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Thursday, February 2, 2012

The role of government

Welcome to Malaysia, truly the home of “Big Government”. With over five per cent of our population (1.4 million out of 27.8 million) on the state’s payroll, it’s hard to deny that our civil service is “bloated”.
Comparisons across ASEAN are not flattering. According to the OECD, in Thailand civil servants make up only 2.06 per cent of its population, 1.81 per cent in the Philippines and 1.79 per cent in Indonesia.
Whilst many criticise the inefficiency and politicisation of our civil service, few would dare advocate cutting their numbers. The fact that our public sector is predominantly Malay/Bumiputera makes such reform extremely sensitive.
Nonetheless, as our oil-fuelled economic excesses come home to roost, Malaysians are facing up to a set of dilemmas interconnected with public sector’s immense size.
We’re beginning to ask tough questions. What is the proper role of government? How much of it can we really afford? How can we make civil servants more effective?
Those who think otherwise might like to take a leisurely afternoon drive through one of my least favourite places — Putrajaya, with its grandiose boulevards and bridges. Its opulence underlines the dominant role played by government across all aspects of society, especially in the aftermath of the New Economic Policy (NEP).
Moreover, for Muslims the nation’s Islamic establishment extends officialdom’s reach into the most private aspects of our lives.
The pervasive influence of the state has had a debilitating impact on Malaysia much in the same way that the welfare state has eroded European work ethics.
Malaysia’s challenge now is tackling the negative side-effects of once well-intentioned, positive discrimination policies. Malaysia is now blighted with Europe’s distorted sense entitlement
At the same time, non-Malay citizens feel betrayed by the singular focus on Malay interests. This in turn fuels resentment and distrust. In such a context attempts at fostering national unity are doomed to failure.
Indeed, the preponderance of Malays in the administration further threatens community relations as government becomes overly identified with communal rather than national interests.
Furthermore, over past decades the party (i.e. Umno) and the state appear to have become fused. This is an unhealthy situation for many reasons.
First, it means that Umno’s flaws have tended to become the governments’ and vice-versa. This also means that the cynicism towards the government endemic amongst the non-Malays is spreading to the Malays themselves as anger over mismanagement grows.
Public office is no longer seen as a position of trust but as a means to enrich one’s family. People now think of government programmes in terms of who is ultimately going to “benefit” from it all rather than on their merits.
As Francis Fukuyama has argued, low-trust societies (which is what Malaysia is fast becoming, if not already) don’t usually achieve much and, indeed, don’t last. Malaysia cannot move forward if mistrust is rampant.
Furthermore, the continued blurring of party and state lines has complicated the reforms that both sides desperately need.
I’ve already argued how Umno’s long period in government has made its cadres complacent and unable to deal with a resurgent opposition and civil society.
Also, Umno’s power has made civil servants (with some notable exceptions like the Auditor-General’s Department) timid and unable to provide government leaders with honest input on policy.
If Umno is to survive, it will need to divorce itself from the institutions of state that it has infiltrated. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak must find the political will to undertake this painful but necessary process even though Umno’s right-wing may oppose him.
To be fair though, this adjustment must also happen on the ground. Malaysians also need to stop relying on the government for everything.
The attitudes of some Malaysians don’t help. Some of our demands for our MPs and state assemblymen are frankly ludicrous, like expecting them to attend to spoilt street lights or blocked drains.
Honestly people; legislators are supposed to legislate. Such matters are distractions and really should be for our local councils, who ought to be elected to make them accountable.
At the end of the day, we need to change how we view government. Our expectations have to be more aligned with our increasingly limited resources rather than our NEP-linked aspirations.
We need to stop making the state the first point of reference whenever there’s a problem or controversy that needs solving. Individuals —and especially the Malays — must assume greater responsibility for their own lives.
Civil society ought to be empowered to be able to provide these solutions. The past 50 years has witnessed a vast expansion of government. The next 50 will see its contraction if only because we can’t sustain the gravy train indefinitely.

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