the IACA had selected MACA as a location for one of the modules under the IACA's own Master in Anti-Corruption Studies programme. He said the same module would be conducted at the MACA again this month.
The South East Asia Parties Against Corruption (SEA-PAC), at its 10th meeting in December 2014, had also acknowledged the efforts of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to turn the MACA into an anti-corruption training hub for the Southeast Asian region.
When MACA was set up in December 2005 to train MACC officers, the government also envisioned the academy as a regional hub for anti-corruption capacity and capability building through the promotion of best practices in investigation, monitoring and enforcement.
"MACA has also received invitations to conduct training in other countries, including Bhutan which enjoys a high ranking in the world Corruption Perceptions Index.
"In fact, I've asked the Bhutan officers, 'Why us, your index is better than ours.' But they told me that although they have gone to Hongkong and Singapore (for training), it's not the same as what we offer. According to them, the MACA is sincere in its efforts to share its graft prevention knowledge and experiences, especially with regard to its skills in handing corruption cases," said Abdul Wahab.
He said MACA has also received requests from South Korea and Botswana to help establish anti-corruption training centres in those countries.
LONG WAITING LIST
Meanwhile, the MACA's Certified Integrity Officers (CeIO) programme and other courses have also been, in recent years, attracting higher numbers from both the public and private sectors in Malaysia.
In 2006, a total of 1,103 participants attended training courses at the MACA; 2007 (1,787); 2008 (1,163); 2009 (1,952); 2010 (2,467); 2011 (3,603); 2012 (5,393); 2013 (5,408); 2014 (4,237); and 2015 (5,468).
"The figures show that there's more awareness in the public and private sectors on (the importance of maintaining) integrity and (evils of) corruption," said Abdul Wahab, adding that the academy was considering increasing the intake for the CeIO programme as the waiting list of officers intending to take the course was rather long.
He said while staff from private-sector agencies usually attended the CeIO programme to enhance their knowledge on integrity management, public-sector officers were more likely to participate in courses that would help them to improve their competency in certain areas like investigation.
"This is because these days many government agencies have their own integrity units, whose responsibilities include conducting disciplinary inquiries. The officers concerned will require specialised skills to carry out investigations and obtain information," he added.
He said these officers would be exposed to tactics to gather intelligence during their MACA training stint.
"We will also give them practical training to see how good they are at keeping secrets because the most important quality of a good intelligence agent is the ability to keep a secret," he added.
IDENTIFYING CORE ISSUES
Among the government agencies that have sent their staff for training at the MACA are those under the Higher Education; Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism; and Natural Resources and Environment ministries.
Abdul Wahab explained that the MACA usually identified the issues or problems faced by the government agency concerned before proceeding to train its staff.
"Some agencies approach us (to train their staff) because they want to draw up an integrity plan for their organisations. As per our professional code, we first carry out a 'need analysis' to find out what kind of training their officers will need. For example, if a certain agency tells us that they are facing disciplinary issues, then we will customise a module to suit their needs.
"Each department or agency has its own set of core problems or issues and we need to know what they are before we develop a suitable (training) module for them," he added.
-- BERNAMA
In the past two years in particular, there was a substantial increase in foreign trainee numbers. In 2014, some 236 officers from foreign anti-corruption agencies attended training at the MACA, with the number almost doubling to 471 in 2015. Previously, the academy only received an average of 73 trainees per year between 2006 and 2013.
The MACA has so far trained officers from Afghanistan, the Middle East, Mongolia, Bhutan and other countries from the Asia-Pacific and African regions.
Its Director Datuk Abdul Wahab Abdul Aziz said the MACA was proud that it has the capacity and ability to offer training courses on graft prevention to not only officers from the public and private sectors in Malaysia but from overseas as well.
The fact that the MACA's expertise was sought after by foreign agencies showed that its course modules designed for officers at various levels were not only competent but met international standards as well, he told Bernama in an interview recently.
The MACA has earned the recognition of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, as well as that of the Vienna-based International Anti-Corruption Agency (IACA), as a training hub for anti-graft officers.
MACA SINCERE IN SHARING KNOWLEDGE, EXPERTISE
In fact, the MACA's Master's degree programme in Social Science (Corruption Studies) - which is the first course of its kind in Malaysia and the Asia-Pacific region - is endorsed by the IACA.
According to Abdul Wahab, in 2014 the IACA had selected MACA as a location for one of the modules under the IACA's own Master in Anti-Corruption Studies programme. He said the same module would be conducted at the MACA again this month.
The South East Asia Parties Against Corruption (SEA-PAC), at its 10th meeting in December 2014, had also acknowledged the efforts of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to turn the MACA into an anti-corruption training hub for the Southeast Asian region.
When MACA was set up in December 2005 to train MACC officers, the government also envisioned the academy as a regional hub for anti-corruption capacity and capability building through the promotion of best practices in investigation, monitoring and enforcement.
"MACA has also received invitations to conduct training in other countries, including Bhutan which enjoys a high ranking in the world Corruption Perceptions Index.
"In fact, I've asked the Bhutan officers, 'Why us, your index is better than ours.' But they told me that although they have gone to Hongkong and Singapore (for training), it's not the same as what we offer. According to them, the MACA is sincere in its efforts to share its graft prevention knowledge and experiences, especially with regard to its skills in handing corruption cases," said Abdul Wahab.
He said MACA has also received requests from South Korea and Botswana to help establish anti-corruption training centres in those countries.
LONG WAITING LIST
Meanwhile, the MACA's Certified Integrity Officers (CeIO) programme and other courses have also been, in recent years, attracting higher numbers from both the public and private sectors in Malaysia.
In 2006, a total of 1,103 participants attended training courses at the MACA; 2007 (1,787); 2008 (1,163); 2009 (1,952); 2010 (2,467); 2011 (3,603); 2012 (5,393); 2013 (5,408); 2014 (4,237); and 2015 (5,468).
"The figures show that there's more awareness in the public and private sectors on (the importance of maintaining) integrity and (evils of) corruption," said Abdul Wahab, adding that the academy was considering increasing the intake for the CeIO programme as the waiting list of officers intending to take the course was rather long.
He said while staff from private-sector agencies usually attended the CeIO programme to enhance their knowledge on integrity management, public-sector officers were more likely to participate in courses that would help them to improve their competency in certain areas like investigation.
"This is because these days many government agencies have their own integrity units, whose responsibilities include conducting disciplinary inquiries. The officers concerned will require specialised skills to carry out investigations and obtain information," he added.
He said these officers would be exposed to tactics to gather intelligence during their MACA training stint.
"We will also give them practical training to see how good they are at keeping secrets because the most important quality of a good intelligence agent is the ability to keep a secret," he added.
IDENTIFYING CORE ISSUES
Among the government agencies that have sent their staff for training at the MACA are those under the Higher Education; Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism; and Natural Resources and Environment ministries.
Abdul Wahab explained that the MACA usually identified the issues or problems faced by the government agency concerned before proceeding to train its staff.
"Some agencies approach us (to train their staff) because they want to draw up an integrity plan for their organisations. As per our professional code, we first carry out a 'need analysis' to find out what kind of training their officers will need. For example, if a certain agency tells us that they are facing disciplinary issues, then we will customise a module to suit their needs.
"Each department or agency has its own set of core problems or issues and we need to know what they are before we develop a suitable (training) module for them," he added.
-- BERNAMA
Comments
Post a Comment