The National Oversight & Whistleblowers Centre (NOW) is a non-profit body set up to promote the cause of whistleblowers. We recognise the need to institute public-driven oversight initiatives and the role of whistleblowers in a matured society.
NOW is funded through public donation, subscription, consultancy, personal contribution and grants.
NOW is run by a small team of dedicated analysts and supported by a big team of volunteers who collectively investigate possible national scandals, analyse parliamentary, government and corporate reports, advocate change of laws to promote public driven oversight initiatives, produce oversight reports, defend whistleblowers and fight legal cases in the national interest.
OVERSIGHT AND WHISTLEBLOWERS
Whistleblowers play an important role in a matured society. In societies where there is a distrust of the establishments seriousness to act independently against corruption and abuse of power, whistleblowers provide the spark to fuel public opinion that can subsequently exert enough pressure for actions to be taken against corrupt public officials.
Even in a truly functioning democracy with credible public institutions, whistleblowers provide key breakthroughs that can safeguard public interests especially from within the corporate walls to avoid corporate scandals that normally would have escaped publics attention; if not highlighted by whistleblowers.
There have been various documented cases from around the world as proofs of the positive role played by whistleblowers to safeguard public interests.
The existing Whistleblowers Protection Act 2010 is currently deemed to be inadequate to encourage whistleblowers to come forward. In fact, it is considered more detrimental to whistleblowers as there are restrictions on the kind of information whistleblowers are allowed to disclose and to whom they can disclose. The outcry against the Act signifies the publicís perception that the Act is put in place to intimidate whistleblowers and was enacted hastily.
In 2012, the persons instrumental in disclosing a high level financial scandal involving the family of a senior government minister were charged in court.
The events leading up to the arrest and prosecution of the whistleblowers point to a hardening position taken by the authority against whistleblowers that necessitated a re-look at the whole framework of whistleblowers’ protection and oversight function in Malaysia.
Convinced that the authority is empowered by existing laws to silence future whistleblowers and the task of protecting whistleblowers can only be carried out sincerely by the civil society, a group of social activists founded NOW to focus on defending whistleblowers and promoting public driven oversight initiatives.
OBJECTIVES
MONITOR, ASSESS AND REPORT
Act as an oversight body to monitor, assess and report independently of the performance, transparency and accountability of the governments (federal and state governments), parliamentary houses, major government agencies and major corporations with huge public interests
ACT INDEPENDENTLY
Act independently and decisively to bring to the public's attention any issues or scandals with major repercussions to the public interests
WHISTLEBLOWER RIGHT
Protect the safety, rights and welfare of whistleblowers through the Whistleblowers Protection Fund which disburses grants to qualified whistleblowers to pay for legal fees and loss of income
ENCOURAGEMENT
Cultivate a conducive environment in the society that encourages whistleblowers to come forward without fear or fervour through policy advocacy, standard setting and campaign initiatives
TRAINING AND CONSULTANCY
Provide training and consultancy to the public and organisations on the skills and accountability of whistleblowers with the aim to produce more responsible whistleblowers in the society
THE TEAM
RAFIZI RAMLI
The founding Executive Director is Rafizi Ramli. The former CEO of Selangor Economic Advisory Office is a chartered accountant and member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA). He graduated with a bachelor in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Leeds University and an alumnus of the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK).
Rafizi had had an extensive experience in the corporate world, having served in various management capacities in an oil and gas multinational and a large pharmaceutical group. He started his career as an auditor with Jeffreys Henry in London.
Rafizi had led a series of exposes on the government’s financial mismanagements in 2011 and 2012 that eventually highlighted the increasing role of whistleblowers in nation building and the lack of protection accorded to them.
AKMAL NASIR
The co-founding Director is Akmal Nasir. He graduated with double major in Actuarial Science and Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States and an alumnus of the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK).
Previously, Akmal worked as an economic researcher for several years and is now concentrating on civil society tasks. He was one of the key witnesses for BERSIH People’s Tribunal on General Elections 13.
VOLUNTEER CORPS
Whistleblowing is a team effort. NOW needs dedicated volunteers to join us and to be part of this fight against corruption in Malaysia. As such, we have decided to form the volunteer corps, a team trained in forensic accounting and legal foundations that aims to scrutinize and investigate tip offs.
NOW invites concerned citizens to enrol into our Volunteer Corps. Applicants shall be verified to ensure his/her motive is bona fide and represents his/her genuine desire to contribute.
Successful applicants shall be trained with the basic skills and knowledge in forensic accounting, legal foundation and investigation tips.
Over a period of time, NOW hopes to utilise the pool of forensic analysts from its Volunteer Corps to scrutinise and investigate as many genuine tip offs as possible.
SUBMIT REPORT
NOW encourages whistleblowers to come forward with information and evidence of any form of mismanagement, neglect, corruption or omission that is detrimental to the publics interest irrespective of where or who commits the misdeed.
NOW endeavours to carry out preliminary verification of any information submitted to the best of our abilities.
DONATION
NOW accepts fund transfers from major Malaysian banks through their online banking facilities and credit card payment with Visa and Mastercard.
Alternatively, financial contribution to NOW can be made via online transfers or cash/cheque deposit to NOW’s bank account. All cheques should be written to “Oversight & Whistleblowers Sdn Bhd” Maybank 562441603039. You can deposit the cash/cheque directly into NOWís bank account or send the cheque to our address below.
