Embracing the Corporate Governance and Whistleblowing in Malaysia: A Conceptual Review
Main Article Content
Abstract
Whistleblowing is an act of disclosing any wrongdoing or offence to the enforcement agency by an informer known as whistleblower, and this action would result in a conflict of interest for an individual, institution or society. Some may argue that whether it is appropriate for a whistleblower to reveal other people's mismanagement or someone’s disloyalty to the company that employed him or her. This research applied qualitative study to analyse numerous primary and secondary data sources via library-based research in order to investigate the concerns and difficulties that whistleblowers encounter, as well as the relevant laws that could protect their privacy and interest. Meanwhile, the law of whistleblowing from the selected countries had been examined and the use of the valuable Islamic concept of good corporate governance had been adopted too. In fact, many countries have enacted relevant legislation to recognise the significance of whistleblowing to promote good governance in various institutions. Whistleblowers in Malaysia are protected by the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 ('WPA 2010') as one of the efforts to demonstrate Malaysia's commitment in reducing bribery and improper action in the institutions.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Al-Ghazali (2002). Al-Ghazali on enjoining good and forbidding wrong (Muhammad Nur A. S, Trans). In Seyyed Hossein N. (Ed.). Chicago: Great books of the Islamic world.
Australian Corporations Law 2001.
Barnett T. (1992). Why your company should have a whistleblowing policy. Sam Advanced Management Journal. 37–42.
Bernama. (2021, February 5). Judge Hamid Sultan suspended until Aug 27. https://www.malaysianow.com/news/2021/02/05/judge-hamid-sultan-suspended-until-aug-27.
Bouville, M. (2008). Whistle-Blowing and Morality. Journal of Business Ethics, 81(3), 579–585.
Capital Market & Services Act 2007 (Act 671).
Chartered Institute of Interdevinal Auditors (IIA). (2021). Position paper: Internal audit and whistleblowing. https://www.iia.org.uk/media/522850/Internal_audit_and_whistleblowing.pdf
Che Abu Bakar, M. & Mohamad Mangsor, M. (2022). It’s not enough to speak, but to speak true: Revisiting the whistleblower protection law in Malaysia. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 7(11), e001949.
Collins v Beaser Homes, USA, Inc. 2004 WL 2023716 (N.D. Ga. September 2, 2004).
Companies Act 2016 (Act 777).
Devi, P. S. & Dhillon, G. (2015). Corporate governance: Should we amend the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010. Malayan Law Journal, 6, viii–xix.
Devine, T. & Maassarani, T. F. (2011). The corporate whistleblower’s survival guide – A handbook for committing the truth, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Discovery Surveys Inc. (2023). Employees are afraid to speak up. http://www.discoverysurveys.com/articles/itw-014.html.
Dorasamy, N. & Pillay, S. (2011). Whistle blowing: Impediments to effective implementation within the South African public sector. Corporate ownership and Control, 8(3), 196–208.
Financial Services Act 2013 (Act 758).
Gunasekara, G. (2003). Whistle-Blowing: New Zealand and UK solutions to a common problem. Stat. LR 24, 39–55.
Harcourt, B. E. (2015, April 8). Shattering broken windows. https://www.law.columbia.edu/news/archive/shattering-broken-windows
Ibnu Taymiya (1987). Public duties in Islam, the institution of the hisbah (Mukhtar H., Trans.). Khurshid A. (Eds.). United Kingdom: The Islamic Foundation.
Khairul Azwan Harun v. Mohd Rafizi Ramli [2016] 9 CLJ 858.
Khairunnisa, A. S. & Haniza, K. (2015, October, 12-13). Whistle-Blowing as an aspect of amar ma’aruf nahi munkar in institutional governance [Conference presentation]. International Conference on Aqidah, Dakwah and Syariah 2015. Kuala Lumpur.
Low, L. T., Law, K. A. & Ong, S. F. (2011). Corporate governance assessment in company board structure. African Journal of Business Management, 5(4), 1175–1183.
MACC. (2022). Statistic of arrest on corruption cases. https://www.sprm.gov.my/index.php?page_id=97&language=en.
MACC. (2023). Statistic of arrest on corruption cases. https://www.sprm.gov.my/en/enforcement/statistics-on-arrests.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 (Act 694).
O’Dell, L. (n,d). Nuclear Power. In Everett, D. (Ed.) The Encyclopaedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Oklahoma Historical Society. https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=NU001.
Pascoe, J., & Rachagan, S. (2005). Key developments in corporate law reform in Malaysia. Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, 1, 93–113.
Protected Disclosures (Protection of Whistleblowers) Act 2022 of New Zealand.
Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 United Kingdom (PIDA).
Pyper, D. (2016). Whistle-blowing and gagging clauses, Briefing Paper No. CBP 7442. London, House of Commons Library.
Rafizi Ramli v. Public Prosecutor (2014) 3 MLJ 114.
Rokiah Mohd Noor v. Menteri Perdagangan Dalam Negeri, Koperasi & Kepenggunaan Malaysia & Ors and Another Appeal [2016) 8 CLJ 635.
Sarbanes- Oxley Act 2002 of United States.
Securities Commission Malaysian Act 1993 (Act 498).
Solomon, D. (2004). For financial whistle-blowers, new shield is an imperfect one. Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB109684145991934717
The Guardian. (2013). Edward Snowden: The whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-surveillance
The Star (2017, January 4). Former CEO seeks protection. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/01/04/former-ceo-seeks-protection-my-client-qualifies-as-a-whistleblower-lawyer-tells-court/.
Thompson M. (2019, February 5). A tribute to Pentagon whistleblower Ernie Fitzgerald. https://www.pogo.org/analysis/2019/02/remembering-ernie-fitzgerald.
Transparency International Malaysia. (2022). Corruption perception index: Malaysia continues to deteriorate. https://www.transparency.org.my/pages/news-and-events/press-releases/corruption-perception-index-malaysia-continues-to-deteriorate
Watchman, G. R. (2004). Sarbanes-Oxley Whistle-blowers: A New Corporate Warning System. GAP’s Website. http://www.whistleblower.org/doc/GAP%20Analysis%20Sarbanes%2DOxley%2Epdf.
Welch v Cardinal Bankshares Corp Fed. App. 0101P (6th Cir. April 14, 2004).
Whistleblower Network News (2020). Whistleblower Network News Survey. https://whistleblowersblog.org/whistleblower-news-network-survey/
Whistleblowers Protection Act 2010 (Act 711).
Witness Protection Act 2009 (Act 696).
World Bank (2003). Peter Griffiths. The World Bank and the whistleblower. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2003/aug/31/wto.westafrica
Zarina, A, (2003, September, 29). Whistle-blowing: Subversive Spy or Responsible Corporate Citizen? Regional Conference on Agenda for the 21st Century – Revitalising the Corporation, JW Marriot Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.