THE influx of foreigners, especially those used to a culture of buying favours, is worrying Singapore's anti-graft body.
The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau wants them to know about Singapore's zero-tolerance approach to corruption and is taking steps to drum in the message.
A danger signal: Though the number of people charged for graft has come down from 127 in 2006 to 90 last year, foreigners formed a bigger proportion.
They accounted for 42 per cent of those whom the bureau took to court last year, up from 34.6 per cent in 2006.
'Definitely, as Singapore opens up and more foreigners start to come in, some are bound to have bad habits because of the different cultures they are used to,' CPIB's deputy director of operations Koh Teck Hin told The Straits Times.
There have also been instances when foreigners claimed they were ignorant of the law after they were nabbed for offering bribes to policemen.
'They claim they do not know it is an offence...but they may be just using it as an excuse,' he added.
The CPIB did not cite specific cases but one high-profile case this year involved seven soccer players from former S-League club Liaoning Guangyuan.
The Chinese players were jailed for four to five months each for accepting close to $30,000 in bribes to deliberately lose six S-League matches last year.
Latest figures show that more than one million foreigners are now living and working here and more are likely to come over as Singapore boosts its talent pool.
Global surveys have consistently classified Singapore as one of the least corrupt countries in the world. It comes down hard on graft, sentencing offenders to up to five years' jail and a $100,000 fine.
Mr Koh said the bureau plans to produce pamphlets in the four official languages by next year on what constitutes corruption here and what the laws are.
It hopes to work with the Manpower Ministry to distribute them to foreigners applying for work permits, and with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority which approves visit passes to foreigners.
'The targets are foreigners and would-be citizens,' Mr Koh said.
Despite the bureau receiving 800 to 1,000 calls a year on average, the number of graft cases brought to court is falling. Last year's figure of 90 cases was the first time the number dipped below 100.
Mr Koh cautioned against concluding that graft cases will decline further. 'Corruption is about opportunity and temptation,' he said.
The bureau is also gearing itself for another challenge - the crimes that could arise when the casinos in the two integrated resorts start operating from next year.
One concern is money laundering, where money obtained illegally goes through financial transactions to make it appear legitimate.
A typical ruse is to buy a large amount of gambling chips with 'dirty' money, and later exchange them for cash, claiming that the chips were won at the tables.
The CPIB has suggested to the Casino Regulatory Authority that records be kept on the worth of chips bought and then subsequently exchanged for cash, especially when huge amounts are purchased.
'Whatever it is, the CPIB will be watching,' Mr Koh said.'
This article was first published in The Straits Times on August 9, 2008.
