Change not enough, civil service must be depoliticised
By
Chua Jui Meng
OUR battle cry for
CHANGE in the next general election is a necessity to check the socio-economic
rot afflicting Malaysia.
But, is change
enough to reverse Barisan Nasional (BN)’s 55 years of misrule and plundering of
the national coffer and the country’s wealth?
I believe change must
be followed up with real and drastic socio-economic transformation policies
backed by a completely overhauled civil service.
Our unproductive
civil service today is a creature encouraged by corrupt BN leaders and
politicians.
BN’s politicising
of the civil service has sucked individual civil servants from top to bottom levels
to only concentrate on grabbing as much a share of the gravy train and the
national coffer as possible.
The rot starts from
the head, they say. It’s the executive’s pressure and corrupt practices that
set the tone of the whole administration of the country.
Many in the civil
service today are unhappy with the executive’s heavy hand in directing them to
do things that are against public good.
Failure to follow
instructions will be seen as disloyal, subjecting them to unfair action.
Officially, from
Budget 2013, our federal debt is at RM502.4 billion or 1.3% short of the 55%
legislated debt ceiling. Isn’t this too close for comfort? Isn’t it time for
Malaysians to press the red button to stop the Umno-led BN?
Not included in Budget 2013’s
federal debt calculation are RM118 billion in liabilities or sovereign
guarantees for private corporations like the Port Klang Free Zone and
government-linked company loans ending 2011.
And many believe
the federal debt could be as high as RM800 billion, thereby breaching the
federal debt ceiling. This figure was revealed by Deputy International Trade
and Industry Minister Mukhriz Mahathir in a report by TheEdge.
With Malaysia
blessed with vast and rich natural resources, including oil and gas, our
current economic standing, to say the least, is shameful.
Mounting debts and
rising cost of essentials, with extremely slower wage and salary growths, are
signs of a government losing control of the economy.
The corrupt BN
government’s inability to increase national productivity is the key reason for
slower wage and salary growth. With the dependence on borrowings to survive, it
is now unable to sustain the subsidies on the essentials to help the poor and
low-income groups.
This is obviously
the cause of much discontent among the rural and urban poor, especially the
majority of Malay villagers.
Sadly, the Umno-led
BN, after 55 years of being returned to govern despite the open abuses of power
and corrupt practices, has become arrogant, perpetuated by a false sense of
invincibility.
Its continuous
refusal to heed the rakyat’s call for
justice, accountability, to fight corruption and forge peace and prosperity by
uniting Malaysians as one, not pursuing racist policies which are alienating a
large proportion of the populace.
Every government
agency is now viewed by the public as a tool of the BN, exploited to serve BN’s
political agenda and to intimidate the rakyat,
especially political rivals.
You can clearly see
this happening in the dispensing of justice. It is happening in the Royal
Malaysian Police Force, the Judiciary, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and
in all government enforcement agencies that wield power to intimidate the rakyat.
Therefore, should
Malaysians make the historic decision to change the ruling government, one of
the biggest challenges for the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) must be to overhaul and raise
the civil service’s professionalism, thereby enhancing productivity.
The civil service
is not set up to serve the BN or PR.
The people’s
mandate is for the politicians to govern and serve the rakyat. The civil service is to help the government of the day to
administer and implement policies professionally to serve the rakyat.
In short, governments
must be competent and incorrupt to win the everlasting confidence of the rakyat. 
