Ethics vs Law

Recently i have been obsessed with business related law, ie corporate law, competition law, tax law, etc etc.. Actually it is part of my assignment to do so as i am asked to decide on a business structure for my laptop manufacturing and selling business.

But hey, what is your first impression on law? Nerdy? Wordy? Perhaps, lazy! Omg, i couldn't imagine how those lawyers come up with pages of rules and regulations. It is really driving me crazy reading through all the sections and divisions. But, as i progress, i realise how unlawful the law is, and how it can be manipulated by individuals for personal gain.



This is clearly illustrated in here. Coles is highly regarded as supermarket in Australia with the cheapest price. However, they are pressing the suppliers and farmers to lower their price of product so that coles can enjoy higher rate of profit. If they refuse, they will simply deal with you the rough way. How? You never want to know it.

And think about this. How often do you see ONE supermarket dominating over one suburb? Taking KL for example, we have MidValley, One Utama, etc etc. But, you might wonder why in Kingsford here Westfield is the only shopping mall? Think about it. If there is no competitors for them, price fixing is obviously a major problem here. Are they that successful that they manage to strip their competitors naked? NO! Certainly there is something unlawful going on, and we are obviously not aware of it and no action has been taken because according to the law, this is legal.

And what has the government been doing? Well, they come up with this brilliant plan. They setup a website, and it reports the price of grocery all around Australia. Is that all? Yes, this is the best they can do? Are they trying their best here? NO! Same goes to the price of property in Sydney. Why is it so expensive? In fact, Sydney is considered one of the most expensive place to stay in the world. Why? Obviously someone is behind this scam and certainly it is legal. Otherwise, i won't be paying $200 per week for rental.

Here comes the question.

In business, does ethics and morality holds? Or profit is everything as long as it is legal in the eyes of law.

A very simple example. If you try to sue some big companies for compensation, they will bury you alive with legal fees even before you enter the court. They will request for whole lots of legal documents and you won't even have the money to pay for the legal fee. So, you end up unable to sue them. Now, who is right and who is wrong? Everything here is legal and there is no doubt that they are operating by the law. In some cases, the company even force people to commit suicide, thus they are termed the 'tough negotiator'. This is legal, but is it ethical?


My personal view is the world is so corrupted that profit certainly comes before ethics. It is easier to identify the law, but not so easy to identify morality. Breach of law has far more serious consequences while breach of morality doesn't really affect some people. They have a heart of rock. So, is there a role for ethics in business?

Another example, have you ever wondered how terrorist are financed? Certainly these people are receiving big money, but how? Read this, under illegitimate purpose. The reason they have yet to obtain any evidence is because the people financing them are obviously protected by the law. But it is obviously not ethical to do so. Then you might ask, why does the government doesn't change the law? Well, money can practically buy anything.

Geez, this is a corrupted world eh?

Law isn't something that great afterall, don't you agree?

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On other note, will you pay corporate tax or will you try to avoid it? People may argue that if corporate giants are not paying their tax, the government will not have resources to run the country and also benefit the citizens.

But what if the tax we paid end up in the pocket of some scumbag? Remember our Boleh-land. Pet**nas is making shits of money, read here. But guess what? Government still complain not enough money for development, bla bla bla. Holy shit, i rather donate my money to charitable organisation rather than to the blood sucking government.

So, think twice when you are paying tax!
Hurray to tax mitigation !!!