Quality dips with Malay-dominated civil service
It is a common perception that quality was compromised when the government embarked on indiscriminate "Malaynisation" of the civil service.
DAP MP Ariff Sabri (right) had even posed this question to former top civil servant Raymond Navaratnam during a meeting at the Pahang menteri besar's official residence several years back.
"Many government officers serving in the state attended. Navaratnam gave his run through on the management of government.
"He (Navaratnam) recalled the days when he served Abdul Razak Hussein with pride and when civil servants were small in number and served with dedication and pride. To be a civil servant was the epitome of success," Ariff said in his blog posting today.
And when Ariff popped the question on the "Malaynisation" of the civil service, he said, "The poor man (Navaratnam) was at a loss for words."
"All the while he was saying things that were politically correct. Until today, I consider Navaratnam's take on several issues in Malaysia to be a safe passage trip through the ocean of unpredictable storms," he added.
Over the weekend, the Raub MP said, he met another retired non-Malay top civil servant, whom he merely identified as "Mr J".
He added that "Mr J" had disagreed that race played a role in the quality of the civil service.
Ariff had proposed to "Mr J" that the civil service be liberalised so that more non-Malays would join and the ensuing competition would restore it to its former glory.
"And I repeated my remark that the quality of our civil service went down when it's filled up predominantly by Malays.
"Even though Malays are reputed to be born administrators, the government's willingness to compromise on quality and emphasis on quantity has led to the lowering of the overall quality.
"When a job can be done by one fellow, now it must be completed by a committee," Ariff added.
'Neutrality and impartiality'
However, the DAP leader said "Mr J" argued that race was not a factor if the civil service comprised highly qualified people.
Ariff quoted him as saying, "It does not matter, provided the civil service is run on two important principles which we were imbued early in our careers - the principle of impartiality and neutrality. I was taught this early in my training by some of the ablest and honest Malay civil servants.
"When I served as department head, I learned my trade from a Malay chief clerk who was in charge of the entire budgeting of the department.
"This chap knew more about financial management than most of the greenhorns fresh from university and colleges. Now his kind of job is carried out by an entire army."
Ariff said "Mr J" stressed that the two principles which should be the guiding force for all civil servants, were impartiality and neutrality.
"Mr J" told the Raub MP: "That was why I was shocked when on the second day Ali Hamsa took over as chief secretary; he issued a statement that civil servants must not listen to the opposition lawmakers.
"That was unprofessional. I wrote a letter to him asking him whether he has forgotten civil service 101- to always maintain neutrality and impartiality.
"Ali Hamsa has shown his hand - that is the bane affecting most civil servants. They compromise their professionalism and succumb to the political masters."
While "Mr J" agreed that civil servants must be loyal to the government of the day, he said this should only be the case when the loyalty does not violate the civil service rules, the laws of the land, the general orders, the principles of neutrality and impartiality.
Meanwhile, Ariff noted that there were 1.4 million civil servants, which was breaking the nation’s finances.
"That's because it is the government's vote bank. Plus the civil service has taken up the role of last resort employment agency. Otherwise where will the school leavers go?
"Then there are too many cabinet positions. We should be scaling down the number of cabinet posts and ministries and the civil service will follow suit," he added.
DAP MP Ariff Sabri (right) had even posed this question to former top civil servant Raymond Navaratnam during a meeting at the Pahang menteri besar's official residence several years back."Many government officers serving in the state attended. Navaratnam gave his run through on the management of government.
"He (Navaratnam) recalled the days when he served Abdul Razak Hussein with pride and when civil servants were small in number and served with dedication and pride. To be a civil servant was the epitome of success," Ariff said in his blog posting today.
And when Ariff popped the question on the "Malaynisation" of the civil service, he said, "The poor man (Navaratnam) was at a loss for words."
"All the while he was saying things that were politically correct. Until today, I consider Navaratnam's take on several issues in Malaysia to be a safe passage trip through the ocean of unpredictable storms," he added.
Over the weekend, the Raub MP said, he met another retired non-Malay top civil servant, whom he merely identified as "Mr J".
He added that "Mr J" had disagreed that race played a role in the quality of the civil service.
Ariff had proposed to "Mr J" that the civil service be liberalised so that more non-Malays would join and the ensuing competition would restore it to its former glory.
"And I repeated my remark that the quality of our civil service went down when it's filled up predominantly by Malays.
"Even though Malays are reputed to be born administrators, the government's willingness to compromise on quality and emphasis on quantity has led to the lowering of the overall quality.
"When a job can be done by one fellow, now it must be completed by a committee," Ariff added.
'Neutrality and impartiality'
However, the DAP leader said "Mr J" argued that race was not a factor if the civil service comprised highly qualified people.
Ariff quoted him as saying, "It does not matter, provided the civil service is run on two important principles which we were imbued early in our careers - the principle of impartiality and neutrality. I was taught this early in my training by some of the ablest and honest Malay civil servants.
"When I served as department head, I learned my trade from a Malay chief clerk who was in charge of the entire budgeting of the department.
"This chap knew more about financial management than most of the greenhorns fresh from university and colleges. Now his kind of job is carried out by an entire army."
Ariff said "Mr J" stressed that the two principles which should be the guiding force for all civil servants, were impartiality and neutrality.
"Mr J" told the Raub MP: "That was why I was shocked when on the second day Ali Hamsa took over as chief secretary; he issued a statement that civil servants must not listen to the opposition lawmakers.
"That was unprofessional. I wrote a letter to him asking him whether he has forgotten civil service 101- to always maintain neutrality and impartiality.
"Ali Hamsa has shown his hand - that is the bane affecting most civil servants. They compromise their professionalism and succumb to the political masters."While "Mr J" agreed that civil servants must be loyal to the government of the day, he said this should only be the case when the loyalty does not violate the civil service rules, the laws of the land, the general orders, the principles of neutrality and impartiality.
Meanwhile, Ariff noted that there were 1.4 million civil servants, which was breaking the nation’s finances.
"That's because it is the government's vote bank. Plus the civil service has taken up the role of last resort employment agency. Otherwise where will the school leavers go?
"Then there are too many cabinet positions. We should be scaling down the number of cabinet posts and ministries and the civil service will follow suit," he added.
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