Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to compare two corruption scandals in Singapore to illustrate how its government has dealt with these scandals and to discuss the implications for its anti-corruption strategy.Design/methodology/approachThis paper analyses the Teh Cheang Wan and Edwin Yeo scandals by relying on published official and press reports.FindingsBoth scandals resulted in adverse consequences for the offenders. Teh committed suicide on 14 December 1986 before he could be prosecuted for his bribery offences. Yeo was found guilty of criminal breach of trust and forgery and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment. The Commission of Inquiry found that the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) was thorough in its investigations which confirmed that only Teh and no other minister or public official were implicated in the bribery offences. The Independent Review Panel appointed by the Prime Minister's Office to review the CPIB's internal controls following Yeo's offences recommended improvements to strengthen the CPIB's financial procedures and audit system. Singapore has succeeded in minimising corruption because its government did not cover-up the scandals but punished the guilty offenders and introduced measures to prevent their recurrence.Originality/valueThis paper will be useful for scholars, policymakers and anti-corruption practitioners interested in Singapore's anti-corruption strategy and how its government handles corruption scandals.
Highlights
Singapore is the least corrupt Asian country according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) from 1995 to 2019
“incorruptibility has become ingrained in the Singaporean psyche and culture” because of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB)’s impartiality in enforcing the anticorruption laws, its thorough and efficient investigation of corruption cases and the punishment of those found guilty of corruption offences
The effectiveness of Singapore’s policy of zero tolerance for corruption and the CPIB’s impartial enforcement and punishment of all offenders, regardless of their status, position or political affiliation, is reflected in Singapore’s status as the least corrupt Asian country on the CPI from 1995 to 2019 and the continuing trend of declining number of corruption cases investigated by the CPIB during 2013–2018
Summary
Singapore is the least corrupt Asian country according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) from 1995 to 2019. This article analyses the corruption scandals in Singapore involving Teh Cheang Wan, the Minister for National Development during 1979–1986, and Edwin Yeo, an Assistant Director of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), which resulted in adverse. The third witness, Liaw Teck Kee, described his role in collecting and giving Teh the two bribes given by Hock Tat and Ho Yeow Koon In his closing speech on August, Ang concluded, based on the evidence provided to the Commission that: (1) the CPIB was thorough in investigating the two allegations of corruption against Teh and (2) the CPIB had pursued all useful leads by interviewing all the public officers and persons involved with the allegations and confirmed that none of them had implicated any other Minister, Parliamentary Secretary or public officer. Apart from the eight charges of misappropriating S$1,760,053.35 and one charge of forgery, Yeo was charged on 12 counts of spending a total of S$241,030 on gambling from 4 May to 8 September 2012
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