ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS: Corruption is defined as dishonest conduct, typically involving people in positions of high power. Bribery is the most common form of corruption, and exists many countries. Especially in Southeast Asia, corruption is widespread and often seen as an acceptable method of gaining power and prestige.
The delegates of Malaysia believe that "corruption can largely affect a country (...) large donations without restrictions can affect elections and affect ruling parties". Malaysia's current ruling party has been in power for over five decades years, and this is due to the high levels of corruption within the higher ranks of this democracy. This "[decreases the] public's roles in the government", and tips the balance and justice established by democracy. "[The] rich gets richer, and [the] poor gets poorer".
The delegates of New Zealand agrees, commenting "economic power is considered paramount to political stability." With corruption, a large donation can drastically swing a corrupt government's intentions-fueling and supporting ideologies that the donor suggests. Money grants economic power to governments, and donors contributing large amounts can encourage instability of the government. Stability is vital in the transition of a government from corrupt to truly democratic, as spoken by the delegates of Thailand. "Corruption has [a] bad impact on society and [the] economy (...) [it] leaves a void in the government and leaves room for extremists and fundamentalists". In order for a country to be successful and democratic, corruption must be eliminated.
The delegates of Vietnam is especially concerned over the consequences corruption may have on the economy. "Private companies focus more on corruption to sell their product (...) [and] corruption hampers [the success of] new products". The effects of inflation must also not be ignored, "A ten dollar product would go up to twenty dollars of fifty dollars due to corruption". Corruption not only promotes a biased government, it also promotes poverty and other dire consequences of extreme inflation.
As the delegates of Indonesia sum up: "Corruption reduces transparency and changes [the] political environment of [an] entire country (...) increases [the] cost of goods and services, completely funnels resources into projects that are more high-profile over projects that may be more important." Taking a more widescreen view, they realistically commented that "we never know which government is corrupt or not (...) fighting corruption in a country requires the help of the countries around it."
The delegates of Thailand take a different view to this topic "corruption is not the best thing, but in some cases, it can be used [as an] advantage". The delegates of Cambodia agree, adding that many governments make most of their money from corruption. "Without any money, there wouldn't be any government at all". They suggest that a corrupt government is better than having no government at all. And while the delegates of New Zealand are not in support of corruption, they do believe that "corruption encourages capitalism".
From a much smaller country, the delegates of Laos comments that corruption is considered a staple to smaller and lesser-known countries. Trillions of dollars are circulated to less self-sufficient countries such as Laos to "support the fundamentals of their country such as infrastructure". They made a major point that not all countries are capable of self-sustainment and must rely on other nations to give them the funds in order to succeed and move on from debt. "Corruption has [the] ability to fund and help a country".
The delegates of Malaysia believe that "corruption can largely affect a country (...) large donations without restrictions can affect elections and affect ruling parties". Malaysia's current ruling party has been in power for over five decades years, and this is due to the high levels of corruption within the higher ranks of this democracy. This "[decreases the] public's roles in the government", and tips the balance and justice established by democracy. "[The] rich gets richer, and [the] poor gets poorer".
The delegates of New Zealand agrees, commenting "economic power is considered paramount to political stability." With corruption, a large donation can drastically swing a corrupt government's intentions-fueling and supporting ideologies that the donor suggests. Money grants economic power to governments, and donors contributing large amounts can encourage instability of the government. Stability is vital in the transition of a government from corrupt to truly democratic, as spoken by the delegates of Thailand. "Corruption has [a] bad impact on society and [the] economy (...) [it] leaves a void in the government and leaves room for extremists and fundamentalists". In order for a country to be successful and democratic, corruption must be eliminated.
The delegates of Vietnam is especially concerned over the consequences corruption may have on the economy. "Private companies focus more on corruption to sell their product (...) [and] corruption hampers [the success of] new products". The effects of inflation must also not be ignored, "A ten dollar product would go up to twenty dollars of fifty dollars due to corruption". Corruption not only promotes a biased government, it also promotes poverty and other dire consequences of extreme inflation.
As the delegates of Indonesia sum up: "Corruption reduces transparency and changes [the] political environment of [an] entire country (...) increases [the] cost of goods and services, completely funnels resources into projects that are more high-profile over projects that may be more important." Taking a more widescreen view, they realistically commented that "we never know which government is corrupt or not (...) fighting corruption in a country requires the help of the countries around it."
The delegates of Thailand take a different view to this topic "corruption is not the best thing, but in some cases, it can be used [as an] advantage". The delegates of Cambodia agree, adding that many governments make most of their money from corruption. "Without any money, there wouldn't be any government at all". They suggest that a corrupt government is better than having no government at all. And while the delegates of New Zealand are not in support of corruption, they do believe that "corruption encourages capitalism".
From a much smaller country, the delegates of Laos comments that corruption is considered a staple to smaller and lesser-known countries. Trillions of dollars are circulated to less self-sufficient countries such as Laos to "support the fundamentals of their country such as infrastructure". They made a major point that not all countries are capable of self-sustainment and must rely on other nations to give them the funds in order to succeed and move on from debt. "Corruption has [the] ability to fund and help a country".