TUN Dr Mahathir Mohamad recently announced that the government will formulate a new slogan as the rallying cry for the nation. The slogan will set the ‘true north’ for the conduct of the nation and citizens. It did so for a sales executive of a department store.
One day a lady was shopping at a department store. Upon hearing the roll of thunder, she proceeded to the exit as she did not want to get caught in a traffic snarl that invariably follows a thunderstorm. Her intuition was so sharp that she sensed someone was following her. She quickened her steps. Sure enough, the steps behind hastened in tandem.
Fearful of her safety she ran to the exit, held on to a security guard and confronted the alleged stalker. “Why are you following me?” she demanded. Momentarily stunned by that question, the sales executive managed to regain his composure to reply, “Ma’am, I know it is going to rain. So, I hurried behind you to bring an umbrella to take you to your car.”
To cut the story short, it had then started to rain, and the sales executive opened the umbrella and escorted her to her car. From that day forth, the shopper never shopped anywhere except at that store.
What motivated the employee to do what he did without being told to do so? One of the corporate values of the store was customer satisfaction at all cost. Such is the power of values that, once internalised by an employee, it can induce the desired behaviour even when unsupervised.
Values are often embedded in a mantra exhorting the preferred behaviour. Take Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia or UKM. Emblematic of its purpose, UKM’s slogan is “Inspiring futures, nurturing possibilities”. The slogan galvanises its academe to focus on creating a bright future for its students.
Similarly, at the national level, a motto will reflect the government’s agenda. It will also modify citizens’ behaviour in the manner espoused. A national slogan will rally citizens around its noble purpose even as it directs the path of the government.
During his previous term of office, Dr Mahathir’s rallying cry was “Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah” or “Clean, Efficient and Trustworthy”. It would have been the slogan for the Penang government for the 2015 Merdeka celebrations had it not been tangential to the national one. As the government ponders a new slogan, we make a case for that previous slogan once again.
Take the first word ‘Bersih’ or ‘Clean’. It can stand for the same meaning that gave significance to the Bersih movement. A coalition of non-governmental organisations, Bersih fights to reform the electoral system in Malaysia to ensure free, clean and fair elections. Its rallies struggled to provide a level playing field for all political parties in previous elections.
People’s anger over prevalent corruption brought the new government to power. As Joe Biden, a former US vice-president once remarked: “Fighting corruption is not just good governance. It’s self-defence. It’s patriotism.”
The real cost of corruption is the loss of citizen trust in government. To honour the people’s hope reposed in it, eradication of corruption is high on the government’s agenda. “Bersih” can therefore stand for this agenda of clean government.
The second word ‘Cekap’ or ‘Efficient’ denotes public services that are rendered with high impact at a relatively low cost. It signifies a “government that works better yet costs less”, a mantra of another US vice-president, Al Gore.
The new government has begun promoting efficiency in government. Streamlining the 800-odd agencies and terminating contract workers made redundant under the new regime are aimed at making the public service lean and nimble. Government efficiency is imperative if the government is to eke out savings in public expenditure. Those savings will partially compensate for the revenue lost from zero-rating GST, and for the payment of compensation should tolls be abolished. It will also come in handy should a petroleum subsidy be implemented.
Efficiency is the flip side of innovation. And innovation, such as new or customised public services, is at the core of the current paradigm of Industrial Revolution 4.0 that the public service seeks to tap to enhance productivity.
Lastly, ‘Amanah’ or ‘Trustworthy’. The Malay term resembles the name of one of the component parties of the government. More importantly, trust is a virtue worthy of inculcation in government. Albert Einstein once said: “Whoever is careless with the truth in small ways, cannot be trusted with important matters.” Trustworthiness will endear the government to the people. It can even make the government endure in the future.
Our vote is for “Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah”.
The writer, a former public servant, is a principal fellow at the Graduate School of Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia