Reports this week that six Burmese government
ministries have misappropriated millions of dollars from the state budget have
created a whirlwind of reactions, from threats of a lawsuit against a news
journal that exposed the graft to parliamentary approval for a rise in civil
servant wages to stem widespread graft.
The
findings come as little surprise however, and not just because corruption is
easy to get away with in Burma (which many observers see as the main catalyst).
Rather involvement in criminal activities by government workers or army
personnel is a necessary means for survival in a country where wages are
woefully inadequate. That was acknowledged by the powerful speaker of Burma’s
lower house, Shwe Mann, when he first mooted the idea of a pay hike in
February: he felt raising salaries would stave the appetite of many civil
servants and soldiers to indulge in activities that damage their “character” –
namely siphoning off state money.
In the
army, once Burma’s most vaunted institution, neglect of lower-ranking troops
has led to graft so institutionalised that it has become the norm. Since the
military introduced a self-sufficiency protocol that requires frontline troops
to provide for themselves, the extent and methods of corruption have progressed
to encompass everything from theft of civilian supplies (although not a sole
result of poor wages) to complicity in the narcotics trade. With wages for
privates thought to be little more than US$10 a month, the actions of a
military already debased by decades of malpractice are predictable.
Shwe
Mann thinks that boosting salaries will lead to a steady elimination of corrupt
practices within state bodies, but any hope of a quick fix is misguided. So
rooted in Burmese society is graft that it will take decades to weed out.
Christina Fink’s excellent book on the psychological effects of military rule
on Burma, Living Silence, warns that corruption is accepted right from the top
generals and business tycoons down to everyday civilians.
“High-ranking
generals and officials frequently take advantage of their positions for
personal financial gain, but even among ordinary communities, few try to
enforce social norms of making an honest living despite most people’s desire
for a moral order,” she writes. (The Irrawaddy’s Kyaw Zwa Moe takes a similar
line: “In Burma, there is no happy occasion that can’t double as an opportunity
for slipping a gift to someone who matters”).
But the
notion of a corrupt practice doesn’t necessarily mean it is bad, per se. She
goes on to explain how poorly paid teachers are often forced to hold tuition
courses after school that students are obliged to attend, and pay the teacher
directly for. There is also something of a stigma attached to those who do not
earn a buck on the side.
“Those
who were honest and refused to engage in corrupt activities were often
perceived as stupid and, in some cases, irresponsible, because they could not
properly take care of their families,” Fink says.
Despite
this, however, exposure of graft clearly remains a source of humiliation. The
mining ministry, one of the six found to have stolen money, has threatened a
lawsuit against the Voice Weekly journal whose article, ‘Audit finds billions
of Kyat misappropriation by some ministries’, created a firestorm of
accusations. But the silver lining of the story is that the journal was able to
publish the piece in the first place, something unthinkable even six months
ago. Exposure of illegal government activities will slowly aid the transparency
effort, but for Burma (ranked third from bottom in Transparency International’s
2011 Corruption Perceptions Index) to rout the practice from wider society will
entail an overhaul of a national psyche that sees graft as a means for
survival.
Francis
Wade
http://asiancorrespondent.com
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