There was even a ‘windfall’ bonus for some of the executives Imagine receiving a 3,500% increase in bonus over just three years – besides pocketing astonishing sums in salaries. The ongoing Human Resources Development Fund clean-up also reveals top executives’ pay spiking just before GE14. The board knew nothing about it.
The ongoing clean-up of the abused Human Resources Development Fund revealed that a top executive and three deputies at the fund were lavished with salary increments and bonuses leading up to the last general election.
The four high-ranking officers had allegedly taken their share of a million ringgit “jackpot” at least two months prior to the general election last year.
The scale of the salary increases and bonuses paid out to the officers was staggering.
The executive’s individual bonus of RM616,000 for 2017 was more than triple the bonus received in 2016, which was RM191,000.
To put into perspective, the executive’s 2015 individual bonus package was RM60,000 and only RM17,000 the year before.
The 2017 bonus of RM616,000 translated to a growth of a whopping 3,524% in just three years.
The RM616,000 bonus was part of a package where the four pocketed RM1.25mil in individual performance bonuses for the year 2017.
The three deputies each received RM211,000, and these were on top of the corporate bonuses they received. The issue has been the exponential growth of the bonuses given out although employees of HRDF are entitled to bonuses declared and paid by the fund.
Apart from individual bonuses, employees also received a corporate bonus.
In 2017, the normal staff members of HRDF were only eligible to receive up to 5.75 months of bonus which comprised 1.75 months of corporate bonus and up to four months of individual bonus.
The executive and a deputy have left HRDF while the two remaining deputies are still with the fund. One of them was redesignated but still remains in the upper echelon.
Meanwhile, the executive also received a salary revision twice in 2017, from RM32,000 a month to RM47,000 a month in March and subsequently to RM56,000 a month just four months later.
This translated to a 75% increase in salary within a year.
This was following a “recommendation” by a consultancy firm that was engaged in November 2016 to review the executive’s salary, which was only slightly a year after the previous revision.
This is not the first instance where the board of directors was bypassed in decision-making.
While remunerations and bonuses were usually determined by HRDF’s establishment and benefits committee (EBC) and subject to the board of directors’ approval, the hefty bonus paid was allegedly approved by the Human Resources Minister.
Documents sighted by The Star revealed that Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem, who was the minister that time, gave the approval for the performance bonus on Feb 28 last year.
This was also approved by Riot and the EBC was not informed about it.
Under the HRDF Act, a minister may only give directives to the board, and not to bypass the board to give approvals.
In a letter to Riot on Feb 27 to request for the allocation of performance bonus, the HRDF said the board had approved a restructuring in HRDF, which involved more competitive salaries and new grades of service.
“This is to ensure that HRDF can scale greater heights in terms of competitiveness and productivity in assisting the Human Resources Ministry and the government to achieve its strategic goals and targets,” an excerpt from the letter read.It also claimed that a board meeting on Dec 21, 2017, approved for the chief executive to determine the quantum of bonuses for the deputy chief executives and that there should be a separate allocation for them.
The Star in January highlighted the purchase of a RM154mil property in Bangsar South which was done without the approval of the board of directors and investment panel.Approval was given for another property in the same area but HRDF went on to make payments for the Bangsar South property with some RM40mil allegedly paid before the tax invoice date.
The investment panel was only informed of the switch of property purchased five months after the first tranche of RM15.4mil was paid.
In November last year, Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran revealed that high-ranking staff members of HRDF misappropriated about RM100mil out of the RM300mil that was in the fund.
He also highlighted several wrongdoings such as abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and arriving at decisions without reporting to the board of directors.
HRDF is an agency under the Human Resources Ministry, which manages a fund comprising contributions from employers for the purpose of training and development.
There were also allegations of fraudulent training claims made by certain training providers and inflated billings were allegedly done in collusion with HRDF staff.
It's been more than six decades since Malaysian independence, yet, more than ever, some politicians continue to wield the race and religion cards to divide us.
PATHETIC and disgusting. That’s surely an understatement in describing the continuous racist slurs non-Malays have had to endure.
Using non-Malays – particularly the Christians – as bogeymen hasn’t ended, even more than six decades after independence.
The situation has probably worsened because social media has made things more evident and amplified them. Thankfully though, politicians selling venom to their target audience can no longer be a covert affair.
These chameleons used to stir the hornet’s nest of race and religion with the Malays, portraying themselves as champions of their community. And then, they have no qualms attending events at Chinese new villages, where they try to please the residents by professing to be one people. Just to add value to the “show”, even a calligraphy writing session is entertained.
Next on their “tour” – get on stage, put their palms together, and greet the people in Tamil, and then do the dance bit, of course. And we bought all that, believing they portrayed the real Malaysia.
Incredibly, some are still doing the rounds. For a fresh twist, the LBGT element has even been thrown in now, and despite the charade being recorded, clarification must be issued to say otherwise. You know, I didn’t mean it.
Someone has forgotten that it isn’t only the ghosts, drunkards and LBGT community who are still awake at 11pm and need to use the toll.
These commuters include nurses, doctors, policemen, security guards, hawkers, taxi drivers, restaurant employees, firemen, factory workers, food deliverers and of course, journalists too, and we often work the infamous graveyard shift.
Scoring points and teaming up with an equally repulsive partner to create suspicion against other fellows, with fictional threats of race and religion, is just unacceptable.
While we cringe over the thought of how there are listeners who buy their hate speech, we expect these politicians to at least rise above these nauseating tactics and convince the people that they can provide better governance and deliver more than the present government.
They should prove to the people that the new government’s failings include not fulfilling its election promises, allowing the cost of living to go up and watching the ringgit’s value shrink. And to add ammunition, highlight how some ministers have even failed their probation.
That’s what a fault-finding Opposition is supposed to do – ensure check and balance, and behave like a government in-waiting, but here we have opposition Members of Parliament who can’t wait to broker a deal by defecting to the government’s side of the fence.
There’s another distateful story. It’s about an Umno MP who crossed over to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and had the gall to admit that he was doing it for the constituents.
So, we have an odd situation where opposition MPs mourned the defeat of the previous government even after almost a year, and now plot to join the new government. Not plot to topple, of course, not that again, but plot to join. Naturally, it’s in the interest of the people.
We believe you, well, some of us do. Most of us know it’s just a lie, but hey, we are in the era of malu apa ...
Then, there are the “remnants”, who probably won’t be accepted by the new government, and figure that the only way for them to get back on the gravy train is to stoke the fires of racial and religious sensitivity. You’ve got to give it to this lot, though. They are, at least, fighting back, although their methods are pretty despicable.
However, the hate speeches will likely work in some constituencies, where, like oil, it burns the minds and hearts of angry voters who are already struggling to put food on the table for their families.
Still, it’s the pits when someone like Barisan Nasional secretary-general Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz resorts to claiming that having a non-Muslim Attorney General is not “lawful” since he took oath without swearing on the Quran. Nazri, of course, is bluffing, but he’s like those snake oil peddlers who will say anything to make a sale.
Nowhere in the Federal Constitution does it state that an AG needs to take an oath using the Quran. And surely, we won’t expect the likes of Nazri to concede that in the history of Malaya, there were six British AGs.
Cecil Sheridan, who died aged 88 in 2000, was the last British Attorney-General of Malaya and helped in drafting the constitution of its successor state, Malaysia.
When Malaya attained independence in 1957, Sheridan was promoted to Solicitor-General and in 1959, became the country’s Attorney-General. He also helped in the preparations for the formation of Malaysia in 1963 and in the process, worked closely with Tunku Abdul Rahman, the Prime Minister of Malaya, Tun Razak Hussein, its deputy Prime Minister, and Lee Kuan Yew, of Singapore.
True, the eight subsequent successors were Malays, but there’s no race and religion criteria in the appointment of the top-ranking public prosecutor of the country.
The first Lord President of Malaysia – now renamed Chief Justice – was a Scot named Tun Sir James Thompson, who assumed the post in 1963 when Malaysia was formed. He held the post until 1966.
Likewise, after independence in 1957, Malaysia's first two finance ministers were ethnic Chinese – Tun H.S. Lee and Tun Tan Siew Sin. However, from 1974 until very recently, the post had been held by Malays.
So, what we are effectively saying is that our founding fathers had no issue with the ethnicity of these important posts such as chief judge, attorney general and finance ministers. However, as six decades have worn on, we have become more degenerate, insisting on focusing on race and religion, instead of qualifications, credibility and integrity as the main criteria?
Certainly, these men, who held the loftiest positions, did well then, and many of us can accept that they didn’t collude with individuals to loot the wealth of this country and the Malays – who make up the bulk of Malaysians.
The harsh reality is that the pilfering and corruption are shamelessly executed by those claiming to fight for their race and religion. They shouldn’t blame anyone else or try to fan the flames of racial discontent to save themselves. Malaysians are tired of such perversion, so we can’t allow such incorrigible politics to proliferate in our beloved country.
One Chinese Finance Minister, a Christian Chief Justice and an Indian Attorney-General aren’t going to be able to control a country of 31 million people, where Malays and the indigenous people make up 61.7%, compared to the the shrinking Chinese (20.8%) and Indian (6.2%) population.
As for religion, according to a 2010 estimate, Muslims number most at 61.3%, Buddhists 19.8%, Christians 9.2%, Hindus 6.3% with Confucianism, Taoism and other Chinese practices at 1.3%, others 0.4%, no religion 0.8%, unspecified 1%.
As for the 1.6 million civil servants – the then-Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim told Parliament that as at December 2014, the ethnic composition of the civil service was as follows: 78.8% Malays, Bumiputera Sabah (6.1%), Bumiputera Sarawak (4.8 %), Chinese (5.2 %), Indians (4.1 %), other Bumiputera (0.3%) and others (0.7%).
As for the police force, then-Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said non-Malays only made up 5% of the 133,212-strong force.
“Of the total, 80.23% or 106,871 are Malays, while Chinese make up only 1.96% (2,615), Indians 3.16% (4,209), Punjabis 0.21% (275) and others 14.44% (19,242),” he said in replying a question by Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah (Amanah-Kuala Terengganu).
And we haven’t even counted the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and the Malays holding key posts in the Cabinet, and of course, the overwhelmingly Malay armed forces, numbering 420,000 personnel. It’s downright contemptible for our politicians to make fictional claims of non-Malays gaining control of the country, when the facts and figures clearly speak for themselves. For most rational Malaysians, we just want to see a clean government and civil service, which can safeguard our national interest, regardless of race and religion.
The late Chinese premier Deng Xiaoping famously said that it doesn’t matter if the cat is black or white, so long as it catches the mice.
Our recent history has showed that our big fat cats didn’t catch the mice but ended up becoming rats themselves.
Wong Chun Wai began his career as a journalist in Penang, and
has served The Star for over 27 years in various capacities and roles.
He is now editorial and corporate affairs adviser to the group, after
having served as group managing director/chief executive officer.
On
The Beat made its debut on Feb 23 1997 and Chun Wai has penned the
column weekly without a break, except for the occasional press holiday
when the paper was not published. In May 2011, a compilation of selected
articles of On The Beat was published as a book and launched in
conjunction with his 50th birthday. Chun Wai also comments on current
issues in The Star.
Casting whining and whinging aside, it's time we pull our socks up, put our best foot forward, and show the world what Malaysia is all about.
IT’S time for Malaysia to change its narrative. For a start, our leaders must end the hyperbole of how the previous Barisan Nasional government stripped and looted the country’s wealth.
We generally know enough about the financial crime of the century, the hunt and arrests of those implicated in the cases.
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, are facing a barrage of corruption and money laundering charges, and they are expected to spend the next five years in court.
The main character, the infamous Jho Low, and his family, are on the run, and it’s a given fact that the long arm of the law will eventually reach them.
A corrupt government has collapsed, and it’s now coming to a year since the new federal leaders took charge.
Malaysia can’t continue telling the world how we’re a troubled country with a deep financial hole, and neither should we keep contradicting our stand.
We can’t be saying we’re near bankrupt one day, and the next, concede that our economy is in good shape.
The Pakatan Harapan government marks its first year at office in May. So, its ministers can’t still be whining about inherited problems of a 60-year-old government forever.
Many of the current leaders, including the Prime Minister, were part of the system, and in the case of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, he was at the helm for 22 years, lest we forget.
Admittedly, an eye-watering amount of money has been pilfered, so, the government needs to retrieve what’s stolen.
Ironically, PH was elected to fix these problems.
Malaysia can’t seem like an attractive business proposition with our troubled nation in full parade, especially when investors have many countries to choose from.
The country’s economy for the next two years will be turbulent, but forming the Economic Action Council is a good start to indicate that we intend to tackle the issues together, with public and private participation.
The Prime Minister has made the right move, but the EAC must run fast to come up with confidence-building measures.
Against the backdrop of a challenging environment for global equity markets and a US-China trade war, Malaysia has continued to tread on a steady economic path. It’s slower than we want to, but at least a recession isn’t looming.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng must continue his positive tones, as he has finally been doing, to renew confidence both locally and internationally.
The idea of revenue through taxation should be canned, but grumblings among the small base of individual taxpayers is ringing out loud.
It’s unfair to keep scrapping for crumbs from these taxpayers. A more progressive tax regime should be in place. Give it a name if necessary, but importantly, a firmer consumption tax is required because it will be fairer. It’s simple, if you don’t spend, you don’t pay.
In a way, it needs to be balanced out since individuals can’t be paying both income tax and consumption tax.
Lim has taken the right direction to keep selling the messages of how Malaysia has introduced policies and measures to invigorate the capital market.
“Our stock market has remained resilient in comparison with our peers in Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong and China.
“Amidst large capital outflows among emerging markets and Asean countries this year, the FBM KLCI benchmark index registered a year-to-date decline of 5.8% as at end-November, compared with other Asian markets that have experienced declines ranging from 9.1% to 22.7%.
“And, we are the second-best performing stock market in the Asia Pacific region,” he said recently.
There is other good news which we’ve yet to shout out loud enough for, like Malaysia currently ranking 15 from 190 economies in its facilitation of commerce, according to the latest World Bank annual ratings.
Malaysia’s ranking improved to 15 in 2018 from 24 in 2017. Ease of Doing Business in Malaysia averaged 18.18 from 2008 until 2018, reaching an all-time high of 24 in 2017 and a record low of 6 in 2013, it was reported.
Although we may have lost crucial time, we still have a year to make Malaysia look good because two major events take place next year.
Highlights for 2020 include Malaysia celebrating Visit Malaysia Year, and hosting the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders’ summit, some 22 years after doing so for the first time.
Let’s do it right and make Malaysia proud. It’s not just an occasion befitting Dr Mahathir, but all Malaysians as stakeholders.
The government’s proverbial tale of empty pockets isn’t an excuse anymore. It just doesn’t work that way. If we need to spend, we need to find the money, because we expect a return on investments.
We need to finance-telling a good story internationally, it’s that simple.
However, the lack of momentum to galvanise the nation hasn’t been motivational.
The world doesn’t want to keep hearing our negative stories and neither do Malaysians.
Tell the world we have fixed it and now we’re on the road again.
Come May, and it’ll be crunch time for underachieving ministers.
Everyone invariably tries their best, but those who are unfit just shouldn’t get the nod. After all, the last thing PH needs is painting a picture of a failed administration, but the coalition should be wary of many Malaysians believing the Barisan government fared better.
It’s unfair how some ministers are passing the buck to the PM because they lack the confidence to decide or are just indecisive because the responsibilities of their portfolios exceed their ability.
Visitors to Dr Mahathir’s office have noticed the growing mountain of uncleared documents, which is surely too much a task for anyone, what more a 93-year-old man.
We need to take advantage of the new Malaysia to construct a fresh national narrative which emphasises Malaysia and Malaysians.
There is a need to build national pride over the coming years, one which makes trust and integrity its main framework.
A shared vision beyond 2020 is crucial. Also, to bring Malaysians together and not let race and religion hijack the national discourse.
The question now is, do our leaders have the gumption for this, or will they just let New Malaysia be another piped dream?
By the time world leaders take the stage in KL, Malaysia should be ready to display a new sense of direction, purpose and plan.
Wong Chun Wai
Wong Chun Wai began his career as a journalist in Penang, and has served The Star for over 27 years in various capacities and roles. He is now editorial and corporate affairs adviser to the group, after having served as group managing director/chief executive officer.
On The Beat made its debut on Feb 23 1997 and Chun Wai has penned the column weekly without a break, except for the occasional press holiday when the paper was not published. In May 2011, a compilation of selected articles of On The Beat was published as a book and launched in conjunction with his 50th birthday. Chun Wai also comments on current issues in The Star.
Weighing in: (Clockwise from top left) Ramon, Marina, Hassan, Anas and Marimuthu
‘There should be no compromise on integrity’
Honesty and integrity should take centre stage in the debate that is swirling over the legitimacy of certain university degrees of politicians.
Asli’s Centre for Public Policy Studies chairman Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam said good political leaders need not be graduates but some academic credentials would be an asset to them.
“What we need are politicians with keen critical thinking, dedication and sincerity to serve the rakyat,” he said yesterday.
Ramon said that politicians who had “cheated” should confess and let the people decide if they still want them to carry on serving or quit their posts.
Several politicians have come under fire after their academic qualifications were questioned by the public.
Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Marzuki Yahya found himself in hot water following the controversy over his “Cambridge University” degree.
Others included Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu, Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Osman Sapian and Perak state executive councillor Paul Yong Choo Kiong.
Several Barisan Nasional leaders too had their qualifications scrutinised in the past. Among them were former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot.
Former UiTM vice-chancellor Emeritus Prof Datuk Dr Hassan Said said in other countries, leaders would have been asked to resign or they would voluntarily quit if they were found using dubious credentials.
“Honesty and integrity values are more important to those who are dealing with public trust and responsibility.
“The nation will collapse if its leaders are not honest or have integrity,” he said.
Educationist Prof Tan Sri Dr T. Marimuthu said politicians must come clean about their academic credentials as they are serving the public.
“Otherwise, how else can you serve the people?
“If you ask someone to write your thesis for you or use dubious ways to earn your credentials, you are just being dishonest to yourself and the public,” he said.
Moderation advocate Anas Zubedy concurred, saying that there should be no compromise when it comes to leadership and integrity.
“No matter how brilliant, knowledgeable or successful you are, a lack of integrity disqualifies any and all talent for any leadership position. We must check their track record for any propensity to lie, practise double standards, or to say one thing and do the other.
“New Malaysia must not compromise on integrity,” he said.
Writer and social activist Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir said it was better to own up in not possessing a degree than to pretend to have one.
“No, it’s not a crime nor is it essential to serve in the government but it’s a matter of trust. If you can misrepresent this, what else can you misrepresent?” she asked.
G25 group of eminent Malays said it is best to be honest about one’s academic credentials so that doubts are not raised on their integrity.
“A politician who lies about his personal details to win an election or get a ministerial position will raise doubts about his integrity. He will also create a bad image for the government and the country,” it said in a statement.
Najib asked whether it was the national news agency Bernama or officers of the ministers that had misrepresented the academic credentials of Pakatan Harapan ministers.
“But what is more strange is that the false news that the ministers were graduates came from the biodata published from Bernama in its infographics and was spread when they were appointed as ministers about nine months ago.
“As far as I know, normally Bernama would request the biodata from the special aides or the press secretaries of ministers when they are appointed to be published in its reports,” he said on Facebook.
Reports by Star team: TARRANCE TAN, HEMANANTHANI SIVANANDAM, RAHIMY RAHIM, NURBAITI HAMDAN, RASHVINJEET S.BEDI and SARBAN SINGH
Malu apa, bro!
WE seem to be heading towards a dangerous edge. There is now an emerging culture of shamelessness.
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak may have been slapped with countless charges of corruption and money laundering, but his campaign, Malu apa, bossku (“Why the shame, boss?” in Bahasa Malaysia), has surprisingly attracted millions of likes on social media.
The scandal-smeared former prime minister has traded in his tailored suits, impeccable English and political elite-aristocratic crowd for the Mat Rempit and Malay working class.
As part of his makeover, he is now decked in black parka, black jeans and black sneakers.
He is even hanging out with the young Mat Rempit and posting wefies with them. He is also happily showing off a black-and-red Yamaha Y15ZR 150cc moped that is all the rage with the youths of today.
And the registration plate on his bike is 8055KU, which insinuates “BOSSKU”, and to these newfound supporters, Najib is called Boss kita! (Our Boss.)
The key phrase here is Malu apa bossku, and while many learned Malaysians are cringing over this new culture, it barely seems wrong for our embattled former PM, who is basking in it and promoting the malaise.
But a similar show is also surfacing on the other side of the political divide.
One Pakatan Harapan leader after another is having his or her dubious education credentials exposed after Deputy Foreign Minister Marzuki Yahya was questioned over his.
Johor Mentri Besar Osman Sapian’s education history has come under the spotlight with the allegation that he didn’t obtain a degree from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), as claimed.
Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin’s social science degree from the National University of Singapore (NUS), as reported when she became a minister, has also come into question. Now, she’s washed her hands of ever having had one.
DAP Assemblyman from Tronoh Paul Yong Choo Kiong claimed to have a masters in business administration from Akamai University – an alleged degree mill in Hawaii – among his academic qualifications.
None of these politicians have apologised for not correcting these errors when they were revealed, but now, they have conveniently shrugged off the news reports, claiming no knowledge of such revelations.
Worse, Marzuki passed the buck to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, saying it is now up to his boss to decide. The Johor MB chose to remain silent, hoping that the storm would blow over.
The central issue here isn’t whether an elected representative should have a tertiary education – the point here is, should we put our trust in anyone who lies to themselves?
If some of these individuals buy dubious online diplomas, they are only cheating themselves. Worse, the electorate has also fallen for this charade hook, line and sinker.
Instead of working hard, like most university students, these individuals apparently chose the easy way out. Are we expected to believe them when they talk about accountability and integrity from now on?
What’s worse is, most Pakatan leaders have chosen to look the other way or have lamely justified these dishonest transgressions.
If they were in the private sector, the sack would be a foregone conclusion, but then they are “Yang Berhormat”, despite these dishonourable acts.
Apa nak malu, YB! Aku ada SPM aje, bro!
And of course, that’s not the end. PAS leaders have found themselves in unfamiliar waters.
With their turbans and goatees, they like to appear pious and holier than thou. However, they are now seeing their names flying on social media, associated with a taste for sports cars and bikes, and not just under their names, but those of their children and spouses.
A report filed with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) over allegations of PAS leaders getting RM90mil from Umno under the previous administration involved “a list of expensive cars”, properties, high-powered motorcycles and “the purchase of number plates at exorbitant prices”, it has been widely reported.
According to the report, several PAS leaders were accused of using these funds to acquire the cars and properties.
The cars include BMW, Mini Cooper, Toyota Vellfire, Range Rover, Porsche Cayman, Audi Q7, Audi A6, Toyota Camry, Toyota Fortuner, Volkswagen Passat, Mercedes Benz, and a BMW motorcycle, according to a report.
“As for the properties, this includes a bungalow in Bangi worth RM3mil,” says a report. The only item missing is camel ownership.
PAS Mursyidul Am (spiritual leader) Datuk Hashim Jasin has admitted to owning a Porsche Cayman, but said his son was the real owner, who was entitled to an Approved Permit (AP) when he served as the Arau MP between 1998 and 1999.
Every one of them has branded these accusations as part of some grand political conspiracy, pleading innocence and insisting they are virginal and pure instead.
But we are sure they will be okay, and they will continue to preach accountability and transparency, and possibly continue to look – invoking race, religion and God – to their faithful followers, who will readily give away their savings and, brave the rain and scorching sun to support them.
Malu Apa Bossku? Tatap Sokong Boss (as the Sabahans will say).
It was reported by Bernama that Marzuki pursued a Bachelor’s degree in business administration, majoring in logistics via a long-distance learning programme at the University of Cambridge.
Response: “When I was asked by the media, I clearly said that I was from Cambridge International University (CIU) in US and not the University of Cambridge in UK.”
FINANCE MINISTER LIM GUAN ENG
MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong questioned Lim's credential as a qualified professional accountant
Response: Lim's political secretary Tony Pua rebutted the allegations by producing Lim’s degree certificate from Monash University, Australia on April 11, 1984, together with a copy of his “Certificate of Membership” in the Australian Society of Accountants dated Feb 21, 1984.
DEFENCE MINISTER MOHAMAD SABU
Accused of faking a degree in culinary arts.
Response: “Some people say I have a degree in culinary arts. I never said that. Truth is, I never completed my studies at UiTM. They kicked me out.”
But Mohamad was quick to add that despite this, he was still a “good cook”.
HOUSING AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT MINISTER ZURAIDA KAMARUDDIN
A Twitter user claimed he could not find her name on the National University of Singapore’s online degree verification portal.
Response: “I have never claimed or held myself to be a graduate of NUS and I have never authorised anyone else to do so,” she said.
JOHOR MENTRI BESAR DATUK OSMAN SAPIAN
A Facebook page questioned the validity of his UPM Bachelor in Accounting obtained in 1985.
Response: He has yet to comment on the matter.
TRONOH ASSEMBLYMAN PAUL YONG CHOO KIONG
Yong was questioned over his Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Akamai University, United States by MCA’s Dr Wee.
Response: Yong said he felt calm and had nothing much to comment as his certificate is real and he had a convocation 16 years ago.
“My main interest now is to do the best for my voters,” said Yong.
FORMER PRIME MINISTER DATUK SERI NAJIB TUN RAZAK
DAP highlighted a video circulating online alleging that Najib never completed his studies at UK’s Nottingham University in the 70s.
Response: “Of course my degree is legitimate.”
FORMER HUMAN RESOURCES MINISTER DATUK SERI RICHARD RIOT
Riot was questioned in 2013 over his Bachelor of Business Administration from the Chartered Insitute of Business Administration (Ireland) and a Masters in Business Administration from Preston University in the United States.
Response: “As (former) prime minister, he (Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak) has used his wisdom to find out whether I am fit to be a minister, and that includes my academic qualification, by tasking me to be in charge of the human resources portfolio, which is a very a challenging ministry with 13 agencies.
“There is a difference between fake degree and qualifications from unrecognised universities. I worked very hard for it because I believe in life-long learning”, he said.
Wee presses on quizzing Lim
Wee: No evidence showing that Lim ever worked in any accounting firms.
KUALA LUMPUR: Despite threats of being sued, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong continues to raise questions on Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng’s credentials as an accountant.
Dr Wee said that “Lim is far from even being a certified or a chartered accountant”.
The Ayer Hitam MP, while referring to documents released by Lim’s political secretary Tony Pua yesterday, pointed out that Lim’s membership into the Australian Society of Accountants on Feb 21, 1984, merely stated that he was admitted as a provisional member.
A provisional membership, Dr Wee said, was one of the steps required to enrol into programme modules and examination in order to qualify as an accountant, and to qualify for a full membership into the Australian Society of Accountants.
Therefore, a provisional membership is far from being a fully certified chartered accountant or even an accountant.
“You cannot call yourself using either designation,” said Dr Wee in a Facebook posting yesterday.
The Australian Society of Accountants is now known as CPA Australia (Certified Practicing Accountant).
Checks online showed that a full membership is only awarded to individuals if they have successfully passed the CPA examination – which also requires a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a year of supervised working experience under a CPA licence holder.
At the same time, Dr Wee, in the same Facebook posting, pointed out that Lim was quoted by news portal MalaysiaKini in a report on March 2012 as saying that he was a failed accountant and had spent less than a week in an accounting firm in Malaysia before he was sacked.
Dr Wee said there was no evidence showing that Lim ever worked in any accounting firms, or having enrolled for any necessary education requirements to qualify as a certified accountant or a chartered accountant.
“In fact, online checks with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) does not show Lim as being a member.
“In Malaysia, you cannot misrepresent yourself as an accountant unless you are a member of MIA.
“It is a criminal offence under Section 25(e) of the Accountants Act 1967 for any individual or organisation to call himself or herself an accountant unless he or she is registered with the MIA,” said Dr Wee.
At the same time, Dr Wee said that a report by New Straits Times in June 2018 also pointed out that Lim had claimed to be a former accountant.
Meanwhile, Dr Wee also said that DAP’s website had misrepresented Lim as a certified accountant.
“Neither MCA nor myself have any interest in pursuing this matter any further as the declining economy right now is a more important issue to address.
“We leave it to DAP and the rakyat to judge if a legal offence has been committed,” said Dr Wee.
Lim’s qualification in accounting is the latest to come under scrutiny after a series of alleged false education credentials involving Pakatan Harapan leaders, including Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Marzuki Yahya, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Osman Sapian and Tronoh assemblyman Paul Yong Choo Kiong. - The Star.
Under scrutiny: A photo of the Cambridge International University and logo taken from its website.
https://youtu.be/x90SmWqP2V4
Politicians having degrees and certificates from questionable higher learning institutions make for bad optics and show poor character, say political analysts.
However, many do it to raise social standing or to win over the masses.
Universiti Malaya law lecturer Assoc Prof Dr Azmi Sharom said that knowingly getting degrees from dubious institutions displayed a lack of confidence in oneself and a lack of good character.
Dr Azmi: ‘Maybe the politicians feel the need to justify their intelligence to the public by having some sort of degree.'
“To actually purchase your degree from these places, then to show off about it, for me it’s not a crime but a sign of poor character.
“Maybe the politicians feel the need to justify their intelligence to the public by having some sort of degree,” said Dr Azmi.
He was commenting on remarks by Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Marzuki Yahya who said his degree was from the Cambridge International University in the United States, after previously saying he had a degree from the University of Cambridge.
Dr Azmi said he did not believe that Marzuki should lose his job over this matter but that it was done in poor form, adding that people cared more about politicians holding public office doing their job well rather than what certificates they possessed.
“It’s not necessary to have a degree to be a politician, but it would inspire confidence in the public if ministers were academically qualified in the field that they were working on.
“For example, the current minister in charge of environment (Energy, Technology, Science, Climate Change and Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin) is very qualified in her field and it is very reassuring to know that,” he said.
However, Dr Azmi added that having a degree for a minister was not a “be all and end all” as they could still learn on the job.
Universiti Sains Malaysia political analyst Prof Dr Sivamurugan Pandian said politicians buy dubious degrees because they felt that this was important to boost confidence and trust among the masses.
Prof Sivamurugan: ‘Some who are interested to become politicians feel it’s a disadvantage without a higher education.’
“Some quarters of the public think they will be served better by having lawmakers with education credentials.
“In fact, some who are interested to become politicians feel it’s a disadvantage without a higher education.
“For those who don’t have one, they are willing to go to the extent of finding a dubious degree without realising the consequences in this new information world,” he said.
Prof Sivamurugan believed that politicians with dubious degrees should come clean or voluntarily resign to avoid further damaging the party’s image as the new Malaysia was about integrity.
“However, Marzuki’s case must not be politicised and his party must give him a chance to defend himself,” he added.
In 2017, there were suggestions to the Higher Education Ministry to vet lawmakers with fake credentials, said Prof Sivamurugan, adding that it showed that this was nothing new in Malaysian politics.
UiTM Sabah political science lecturer Mohd Rahezzal Shah said the people will question future decisions made by Marzuki as well as his character and integrity if it was proven that he knowingly bought a certificate from a degree mill.
“If knowing full well that these institutions are degree mills, yet they still get degrees from these places, then it really shows their characters.
“People will judge him (Marzuki) based on that and they will judge his judgment as a leader in the future,” said Rahezzal.
Marzuki, who is also a senator and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s secretary-general, also stood to lose credibility if he claimed that he did not know that the Cambridge International University was a degree mill as a simple Google search would have raised a lot of questions, said Rahezzal.
“As a deputy minister, he is involved in decision-making processes everyday. If he can’t even get the facts right for his degree then he will lose credibility,” said Rahezzal.
He added that many of those who have in the past been caught with dubious degrees were from among prominent businessmen and politicians who wanted to raise their social standing.
“They need to have degrees from foreign countries and the easiest way is to buy them,” he said. The Star
Profile photos of faculty members in question
Under scrutiny: A photo of the Cambridge International University and logo taken from its website.
Checks on the US-based Cambridge International University from which Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Marzuki Yahya obtained his degree in business administration have raised more questions on its legitimacy.
The faculty members on the website listed one “associate professor”, Dr Patricia Powell, whose profile picture bears the watermark of international online dating site AnastasiaDate that predominantly features East European women.
The profile pictures used for five other women in the adjunct faculty members’ list also looked suspiciously like that of fashion models.
One “Mrs Josephine Fernandens” posed with a pout against a green backdrop while a “Dr Teressa Jane Bright” had bare shoulders and eye makeup fit for the runway.
Other faculty and adjunct faculty members also bore suspiciously low resolution profile pictures.
Attempts by The Star to email multiple faculty and adjunct faculty members for clarification failed when the mail delivery subsystem noted that these email addresses could not be found or the server was unable to receive mail.
The response from the remote server read: “550 No Such User Here”.
With 150 programmes offered, the institution, which claimed to have existed since 1990, only had 12 faculty members and only 13 adjunct faculty members listed on the website.
A Google search on the names of each faculty and adjunct faculty member turned up nothing, neither a LinkedIn profile nor research papers published under them.
Marzuki, who previously said he had a degree from the University of Cambridge pursued through a distance learning programme, admitted on Wednesday that his degree was actually from the Cambridge International University in the United States.
Since that admission, the institution has come under intense scrutiny and increasing suspicion that it is a “diploma mill” that awards degrees with little or no study.
According to higher learning websites, indicators that an institution may be a diploma mill: it is not accredited; doesn’t have a physical address or location listed on the website; admissions entirely depend on a valid Visa or MasterCard; and the website not having an (.edu) web domain.
On its website, Cambridge International University admits it has not been accredited by an accrediting agency recognised by the US Secretary of Education, adding that “accreditation is a strictly voluntary option in the US”.
“There is no mandate by federal law for a school, college or university to be accredited. Many good schools are not accredited,” it said.
There was also no physical address or location of the institution’s office listed on the website, which also does not have the (.edu) domain.
Cambridge International University has no affiliation with the prestigious University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
The US-based institution only offers “distance learning” programmes with degree courses costing as low as US$5,000 (about RM20,000) with fees payable via PayPal.
Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/02/08/profile-photos-of-faculty-members-in-question/#0QSzO6Txyv7Bz2zo.99
PUTRAJAYA: Amid the slew of financial scandals seen since the change in regime last year, such as the ones involving 1Malaysia Development Bhd, Lembaga Tabung Haji and the Federal Land Development Authority, the Pakatan Harapan government yesterday launched a five-year action plan to stem similar misdeeds in the future.
During his opening speech, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad pointed to the previous National Integrity Plan introduced in 2004, aimed at inculcating a culture of integrity among the people, which he said did not really help in curbing corruption.
“In fact, the problem became worse between the time the plan was introduced and a few years ago when the country was perceived as a kleptocracy, a very shameful label, which means that the government was being led by the corrupt and thieves that exploited the country and its people’s resources for personal gain,” said Dr Mahathir.
“While the new government has taken action to bring the corrupt to justice, subsequent measures need to be taken to ensure the widespread culture of bribery and corruption does not continue. This is the context in which the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) has been created,” he said.
In formulating the plan, the government assessed various data, including reviews by the United Nations Convention against Corruption, global anti-corruption models, corruption perception surveys, data from various government agencies, input from stakeholders and the public and recommendations from other entities such as Asean Development Bank and Transparency International Malaysia.
The NACP outlines 115 initiatives to be implemented by 2023, as the government looks to root out corruption over the next five years.
The plan is largely focused on the public sector, in line with the findings from surveys by Transparency International and the Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Centre (GIACC), which found that about half of Malaysian respondents perceive lawmakers, government officials, local councillors, tax collectors and police officers as the most involved in corruption.
Meanwhile, 23% of respondents said they had bribed public officials in public schools, hospitals, utilities services, the police force and courts over the course of a year, while the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission highlighted that 63.3% of corruption complaints involve the public sector.
“It can be said that the civil service is a segment that is exposed to bribery, especially those that are involved in the delivery of public service and procurement. A study found that civil servants have a lack of understanding of bribery.
“We hope that the NACP can improve the image and quality of public service as well as the perception of the people towards the civil service,” said Chief Secretary to the Government Datuk Seri Dr Ismail Bakar.
Key initiatives to be implemented
Out of the 115 initiatives, the plan highlighted 22 priority initiatives aimed at addressing six key areas where corruption is rampant, namely in political governance, public-sector administration, public procurement, legal and judicial, law enforcement and corporate governance.
Under political governance, the government intends to introduce new legislation on governing political funding which will include an offence on lobbying as well as to implement a proper asset declaration system for members of the administration and members of parliament.
Other initiatives include a better policy on acceptance of gifts and the prohibition of the issuance of supporting letters by members of the administration or any highly influential persons for any projects or applications.
To address issues in public-sector administration, the government’s plans include the strengthening of the mechanism in enforcing mandatory job rotation for public servants holding sensitive posts and the management of the involvement of senior government officials as directors and chief executive officers of all state-owned enterprises and statutory bodies.
A transparent guideline on the appointment of special officers, political, private and media secretaries for ministers and deputy ministers will also be implemented.
In terms of procurement, the NACP seeks to ensure that all departments and regulators execute projects based on the advice and recommendation of technical departments such as the Public Works Department and to create accountability and transparency in defining the powers of a minister in legal provisions.
For the legal and judicial system, the government wants to promote a clear separation of powers and impartiality, such as the separation of the powers of the attorney-general and the public prosecutor, as well as to prioritise for corruption cases to be handled by judges and public prosecutors who are experienced in such cases.
In terms of law enforcement, the key initiatives include the integration of relevant agencies to improve border control and the transformation of the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission into the Independent Police Complaints and Misconducts Commission to address integrity issues among the members of the Royal Malaysia Police.
All of these initiatives are expected to be implemented within one to five years’ time with the GIACC acting as the secretariat, evaluating the yearly performance and effectiveness of the initiatives.
The NACP’s 22 key initiatives
Political governance
1. New legislation on governing political funding
2. A proper asset declaration system for members of the administration and parliament
3. Policy improvement on acceptance of gifts, entertainment and payment by members of the administration
4. Prohibition of supporting letter issuances for projects or applications
5. Introduction of a prime minister’s directive in governing demarcation of power between ministers and secretaries-general
6. Policy on appointing politicians as chairpersons or members as directors of statutory bodies, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and government established companies limited by guarantee (CLBGs) based strictly on academic and professional qualifications
Public sector administration
7. Strengthening the mechanism to enforce mandatory job rotation for public servants holding sensitive posts
8. Managing the involvement and appointment of senior government officials as directors and CEOs in all SOEs and statutory bodies
9. Strengthening the process of integrity vetting for public officials holding positions with high risk or responsibility
10. Introduction of a guideline on appointment of special officers and political, private and media secretaries for ministers and deputy ministers
11. Governing the power of any highly influential person on local authority performance and decision-making
Public procurement
12. Ensuring all client departments and regulators execute projects based on the recommendation of technical departments
13. Creating accountability and transparency in defining the power of ministers as stipulated in legal provisions, especially in procurement and the financial system
14. Introduction of standard clauses in undertakings of project procurement to protect the government’s interest in projects and contracts
Legal and judicial
15. Promoting clear separation of powers and impartiality
16. Prioritisation for corruption cases to be handled by judges and public prosecutors who are trained or experienced in such cases
Law enforcement
17. Integration of relevant agencies for better border control
18. Improving the existing foreign workers’ centralised management system
19. Transforming the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) into the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to address misconducts among members of the Royal Malaysia Police
20. Introduction of a new provision in the MACC Act for offences against any commercial organisation or person selling off a government project or tender to another party for monetary gains without undertaking the project or tender
Corporate governance
21. Introduction of the integrity vetting requirement as a selection criterion of top management positions in statutory bodies, SOEs and CLBGs
22. Imposition of a conditional approach on the purpose and utilisation of funds provided by the government to all statutory bodies, SOEs and CLBGs
Ministers may face conflict of interest, says Tunku Abdul Aziz:
"If you have no power, you cannot abuse it. Civil servants have a lot more power than their political masters and ministers"
'With a population of 31 million, Malaysia has a ratio of one civil servant to almost 20 people.
'To compare, the news report cited corresponding figures for
several other countries: Singapore (1 to 71 people), Indonesia (1:110),
South Korea (1:50), China (1:108), Japan (1:28), Russia (1:84) and
Britain (1:118).'
To keep graft in check, politicians should not be appointed to run
government-linked companies, said Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission
advisory board chairman Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim (pic).
He said politicians holding GLC positions may face conflict of interest leading to abuse of power and responsibility.
In an interview with Bernama, he said: "Many appointments are made for
political reasons. If you are appointed to a position with unanimous
power, there are decisions you have to make on a daily basis, weekly,
monthly and whatever.
"And in making these decisions, there will be some demands made on you
because of your connections, your relatives, your friends and also your
cronies."
Tunku Abdul Aziz said this trend of abusing power because of conflict of
interest has been happening since long ago, and may be stopped if the
appointment for a top post in a GLC was conducted with "proper selection
and screening".
Tunku Abdul Aziz said the selection process must include going through the candidate's background and track record.
He said there were always people out there who wanted special treatment, to have the advantage over their competitors.
"They don't care how it is done (as long as they get the job)... This is where corruption starts."
Tunku Abdul Aziz said that proper recruitment procedures and techniques
could help achieve transparency and accountability, which are essential
for top management.
"We can make corruption unprofitable business by making it more difficult to put your hand in the till."
He believes that corruption is now taking place at the operating level.
"Ministers cannot sign or award contracts. But directors in some
departments can do it. This is where abuse of power takes place," he
said.
"If you have no power, you cannot abuse it. Civil servants have a lot
more power than their political masters and ministers (in awarding
contracts)," he said.
He noted that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission was now catching a
lot more "big fish" than before the appointment of Datuk Dzulkifli
Ahmad as the new head in July last year.
Tunku Abdul Aziz said MACC was a dedicated highly professional team
focusing on the root causes of corruption while catching the crooks.
-- BERNAMA
Time to trim the civil service
FINALLY, the Government has itself described the civil service as bloated.
To his credit, Second Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani openly
and honestly stated that the civil service, although bloated, will not
be reduced but will instead be made to multi-task to improve
productivity. This statement is serious but also worrisome.
We now have one civil servant serving 19.37 people. The ratio is
1:110 for Indonesia, 1:108 for China, and 1:50 for South Korea. We won’t
compare ourselves to the low ratio of 1:71.4 in Singapore because it’s a
small island with hardly any rural population.
But why is our civil service so bloated? Firstly, we recruited rapidly
to give jobs to the boys when the output from the education system
expanded. We even had an “Isi Penuh” programme at one time. That is we
rushed to create jobs and filled them fast!
Secondly, unlike the private sector, we rarely retrench staff even in
bad times. We hardly sack anyone for inefficiency and even wastage of
public funds.
Thirdly, the civil service has become a sacred cow that has to be
handled gingerly for fear of reaction against the federal and state
governments at the ballot box!
Life is relatively comfortable especially at the lower levels of the
civil service. Salaries are better than before, pensions are secure,
health provisions are generous, and the drive to be more productive is
soft. In fact, there is now a strong manja-manja attitude towards civil
servants.
The demand to join the civil service is high but the supply of jobs is slowing down considerably.
The Government should decide to reduce the size of the civil service to
prevent the strain on the budget deficits, especially in the future.
Salary and pension bills are going up whereas productivity is not
publicly perceived to be improving. Those who deal with civil servants
often tell us more about the undue delays, corruption and “tidak apa” or
lackadaisical attitude shown on the ground towards the public.
The Government should appoint a high-level task force, if not a royal
commission, to examine ways and means of trimming the civil service to
an efficient and reasonable size.
To start with, the Government should revise its stand on not reducing
“the 1.6 million strong bloated civil service.” If it finds it difficult
to reduce the civil service, then please freeze recruitment or make it
more sparing and definitely more selective. Please go for more quality
rather than quantity!
The civil service is huge because the public sector has been designed to
be inordinately large. This has evolved because the private sector has
been denied and deprived of greater opportunities to serve the public.
There are many government services, facilities and works and supplies
that can be provided more efficiently by the business sector. In fact,
this could be the way forward for more bumiputra contractors and other
races to participate more actively and competitively to serve our
society better.
The cost of maintaining the civil service, at RM74bil in 2016 for salaries and allowances, is not sustainable.
The pension bill of RM19bil per annum, without any contribution to the
GDP by retirees, is also unbearable in the longer term. At the same
time, according to Johari, revenue from palm oil and other commodities
have been falling drastically. So where do we go from here?
It is basic economic and financial logic that we cannot afford to cope
with rising salary expenditure and lower revenue. It is much more
difficult to raise revenue than to cut expenditure.
The Government has said that our fundamentals are strong. Indeed, they
are reasonably healthy at this time. But at this rate of a growing civil
service that is now acknowledged as bloated, we cannot afford to assume
that the economic and financial fundamentals can continue to be strong
for much longer.
My appeal then is for Government to more actively seek to reduce the
size of the civil service and to act without undue delay. Our good
economic fundamentals are being seriously threatened and we must
preserve and protect them from further risks.
TAN SRI RAMON NAVARATNAM , Chairman Asli Center of Public Policy Studies
An effective civil service does not burden Govt
Civil Servants
IN a recent interview with a vernacular newspaper, Second Finance
Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani brought up a matter that is seldom
highlighted publicly – the size of the Malaysian public sector.
He said the country’s 1.6 million government employees formed “the world’s largest proportion of civil service”.
With a population of 31 million, Malaysia has a ratio of one civil servant to almost 20 people.
To compare, the news report cited corresponding figures for
several other countries: Singapore (1 to 71 people), Indonesia (1:110),
South Korea (1:50), China (1:108), Japan (1:28), Russia (1:84) and
Britain (1:118).
Johari was making the point that a major challenge for the Government was the rising costs of running the public service system.
This is particularly tough when there is a decline in the taxes and
other receipts collected from the oil and gas and palm oil industries.
However, he added that there were no plans to reduce the civil service head count.
The minister has won praise for bringing attention to an issue that many
have long felt deserves public awareness and discussion.
Emoluments are by far the biggest component of the Government’s operating expenditure, and that cost has kept expanding.
Back in 2006, emoluments totalling RM28.5bil made up 26.5% of the
operating expenditure. A decade later, the percentage is estimated to be
35.7%. To pay its employees this year, the Government has allocated
RM77.4bil, which is 36% of the budgeted operating expenditure.
And let us not forget the retired civil servants. According to the
Public Services Department, there were 739,000 public service pensioners
in 2015, and every year, 23,000 people join this group.
In 2010, the Government spent RM11.5bil on pensions and gratuities,
accounting for 7.6% of the operating expenditure. In the Budget 2017,
retirement charges will come to RM21.8bil, about 10% of operating
expenditure.
Although Johari did not appear to use the phrase in the interview, others were quick to talk about the “bloated civil service”.
It should be pointed out that measuring and comparing the sizes of the
public sector can be tricky and misleading. There are different ways of
defining a civil servant. And the width and depth of a public service
system is very much determined by the country’s prosperity and policies.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development looks at
public sector employment as a percentage of total employment. In 2013,
the average among its members was slightly above 19%.
In Malaysia, civil servants represent 10.8% of our labour force. Perhaps, the public sector is not bloated after all.
On the other hand, we must bear in mind that the number of government
employees is growing faster than the country’s labour force.
But we cannot discuss quantity and ignore quality. The issue here is not
about how large our public service system is; it is whether the system
is larger than necessary.
No matter how big, the numbers make sense if they yield excellent results and lead to robust revenue growth.
At a time when the Government is pushing hard in areas such as
innovation, productivity and good governance, the civil service ought to
lead by example.
There are already ongoing efforts to transform public service in
Malaysia and surely the hope is that these initiatives will result in
greater transparency and accountability, enhanced competitiveness, and a
high-performance culture,
What is also absolutely clear to us is that the Government’s financial
obligations are increasingly heavy, and much of this has to do with the
emoluments and pensions it pays.
It is realistic to expect the Government to be more prudent in its
hiring of new employees. It cannot afford to be the country’s default
employer and young people are wrong to blame the Government if there are
no civil service vacancies for them to fill.
The public sector’s primary role is to serve the country’s needs
effectively and efficiently. It cannot do that if it is a burden to the
Government and ultimately the people. -The Star Says
Jan 14, 2017 ...Fighting corruption a decade later: Wars on graft widens. “Power doesn't corrupt
people, people corrupt power.” William Gaddis. THE beginning ...
Oct 25, 2016 ... The Malaysian government can make further spending cuts if it reduces the size
of its “bloated” civil service, an economist said. File picture ...
Apr 5, 2016 ... Now, it has been proven that the administrative capital of Putrajaya has the ...
Evidently, obesity is manifested in the abdominal fat around the ...
Apr 6, 2016 ... So if both the US and Malaysian Governments couldn't stem the fat tide in their
respective countries, who can? ... Putrajaya the obese-city!
Economist says there is need to cut down further on emoluments
<< Rosario: ‘The size of the Malaysian civil service is that there are five civil servants for every 100 people.’
KUALA LUMPUR: The government has to eventually deal with the issue of
the bloated civil service to avoid repercussions later on, said Deutsche
Bank’s economist Diana Rose del Rosario.
“Operating expenditure accounts for at least 80% of total expenditure
(in the budget) and a big part of it comes from emoluments which account
for 26% of total operating expenditure,” Rosario said at the Budgetary
Priorities in a Challenging Economic Environment forum hereyesterday.
“The government has actually already tightened spending in this area: it
used to grow around 10% year on year between 2010 and 2014. Growth here
has since fallen to 5% year on year in 2016 to 2017.
“Success has been there in terms of tightening this area but there
remains a great need to (further) cut down on emoluments,” she added.
Rosario said that the bloated size of the civil service in the country is much higher than the average in the Asean region.
“The size of the Malaysian civil service is that there are five civil
servants for every 100 people. This is a lot higher than the average in
the civil service of the rest of the region with an (average) of around
two for every 100 people,” she said.
“There is an urgent need for this government if it continues in the path
of fiscal consolidation to strive for a lean and efficient public
service,” she added.
Rosario also said that there may be some “upward pressure” from debt
service payments under the emoluments section of the expenditure as
interest rates are poised to rise due to the stance taken by the US
Federal Reserve.
Meanwhile, she also said that the retirement pension charges that are
poised to rise by 15% next year should be looked at from a wider
perspective.
“Although we are not worried that it is driven by a surge in retirees,
but if you look at the pace of growth in the younger population the
labour force as projected by the United Nations – the younger ones are
expected to decelerate at a sustained deceleration in the next five
years,” she said.
“This does not bode well for tax collection or domestic demand. There is
a need then to boost wages through a boost in productivity to
facilitate domestic demand and tax collections,” Rosario said.
At the same event, secretary-general of the Treasury Tan Sri Mohd Irwan
Serigar said contingent liabilities by the government are backed by
sound assets and companies.
“There may be some pressure by contingent liabilities by the government
but those entities that the government provides guarantees for are all
strong and credible ones which can pay off their dues.
For example, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, Prasarana and MRTcorp (have borrowed) for their big capital items,” he said.
“Although there is pressure but there is no worry in terms of default,” Irwan said.
Commenting also on the issue on jobless graduates and productivity,
Irwan said that universities in Malaysia should supply manpower for what
is needed for the industries in Malaysia.
“Some of the industries are too reliant on foreign workers.
“We can’t change this overnight and we need more technology here. We
should not have universities which do not provide for certain industries
that are in demand,” he said.
Source: The Star/Asia News Network
Bloated Malaysia Civil Service Presents Headache for Najib
Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Photographer: Mohd Rasfan/AFP via Getty Images
Public workforce large relative to other Asian peers
Civil servants indispensable support base for Najib’s party
Malaysian Nor Mohamad loved her job with a major Western tech company.
But she gave it up after two years, tired of bickering with her parents
who felt she’d be better off in the public service.
“It’s boring but stable,” said the master’s degree holder, who is in her
thirties and asked not to be fully identified, citing government
policy. “Even though I’m not so in love with the job, I’m thankful that
in this economic situation there’s no bad impact to my career.”
Malaysia’s civil service employs 1.6 million people, or about 11 percent
of the labor force. The jobs provide stability and security, including
for ethnic Malays who are the majority of the population. Now the
bloated bureaucracy presents a challenge to Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Najib, whose ruling coalition Barisan Nasional has been in power for
nearly 60 years with the help of the Malay vote, has pledged to
gradually narrow a budget deficit the country has been running since the
Asian financial crisis. The commodity-driven $296-billion economy is
expected to grow at the slowest pace in seven years in 2016, with lower
oil prices eating into revenue.
But trimming the public workforce to improve the government’s coffers is
difficult. While Najib has survived a year of political turmoil over
funding scandals, he needs the support of Malays to win the next
election due by 2018. His party, the United Malays National
Organisation, has for decades propagated policies that provide favorable
access to education, jobs and housing for Malays and indigenous people,
known collectively as Bumiputeras.
“The civil service in Malaysia is intricately jived in with the ethnic
policies” of the government, said Jayant Menon, an economist at the
Asian Development Bank. “This is a form of ensuring not just employment,
but relatively attractive employment.”
About 79 percent of the civil service was made up of Malays as of the
end of 2014, with over 11 percent from indigenous Bumiputera groups, the
official Bernama news agency reported in March 2015, citing a
government minister. About 5.2 percent of public servants were Chinese
and 4.1 percent were Indian.
Malaysia’s civil service relative to population is large, at more than
double the average in the Asia-Pacific region by some measures,
according to Menon. The cost of maintaining it is draining resources at a
time government revenues are falling.
Salaries, pensions and gratuities account for about a third of the
budget every year, the biggest expenditure item. The government doesn’t
regularly publish data on the size of the public service.
Najib has weathered a year of graft allegations over hundreds of
millions of dollars that appeared in his personal bank accounts before
the last election in 2013, with the claims putting some pressure on his
leadership. He denies wrongdoing and was cleared by the country’s
attorney-general earlier this year.
Najib’s office didn’t respond to an e-mail seeking comment on the civil
service. The office of the chief secretary to the government also did
not reply to an e-mailed request for comment.
Malaysian officials have previously defended the size of the civil
service, which includes teachers, doctors, soldiers and police. Idris
Jala, then-minister in the Prime Minister’s office, said in 2014 that it
wasn’t bloated even though it could be made more efficient to save the
government money.
Najib’s government spent 1.1 billion ringgit ($275 million) to raise
salaries for civil servants last month -- the biggest rise since 2013 --
and increased their minimum starting pay to 1,200 ringgit a month. Like
in previous years, public employees received a 500 ringgit special
allowance just before the Eid al-Fitr holidays in July, a celebration
marking the end of the Muslim fasting month.
‘Support Base’
“The civil service forms an important support base for the government
and can usually be counted upon to show up and vote for the ruling party
during elections,” said Chia Shuhui, an Asia analyst at BMI Research in
Singapore. “The government is not going to cut benefits to their
support base, and therefore it is unlikely to make significant changes
in terms of its expenditure on the civil service.”
The government has been taking steps to streamline the civil service and
improve the efficiency of the public sector as part of its long-term
efforts, Chia said.
Given that nothing much could be done to the civil service because of
political and ethnic sensitivities, the government should focus on
cutting its business exposure through the government-linked corporation
divestment program to increase revenue, the ADB’s Menon said.
While UMNO has worked to retain Malay voters, the opposition has also
sought to support the bureaucracy. The opposition-controlled Selangor
state government pledged a 1.5 month bonus to its civil servants to mark
Eid.
In neighboring Thailand, the ruling junta gave the nation’s two million
civil servants and soldiers a four percent salary increase in December
2014 at an expected cost of 22.9 billion baht ($659 million). Many civil
servants took part in anti-government protests that led to the May 2014
military coup and the junta has since emphasized the need to give
bureaucrats greater power over elected officials.
“Civil servants are indeed an indispensable support base for Barisan
Nasional in general and UMNO specifically,” said Oh Ei Sun, a senior
fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in
Singapore. “Hence the need to constantly improve their welfare.”
Apr 5, 2016 ... Now, it has been proven that the administrative capital of Putrajaya has the ...
Evidently, obesity is manifested in the abdominal fat around the ...
Apr 6, 2016 ... So if both the US and Malaysian Governments couldn't stem the fat tide in their
respective countries, who can? ... Putrajaya the obese-city!
Sheriff: ‘Government bureaucracy has grown so big that it’s not only
taking up too much resources but creating many failures in our finance
economy
KUALA LUMPUR: One of Malaysia’s former top civil servants has called on
the Government to consider downsizing the country’s bloated civil
service, while it still can.
Malaysia has the highest civil servants to population ratio in the
Asia-Pacific, employing 1.6 million people or 11% of the country’s
labour force.
And that could be a problem Malaysia may not be able to sustain if it
runs into a financial crisis, said Tan Sri Mohd Sheriff Mohd Kassim, the
former Finance Ministry secretary-general and Economic Planning Unit
director-general.
He said if the Government was really set on keeping the national deficit
at 3%, it needed to look at retrenching employees, particularly in the
lower levels of the civil service, to cut spending.
“Government bureaucracy has grown so big that it’s not only taking up
too much resources but creating many failures in our finance economy.
There are just too many rules and regulations that the public and
private sector have to live with,” he told a delegation of economists,
politicians and government officials at the Malaysian Economic
Association’s forum on public sector governance.
He advised Malaysia to begin downsizing the civil service, “better
sooner than later” if it wanted to avoid running the risk of falling
into a Greece-like crisis, where the European country had to cut
salaries and was unable to pay pensions for its civil service.
Drawing examples from the recent Malaysia Airlines restructuring, where
6,000 people were retrenched, Mohd Sheriff said it was better to let
staff go now and compensate them with retrenchment packages while the
Government can still afford it.
“It may cost the Government a heavy expenditure now but it is worthwhile
to do it now while we can still afford it and not until we are forced
into a financial crisis like Greece.
“We don’t want to be in that situation. I think we should do it
gradually. It is kinder to do it now with incentives than to suddenly
cut their salaries and pensions at a time when they can least afford
it,” he said.
Malaysia is expected to spend RM76bil in salaries and allowances for the
civil service this year, on top of another RM21bil for pensions.
Efficiency and corruption dominated talks on the civil service at the
forum, held at Bank Negara’s Sasana Kijang.
Mohd Sheriff, who is also former president of the Malaysian Economic
Association, said these issues have been around since his time in the
civil service decades ago though not much has changed due to a lack of
political will.
In jest, he suggested Malaysia emulate United States President Donald
Trump’s idea on downsizing the US civil service by closing down two
departments of the Government if it wanted to open another one.
He also suggested that Parliament create a committee to monitor the
performance of top civil servants and give them the ability to retrench
these officers if they fail to meet their marks.
“In many countries, even Indonesia, they have committees to hold
Government leaders to any shortcomings on policy implementations and
projects.
“These are the kinds of checks and balance we need to make our civil
servants aware that they are being monitored for their work and they can
be pulled out at any time,” he said.
Finance Minister II Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani had said Malaysia’s ratio
of civil servants is one to 19.37 civilians and that the high number of
Government staff had caused expenditures to balloon yearly.
As a comparison, the ratio in Indonesia is 1:110, in China it is 1:108,
in Singapore it’s 1:71.4 and in South Korea the ratio is 1:50.
Despite this, Johari said there were no plans to reduce the number of civil servants.
Oct 25, 2016 ... The Malaysian government can make further spending cuts if it reduces the size
of its “bloated” civil service, an economist said. File picture ...
Apr 5, 2016 ... Now, it has been proven that the administrative capital of Putrajaya has the ...
Evidently, obesity is manifested in the abdominal fat around the ...
Apr 6, 2016 ... So if both the US and Malaysian Governments couldn't stem the fat tide in their
respective countries, who can? ... Putrajaya the obese-city!
Brave new world: The civil service needs to
get used to the New Malaysia approach while our ministers need to snap
out of the Opposition mode and get down to work.
August 16, 2018 Wake Up Malaysian Civil Servants: Duty Beckons by Dr Amar-Singh HSS http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com
These Civil Servants pledge to feather their own nest We need to get
rid of the culture of censuring those in the civil service who speak up
when they see wrong being done. I found the courage to write this […]
Keeping it civil: The civil service makes up the backbone of any nation,
yet the concept of its implementation continues to elude some of the
powers that be.
IT’S often said that ministers come and go, but civil servants stay
forever. And the good old government machinery runs as before, a fact
some of our new ministers will probably be clued into by now.
Ministers who have no experience at state government level may have
pre-conceived notions of the privileges they enjoy, like unlimited
authority and knowing what they decree would suffice to overrule the
bureaucrats.
And that is the biggest mistake they could make as newcomers to
Putrajaya, because nothing exemplifies shooting oneself in the foot more
than putting down civil servants – they run the ministries, after all.
Making its rounds on the grapevine these days is how some ministers put
down their secretaries-general at meetings, believing they know better,
or quite possibly, that they can do a better job at improving the
performance of their charges.
Some of our ministers were probably not born when British sitcom Yes,
Minister (which later became Yes, Prime Minister) aired on BBC Two, and
on RTM, from 1980 to 1984.
Set principally in the private office of a British Cabinet Minister in
the fictional Department of Administrative Affairs in Whitehall, it
follows the ministerial career of the Right Honourable Jim Hacker.
In it, he attempts, or rather, struggles to formulate and enact laws or
effect departmental changes and meets with resistance from the civil
service, in particularly his Permanent Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby.
The obstructions (sabotages, some would say) were often carried out so
deftly that the minister would often rarely know what hit him or possess
a trail of evidence to prove insubordination.
In fact, the delays (such as total rejection of policy) were cited to
impress upon the minster that the shenanigans were for the benefit of
his political mileage.
But of course, the sitcom was totally fictional and in real life, not all civil servants could get away like that.
Respected banker and commentator Tan Sri Dr Munir Majid wrote that
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had put together a Cabinet with a
mix of races and genders, and a range of ages, which is unprecedented
in the political governance of our country. However, except for a
handful of ministers, the Cabinet falls short on experience.
Dr Munir urged Pakatan ministers to get out of “Opposition mode” so they
can function and deliver with all the advice and support available.
“They would need to get the government machinery – the civil service – to implement their decisions effectively.
“Here, there is another problem. The largely Malay civil service
is not used to having political masters committed to a multi-racial
Malaysia and a no-nonsense regime,” he wrote.
That simply means our ministers, who have been used to merely delivering
fiery speeches, now need to roll up their sleeves and get down to work
and show the fruits of their labour. They can only blame the ills and
corruption of the previous government to an extent.
A few ministers, and even the Attorney-General Tommy Thomas, must now
grapple with all the documents being in Bahasa Malaysia, unlike in the
private sector where the medium of communication is English.
Their staff would most likely be entirely Malay, except for their
aides, who are political appointees. Directives would be issued in an
entirely different way, obviously reflected by the work culture and
style of communication.
That is just how the civil service works, so, they simply need get used
to it. Of course, stories of all this being a culture shock for some
have surfaced recently.
Dr Munir reminded that “there is still some way to go to arrive at
a New Malaysia in terms of multi-racialism. After two generations of
‘Malay First’ and subsequently ‘Malay and Muslim First’ political ethic,
there is a mountain to climb to make it New Malaysia.”
The reality is that about 75% of the Malay electorate in GE14
voted for Umno or PAS, in comparison to 95% of the Chinese voters who
voted for Pakatan Harapan (an increase from the 85% who supported the
now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat coalition in 2013). About 70% - 75% of
Indians voted for PH, the figures show.
It has been reported that only 25% - 30% of Malays voted for PH,
according to figures from Merdeka Centre. Apparently, 35% - 40% of
Malays voted for Barisan Nasional while 30% - 33% supported PAS.
The findings displayed that although a higher percentage of Malays
voted for Pakatan Harapan in Johor and in west coast states such as
Melaka and Negri Sembilan, the coalition’s overall Malay support was
diminished by its weak performance in Kelantan and Terengganu.
It’s no secret that as the new government reaches its 100-day mark, some
ministers are still struggling to assemble their offices.
It’s just as well that some have yet to meet the press or make
statements, because they are still learning to juggle the workload as
others continue their scramble to find the ideal personnel.
The job has been so overwhelming that they have been unable to meet their key officers to solidify plans and directions.
With no appointments in sight, some staff are wondering if they are
being snubbed, or simply that the ministers are too busy with other
engagements. It doesn’t help that they don’t even reply messages.
But the civil service needs to accept that this is New Malaysia.
There is no turning back. The culture of openness, accountability,
engagement and success must take centre stage, with any form of
prejudice left by the wayside.
The strategy of using race and religion to stir emotions seems hollow now.
Millions of ringgit were stolen from the people by those in power,
and as the facts have revealed, they weren’t Chinese, Indians or
Christians, contrary to what these politicians still want the Malays to
believe.
And certainly, the civil servants who sniffed out the moral decay under their very noses knew exactly what was happening.
Clean, trustworthy and competent ministers, and a loyal, non-corrupt and efficient civil service will make Malaysia great.
After all, as the saying goes, it doesn’t matter what colour the cat is, as long it catches the mice.
In this context, what’s important is surely them being good Malaysians.
Wong Chun Wai began his career as a journalist in Penang, and
has served The Star for over 27 years in various capacities and roles.
He is now the group's managing director/chief executive officer and
formerly the group chief editor.
On The Beat made its debut on
Feb 23 1997 and Chun Wai has penned the column weekly without a break,
except for the occasional press holiday when the paper was not
published. In May 2011, a compilation of selected articles of On The
Beat was published as a book and launched in conjunction with his 50th
birthday. Chun Wai also comments on current issues in The Star
Malaysia
world's No.1 highest civil servants-to-population ratio! Its tenure of
service legally vulnerable but notoriously difficult to dismiss 
