Ignorance on top

Posted on 16 October 2011 - 08:53pm
Last updated on 16 October 2011 - 09:48pm

R. Nadeswaran

THE Malaysian civil service has over the years come under severe criticism – sometimes unfounded but most of the time on target. Bloated as it may be and described as such, civil servants keep in motion the machinery that keeps the government ticking. From collecting taxes to enforcing rules of the state and from drawing up economic forecasts to implementing development projects, these are left in the hands of people whom we perceive as competent, knowledgeable, experienced and capable.
Heads of department including directors, directors-general and permanent secretaries are appointed after they have proven themselves and many start at the bottom and work their way up, based on merit. If you don’t know the General Orders, you are likely to remain stagnant; if you do not know financial procedures, you are not likely to be given the responsibility of handling taxpayers’ money running into millions. On the same score, only the best and brightest get to move up the ladder, with meritocracy being the deciding factor.
We have to take that at face value and respect appointments made in the belief that they are in the best interest of the country and its people. But after a period of time, when it is discovered that not-so-competent people and not-so-knowledgeable people have been put in places of responsibility which have caused the country financial loss, who do you hold responsible?
If one headed, say, the Department of Environment at state level, he or she would have to be competent in related laws, rules and procedure. If he or she is promoted to a higher posting at federal level, handling administrative matters, can he or she plead ignorance of provisions of the law relating to pollution? Similarly, if one had served in the Treasury and was subsequently transferred to another department, surely you don’t leave behind what you learnt on finance when you are promoted to another statutory body.
I have to sympathise with Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, the current Chief Secretary to the Government. He seems to have inherited a team of leaders whose competency and knowledge on matters they are responsible for seem to have suddenly abandoned them. It may not have been permanent loss of memory or temporary amnesia. They had been dealing with millions of ringgit in people’s money and making decisions on multi-million ringgit projects undertaken by the government and yet, when it is crunch time, what they learnt for their degree in university fades away, what they learnt for the Master’s on government money becomes discoloured and the civil service is made a laughing stock of.
Mohd Sidek has set high standards not only for his officers, but also for himself. He replies his email promptly, delegates authority, adjudicates fairly and does not micro-manage. Above all, he is competent and knowledgeable on all matters related to his portfolio and much more. This, we are told, comes with working in the International Trade Ministry under the tutelage of Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, where everyone was trained to acquire knowledge and skills, to think outside the box and apply these intelligently. Not surprisingly many of “Rafidah’s Babes” have worked themselves up the ladder to head quite a number of government departments.
This brings us to the “knowledge” and “skills” of our top civil servants. Do they know what is going on in the outside world? Do they read the newspapers? Do they read journals relating to their profession? What do they acquire on lawatan sambil belajar and other related programmes to enhance their knowledge and skills? Despite displaying, at times, what can be described as sheer foolhardiness, how do they sit on the boards of international organisations?
If one of our junior reporters had told the editor “I don’t know anything about bonds”, he or she would have been told to go and read up on it before showing his or her face on the editorial floor. But when someone who has worked in the Treasury says “I don’t know about bonds”, it becomes worrying because the Treasury is supposed to be the financial nerve centre of the government. Is the Treasury not the place where you have to be on the ball because of fluctuating markets, currency rates, bond rates, etc? Such a claim could have been forgiven if it was told in jest by a clerk in a local municipality, but not by a senior civil servant with 30 years of experience. To add insult to injury, such a statement was made under oath.
Prior to that, at a parliamentary hearing, the same civil servant who had been involved in million-ringgit dealings and approvals declared that “I do not know about cash flow”. Are we to assume that the top brass in our civil service have nincompoops for company? Is it suggested that incompetent people have been appointed to head government agencies and oversee government expenditure running into millions? If that is the case, it is not Mohd Sidek but his predecessors who have more than just a case to answer.
R. Nadeswaran is more amused than angry at pleas of ignorance and stupidity when people are asked to account for their acts and omissions. He is theSun’s UK correspondent based in London and can be contacted at: citizen-nades@thesundaily.com