Corruption - what is a bribe?

A bribe under the Prevention of Corruption Act covers not just monetary payments but any favour or advantage. For the full text of the relevant definition, please refer to the end of this post.

Even a free hawker meal can amount to a bribe as some hawker (food stall) inspectors who were convicted of corruption and lost their jobs, have found out. Some policemen

The law of corruption has been applied not just to employees who took bribes from suppliers and civil servants who took bribes from the public, but also to

a) a independent bus driver who took fees from doctors to take foreign workers for medical check-ups. He was not told to take them to any particular doctor, so I am not sure that he was correctly convicted;

b) professional football players who received bribes to play well;

c) a jockey who rode winning horses being given gifts by a grateful owner. I believe that he was later acquitted on appeal;

d) Singaporeans being paid to enter into sham marriages with foreigners.

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The full definition of a bribe as found in Section 2 of the Prevention of Corruption Act -
"gratification" includes —

(a) money or any gift, loan, fee, reward, commission, valuable security or other property or interest in property of any description, whether movable or immovable;

(b) any office, employment or contract;

(c) any payment, release, discharge or liquidation of any loan, obligation or other liability whatsoever, whether in whole or in part;

(d) any other service, favour or advantage of any description whatsoever, including protection from any penalty or disability incurred or apprehended or from any action or proceedings of a disciplinary or penal nature, whether or not already instituted, and including the exercise or the forbearance from the exercise of any right or any official power or duty; and

(e) any offer, undertaking or promise of any gratification within the meaning of paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d);