WHEN the present administration first took office pledging to combat corruption, and when protesters took to the streets three years later to denounce the perceived lack of progress in that regard, it's doubtful that either context encompassed the door gifts, goodie bags and letter-openers routinely presented to guests of honour gracing events with their presence to do the ribbon-cutting, gong-banging and plaque-signing honours. This makes it almost charming that the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) should spend so much thought on drafting guidelines on gifts to public servants.
The problem is that such efforts presumably to educate civil servants on proper behaviour imply that common sense is lacking among the target audience. Do public servants in positions of authority seriously need to be told not to give jobs or projects to their friends and relatives, or to not use their offices for personal gratification? Is it not obvious that financial bequests to a government department should be made known to the relevant ministry? Most bemusing of all is the injunction that luxury gifts such as watches or branded accessories need to be reported to the prime minister, when surely the core principle here is that there's no reason for such transactions in the first place.
But this is a tradition -- and an elegant one at that. It has always been part of our cultures and values that guests are honoured, treated well and not left empty-handed. Even if economic development leading to the expansion of the petty bourgeoisie has seen this evolve from a measure of rice to a jewelled wristwatch, isn't the generous and hospitable intent the same? Not quite. Implicit in the ACA's guidelines is the knowledge that such salutations, from lavish presents to felicitous notices in the newspaper, are calculated to establish a special relationship with their recipients. A kindness now might anticipate reciprocity later; a favour between friends, perhaps?
It would be glaringly lopsided, therefore, if the ACA's guidelines to public servants were not balanced with an equal-but-opposite exhortation to the private sector. Enough with the gewgaws and fripperies, the pewter plates, special gifts and congratulatory ads, in attempting to groom relations with the government. They are a waste of money and resources, and an ethically grey area best avoided. Offer a donation to charity, perhaps, instead of further burdening the chief executive with deciding what to do with officers who have no compunction against flashing bling they could never afford personally.
The Editorial : NST Online.
