IT was a little disturbing for me (as a former civil servant) to read a media report last week of incidents of suspected sabotage in the Malaysian civil service.
The report said that civil servants appointed by the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) government in various positions in several ministries have become victims of “sabotage” by certain quarters whose intention was to derail the new administration. The report added that these incidents of sabotage had occurred in at least three ministries, resulting in the removal of a senior civil servant, who allegedly masterminded the sabotage at one ministry.
In his immediate reaction to the report (aptly titled “Un-civil servants”), Chief Secretary to the Government, Tan Sri Ali Hamsa said that he had instructed all secretaries-general and heads of service to investigate alleged attempts to derail the current administration. He had also instructed all civil servants to be on the alert and report any kind of sabotage.
“Report any kind of sabotage to the respective secretaries-general and heads of service. From there, I will personally address the matter. Any deliberate attempt to sabotage and undermine the government and its administration will not be tolerated”, he said.
He warned “saboteurs” that stern action will be taken against them. He gave his personal assurance that the civil service will honour the mandate given by the rakyat to the current government.
Last week’s media report alleged that the resignation of Numan Afifi Saadan (who was appointed to assist the new Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman) could have been due to sabotage. The report added that some senior officers who were close to certain individuals in the previous Barisan Nasional government discovered they found it difficult to continue working under the new government.
The issue of loyalty of “some civil servants” had been raised earlier by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, apart from the fact that “corruption was entrenched” in the civil service. It has not been easy for the current administration to find “clean and capable officers to replace corrupt heads of department”, he had said.
What comes to mind as I read these reports last week is the realisation that when these handful of civil servants “worked against” the PH administration, it was because they wanted to “clean up” the service. According to Gurdial Singh (former law professor), there is substance in the speculation (or belief) that Malaysia has a bloated civil service. Current statistics show that we have a ratio of one civil servant for every 20 people, whilst in Singapore the ratio is 1:71, Indonesia (1:110), South Korea (1:50), China (1:108), Japan (1:28), Russia (1:84), and lastly Britain (1:118).
If we want to follow the example of Britain, our civil service can be reduced to at least four times its present size. If the current administration wants to go in that direction, then corporatisation of the public service is the way forward, just like when Jabatan Telekom was corporatised to become Telekom Malaysia and Lembaga Letrik Negara was corporatised to become Tenaga Nasional Berhad.
According to the Reid Commission report (which is not law, but it gave birth to our Federal Constitution), the political impartiality in the civil service is absolutely essential for an efficient administration. This principle cuts both ways — the civil servant must maintain his impartiality and faithfully serve the government of the day, whilst the government of the day must respect the civil servant’s impartiality and not force him to toe the line blindly.
A good civil servant will always act in the public interest rather than the political interest of the administration. His political impartiality becomes the foundation of public confidence in the civil service. If that impartiality comes into question, public confidence in the civil service will be eroded. Blatant acts of partisanship by any civil servant must be dealt with speedily and effectively, which last week was promised by Ali Hamsa.
Former Chief Justice Tun Zaki Azmi wrote in a Malaysian daily last June that a civil servant must not be partisan. He must serve whoever is the elected government of the day. He must obey the lawful political wishes of whoever is in power, and serve the government of any party with the same degree of commitment. His own political leanings must not stand in the way of executing diligently the government’s policies and goals.
Tun Zaki added that a civil servant must accept the reality that politicians have the last word. As a “public servant”, he must be loyal to the new government and implement its policies. If he has any problem complying, he should resign.
I agree absolutely.
SALLEH BUANG formerly served the
Attorney-General’s Chambers
before he left for private practice, the corporate sector and academia