This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on October 31, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Auditors, who are regarded as the watchdogs of the corporate space, must operate with conscience to be able to function without fear or favour, said former trade minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz.

A clear conscience will help auditors commit to the industry requirements of full disclosure, transparency, and good governance, and make the right decisions when it comes to balancing between moral responsibility and financial gains, said Rafidah.

“In the past, there were auditors who have landed themselves in the courts, and have been labelled as ‘toothless watchdogs’ because of the massive scams allowed to perpetuate. They were either complicit in criminal acts, fail to discover irregularities, or turning blind eye to suspicious businesses and transactions,” she said.

“You should have the courage to expose irregularities, the conviction that right must prevail, regardless [of] who the [client] is; and the confidence of what is right is the only way to go, supported by a clear conscience, to operate without fear or favour.”

Rafidah was addressing an audience of auditors at the Asian Confederation of Institutes of Internal Auditors (ACIIA) 2018 Conference yesterday on the subject of “Courage, Conviction, and Confidence”.

The three Cs, she noted, could have contrasting meanings and implications, and can be viewed both positively and negatively.

“A person having very strong courage and confidence to cheat, to breach trust and abuse authority, and convinced that no one will know or discover the misdeed can indeed end up with conviction of another kind. We are seeing this in the process today,” Rafidah said.

Conscience, stressed Rafidah, is what makes a difference. “Conscience is that sense of consciousness of the moral goodness or blameworthiness of one’s own conduct, intention, or character, together with the feeling or obligation to be right, or to be good. It is essential to ensure that courage, confidence and conviction always reflect towards doing what is right.”

Conscience is also essential for a person to hold himself or herself accountable for wrongdoings, she said. “Your conscience may be a little weak and you do something wrong — but you accept you are to be blamed. Sometimes that blameworthiness is not there … when you don’t say sorry for making a mistake.”

Auditing is also a form of business, Rafidah acknowledges. “But if you maintain your business, and earn half a million a year every year with the company, when you know you are doing wrong, by covering up something that is wrong, are you going to be happy?

“If you are convinced your conscience is clear, if people sack you [for doing your job], so what? You can live being happy that you have done the right thing,” she said.

Rafidah also advised corporate Malaysia not to view the presence of political elements in business as a form of interference, but rather an element that needs to be taken into consideration in the context of nation-building, said Rafidah.

“Politics is about development — [about letting you] do something in a bigger sphere, which allows you to serve in the area you are in. When you talk about political interference, for as long as the political element is for the good of the rakyat, I will do it. I see politics as an engine, a vehicle for me to do work. It is not an interference,” she added.

The analogy, said the former minister who was also once an economics lecturer, is like comparing the ability to provide education for students as a lecturer in a university, with being a member of the government.

“In the political field, I regard [the platform] to be even better. I have a bigger base, to go to the rural areas to educate … and at a higher level I [can contribute to] policymaking,” she added.

However, Rafidah said political considerations can only be managed effectively by a leader of an organisation who has the conscience to act without fear or favour when dealing with different people, including politicians and clients.

“If it is for the good of the political parties, no way. I am not there to serve your political party, excuse me. And the party is to serve the rakyat,” she said.