Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), 10 July 2025 - In the battle against corruption in Southeast Asia, investigative journalists are proving to be among its most vital defenders, but also the most targeted. With public procurement representing a significant share of government spending across the region, abuses in this area can have far-reaching and damaging consequences.
“Corruption remains one of the most serious challenges facing the South-East Asia region,” said Megumi Hara, UNODC Crime prevention and criminal justice officer specialized in anti-corruption. “Investigative journalism is one of the strongest accountability mechanisms we have, and we are committed to fostering the environments where it can thrive.”
This week, journalists from across the region gathered in Kuala Lumpur under the Journalists Against Corruption (JAC) initiative to deepen their investigative skills and foster cross-border collaboration. The workshop is supported by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Government of Sweden.
Whether in the form of inflated contracts, rigged bidding, or ghost suppliers, procurement-related corruption siphons away public funds and undermines services that citizens rely on, from healthcare to infrastructure. In countries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), public procurement accounts for a substantial portion of government expenditure—making it one of the most vulnerable sectors to corruption.
“Corruption is not only morally and ethically wrong; corruption leads to an unjust society, and an unjust society is a dangerous one,” said Robert Lejon, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Sweden in Kuala Lumpur. “We recognize that capacitating journalists with the appropriate tools, networks, and expertise is crucial for exposing corruption and ensuring accountability.
The JAC initiative was launched in 2023 with the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism at the helm, and has since become a key platform where journalists from Southeast Asia can collaborate across borders, share tips and leads, and take on entrenched interests that often enjoy impunity. In recent years, their work has helped shed light on opaque procurement deals, shell companies linked to public officials, and even systemic abuse of trafficked individuals forced to work in scam centres tied to government-linked actors.
In 2024, JAC, with UNODC support, provided story grants to assist with in-depth anti-corruption reporting. Philippines JAC member Dwight de Leon developed two procurement stories with his grant and was able to share his process of researching and publishing these stories in news outlet Rappler with journalist colleagues at the workshop in Kuala Lumpur.
This week’s gathering builds on momentum from a similar regional workshop held in Bangkok in February this year, where anti-corruption agencies and civil society organizations from across Southeast Asia came together to address corruption risks in government procurement. Organized by the Southeast Asian Anti-Corruption Network (SEA-ACN) in collaboration with the C4 Center and UNODC, that event focused on legal reforms, cross-border collaboration, and civic engagement to improve transparency in public procurement systems.
Real-life cases
Despite the scale and complexity of corruption in public procurement across Southeast Asia, recent cases show that meaningful accountability is achievable. In Thailand, officials involved in bid rigging and fraudulent maintenance contracts were successfully prosecuted through coordinated investigations involving audit institutions, anti-corruption commissions, and financial intelligence units.
Viet Nam’s crackdown on the Vạn Thịnh Phát/SCB banking fraud —a case involving nearly US$27 billion in damages— led to sweeping trials, including death sentences for top perpetrators, and showed that even deeply entrenched corruption can be confronted when political will and public demand for justice align. In the Philippines, the exposure of the ₱10-billion pork barrel scam prompted historic Supreme Court reforms, while Indonesia’s Chromebook procurement and Meikarta permit scandals are currently under investigation, signaling an increased emphasis on oversight.
While many of these cases were triggered by whistleblowers, audits, or media reporting, they highlight broader themes: elite capture, weak procurement safeguards, and the importance of transparency. These outcomes also underscore why persistent journalism and cross-sector collaboration are needed to reshape public governance in the region.
One of the workshop’s host speakers, Pushpan Murugiah, Chief Executive of the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) in Malaysia, underlined the importance of citizen-focused accountability. “Civil society has proven a reliable partner with journalists in Southeast Asia as we advocate to establish systems that prevent corruption and money politics from the outset, particularly in government contracts,” he said.
“Corruption has killed people”
Over the two-day workshop, participants learned to identify red flags in procurement modalities, analyze tender data, and plan cross-border investigations: skills that are essential in a region where transnational crime and corruption are increasingly intertwined. A special segment focused on trafficking for forced criminality, a growing trend where victims are exploited inside fraudulent cyber operations, often concealed behind legitimate-seeming procurement contracts and corporate networks.
For some seasoned journalists who prefer to remain anonymous, the workshop offered a technical boost and a moral reminder: “Corruption has killed people,” they said in relation to corruption in the procurement of medical goods.
Despite the challenges that journalists face in holding truth to power, the sense of purpose remains undimmed. As one journalist put it during a break in the workshop, “If we don’t tell these stories, who will?”
Click here to learn more about UNODC’s anti-corruption efforts in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Click here to learn more about other JAC events.
