Civil service reform needed, says Shamsul Azri

The Star

Outdated processes, silo working and "little Napoleons" in the civil servant agencies need to be eliminated to reform the civil service, says Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar.  In his inaugural address at the 2024 KSN Leadership Aspiration ceremony on Tuesday (Sept 10), the Chief Secretary to the Government outlined several key initiatives aimed at addressing these challenges.  Read more at https://shorturl.at/eHLFi  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00Since the 29th day after I took over as KSEN,

00:06I found three main challenges in the public sector.

00:12The first is the silo mentality and the bureaucracy that is still strong,

00:18rooted and thriving in half of the agencies.

00:22The root is the feeling of superiority,

00:25or the feeling of being more powerful and greater than others.

00:30The absolute power belongs to the agency.

00:35So, in order to complete a project,

00:38it must go through a process involving all ministries and agencies.

00:43It is true that each agency has its function and role,

00:48but it is not a reason for us to take a long time

00:54to process a project one by one until it becomes a cause.

00:59The project cannot be prepared according to the scheduled time.

01:03In the end, the expectation of the stakeholders,

01:06namely the people and customers, cannot be fulfilled.

01:09The delivery of services is still using old methods,

01:12less effective and unable to compete.

01:16This is in line with a report by the Bureau of Public Complaints

01:20which states that most of the complaints received in 2024

01:24are about the failure to meet the customer's expectations,

01:29complaints about public facilities and infrastructure,

01:32as well as weak governance.

01:35We are talking about technology that increases the speed of delivery of services,

01:40but at the same time, there is still a complaint from customers.

01:45The government is late, it is slow, it is not concerned.

01:50There are 10 counters, only one is open, and many more.

01:55Therefore, like the surprise visit I made at the recent JPJ Putrajaya counter,

02:00I will continue the surprise visit to the whole country,

02:05especially the front-line agencies,

02:08without involving any right-wing officials.

02:11My goal is not to find fault or pursue popularity,

02:17but I believe that it is a trust for me to ensure

02:23that the system of government services delivery

02:26must be at the highest level.

02:30I also believe in the concept of management by walking around,

02:34that every head of the department and others also need to take a similar approach

02:39to ensure that our services to the people are always efficient, efficient and professional.

02:46Third, the integrity of public officials.

02:50It cannot be denied that there is still a little Napoleon in government administration.

02:55In fact, if we look at the statistics issued by the SPRM,

02:59until August 2024,

03:02a total of 408 arrests have been made involving public officials.

03:07This is an increase compared to the same time last year,

03:12which was only 318 arrests.

03:17We also easily feel comfortable with what we have.

03:21Complacency.

03:23With this, I believe it is because of our lack of dignity

03:27towards the values that support us as human beings,

03:32such as the constitution that was drafted by the Honourable Prime Minister.

03:37To face this challenge,

03:39an increase in immediate improvement must be carried out urgently

03:43in order to implement the reformation of public services in full.

03:47This is critical so that all initiatives that are initiated

03:52are truly qualitative and truly touch the hearts of the people.

04:01World Finance TV

04:02World Finance TV

04:05World Finance TV

Category

Transcript

Recommended