style="text-transform: uppercase;">Kota Kinabalu: KOTA KINABALU: An anti-corruption convention was held at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) to instill in young students values to be corruption-free individuals when they join the country's workforce in future.

Deputy Vice Chancellor (Student Affairs), Associate Professor Dr Ismail Ali on Friday said graft-busting skills must be instilled among the young so they won't add to the statistics, adding that corruption is becoming more complex over time.

"The convention aims to raise the awareness of students of higher learning institutions on the menace.

It is targeted mainly at students.

"They are young and the hope of the country to reduce the number of corruption cases depends on them," he said after launching the convention.

Dr Ismail Ali said youths today are adequately exposed to the corruption menace and that only by being well-informed on its dangers, would they likely say no to graft in the future.

"This is an important agenda for the country especially when it is heading towards attaining modern nation status by 2020.

"Corruption is destructive and would be able to destroy the nation," he said.

A secretariat has been formed to undertake the operation of the convention that was attended by students from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Putra Malaysia, the Kota Kinabalu Polytechnic and Universiti Institut Teknologi Mara.

According to Dr Ismail Ali the secretariat only focused on students, adding that special integrity units and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission would handle graft busting in the working class platform.

Meanwhile, Vice Chancellor Prof. Datuk Dr Harun Abdullah expressed confidence over the commitment laid out by the secretariat towards raising awareness among students on graft.

He said one effort to put a stop to the menace is to instill quality leadership values in students and in every level of the community.

"Institutions are not only about producing graduates who get good grades, but also about having integrity and firm character which are not easily influenced."

He hoped the convention would elevate the awareness of students about graft and how to avoid it.