LETTER | The KLIA incident and the civil service

LETTER | I refer to the KLIA incident which involved Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing. Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail is now waiting for a full report on the incident before deciding on his next move.

Without knowing the full details, this is how I postulate the civil service and the public would react. 

Almost immediately, the civil service union “criticised” Tiong, alleging inference by politicians in security and public administration. Some political parties have also given their support and defended the civil service for reasons best known to them.

However, the public in general is usually more circumspect and understanding of the minister’s action, given the circumstances.

The civil service in Malaysia is “powerful”.  It has an inertia of its own. If we are talking about reforms and good governance, we must include the civil service in our equation. Otherwise, we can just talk and talk.

The interface between the public (both Malaysians and foreigners) and the government of the day is the civil service. This is where competency, efficiency, and credibility of the government are assessed and judged. Reforms without looking at the performance of civil service is a futile effort.

According to a news report, the home minister is now waiting for “the report” of the incident in KLIA because the issue involved immigration and border control, which is under the all-powerful Home Ministry.

Well, I suggest the minister do more than wait for the report.

First, the minister must decide who is going to do the investigation and write the report. It is important to ensure impartiality in investigation and reporting. Otherwise, the report must be taken with a heavy pinch of salt.

Preferably, I would like the minister to go to the ground to find out for himself the level of service from time to time.

Second, it takes courage for the people to highlight the problems they face when dealing with the civil service. So, it is important for the ministers and the government of the day not to take it lightly.

Do not pamper and defend the civil service blindly. It is time to monitor, investigate, reprimand, and act against wayward civil servants everywhere.

Tiong is a member of the cabinet. So long as he did not interfere for personal or vested interests, I think we should allow him and other ministers to highlight problems that are causing pain to people.

He may not order the immigration department directly, but certainly, he can highlight the malfeasance there, if any.

The government has made reforms and good governance the cornerstone of its policy thrust. To achieve this, we must revamp the civil service.

As they say, the civil service is sometimes like a “dinosaur”, hard to move and reinvent but try we must. Otherwise, it is as good as kissing reform goodbye. We can continue appeasing the civil service for their votes at our own peril. 

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.