raja nazrin: good governance

my hero, raja nazrin said it all again.

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The Star
14 August 2007
Easy access to info needed

"Unless the governors live well within the law, there can be no hope that the governed will do so" – RAJA  DR NAZRIN SHAH KUALA LUMPUR: Encourage easy access and free flow of information to the people for good  governance, the Raja Muda of Perak Raja Dr Nazrin Shah said.

People who were well informed were in a better position to make informed decisions while those who  were badly informed would rely on half-truths and lies and non-credible sources of information or they  might continue to remain ignorant, he added.

Raja Nazrin said that without proper information about processes and regulations, the public was  vulnerable to bureaucratic harassment, overcharging and demands for bribes.

“The people welcome and appreciate a government that is approachable and consultative, and one  that guides rather than directs.

“It is, therefore, only logical that the call for good governance should and must go hand-in-hand with  greater democratisation, ” he said in his keynote address at the opening of the international conference  on The Challenges of Democratisation and Good Governance in the Malaysian Public Sector organised  by Universiti Malaya here yesterday.

Raja Nazrin said that among the other characteristics of good governance was that it could not be  justified by illegal or legally suspect actions.

“Unless the governors live well within the law, there can be no hope that the governed will do so, ” he  added.

On public officials, Raja Nazrin said that while they should be accorded sufficient powers to deliver good  governance, there must be restraints on that power so that the general interest for all, and not the special  interests of a few, were served.

He said that the country was able to survive, let alone prosper during the last 50 years was due in large  part to political resolve, pragmatism and effective implementation of policies, which he said was a result  of good governance.

He commended the Government for initiating and formulating the National Integrity Plan as a  comprehensive blueprint for instilling integrity and moral values in all layers of society and across all  sectors.