BUTTERWORTH: All Pakatan Harapan first-time elected representatives have submitted their assets declaration to the state secretary office on June 30.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the instruction was only given to all newly elected representatives in Penang, as those who continue to serve in office had already declared their assets before the election.

“The information will be published on the Penang state government’s official portal soon,” he said after witnessing the en-bloc signing of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Corruption-Free Pledge by the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) Penang branch yesterday.

He said Penang was the only state in the country that displayed the declaration of assets by the Chief Minister, state executive councillors and other elected representatives on the government’s website for the public to scrutinise.

Earlier in his speech, Chow said mindset and value change was important to create a corruption-free society.

“We can sign an integrity pledge as thick as we want but without a change of the heart, things would not change,” he said.

He said Malaysia ranked 62nd with a score of 47 out of 100, with zero being highly corrupt and 100 being very clean, in the Corruption Perception Index 2017.

“We are actually at the bottom half, and I hope that with the new Malaysia, we can improve the ranking,” he said.

FMM Penang branch chairman Datuk Dr Ooi Eng Hock said eight FMM branches and a representative office signed the MACC Corruption-Free Pledge concurrently in conjunction with its 50th anniversary celebration.

“We want to show our commitment towards a corruption-free business environment built on transparency and integrity.

“Integrity is a very important component in the business world, and in business dealings, we are always looking for partners, customers and staff, who have integrity.

“By signing the Corruption-Free Pledge, we hope to encourage others to do the same,” he said.

State MACC director Datuk Wan Ramli Wan Abdullah said the presumption of ‘no bribes no businesses’ should be rebutted as there should be no room for tolerance towards corruption.

“According to the MACC Act 2009, it is mandatory to lodge an official report to the MACC if there are any wrongdoings that are criminal in nature.

“There is also a new insertion of corporate liability provision in the MACC Act 2009, which was passed in Parliament in April.

“The new provision is meant to promote good governance,” he said.