IT’S an annual affair that the Auditor-General (AG) presents his or her report to the public on how taxpayers’ money has been spent by government entities in the interest of transparency and accountability.
The AG’s report often reveals leakages, incompetency, wastage of public funds and malfeasance in government agencies which, in the eyes of concerned Malaysians, warrant redress and the culprits ought to be held to account.
As in previous years, the AG’s Report 2024 bears similar stains of government institutions.
That said, one case in the report has raised more than an eyebrow when an exclusive club of professors, namely the National Council of Professors (NCP), was implicated in what amounts to financial malfeasance.
As the report stands, the revelation was jaw-dropping as professors, who supposedly value ethics, trust and integrity, were seen to have crossed that line.
According to the AG’s report, the NCP had misused RM373,516 to fund the operations of two companies and channelled a total of RM207,000 of fixed allowances to its chairman and deputy chairman.
The report further revealed that four payments were made without the approval of the board of trustees amounting to RM610,000 while in three cases, grants – totalling over RM2.44 million – were “inefficiently used”.
That’s not the only concern. The chairman and his deputy were reportedly paid from March 2022 to January 2024 a fixed monthly allowance of RM5,000 and RM4,000 respectively without getting the approval of the minister concerned. How could this happen?
Also, two private companies, not affiliated to NCP, were set up in 2019 and had been operating since then in NCP headquarters without paying rent. Wouldn’t the rental help generate the much-needed income for the council that was left without government funds?
What is also telling is that two members of the board of trustees did not declare their interest as shareholders of the two companies in accordance with the Companies Act 2016. Isn’t this a conflict of interest?
In its defence, the NCP argued that the two companies were formed to help generate income after government funding was cut in 2018.
Such reported irregularities are shocking as they involve professors, generally regarded – discounting the “kangkung” types – as the creme de la creme of academia, who would express disdain towards acts that are considered unethical and unjust.
They collectively are expected to be standard bearers for others to emulate for the good of academia and the wider society.
Such reported mismanagement of funds reflects badly on the NCP in particular and professors in general in the country. Perhaps at this juncture there is a need for some professors to stand up and be counted.
Academics, particularly professors, are expected to set a good example for students, nurturing them to be productive citizens of strong moral fibre.
source https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/s/485146
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