CPIB ...

Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau or CPIB, an independent body which investigates and aims to prevent corruption in the public and private sectors in Singapore. Established before the Independence of Singapore, this bureau is headed by a director that reports directly to the Prime Minister's office.

People of all walks of life would rather not hear from an officer from CPIB but this evening after dinner, I received a call from a lady officer from CPIB. Fret not, this lady officer was merely returning my call.

I had a question for her, a rather short and simple one. Below was our conversation :

Mark : I would like to find out if the following is considered a corrupt act. I am an employee of an MNC and I happen to get in contact very often with vendors and contractors of all sorts during my work, giving them jobs to do etc. Recently, I faced some problems with my air-con and I would require some expert's advice on this. Is it wrong for me to engage my company's contractors to assist?

Officer : That depends on the situation. I need more details.

Mark : My air-con is not working well and I decided to use one of my company's contractors to help me rectify the problem and enjoying the same price that my company enjoys. Is this legal?

Officer : Are you the boss of the company?

Mark : No, I am an employee.

Officer : If you paid for the service and merely required a professional service without asking or requesting for additional perks, it is not an offence.

Mark : So is it safe for me to proceed with getting them to rectify some problems I have with my air-con and paying them for it?

Officer : As long as you make payment for the service rendered, it is not wrong.

Of course, after finishing the conversation, I went 'thank you'. That's me, a courteous person.

You must be wondering why I made that call. Simple, I did not want to get into trouble with the law. You must be saying 'ya right!'. To tell you the truth, I was sort of provoked during dinner this evening regarding this topic. So who is this daring person who provoked me? Make a guess. A hint, I was having dinner with Sandy's family. You got it right! My future 'father-in-law'.

I know he cares about me and is rather concern about our well-being in this corrupt society. He always passes remarks about corruption and how he turned his back on bribes during his younger days as a clerk-of-works in Hong Kong and ending up slashed and left to bleed just outside a construction project. Till today, you can still see those scars left behind by that brutal attack on him. (The result of not being corrupt ) Kidding.

During dinner, he asked if I came in contact with vendors or contractors at work. I immediately knew the note he was about to sing so I nodded. He was driving at corruption once again but this time, it was closer to the heart. A little more personal as it involves my personal integrity.

Just recently he had some problems with the air-con insulation in his room and despite numerous emails and heated exchanges with the contractor who installed the air-con, they never came to terms and poor me, was assigned to write once more to them. (not that I have not been writing to them )I always dread going into confrontations of such. Knowing me, I am a real pushover when dealing with such issues therefore I told him that I would just engage and pay my company's contractors to finish the repairs.

Mr Shek, upright and always believing in the honest way - which is a good thing sometimes refuses to allow me to use my company's contractors. He feels it is a corrupt practice and that I would be put in a difficult spot or even behind bars for that. You know,I would just stubbornly keep quiet and nod on, agreeing to his every word and sentence but deep inside me, a rather uncomfortable feeling emerges.

Questions started to arise inside my heart, questions about my character, my integrity and pride. What have I done to be thought of this way? Surely he knows what kind of a person I am - timid and never wanting to cross the wrong side of the law. Perhaps he was just protective of us, afraid we will be swayed to the dark side of things and not knowing when we indeed crossed that thin line of what's right and what's wrong.

At least I now know that I am not in any bad light should I one day require the services of my company's contractors and that I can use them freely without fear of having CPIB knocking on my door.

Oops, did I use the word 'freely'? (pun intended)