Bandar Seri Begawan - Transparency International's latest Corruption Perception Index, a measure of domestic, public sector corruption was published on Tuesday, and Brunei is tied with Oman in the 39th place globally in the overall index.

Out of 10 points, Brunei scored 5.5 points. But in Asean, Brunei ranked second after Singapore and 7th in the Asia Pacific region. Top marks went to New Zealand with 9.4 points and Denmark with 9.3 points. Singapore is tied with Sweden in third place in the overall index.

These scores reflect political stability, long-established conflict of interest regulations and solid, functioning public institutions. Transparency International said 180 countries were surveyed for the 2009 Corruption Perception Index, the same number as last year.

Transparency International is based in Berlin, Germany. In Southeast Asia, Singapore fared well with
a score of 9.2; Brunei Darussalam scored 5.5; Malaysia 4.5 and Thailand 3.3. Indonesia only beat Vietnam, the Philippines and Timor Leste, which scored 2.7, 2.4 and 2.2 respectively.

Scoring the lowest points were Somalia, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sudan and Iraq. The results showed that countries perceived as most corrupt were also plagued by long-standing conflicts which have torn apart their governance infrastructure.

In June this year, it was revealed that Global Corruption Barometer, the only worldwide public opinion survey on views and experiences of corruption, ascertained that Brunei is generally ranked second behind Singapore in terms of corruption.

Classified under the Asia-Pacific region, Brunei Darussalam achieved an average score of 2.3 while Singapore, one of the cleanest and corruption-free countries in the world, achieved an average score of 2.2. A score of 5 signifies extremely corrupt.
Brunei Darussalam also ranked third in terms of effectiveness in current government action in the fight against corruption after Singapore and Hong Kong in the Asia Pacific region.

The then Director of Brunei's ACB, Pg Kasmirhan Pg Hj Tahir (now the country's Ambassador to Laos) credited this positive ranking to ACB's zero tolerance on corruption and its continuous efforts to educate people and civil servants on the dangers of corruption and help them understand loopholes, especially in the public sector where services and processes are prone to corruption.

Despite Brunei's positive ranking on corruption worldwide, the Global Corruption Barometer, however, discovered a change in trend whereby the public sector in Brunei is no longer considered the most affected by corruption.

As an early step to educate students about the importance of corruption prevention, Corruption Prevention Education (CPE) programme is implemented in schools. CPE programme is a joint collaboration by the Anti-Corruption Bureau and Curriculum Education Development Department since 2005 where short and long-term programmes are planned.

Several plans which have materialised included the publishing of CPE books based on the themes of honesty, integrity and sincerity among others. And apart from that, a music CD based on the programme has also been released in English and Malay together with the CPE Interactive Learning through computer.

All these have been implemented in schools throughout the nation starting 2006 and the publishing of related educational books will be carried out in phases until 2011.

Last year, the CPE programme was also applied in learning subjects for UBD students by joining forces with the Brunei Academic Education Department to diversify the learning programmes through lectures, dialogues, seminars and others. The incorporation of CPE programme into the school curriculum aims to boost the students' knowledge of the dangers of corruption. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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