How to write a material composition with zero tolerance for corruption of public officials?

In February this year, Lin Qinghe, former director of the Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore, was sentenced to prison 15 months for cheating. Sadly, this once highly praised senior official was jailed when he retired at the age of, and was accused of falsely reporting more than S $80,000 (about 375,000 RMB) in overseas concierge expenses.

This case highlights Singapore's "zero tolerance" principle for corruption. In fact, due to the sound system and strict law enforcement, corruption cases rarely occur in Singapore, and incorruptibility has become a cultural habit here. The vast majority of civil servants in Singapore pay great attention to whether their manners are compliant, orderly and impartial. The Linqing River incident is not representative.

The general idea of anti-corruption in Singapore is to follow the economic logic of "profit-seeking by human nature" and give civil servants salaries that match the market level, but at the same time strictly restrain them. From the institutional level, on the one hand, clear legislation and strict law enforcement are used to combat corruption, which increases the cost of crime and makes people dare not be greedy; On the other hand, it also reduces the incentives for corruption through system design, blocks possible loopholes, and makes people unable to be greedy.

In Singapore, anti-corruption mainly relies on a sound system and strict law enforcement. Ke Shoutian, a senior scholar, believes that the success of anti-corruption in Singapore benefits from several factors: First, the willingness of leaders to fight corruption; Second, the anti-corruption agency is independent of the police department and is not interfered by political factors; Third, the anti-corruption agency itself can stand the test; Fourth, reduce the incentives and opportunities of corruption through system design.

The People's Action Party (PAP) led by former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew made great efforts to eliminate corruption after it came to power in the late 1950s. On the one hand, the idea is to catch "big fish" and enhance deterrence; On the other hand, it strengthens the clarity of the rules and reduces the space for civil servants to act cheaply, thus reducing the possibility of power rent-seeking.

In order to combat corruption, Singapore has strengthened the independence of the Corruption Investigation Bureau and given it greater investigation authority, which is responsible for anti-corruption investigations in the public and private fields. In addition, helping to evaluate and improve the system is also an important function of the bureau.

Singapore has also revised its laws, increased penalties for corruption, and applied the principle of inversion of burden of proof to corruption allegations. If the luxury of living does not match his income, he can be presumed guilty and the defendant needs to prove his innocence.

The strictness at the institutional level is not only reflected in the law, but also in the strict discipline of civil servants. According to the information of the Public Service Department of the Prime Minister's Office of Singapore, the civil service law has five principles: first, it should cooperate with the elected government in administration; Second, maintain the integrity and reputation of civil servants; Third, ensure that there is no conflict between public office and personal interests; Fourth, when performing official duties, we should be impartial and not corrupt to avoid giving people the impression of corruption; 5. Be careful when managing public resources.

Some details of Singapore's civil service law are also impressive. For example, civil servants should declare their financial status every year to avoid financial difficulties, because civil servants with financial difficulties are more prone to accidents. Although the declared financial situation is not public, it is also effective, because if false information is submitted, it means serious integrity problems and may even involve criminal responsibility.

In addition, Singapore has very strict procedural requirements for civil servants to perform official duties, such as internal audit, job rotation, separation of duties, etc., to reduce risks. Generally speaking, a transaction will not be handled by one person, and contract approval and payment approval will generally be handled by different people. Bidding procurement generally requires the approval of at least three people, rather than one person making the final decision.

What ultimately reduces corruption is the deterrence of "reaching out and being caught". Singapore has always maintained a high pressure on corruption. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that he was afraid of losing face and would not cover it up to avoid the spread of corruption. He once said in public that it is necessary to constantly improve the system, but no matter how strict the system is, corruption cannot be completely eliminated. It is more important to maintain "zero tolerance" for corruption. (Reporter Chen Jipeng)