Author: Mizuno Thay
Cambodia, my country is ripe with corruption. Based on my experience here, I encounter corruption almost everyday. According to Transparency International, Cambodia was the most corrupted country in ASEAN (2014). There is no exact definition of corruption, but Oxford Dictionary defines “Corruption” as dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery (Online Oxford Dictionaries). Corruption affects millions of lives in Cambodia as well as in many other countries. For instance, I could not get a good high school education due to graft. My teachers did not teach me thoroughly during their official class hours. They asked me to enroll in their special courses if I want further improvement to my scores and grade. Without the possibility to enroll me in special classes, I ended-up faring badly at my high school education. As one of Cambodian youths, people between 14 and 30 years old as defined by Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports of Cambodia, I would like to express my opinion on what young Cambodians could do to quell graft in Cambodia.
Cambodia, my country is ripe with corruption. Based on my experience here, I encounter corruption almost everyday. According to Transparency International, Cambodia was the most corrupted country in ASEAN (2014). There is no exact definition of corruption, but Oxford Dictionary defines “Corruption” as dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery (Online Oxford Dictionaries). Corruption affects millions of lives in Cambodia as well as in many other countries. For instance, I could not get a good high school education due to graft. My teachers did not teach me thoroughly during their official class hours. They asked me to enroll in their special courses if I want further improvement to my scores and grade. Without the possibility to enroll me in special classes, I ended-up faring badly at my high school education. As one of Cambodian youths, people between 14 and 30 years old as defined by Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports of Cambodia, I would like to express my opinion on what young Cambodians could do to quell graft in Cambodia.
To begin with, in order to stop corruption in Cambodia, Cambodian youths
need to dissociate themselves from corruption. By doing so, they can also
inspire others to follow them. There is a saying I often hear, “If you want to
change somebody, you need to change yourself first”. Similarly, if Cambodian
youths want to change their country to a corruption free country, they need to
change themselves first by avoiding affiliate themselves to corruption in any
circumstances.
Secondly, Cambodian youths should take initiatives in fighting against
corruption. Currently, there is not enough involvement from youths in the fighting
against corruption in Cambodia. This implies them to actively taking part in
anti-corruption campaigns by becoming active members in society that promote
principles of integrity and justice in Cambodia. These campaigns can be in the
form of writing articles to be published in magazines or newspapers, joining
the public forums on anti-corruptions by expressing their views and be ready to
spread their voices through media and/or social networking sites such as
Facebook and Tweeter, and if possible, helping to contribute personal resources
for anti-corruption endeavor.
The Cambodian government alone cannot effectively combat and win over the
war against corruption, unless there is a committed support from all
stakeholders in the community, especially from youths.
Cambodian youths should start to take more leadership roles in their
government. I believe the Cambodian government should restructure its
organization by installing many new people, especially young persons. In this
way, many senior politicians in Cambodia, who are supposed to be a role model
for their citizens, involve in corruption every day. Job rotation can reduce
fraud and corruption in a workplace (How to stop
fraud and corruption in the workplace, 2014). By installing youths in
its organization, the government imposes positive peer pressures on existing
government officials. It is hard for people to collude when they first work
together. The youths must encourage and help push the government to commit to
deep reforms in many areas of the state institutions namely the judicial
reform, the public function’s reform to provide the pay hike to the judge and
civil servants that is a catalyst for graft cut down.
To sum up, corruption is one of the
contemporary issues in Cambodia. Millions of Cambodian lives have been affected
by corruption everyday. As the future leaders of Cambodia, Cambodian youths
should start to take actions and come up with solutions to solve graft issue in
their country. I believe the above-stated measures and suggested actions can
provide an effective solution to this social hurdle.
References
References
International, T. (2014). CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX 2014: RESULTS.
Retrieved
06 28, 2015, from http://www.transparency.org/cpi2014/results
How to stop fraud and corruption in the workplace. (2014, 10 08). Retrieved 07 01, 2015,
from Curtin University: http://complaints.curtin.edu.au/fraud-corruption-prevention/stop-fraud-workplace.cfm
Online Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved 07 01, 2015, from Oxford
Dictionaries:
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/corruption
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