The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) was set up in September 1952 by the colonial government to replace the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department as the agency to control and prevent corruption in Singapore.[1] However, the effectiveness of the CPIB to stamp out corruption, particularly among law enforcement officers, was hugely undermined by factors such as the lack of capability to conduct thorough investigations and the absence of a reliable anti-corruption legislative framework. There was, therefore, rampant corruption during the colonial days.[2]
After Singapore attained self-government in 1959, the CPIB underwent a major revamp as the PAP-led government stepped up measures to eliminate corrupt practices in Singapore.[3] At the centre of the government’s anti-corruption initiative was the enactment of the Prevention of Corruption Act on 17 June 1960. The legislative order significantly strengthened the state’s framework against corruption by enforcing new anti-corruption measures and making the penalty for corrupt behaviours more severe.[4] In addition, the act provided the CPIB with sufficient authority to deal with corruption effectively. For instance, CPIB officers were vested with extensive powers to carry out their investigations such as the authority to arrest a person suspected of corruption as well as the ability to access a suspect’s financial accounts or premises to search for evidence.[5]
Following the enactment of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the CPIB appointed a new director and moved from the Supreme Court to new premises at Stamford Road in September 1960 where it remained until 1984.[6] Thereafter, the bureau relocated a few times before moving to its present location at Lengkok Bahru.[7] The CPIB came under the control of the Attorney-General when it was first set up before being transferred to the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1959. It was then placed under the purview of the Prime Minister’s Office between 1963 and 1965, the Attorney-General’s Chamber between 1965 and 1968, and back to the Prime Minister’s Office in 1968 where it remains till today.[8] Although the staff strength in CPIB is small compared to other government agencies, it is nonetheless highly effective in fighting corruption in Singapore. The bureau was responsible for uncovering a series of high profile graft cases, including ones involving then Minister of State for Environment Wee Toon Boon in 1975 and then Minister for National Development Teh Cheang Wan in 1986.[9] The bureau’s relentless pursuit in eradicating corruption in Singapore is one of the factors that has made the country one of the least corrupt in the world today.[10]
References
1. Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau. (2012). The journey: 60 years of fighting corruption in Singapore (p. 19). Singapore: Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau. Call no.: RSING 364.95957 SIN.
2. Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, 2012, pp. 16–17.
3. Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, 2012, p. 22.
4. Singapore. Legislative Assembly. Debates: Official Report. (1960, February 13). Prevention of Corruption Bill (Vol. 12, col. 377). Singapore: Legislative Assembly. Call no.: RCLOS 328.5957 SIN.
5. Debates: Official Report, 13 Feb 1960, Vol. 12, cols. 377–385.
6. Anti-bribes bureau's new chief. (1960, June 21). The Straits Times, p. 2; Office shift. (1960, September 24). The Straits Times, p. 4. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
7. Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau. (2006). Our history. Retrieved from Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau website: http://app.cpib.gov.sg/cpib_new/user/default.aspx?pgID=121
8. Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (2006). Stamford Road days. Retrieved from Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau website: http://app.cpib.gov.sg/cpib_new/user/default.aspx?pgID=126
9. Quah, J. S. T. (2013). Curbing corruption in Asian countries: An impossible dream? (pp. 199–201, 221–224). Singapore: ISEAS Pub. Call no.: RSING 364.1323095 QUA; Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, 2012, pp. 30–31; Lee, K. Y. (2000). From third world to first: The Singapore story: 1965–2000 (pp. 186–188). Singapore: Times Editions: Singapore Press Holdings. Call no.: RSING 959.57092 LEE.
10. Quah, 2013, p. 199.
The information in this article is valid as at 2014 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.