KUALA LUMPUR: Raising the salaries of civil servants may not curb corruption, said Tan Sri Azam Baki.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief commissioner said that in his almost 41 years of service, low salaries or poverty were not the main reasons behind corruption.
"It is because of greed and opportunity. For example, politicians, are they poor?
"Ministers, ministry secretaries-general, deputy secretaries-general?
"If I talk about (corruption in) the private sector, I can say... bankers... are they poor?" he asked.
He said since the MACC precursor, the Anti-Corruption Agency, was established in 1967, most corruption investigations involved enforcement agencies and politicians.
"If people think that it (corruption) happens because of low salaries, my recommendation to the government is to be careful about that.
"Don't keep increasing salaries for nothing, thinking that it will reduce corruption. Corruption is about greed, opportunities, the system, procedures and governance issues," said Azam.
He said the government must continuously refine processes and adopt best practices, as seen in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom.
He said in the MACC, the Governance and Investigation Division (BPT) was tasked with analysing irregularities in work procedures, ways to reduce wastage, and recover losses by organisations due to corruption.
He said the BPT's job was to "close the gaps" in the management and governance system that provided opportunities for corruption.
Azam said MACC was also working with existing mechanisms in various enforcement agencies, such as the police's Integrity and Standards Compliance Department (JIPS), to tackle corruption.
He said during his visit to the New York Police Department in 2011, the agency used "undercover" methods to weed out corrupt officers. He said JIPS could also adopt similar methods.
Azam also said he would suggest to Customs Department director-general Datuk Anis Rizana Mohd Zainudin that she used MACC's expertise in this matter.
"We have many undercover projects that we can share with her, and show how she can use these mechanisms and approaches in detecting corrupt law enforcement officers.
"There are many ways, but I must say that many heads of departments are not as proactive, and are very conventional in their approaches.
"They must check the wealth of their officers. Don't simply blame them without putting the blame back on you," he added.