Public Service Reforms

I would like to continue my conversation with Datuk Z last sunday with regard to the delivery system which had always attracted a lot of criticism from the public in the past as well as at present and perhaps in the future.

What intrigued him most is the state of reforms that had been started in the eighties with the issuance of government circulars on the improvement of all government agencies especially those serving the public directly. The period of the nineties saw a torrent of PKPA circulars which focused on the "Quality" improvement and the at the turn of the new millennium saw the adoption of ISO certification of the delivery system. The pace of reforms was such that before these circulars could be implemented at the departmental level in the whole public service of the Federation, new ones were launched.

In fairness government departmental heads tried their level best to keep up with tempo set by MAMPU, that government department which issue and oversees the implementation of the reforms contained in the circulars, but somehow only some of the departments could really show positive results.

From what Datuk Z told me, it seemed that what was introduced during his time with MAMPU had lost its momentum from what he experienced in trying to get a report in order to make claims for health insurance which could only be delivered in four weeks. He just could not believe that it could take that length of time just to obtain a report, which would normally take at most a week! What happened to all those reforms which were introduced by MAMPU he wondered.

From my past experience in implementing change in any organisation, the most critical factor in ensuring success is the rationale and methodology to be applied, since dealing with human beings necessitate a change in the mind-set followed by the behaviour. If it is just changing one type of form to another in any transaction of government it is simple and easy. But to change attitudes is the most difficult, unless drastic measures are instituted but it would be short-lived and in the end little would be achieved. A time-table must be drawn up in implementing change and continuous monitoring is essential so as to see whether the steps taken are practical or otherwise and thus modifications might be required. Since the Public Service is huge and unwieldy, one circular cannot cover all the peculiarities of the people and the needs of every department and thus the importance of leadership is vital at all levels of the organisation.

Unfortunately owing to the varying nature of departmental needs and requirements which sometimes involve frequent transfers of officers, this could become a serious obstacle in ensuring the success of any improvements being carried out. Thus we find that whatever reforms being introduced and implemented during the tenure of the Head of the Public Service may not be assiduously pursued by his successor. And this is part of the reason for the failure of any initiative towards reforms.

However all is not lost as yet because we do see improvements in the departments delivering direct services to the public such as the National Registration Department, The Immigration Department and the Road Transport Department.

I believe if the top leadership in the Public Service is dedicated to continue the reforms until the end , we should be able to do much more provided a running audit of performance is done annually and the reward system is not flawed by cronyism or worst by corruption.