Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
ISSN: 0128-7702
Universiti Pertanian Malaysia Press
Keywords:
Anikel ini merupakan analisis-makro ten tang pembaharuan perkhidmatan awam di lvlalaysia, ll1eliputi
lell1poh sepuluh lahun antara ]981 hingga 1991. Pembaharuan ini lelah disuarakan atas keperluan
meningkatkan kecekapan, keberkesanan dan. produktiviti untuk mempercepatkan perlaksanaan dasar
pembangunan dan menyampaikannya kepada orang ramai. Ia memfokus pendapat pegawai-pegawai linggi
perkhidmatan awam ten tang pembaharuan yang diperkenalkan dalall1 tempoh tersebul. Artikel ini merumuskan
bahawa walaupun lebih usaha masih diperlukan, khususnya dalam menentukan sejauh mana programprogram dan dasar-dasar beljaya mencapai matlamat, pembaharuan birokrasi yang dilaksanakan di Malaysia
antara ] 981 hingga 199] secara umumnya berhasil dalam mengubah sikap kakilangan awam ke arah
kecekapan, keberkesanan dan produktiviti.
ABSTRACT
This article is a macro-analysis of reform in the Malaysian civil service, covering the ten-year period bctween
1981 and 1991. These reforms were dictated by the need to increase efficiency, effeclivcness and productivity
in order to speed up the implementation of development policies and deliver the economic goods to lhe
people. This article brings into focus the opinions of high-ranking civil servants about reforms initialed during
this period. The article concludes that though more effort is still needed, especially in determining how close
programmes and policies have come to achieving their target, bureaucratic reforms carried out in Malaysia
between 198] and] 99] have generally been successful in changing attitudes of civil servanl.S towards lhe goals
of efficiency, effectiveness and productivity.
INTRODUCTION
Definition
The concept of administrative reform means
different things to different people. Caiden
(1969) uses it to refer "... to all improvements in
administration;... to general administrative
overhauls in difficult circumstances; to specific
remedies for maladministration;
to any
suggestion for better government;
and to
intentions of self-styled administrative
reformers ..."
Tn this article, administrative reform is
defined as "a systematic and integrated effort to
bring about fundamental changes in public
administration to enhance public administrative
capability to achieve national development goals"
OBJECTIVE OF SURVEY
The purpose of the opinion survey was to bring
into focus the opinions and perspectives of those
most closely associated with and affected by
Mahathir's reforms, namely administrative
officials in government departments. The survey
research concerned the following questions:
"'Vhat is the extent to which there has been an
increase in efficiency, effectiveness and
productivity in the public bureaucracy since the
introduction of various reform programmes in
1981? How are the types or strategies of reform
related to the success or failure of administrative
reform?
Holistic Approach
Various programmes have been introduced
during the Mahathir administration in order to
upgrade leadership quality, efficiency and
66
Descriptive Data
Questionnaires were mailed to 980 senior civil
servants. Only 433 (44.2%) completed
Central Agency
Response
Number
Percentage
PY['s Department
Finance i'vlinistry
114
45
26.32
10.39
44
10.16
23
22
20
18
16
12
12
11
10
10
10
9
8
8
5.31
5.08
4.61
4.15
3.69
2.77
2.77
2.54
2.30
2.30
2.30
2.07
1.84
1.84
1.61
1.38
1.15
1.15
Ministry
Education
Agriculture
Health
Transport
Rural Development
International Trade
Human Resources
Land & Co-operatives
Primary Industry
Housing & Local Govt
Home Affairs
Domestic Trade
Information
Welfare and Unity
Telecom, Post & Energy
Defence
Science and Envil'On.
Public Works
Public Enterprise
Youth & Sport
Culture, Arts & Tourism
Foreign Aff'ai,-s
Justice
Total
7
6
5
5
1.15
4
4
3
2
0.92
0.92
0.69
0.46
433
100.00
~o.
1 1995
67
Work Systems
& Procedures
Percent Negative
Evaluation
Extremely
effective
Quite
effective
Neutral
Quite
ineffective
Punch Card
33.0
58.1
2.6
6.3
:\ame Tag
39.4
51.2
3.2
5.8
.5
5.6
35.0
31.9
22.8
4.7
8.7
44.0
18.2
25.5
3.5
Work Procedure
16.4
54.7
13.6
13.3
2.6
Deskfile System
14.1
54.1
13.6
15.0
3.3
9.3
54.4
27.8
7.1
1.4
22.8
57.0
10.0
9.3
.9
7.3
38.5
30.3
18.5
5.4
Postal Correspondence
Ylanagement Thru Meeting
Productivity Measurement
Programme
Extremely
ineffective
68
I.
Thc open space concept, first dcveloped in Germany in the late 19505, refers to planning office space without the
walls, corridors, private offices ancl straight rows of desks that typify a traditional office. The German name is
Borolal1dschaJt. See Abdullah Sanusi (1986).
69
TABLE 3
Effectiveness of services to the public
Percen t Posi tive
Evaluation
Services
Extremely
effective
Quite
effective
Percent Negative
Evaluation
Neutral
Quite
ineffective
Extremely
ineffective
53.1
30.4
14.7
1.6
0.3
39.5
38.7
19.7
1.8
0.3
32.4
34.9
29.9
2.5
0.3
6.5
35.5
24.9
27.1
6.0
GIRO
17.1
39.2
34.5
7.5
1.7
20.3
56.9
14.7
7.1
1.0
Suggestion Box
7]
7'2
TABLE 4
Effectiveness of improving attitudes of civil servants
Administrative/Behavioural
Techniques
Percen t Positive
Evaluation
Percent Negative
Evaluation
Extremely
effective
Effective
Neutral
Quite
ineffective
16.6
55.2
16.1
10.0
2.1
Leadership by Example
19.7
49.7
15.5
11.6
3.5
16.8
48.6
18.2
14.5
1.9
Malaysia-Incorporated
10.5
47.5
31.0
9.5
1.4
Extremely
ineffective
73
TABLE 5
Improvement of work ethics
Percent Positive
Evaluation
Values
Highly
improved
Improved
13.3
65.7
4.7
Percelll Negative
Evaluation
Somewhat
improved
Not
improved
7.7
11.4
1.9
57.9
19.1
15.8
2.6
133
64.7
58
14.0
2.1
Self-developmem
5.3
47.3
20.2
23.3
3.5
Diligence
8.2
63.6
9.6
16.9
3.7
Intellect
7.5
47.3
24.6
16.9
3.7
15.5
59.1
8.1
14.9
2.1
Thrift
2.4
46.5
29.6
16.7
4.8
Innovativeness
6.1
52.0
20.0
18.4
3.5
10.7
55.1
17.1
\4.7
2.1
Integrit)'
10.7
55.1
17.1
14.7
2.3
Responsiveness
II.8
56.5
14. I
16.2
1.4
7.9
59.7
12.6
17.5
2.3
13.3
57.6
10.6
15.7
2.9
9.1
48.9
21.1
l8.5
2.3
11.8
52.2
13.9
9.1
3.\
4.3
39.9
30.6
20.0
5.2
Accoun tabili ty
Self-managemelll
Co-operation
Team Spirit
Self~discipline
Client-oriented
High Performancce Oriented
Professionalism
Enterprise
Neutral
74
TABLE 6
Effectiveness of the privatization objectives
Percent Positive
Evaluation
Purpose
or Motive
Extremely
effective
Quite
effective
Percent Negative
Evaluation
Neutral
Quite
ineffective
Extremely
ineffective
25.1
51.6
16.9
5.5
1.0
30.5
47.7
11.7
7.4
2.4
To promote competition,
efficiency & productivity
16.9
47.9
20.0
11.0
4.3
To stimulate entrepreneurship
16.5
49.3
24.6
7.9
1.7
34.9
40.4
12.2
9.8
2.6
14.4
42.8
27.8
11.2
3.8
75
TABLE 7
Impact of privatization on o'-ganization
Purpose
Percent Negative
Evaluation
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly
agree
Fear of privatization
improved work discipline
3.1
21.1
2.9
48.2
12.6
7.8
44.2
16.1
26.0
5.9
Privatization improved
service delivery
7.7
50.5
11.5
26.5
3.8
16.5
49.3
24.6
7.9
1.7
7.1
45.8
15.6
27.4
4.2
12.7
58.7
7.0
18.1
3.5
2.1
11.6
13.2
58.3
14.9
Pri"atization promotes
enterpreneurship & investment
Privatization-led job
insecurity
Source: Survey data
77
Percent
Evaluation
Number of
Respondents
1.5
.7
3.4
1.0
6.8
1.5
5.1
1.7
7.0
2.4
12.9
6.6
16.0
5.8
18.4
2.4
3.9
.5
4.8
6
3
14
4
28
6
21
7
29
10
53
27
66
24
76
10
16
2
21
100%
433
Structure
Procedure
Effective
Neutral
Inffective
77
17
78
12
10
91
90
3
6
6
6
Services:
One-stop payment centre
One-stop service cen tre
84
78
15
20
2
2
81
12
78
81
12
79
12
69
16
15
72
16
12
79
78
8
6
13
16
Type of
Programme
Privatization:
Stimulate economic
growth
Relieve financial
burden of Gov!.
Budget Reform:
Prog. & performanceoriented
More comprehensive
budgeting
Financial Mgt. Control:
Consciousness of financial
accountability
Utilization of financial
resources
Behayiour
Improvement of Attitude:
Leadership by example
Clean, efficient &
trustworthy
Work Ethics:
Accoountability
Co-operation
81
Recommendalions
Improvement in financial management is only
one of the bureaucratic techniques to curb
corruption and mismanagement. Bureaucracy
alone cannot eliminate the root causes of
corruption. It is only one part of a larger
society, where corrupt practices abound.
Therefore, unless the society at large is reformed
or infused with positive values, bureaucracy itself
may also be engulfed by these menaces. It is
therefore important to reform society first, by
inculcating positive values and morals before
starting to reform the bureaucracy. However, we
83
84
The
author
wishes
to
express
his
acknowledgement to the anonymous members
of the JVlalaysian civil service who gave their time
and co-operation in completing and returning
the author's questionnaires. The writer is also
heavily indebted to Puan Asiah Ahmad, Director
of MAMPU, who is also in charge of the PMP
(productivity measurement programme) Division
for providing valuable materials regarding this
topic. Thanks are also due to Encik Abdul Karim
Marzuki, Assistant Director of MAMPU, for
valuable materials on administrative reform
efforts.
111
REFERENCES
85
NEw SC:-IoAY
TI~IES.
86