by | Tan Sri Dr. Sulaiman Mahbob | Datuk Dr. Abdullah Abdul Rahman | Prof. Dr. Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmod
Question: What are the challenges faced by the Public Service?
Tan Sri Sulaiman Mahbob
Leaders and senior officers in the public service can come from various background and discipline; doctors, engineers, etc., but they must be efficient. And they must be of local talents that have the capability to articulate the local social aspiration. They can come from top level private sector but must have strong private-public sector combination that understands the culture of the society. The current practice of appointing senior officials from private sector whilst the junior officers are from the public sector is very unbalanced compared to the model developed by the former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir. The public service then had a balanced leadership combining top civil servants and top private sector personalities, which allowed the formulation of public policy in Malaysia. The nation doesn’t come today or tomorrow but through evolution that was started by the late Tun Abdul Razak.
Datuk Dr. Abdullah Abdul Rahman
Leadership! The country is facing many leadership challenges. One of them is the tendency for leaders to have their own legacy. Ideas can be developed and used, but the result requires consistent and frequent testing and feedback. Leaders need to constantly seek for feedback from their followers and take criticism as something positive toward the improvement of their leadership.
Prof. Dr. Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmod
The size of the public service!
In the United Kingdom, the government has move toward downsizing the public service … shifting off various government agencies to semi government agencies which are smaller, thus reducing the number of public servants, and they managed to downsize the numbers substantially. The smaller semi government agencies have proven to be more efficient in terms of the service delivery, whilst freeing the government to focus on machinery and governance. However, in the context of developing nation like Malaysia, the public service still needs to look at the essential delivery services such as registration of birth/death and front liners agencies, customs and immigration, health and medical etc.
During the era of Tun Dr Mahathir’s leadership, we did take the example from United Kingdom especially in their privatization initiatives. We managed to reduce a substantial number of public servants, from approximately 3 million to the current figure. Organizations like Telekom Malaysia, Tenaga Nasional and Jabatan Bekalan Air has been privatized. This has allowed the government to focus on better governance and regulation. Public service in the first world countries such as in Europe is very lean and small. Only the core services such as foreign affairs, safety, health and defense are still within the government.
Question: What is required for the transformation of the civil service?
Tan Sri Dr. Sulaiman Mahbob
The current leadership transformation initiatives by having purely private sector involvement in transforming the economy and the engagement foreign consultant to help formulate the country’s policy is good but must be done with cautions. There have been indicators that there are feelings of marginalization amongst civil servants because they are not engaged and not given enough participation in policy formulation. They might have not talk about this openly, but the dissatisfactions can be sensed through their body languages and others indicators. We as Malays are very subtle in our communication, not to tell things openly, it is in our culture.
Datuk Dr. Abdullah Abdul Rahman
In order to have a successful transformation, it must be based on a positive and strong organization culture that forms the basic foundation. Core values need to be agreed upon and properly laid out. For example, Japanese has a very solid foundation of organizational culture. Hard work, diligence, teamwork, innovation and creativity are instilled as the culture of their organization.
Prof. Dr. Nik Ahmad Kamal
It is part of cultural and ethos that transformation takes place whenever there is a change of leadership. Current leadership sees a need to open up civil service to outsiders as there will be better information for the government and more minds can be gathered to solve the nation’s concerns. The trend is not only happening in Malaysia, but also elsewhere in the world such as in Europe and America.
However, the concern is their mindsets which are different from those of civil servants. Return of investment (ROI) is their main objective which is not the concern of the civil service. The main objective of the civil service is to provide smooth delivery of public goods.
The current machinery has shown significant improvement and can be considered excellent as there is less complaint about service delivery, especially with front runners such as Immigration, Customs and national registration where automation and ICT has been part of their culture.
Question: What is the culture that defines the civil service?
Tan Sri Sulaiman Mahbob
Civil servants nowadays are too concern with procedures. People started becoming too rigid with procedures and circulars. If you are too focused on procedures, you cannot be developmental. When you want to move forward to a higher level of economic growth in terms of creativity and innovation, you cannot have civil servants who are procedural minded. People of this kind won’t dare to try and experiment because you don’t want to fail. It’s hard to move forward if they have this kind of attitude. They even dare not write in the daily newspapers to explain government policy. Public servant need to write to explain and make the society understand. But, because of this environment, they dare not say and even express views.
Datuk Dr. Abdullah Abdul Rahman
Culture is not only the identification of different values such as integrity and accountability. Culture must be institutionalized. Having all the institution in place does not guarantee that culture has been institutionalized. Without being institutionalized, the misconduct of the civil service may continue to reoccur.
To institutionalize values takes a lot of effort and time. Inconsistency and constant changing of values occurs because the leadership tries to create its own agenda and legacy. Constant changing of values hinders the process of instilling values. Leaders should focus on leadership and what is required by the nation.
Prof. Dr. Nik Ahmad Kamal
There are certain ethos that still need to be instilled in the culture. From the Federal Constitutional perspective, the concept of neutrality of civil service needs to support the government of the day with full loyalty without fear or favour. This is the spirit that is embedded in the constitution since its formulation. The civil servant will not get involved in political parties but will serve the political organization that is in power. However, the current political environment since the last general election has shown that the political power is no longer dominated by a certain party. This has brought new paradigm in the federal-state relationship. The recent issue in the state of Selangor on the appointment of State Secretary is an example.
The ethos of public service in the federal constitution is clear: Civil service need to give full loyalty to the government in power, no matter who rules the government. The situation where public service is not supporting the government should not happen as it will cause problem. The current civil service has been with the existing government for a long time, and it has been the culture.
Question: Is succession plan important?
Tan Sri Sulaiman Mahbob
The succession plan is very important as the human capital in the public service is facing serious challenge to develop their intellectual capacity. Current leaders that fill the top leadership in the organization joined the service 20-30 years ago with qualification from that era. These people rose through the system, but their academic qualifications are in those areas that may not be relevant with today’s globalized and competitive environment, particularly in areas of science and technology, and information technology. They might not be competent if they do not keep themselves up intellectually. But they have been appointed to the post, no matter whether they are competent or not. And they are in the position of decision making. Most of the current civil servants possess knowledge that was obtained 20-30 years ago during their first bachelor degree. This is my greatest fear.
The problem with our civil servant is that they have to go for training, seminar and visits. Who is going to do the reflection? And when are they going to do reflection? Why is this not in the public service culture? They are constrained by orthodox thinking. Thinking out of the box is difficult in public sector because of the structured nature … the civil servants are imprisoned by the structure.
Datuk Dr. Abdullah Abdul Rahman
Leadership of the civil service must be able to provide a continuity of policy from one to the next generation leaders. Civil service need to be professional and be the core machinery of the government. The importance of civil service requires investment to develop its competency, skills, knowledge and professionalism.
The nation needs professional, competent, well-trained, dedicated civil servants. Their place is prominent because there are certain values that are crucial to the civil servant. Apart from professionalism, civil servant needs also to have neutrality and loyalty to the government in power. Civil services are neutral and do not belong to any political party. For example, the responsibility of Pegawai Tadbir dan Diplomatik (PTD) in states that are governed by political parties that are different from the federal government is to give professional advice on government machinery.
Outcome from thoughts and ideas of external parties (especially from private and non-civil servants) need to be taken with caution, and ideas need to be tested whether they are giving the right vision. One of the fundamentals of leadership is to follow the systematic approach – implement, monitor and control. There are many future leaders, but there must be a conscious choice. The current leadership should be able to identify and choose his successor from variety of choices. Let the country choose the number one leader. If this is not being laid, the current leader is not fulfilling his task as a leader.
Prof. Dr. Nik Ahmad Kamal
The concern of civil servant on succession plan is the lack of transparency in the sector. The promotion of officers needs to take into consideration those with leadership qualities. Capability and competency should be the priority. A transparent succession plan needs to be in place with specific and objective criteria for any senior position based on merits. Many countries have put in place a merit system where the decision to promote and appoint a person to a high level position is not by the Prime Minister. The have a committee at the level of civil service to determine suitable candidates.
When we talk about succession plan we definitely cannot forget Gen Y. The new characteristic of Gen Y has created a generation gap in the public sector as baby boomers are currently at the top echelon of the service whilst Gen Y is starting to fill up the middle management. The situation needs to be handled carefully, especially in communication and leadership. The new characteristics of Gen Y in civil service may perhaps be an important element in the development of thinking skills and work culture as those in the upper level would be replaced sooner or later.
Question: What are the necessary changes that should be applied in the civil service?
Tan Sri Sulaiman Mahbob
There a many model of leadership that may be adapted by the civil service. These models must suit the nature of organization. It must not be one model to catch all. For example, in my position as an economist, I must be prepared to have the capability to meet up with world organizations such as World Bank and IMF to explain, argue and defend on government policy. I need to raise my intellectual level in order to be able to defend the government. But the civil servant is not nurtured in this type of leadership. Those junior officers are looking for this type of leadership and guidance, leadership that can guide and nurture them. For instance, I had the opportunity to be under the guidance of personality like Tan Sri Zain Azraai who nurtured people to be quality leaders. My greatest worry is the capacity of our civil servants that is sliding downhill. They are unable to think creatively and innovatively.
An area of concern is the ability of civil servants to match those from the academia as there are gaps in the level of intellectualism. This may hamper their capability. Another area of concern is the capabilities of ministries to function and promote area of their designated portfolios. For example, how is the Ministry Science and Technology to function without trained and qualified officers in relevant fields?
Procedures hamper creativity, limit innovation and decrease intellectual capacity of civil servants. The public service, as a regulatory body, needs to set market standards.
Datuk Dr. Abdullah Abdul Rahman
Things are changing, whether you like it or not. As the rule, if we don’t change and innovate, we will be in trouble. There are many example of organization that doesn’t survive in the marketplace due to this. Change is required to survive and stay competitive. The same goes to the country, we have to change. Therefore, there is the need for top leadership and strategist to examine and frequently review their strategy. A strategy which is good today may not be relevant tomorrow.
One of the factors that influence strategy is the global factor. However, the advice that comes from global society needs to be carefully examined before being accepted as they might have their own agenda. Their advice may not be good for the country. We need to think for ourselves. We can listen, but not necessary to be influenced by them.
The current civil service needs to take the wisdom of our forefathers in shaping the country’s leadership. My fear is that there will be quarters that are trying to break the foundation that have been laid before.
There are three basic foundations that require attention in the current situation: Effective leadership; the need for culture and values to be institutionalized; and the need to enhance the capability and capacity of civil service.
Leaders need to be sensitive to the parameters as laid out in the federal constitution. You would not be able to understand and run the country well if you are not aware of what happened during the formulation of the constitution and events that happened during that day.
In leadership there is need to apply intellectual capacity, values and emotions. I think feelings, intuition and values need to be combined, apart from our history and tradition which are vital ingredients in human life.
The public sector needs to continuously improve its capacity and capability. Education and training with basic fundamental such as discipline, loyalty, neutrality, professionalism and forward looking is prerequisite. Public service personnel need to continue to act as a professional adviser but, at the same time, continue to be heavily involved in implementation, execution, delivering policy and services at a very high standard.
Prof. Dr. Nik Ahmad Kamal
The leadership of the civil service must enculturate the values of neutrality to all civil servants, especially the top level at both state and federal.
The way of thinking in civil servants in terms of their capacity to deliver need to be improved. Personalities in the civil service mostly come from distinctive public sector background. It would be beneficial to develop their leadership and thinking capacity by having them attached to the industry in the private sector. Such exercise would allow exposure to experience and transfer of knowledge. In the long term, the thinking capacity of civil servants would develop. This would result in a balanced development of commercial and social consideration in delivering public goods. The participation of those from private sector would overcome the traditional thinking of the civil service.
Dynamism to the country legislation framework in terms of internal rules and career development needs to be continuously revisited to allow intellectual capacity and talent management. In my opinion, the flexibility of rules needed in the public service is in the internal rules. The internal rule needs to adapt current circumstances. The terms and condition offered to civil servants need to be more attractive and dynamic. This is important if civil service wants to retain and attract multiple talents. Perhaps the appointment of civil servants on contractual basis for a short period of time should be allowed so that we can get variety of talents in the system for the civil service to be more concrete and solid. There is also the possibility to revisit the definition of civil service in the constitution.
Question: What is the desired scenario of public service of the future?
Tan Sri Sulaiman Mahbob
A sound economic policy is needed by the country. This should be sourced from a sound knowledge. The source of strength of civil service of the future is knowledge. The country if full of data that should be used to produce good information through analytics and detailed analysis. As a transition, there is need to strengthen the research and planning capacity with good core staff, with doctorate. Some element of market based competency would help in getting the public service to be more competitive. Upgrading their skills and intellectual capacity would ensure their relevancy in the system.
Datuk Dr. Abdullah Abdul Rahman
The public service is the core component of the government and the civil servants are the key success factor for public service of the future. Therefore, the desirable scenario of public service will be the high level of professionalism, neutrality, and competency. This will allow the government to move forward. This is the scenario in most of the developed countries such as Korea, Japan and Britain. Changing of political leaders does not give much impact to the civil service in delivering their service. PTD officers are the core of civil service. They should have very high spirit of patriotism, nationalism, loyalty and love for the country. These are the core values that will determine the future of the country.
A good civil service must also be sensitive to political development, both local and abroad. To master the art of governance and administration, the public service need to know how to deal with political issues of today. The incapability of civil servants to articulate, analyze and advice the government in power may result in ineffective or, maybe, wrong decision-making. In this context, for leaders to survive they need to be strong in certain fundamentals and articulate in areas which are negotiable as well as non-negotiable. For example, internal security, monarchy and Malay rights, principle of moderation which is the foundation of the nation. This foundation, if touched, would result in destructive effect to the nation.
Prof. Dr. Nik Ahmad Kamal
Malaysia should maintain the core sectors such as education, security and defense and the health sector under the government. I can see Malaysia moving towards a smaller civil service as the core functions are being automated through ICT that will substantially reduce the number of manpower. But I am worried about the elements of good governance.
The three elements of governance are transparency, accountability and integrity. As for transparency, in my opinion, the public service sector is still being too secretive. The society at large seems to find it hard to access information from the public service. The government is being too beaureucratic, especially when it comes to getting data. The abundance of data available is not being fully utilized. Perhaps, the government may want to consider introducing laws on freedom of information with restriction on sensitive areas. There are still complains from researchers on the unavaibility and restriction of certain data. The government needs to continuously study the existing law on freedom of information.
I feel the accountability of civil service in Malaysia is slightly misplaced. Accountability is the burden of ministers. The convention of public service is that the public servants are anonymous and faceless bureaucrats. Whatever is done is for the politician to decide. The civil servants only advice the minister and should not be at the front to defend him/her. It is the minister who has to defend them.
Integrity is a subject the civil service finds hard to prove. The perception of the people is that immoral activities, particularly corruption, are rampant within the public service. The society is frustrated. The advancement of information technology and social media has worsen the situation as the society has more trust in the news circulated through the internet compared to those in the mainstream news media. The situation needs to be addressed. The government and public service need to prove that corruption is successfully eradicated or, at least, there are sustained and vigorous efforts to curb it. When the perception of the rakyat improves, the impression and integrity of the nation, locally and internationally, will also improve.
