Civil servants must adhere to ethics of public service

THERE have been calls to reform the Malaysian civil service, and I believe this is one of the most intractable yet important challenges for the government today.

The civil service is the backbone of state and federal governments, and can support or undermine the entire system of governance and process of accountability.

The rakyat and the business sector are calling for reforms in the areas of service delivery, being responsive, and reducing bureaucracy. There are also imperatives to improve operational excellence using information technology and preparing for IR4.0 (the fourth industrial revolution) by increasing digital literacy through training and development and government- driven digitalisation.

Many claim Malaysia’s civil service is too big – according to one business portal, we have one of the biggest bureaucracies in the world: 1.7 million civil servants for a population of 32 million. That’s a ratio of 5.3%; compare this with Singa-pore’s ratio of 1.5% and Hong Kong and Taiwan’s of 2.3%.

That’s a lot of people to pay with government money; and then there are the pensions too.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, on his rounds meeting state governments and federal ministries after he took office in Novem-ber last year, has called for civil service reforms too, including inculcating strong ethical values of good governance. Good governance and development are intimately related and the latter cannot be sustained without the former.

The Chief Secretary to the government must use his knowledge and experience to re-engineer the civil service, perhaps beginning with a proper study of actual manpower requirements

The civil service plays a vital role in helping the government to formulate, explain and implement policies as well as deliver necessary public services and undertaking law enforcement and regulatory functions. Therefore, there must be zero tolerance for substandard performance; there must be commitment and consistency.

Civil servants must be held to the expectation that they will keep pace with technology to offer timeliness and volume of work. Most of all, they must adhere to the ethics of public service and find a passion for their work.

C. SATHASIVAM SITHERAVELLU

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