Towards an efficient and effective civil service

Ten apathetic government officials can do more damage to a country, than a hundred crooked ones.
– Abhijit Naskar, neuroscientist

Early this year I wrote about the civil service, the Sarawak civil service in particular, which under Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg went through notable changes since he took over the state administration in 2017.

For example, the implementation of the digital government initiative under the Sarawak Digital Economy Strategy to enable efficient and faster interaction with the public has improved the delivery process and set us apart from the rest of the civil service in the country. The initiative also covers agriculture, manufacturing-industry, tourism, smart city, digital health and e-commerce, among others.

Also, the Premier’s decision to continue the use of English for the private sector to communicate with government departments other than the national language despite Putrajaya’s recent directive to entertain letters only in Bahasa Malaysia has enabled our civil service to perform better than our Malayan counterparts, making the Sarawak government sector a progressive entity.

The efforts of the civil servants have not gone unnoticed; the state government recognises the dedication and contribution of its employees and has approved several staff initiatives, including medical incentives and facilities at private hospitals or clinics, and enhanced government loan scheme facilities.

In the recent State Legislative Assembly sitting, Abang Johari also announced the restructure of the civil service to incorporate new functions starting next year to increase trust and confidence towards the Sarawak government.

Sarawak is giving priority to increasing the knowledge, efficiency and proactiveness of its government staff and for this it is setting aside more than RM20 million next year for talent management and capacity building of the civil service.

One notable gesture of the Abang Johari Administration is its adaptation of the private sector’s popular ‘give back to society’ policy when it proposed to the federal government to increase the state civil servants’ remuneration system because of the significant surge in state revenue.

The proposal is seen as a measure to place the civil service on par with the emoluments and benefits of the government service in developed countries to improve the well-being, service delivery and integrity of the sector.

The state government also announced a special financial assistance amounting to two months of basic salary to all state civil servants, including in statutory bodies, state-owned firms, and uniformed agencies.

Meanwhile, according to the Premier, if the Sarawak civil service wants to achieve an international-standard delivery system, integrity and accountability must be part and parcel of the delivery service and execution of duties.

“The government sector is often perceived by the public as one of the sectors that is very susceptible to corruption in the economy of any country, particularly developing countries.

“Corruption, when not kept in check, can cause leakage to public funds, drive away foreign investment, reduce economic return on investments and not to mention, its adverse impact on public safety and health,” Abang Johari said at Sarawak Forestry Corporation’s Integrity Day last year.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) data shows corruption, coupled with power abuse, is the ‘silent killer’ of civil servants’ credibility.

At another Integrity Day event, this time organised by the Sarawak Economic Development Corporation end of last year, the Premier explained the state government’s move to increase the salaries of civil servants, reasoning that this was a way to curb corruption, as was being practised in Singapore.

“Civil servants are not being paid enough to cope with increasing cost of living, giving rise to the tendency to ask for takes, under-the-table money, abuse of power, and so on.”

Abang Johari said the proposal needs careful study because the state government does not have the jurisdiction to create its own salary and remuneration scheme.

While the Premier is doing his utmost best to transform the civil service to make it efficient, practise good governance, avoid corruption and be accountable, all his efforts will come to naught if there are government employees who do not make radical changes to work processes, practise good governance, and adopt a culture of accountability.

Little Napoleons, in particularly, are the bane of the civil service. If it’s any group that should be removed first from the sector, it’s these individuals who exhibit authoritarian and controlling behaviour, and who slow down the process in their departments or create unnecessary red tape.

I came across one exasperated businessmen from outstation who had been dealing with a particular agency for nearly seven months and is still praying for light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. He didn’t say much when I offered to hear him out, except to say: “If I ever get the chance, God have mercy on these people. I will wring their necks with a bicycle chain!”

Judging from his tone, he must be an intensely frustrated man. Poor fella.

Anyway, it’s the responsibility of the civil servants to discharge their duties to the best of their ability and not abuse their power; lepak during office hours, disappear from time to time to fetch anak, bini and whatnots, or spend long hours in the canteen.

Perhaps to curb these abuses, bosses could set up a special team to monitor the movements of these errant staff. Of course unions will be the first to oppose.

The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.