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20 HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION
The period from 1957 through 1980 in the development of Malaysia is characterizes by
institution building proliferation of public enterprises and dominant role of government
agencies Policies related to programs for better accessibility to education better
social welfare benefits equitable distribution of economic cake and social services
improved contribution of agricultural sector to the economy and planned diversification
of the nations industrial base remained important features of the governments long-
term plan
Development in 1950s the government focused was on agriculture Agriculture was
one of the important economic sources for the country then Most of the Malays in
1950 lived in rural areas and their income depended on agriculture During this period
the agricultural policy designed to serve primarily the needs of British colonial rule with
a purposive neglect of the rural sector While the British companies projected into
plantation agriculture largely rubber and other commercial produce agriculture the
local person which is Malays remained largely in subsistence and smallholder
agriculture (httpeconupmedumy)
The neglected rural economy in general became involutes incomes were very low
because output and prices were low output was low because of poor traditional
production techniques and low income led to a lower standard of welfare This
scenario considered as the legacy of the British colonial agricultural policy became
the basis that shaped Malaysia rural development policy after independence In
addition development of agriculture also later helps the government to improve and
implement the objectives and goals of the government
In Malaysia rigorous reform made in 1967 the first time under the efforts of the late
Tun Abdul Razak The reform made with a purpose to solve numerous problems within
the nationrsquos public administration especially to expedite the implementation of
development programs
In the 1970s Malaysia began to imitate the four Asian Tiger economies (Republic of
Korea (South Korea) Republic of China (Taiwan) then British Crown Colony of Hong
Kong and the Republic of Singapore) and committed itself to a transition from being
reliant on mining and agriculture to an economy that depends more on manufacturing
With Japanese investment heavy industries flourished and in a matter of years
Malaysian exports became the countrys primary growth engine
24 |
Development administration effort in 1980rsquos is the most important and crucial effort
made by the government because it is the beginning to develop a modern country
During this era there are many changes made by the government to develop this
country effectively Efforts in 1980rsquos also considered as the most important step in the
development of the country as in these years we see that the private sector is being
encouraged by the government to be involve in the development administration
through privatization and corporation policy Besides that the government also try to
improve the public sector although it did not been clearly seen in these years There
are several efforts made by the government to improve development administration in
the country Among the efforts are improving the capacity of public and private
institutions privatization policy distribution policies the values of responsiveness and
accountability and decentralization of developments projects (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
21 PHASE I ndash
Instillation Of Western Administrative And Management
Techniques Into Developing Countries
Development Administration proponents focused on importing western public
management techniques into the developing nations Most scholars reviewed back the
indoctrination of public administration following the Weberian tradition
The goal of this instillation was to establish a bureaucracy that is rational free from
political interference efficient and following the ideal-type Weberian tradition
(Rondinelli 1983)
Based on Weberian Tradition
Principles introduced by a famous German sociologist Max Weber (1864
ndash 1920)
(a) Positions determined by hierarchy
(b) Positions filled in based on merit candidates appointed
(c) Staff paid with substantial wages and with provision of pension
(d) Staff subjected to control and set up systematic discipline
| 25
These are some problems of incompatibility This problem occurred due
to differences in culture values financial strength that hinder the
successful instillation of western management techniques
What goes well in the western do not necessarily goes well in the east Upon realizing
the incompatibility problems development administration scholars responsively
modified their agenda Strong pressure exerted upon the civil service to increase its
performance and play a developmental role
The successful general election of 1964 the Alliance Government sought to fulfil its
promises of increasing the welfare of the citizens and raising the standard of living of
the masses It showed however that the burdens the first time in the bureaucracy
asked to shoulder since history of the Independence had increased more rapidly than
public service their capabilities
Government of that a deliberate Malaysia obtained the services of a team of
consultants to undertake a review of the public made to study administration (Abdullah
Sanusi Ahmad 1994) This was the first time in the administrative history of the public
service that a deliberate system of the attempt made to study the administrative
country with systems of the country with a view to suggesting a view to reforms and
innovations
The main objective of suggesting the study was to achieve efficiency and
administrative reforms and leadership in the public service to meet the needs of
innovations The Report recommended improving administrative systems by speeding
government action reducing costs and improving the quality of service (Abdullah
Sanusi Ahmad 1994)
26 |
22 PHASE II ndash
Political modernization institution building and administrative
reform (including reorganization reinventing the government
and debureaucracy)
221 Political modernization
The ability of a political system to produce new behaviours and organizations
that changes in demands over time Political stability was a pre-requisite for
the successful implementation of development programs Efforts to establish
political culture emphasized on peoplersquos participation Also to a
governmentrsquos efforts to carry out programs designed to reshape its physical
human and cultural environment and to also enlarge governmentrsquos capacity
to engage in such programs In virtually all governments the action arm the
main instrument for program implementation is the public bureaucracy Not
only that bureaucrats do exercise political functions but that they and that a
significant degree of bureaucratic power is functionally requisite for the
organization of a developed system of government
However in Malaysia at that time in the 1960s countries vastly ruled and
administered by political elite Polarization of society based on status and
race was apparent (elite v the mass) Political democracy is available but
controlled by the ruling elite this is due to lack of education and opportunity for
political participation involvement of the public There was no distinction
between policy formulation and implementation which is against the
dichotomy of policy and administration Even though democratic political
culture had flourished political participation controlled and in some places
suppressed by the government
The civil service was entrusted with the mammoth task of implementing the
five-year economic plans The government effort contributed to the
remarkable performance of the economy However the inequitable distribution
of the wealth among the major ethnic groups resulted in a racial turmoil in
1969 that almost became catastrophic Consequently the New Economic
Policy (NEP) was formulated and implemented in 1970 which necessitated
an even bigger role for the government in terms of its size involvement and
| 27
expenditure This was done to ensure the successful implementation of
programs for poverty eradication and restructuring of society the two primary
objectives of the policy Measures were taken to upgrade the planning and
implementation capabilities of the government so that the plans would be
executed without any serious shortfall Administrative reform was on the
agenda of among leaders in the developing nations for at least four decades
since 1960s
222 Institution Building
Institution Building amp Project Planning were picked as strategies to further
guide the government of developing countries during the first part of the 70s
(Rondinelli 1985)
Institution defined as procedures morale norms and values that are
supposed to control onersquos behavior (Van Arkardie 1990)
In the context of development administration institution defined as
organizations such as government agencies public enterprises banks the
arm forces and hospitals (Van Arkardie 1990 Van Rennin and Waisfisz
1988)
Milton Esman (1972) defines institution building as the process of planning
structuring and guiding new and restructured organizations As a result
three initiatives introduced that is closure of unnecessary organizations
creation of new organizations restructured existing organizations with new
goals and objectives
Government organizations underwent strenuous re-definition exercises
According to economists (especially development economists) institution can
be defined as procedures morale norms and values that are supposed to
control onersquos behaviour (Van Akadie 1990 Feeny 1988 North 1981)
Ruttan and Hayami (1984) define institution from this perspective as
procedures that are applicable to a given society or to a group of people that
is constituted into perception which is shared among members of that
particular group or society (Van Arkdie 1990)
28 |
In other words institution refers to ldquoinstrumentsrdquo that are available within
society or a nation that actually control the behaviour of the people in terms of
norms and values Society in this context does not only refer to individuals in
their groups but it also comprises of other economic elements such as the
government private sector consumer and all the transactions carried out
between them (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
In this context of development administration institution can be defined as
organization such as government agencies public enterprises banks the arm
forces and hospitals (Van Arkdie 1990 Van Rennin and Waisfisz 1988)
Thus in terms of institution building institution seeing from a micro and macro
perspectives Government institutions referred as the macro level because it
includes the whole government machinery especially those that are functional
in formulating policies At the micro level institutions referred to as
departments agencies and other governmental bodies that are involved in the
implementation policies (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Second Malaysia Plan incorporated a National Rural Development Plan
aimed at reorganizing and mobilizing institutions and efforts toward
modernizing and developing the rural sector At the district or local level the
District Rural Development Committee implemented monitored and reviewed
as the rural development projects in what known as the Rural Economic
Development (RED Book) Plan (Fatimah Mohd Arshad 1997) The projects
focused on building basic infrastructures and institutions such as RISDA
MARA Koperasi Bank Pertanian Bank Pembangunan and so on The
infrastructural approach intended to provide linkages to the rural economy
provide rural employment and raise productivity and incomes of rural peasant
The social and economic infrastructures provided were rural roads drainage
and irrigation facilities basic amenities like rural electricity water school
health community and religious centres and others The rural institution such
as MARDI established to facilitate production and marketing functions and
Koperasi Desa also to provide the credit need of the rural peasants These
infrastructures and institutions expected to generate rural employment
besides raising productivity incomes socio-economic status of the rural
population (Fatimah Mohd Arshad 1997)
| 29
223 Administrative Reform
Administrative reform simply means a transformation of
administrative machinery taking up a new form new goals and
objectives (Rondinelli 1985)
The term administrative reform has acquired multiple views but no doubt
there is consensus that the outcome of administrative reforms should result in
efficient and effective public sector service structures improvement of public
sector operational performance and economic development (Caiden 1991)
Difficulty in administering reform is that policies that threatened the livelihood
of political actors including bureaucrats with stakes avoided Evidence of this
can be seen in the policies of deregulation financial reform and privatization
due to the political and economic clout In other words successful
implementation required the cooperation of the very political actors who were
the targets of reform In developing countries the distinction between
politicians and bureaucrats tends to be blurred and an alliance between the
ruling elite and high-ranking officials has often led to an oligarchy of power
and privilege (Seidman and Seidman 1994)
In the case of Malaysia the post-independence period involved the extensive
expansion of state functions For instance economic management programs
and projects launched and new public organizations were created
Mobilization programs were also established and variously labelled nation-
building programs The main goal of course is to involve the citizens into the
mainstream of economic and social development Public institutions and
bureaucracy were the centre-piece of these new endeavours Doctrines of
guardianship via political parties and the executive dominated the
management of public affairs largely to the exclusion of public participation
First step taken by Tun Abdul Razak was to transform completely the colonial-
based bureaucracy that filled with weaknesses such as corruption and red
tapes Moreover the problems of the attitudes of the public servants at that
time which he quoted as the ldquoSeven Deadly Sinsrdquo
30 |
The 1967 reformation adopted institution-building approach to elevate
bureaucratic effectiveness (Esman 1972) The role of public service and
administration has significantly changed over the years in line with the
countrys economic growth and development Its mission objectives and
functions had undergone various degrees of reform especially under the
explicit and implicit influences of changes in public policies development
strategies and initiatives These reforms took place in two distinctive phases
namely the period of rapid economic growth in 1960s and 1970s which
required development administration and institution building and the period
from 1980 to the present that necessitated the consolidation and qualitative
upgrading of the government machinery The success of Malaysias
development programs to a significant extent can be attributed as not only to
the efficient and effective functioning of the economic system but also to the
stabilizing and integrative functioning of the countrys public administration
system
| 31
The First Malaysia Plan thus had to address the problem of unemployment
which reared its head for the first time in the 1960s despite encouraging
growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) employment rates had not
grown at a commensurate pace In addition there was also the problem of
ethnic specialization in certain professions with the Chinese dominating the
marketplace the Malays dominating the civil service and the Indians largely
participating in specialist professions such as law The income disparity
between rural and urban areas that the Second Malayan Five Year Plan had
sought to resolve not satisfactorily eliminated Therefore what the
government does is to increase the level of employment and to give chances
to the unemployed and make sure that the standard of living becomes well
(httpwwwstategov)
2231 Reorganization
The worldwide recession of 1980s and its consequent effects
on domestic economy left the Malaysia government reduce the
size of its public sector Privatization and organizational
reorganization were among the variety of measures initiated
towards achieving this goal The reorganization measures have
contributed to reducing the size of public bureaucracy and the
financial burden of the government through savings in huge
operating costs and capital expenditure The organizational
reorganization initiated in 1989 aimed at ensuring that the size
of the public service was consistent with its new roles and
functions in the society Between 1992 and 1997 a total of 570
agencies have been reviewed and reorganized with a
considerable reduction in the number of posts (Ahmad Sarji
1996)
32 |
2232 Reinventing
The advancements in the field of information technology (IT)
has offered enormous prospect for transforming service
provision and widened citizens expectations for more efficient
and responsive delivery of public services This has also put
pressures on the government to reinvent itself and produce
innovations in the service delivery systems The Malaysian
government appears to be well ahead of many other
developing countries in terms of emphasizing its significance
and undertaking programs for IT application in the
administration In fact a major feature of the current
administrative reforms in Malaysia is the stress on IT The
Multimedia Super Corridor established in 1996 is seen as a
milestone in the development of IT application in all areas
including the government Subsequently the government
initiated an E-Government scheme seeking to dramatically
enhance the performance and quality of public services by
harnessing IT and multi-media (GOM 2000 Karim and Khalid
2003)
2233 Debureaucracy
Redesign of the governmental processes was essential in order
to achieve dramatic improvements in service delivery Two
important studies initiated by the government in the early 1990s
led to the introduction of major revision in procedural matters of
the business of the government Public agencies in general
have been asked to review the existing ways of doing things in
order to reduce red-tape and expedite the delivery of services
and to take appropriate actions to ease regulations and
procedures for the benefit of their clients (Sarji 1996)
| 33
23 PHASE III ndash
Projects planning privatization amp public enterprise
231 Projects Planning
In 1970rsquos developing nations were all over the world rushed to secure foreign
aides in every shape and figure There were active roles by international
financial institutions in providing funds for developing nations in project
planning This was due to the favourable economic achievements in the West
and savings into financial institutions skyrocketed with unprecedented high
since World War II Financial experts in those countries had suggested that
these institutions provide long terms and low interest rate loans to developing
nations to help them with their development agenda One of the main
requirements for such loans was that recipient countries need to set up a
comprehensive project planning and appraisal system (Rondinelli 1985)
The objective of project planning was that only feasible projects can
determine the recipients ability to service their loans By this time recipient
countries still lacked experience and expertise especially in high technological
skills and know ndash how Foreign experts were brought in and they paid from the
loan Direct intervention from foreign organization and even their
governments were very difficult to curtail and in some instances their
involvement exceeded beyond the limits Failure to pay back loans made few
poor countries indebted to the rich countries not only in terms of money but in
terms of political authority as well
Governments of developing nations much tensed with such development but
they were tight up with procedures and requirements Project appraisals also
determined by fund providers Although officials from the recipient countries
were also involved they did not have the knowledge to perform project
assessment on their own Management training became a very important
avenue for the officials to upgrade their knowledge and to learn from the
foreign experts (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
A good and effective project planning approaches however had tremendous
effect on economic growth due to superb infrastructure development
especially in the urban area Urbanization centred on the capital of states and
earmarked areas for administration culture and commerce
34 |
Urbanization is widely accepted as part of the development process
Arguably however are the positive and negative consequences of that
process where much literature has focused on the latter in many developing
countries Diffusion of urbanization in Malaysia has contributed to the general
improvements of the living environment through the provision of infrastructure
and services such as conventional housing water and electricity supplies
sanitation sewerage transport and telecommunications and so forth
232 Privatization
The government has to provide all the infrastructure and accommodation for
the country including road electricity water supply and building and industrial
facilities This is because the private sector in the country during that time did
not have enough capital to finance the development projects The private
sectors need assistance from the government to implement huge projects
However the private sector slowly starting to take over the function of the
government to develop the country by sharing the burden to finance the
development project with the government due to the strong government
policies protecting local business endeavour The responsibility to develop the
country slowly goes to the private sector and multinational corporate agency
These open the opportunity for the privatization and corporation between the
public sector and private sector
Thus this would allow the government to reduce its stakes in some projects
and releasing public funds for other purposes The burden of developing
certain projects gradually shifted to private companies This initiative had
widely opened the propensity to privatization and joint venture efforts between
the government and the private sector
This scenario is seeing in countries such as Singapore Taiwan South Korea
Hong Kong Brazil and Malaysia The development that shared between the
government and private sector would allow the government to reduce its
stakes in those projects and cutting expenses
| 35
The Privatization Policy was introduced on the march 1983 by Tun Dr
Mahathir Bin Mohamed after the announcement of the Malaysia Incorporated
Policy in 25th February 1983 Privatization policy simply means the transfer of
property or responsibility from the public sector (government) to the private
sector (business) Given the resource constraints the government has
decided that it will facilitate the private sector to play the aggressive role in the
future economic development of the country It is therefore apparent to the
civil servants that to achieve this objective a new management culture is
needed Quick reactions and decisions are imperative and in fact critical to
enable the private enterprises to be competitive on a global scale
Privatization was seen to be the means of stimulating and improving the
overall efficiency of the economy Privatization will not only relieve the
government of the financial and administrative burden but also improve the
efficiency and increase the productivity of the services It will also stimulate
private entrepreneurship and investment thus accelerating the rate of growth
of the economy and able to reduce the size and presence of the public sector
with the monopolistic tendencies in the economy and help to meet the
objectives of the National Development Policy
The objectives are to reduce the government financial and administrative
burden The scope of government is wide They cannot cover all the aspects
in the Malaysia So the main objective for the government is to reduce their
burden in term of financial and administrative Through this policy the
government transferred some of the property responsibility and burden to the
private sector So as a result the allocation of budget can be saved and use
for other aspect Second is to create more opportunity for the Bumiputras to
established private corporations By giving more chances to the private
sector the government will be able create the opportunity job for the people
especially bumiputras to establish and join the private corporation It also will
encourage them to increase their economic level for more growth and can
compete with other races Other objective is to increase efficiency in dividing
our natural resources However the private sector has more expertise
compare to the public sector They have many professional that expert in the
particular fields So the implementing of privatization policy can manage the
natural resources more efficient and systematic Telekom Malaysia and
Tenaga Nasional for instance
36 |
Government would select an appropriate agencies that deemed profitable and
offers for complete privatization or simply engaging in joint-venture projects
with private enterprises The result of privatization is the lowered cost in
government spending and open up opportunity to redistribute the saved
resources to other sectors such as helping the poor community Privatization
involves the transfer of government equities to the private sector The
government selects suitable agencies that deemed profitable and offers for
complete privatization or engaging in joint-venture projects with private
enterprises This program successfully implemented in developed countries
As a result privatization reduces cost in governmentrsquos spending and
expenditure Besides that it gives opportunity for the government to
redistribute the saved resources to help the poor citizens to increase their
standard of living (Mahathir Mohamad 1984)
This policy can be considered as successful and later being example by other
developing countries that amazed with the rapid development in Malaysia
Among the example of agencies or departments that had been successfully
privatized were telecommunications department (now is known as TELEKOM
MALAYSIA BERHAD) national electricity board (now is known as TENAGA
NASIONAL BERHAD) and railway board (now is known as KTMB)(Rozalli
Hashim 2005)
Although these agencies fully privatized because of governmentrsquos interests in
terms of government ownership and budget we can see the successfulness
of the implementation of this policy These agencies transformed into GLC
(Government Link Companies) that operate on their own generate their own
revenues and compete with multi-national company Besides that there are
also GLC that buy shares from overseas company and own many subsidiaries
in foreign countries and within Malaysia For example Telekom Malaysia (TM)
has many subsidiaries in foreign companies such as Indonesia Singapore
Sri Lanka and etcetera This shows the successfulness of privatization of
telecommunication industry in Malaysia
| 37
233 Public enterprise
Development administration was involved largely with the public sector
However efforts to develop nation involves a huge sum of money In 1980s
development administration was involved largely with the public sector
Private sector rarely involved in any debates and discussion regarding
development administration One of the reasons was that private sector in that
time is still struggling in terms of doing business relative to the abilities of their
competitors especially foreign and multi-national companies (Donald JHarris
1999)
The challenges that appear in that time was to find the ways on how to
improve the capabilities of the public and private sector in planning preparing
for the changes in social and economic and to regulate the regulation on how
to improve the efficiency of the administration to achieve fair economic
development for all the citizen (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Recognizing this need the government continues to promote the spirit of
Malaysia Incorporated which introduced in 1983 This policy represents a
new way of approaching the task of national development The fundamental
basis of this approach is that successful national development requires the
public and private sectors to adhere to the perception of the nation as a
corporate business entity jointly owned by both sectors and working in
tandem in pursuit of a common mission
As exemplified by the success of Japan and South Korea there must be the
unity of purpose of government and business Business leaders politicians
and government officials ought to realize that their roles are not mutually
exclusive Unilateral action that affects the well-being of the other would only
breed distrust and contempt
The resulting benefit of this cooperation is higher growth and expansion of the
private sector leading to spin-offs in economic investment expansion and
growth as well as the generation of employment opportunities The increase
in government revenues could then enable the government to finance not only
socio-economic development but also the public administrative machinery
This policy presupposes a changing role for the public sector from the
traditional role of a regulator to the new role of a service agency planner and
facilitator (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
38 |
24 PHASE IV ndash
Development Management ndash quality management Civil Society
(Responsible individuals and NGOs) deregulation
administrative achievements in developing countries
241 Quality Management
The quality movement became further intensified and strengthened when a
comprehensive award system was introduced in an attempt to institutionalize
the culture of excellence in the public service This policy has become the
driving force behind the systematic and continuous efforts by public agencies
to upgrade in terms of quality and innovative ways and means to better serve
their customers While the implementation of such innovations has already
marked the beginning of quality management in the public service further
inroads have been made with the adoption of internationally recognized ISO
9000 series in 1996 and the benchmarking programs in 1999 The
government agencies are required to examine relevant best practices by a
benchmarking partner and seek ways and means to adopt and improve upon
their applications in their own organizations (Sarji 1996)
242 Civil Society
Civil society defined as the sphere of institutions organisations and
individuals located between the family state and market in which people
associate voluntarily to advance common interests (Moten 2008)
Larry Diamond 1994 defines it as the realm of organised social life that is
voluntary (largely) self generating self supporting and autonomous from the
state and bound by a legal order or set of shared rulesrdquo
Civil society organisations in Malaysia have expanded considerably since
independence and particularly since the 1980s In 1957 after independence
there were 1741 organisations registered with the Registrar of Societies By
1996 this number had increased to 28 219 As of December 31 1998 there
were 29 574 registered societies in the country with 56 626 branches all
over the country (New Sunday Times February 21 1999 Moten 2008)
| 39
This increase indicates changing attitudes in Malaysian society in responding
to their socio-political needs and responsibilities by relying more and more on
collective ideas and actions and not just expecting governmental leadership or
familial support In general associations can be categorised as environmental
groups consumer groups human rights groups development groups and
womenrsquos group Among the major actors are Aliran Consumersrsquo Association
of Pulau Pinang (CAP) Federation of Malaysian Consumersrsquo Association
(FOMCA) and many more others On issues like drug rehabilitation juvenile
delinquency youth and child development or welfare policies the government
has enthusiastically co-operated with civil associations to promote
development (Moten 2008)
These cooperation is very important as the roles and responsibilities fulfil by
these civil organisations to some extent had voluntarily helped to reduce
social problems which at the same time reduces government burden to
handle these problems Thus human capital and expenditure of the
government can be channelled to other efforts of development Pengasih is
one of the examples of an outstanding civil organisation that is cooperating
hand in hand to help the drug addicts to register voluntarily in this
rehabilitation centre So does Pernim that is helping HIV positive AIDS
children
40 |
| 41
243 Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and
regulations that constrain the operation of market forces Deregulation does
not mean elimination of laws against fraud or property rights but eliminating or
reducing government control of how business is done thereby moving toward
a more laissez-faire free market
It is different from liberalization where more players enter in the market but
continues the regulation and guarantee of consumer rights and maximum and
minimum prices (httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
Deregulation is different from liberalization because a liberalized market while
often having fewer and simpler regulations can also have regulations to
increase efficiency and protect consumers rights one example being anti-
monopoly legislation However the terms are often used interchangeably
within deregulatedliberalized industries
A parallel development with deregulation has been organized ongoing
programs to review regulatory initiatives with a view to minimizing simplifying
and making more cost effective regulations
(httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
The 1998 Malaysian Budget was unveiled on 17 October 1997 a major focus
was placed on reducing the current account deficit through inter alias a
package of measures aimed at reducing imports and increasing exports of
goods and services At the same time the Government re-emphasized its
commitment to deregulation and liberalization particularly in the financial
sector measures were introduced to extend foreign access to real estate
purchases and develop the capital market and Malaysias commitment to the
WTO financial services negotiations was reaffirmed with particular reference
to liberalization of the insurance and brokerage industries
(httpwwwwtoorgenglishtratop_etpr_etp67_ehtm)
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
22 |
| 23
20 HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION
The period from 1957 through 1980 in the development of Malaysia is characterizes by
institution building proliferation of public enterprises and dominant role of government
agencies Policies related to programs for better accessibility to education better
social welfare benefits equitable distribution of economic cake and social services
improved contribution of agricultural sector to the economy and planned diversification
of the nations industrial base remained important features of the governments long-
term plan
Development in 1950s the government focused was on agriculture Agriculture was
one of the important economic sources for the country then Most of the Malays in
1950 lived in rural areas and their income depended on agriculture During this period
the agricultural policy designed to serve primarily the needs of British colonial rule with
a purposive neglect of the rural sector While the British companies projected into
plantation agriculture largely rubber and other commercial produce agriculture the
local person which is Malays remained largely in subsistence and smallholder
agriculture (httpeconupmedumy)
The neglected rural economy in general became involutes incomes were very low
because output and prices were low output was low because of poor traditional
production techniques and low income led to a lower standard of welfare This
scenario considered as the legacy of the British colonial agricultural policy became
the basis that shaped Malaysia rural development policy after independence In
addition development of agriculture also later helps the government to improve and
implement the objectives and goals of the government
In Malaysia rigorous reform made in 1967 the first time under the efforts of the late
Tun Abdul Razak The reform made with a purpose to solve numerous problems within
the nationrsquos public administration especially to expedite the implementation of
development programs
In the 1970s Malaysia began to imitate the four Asian Tiger economies (Republic of
Korea (South Korea) Republic of China (Taiwan) then British Crown Colony of Hong
Kong and the Republic of Singapore) and committed itself to a transition from being
reliant on mining and agriculture to an economy that depends more on manufacturing
With Japanese investment heavy industries flourished and in a matter of years
Malaysian exports became the countrys primary growth engine
24 |
Development administration effort in 1980rsquos is the most important and crucial effort
made by the government because it is the beginning to develop a modern country
During this era there are many changes made by the government to develop this
country effectively Efforts in 1980rsquos also considered as the most important step in the
development of the country as in these years we see that the private sector is being
encouraged by the government to be involve in the development administration
through privatization and corporation policy Besides that the government also try to
improve the public sector although it did not been clearly seen in these years There
are several efforts made by the government to improve development administration in
the country Among the efforts are improving the capacity of public and private
institutions privatization policy distribution policies the values of responsiveness and
accountability and decentralization of developments projects (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
21 PHASE I ndash
Instillation Of Western Administrative And Management
Techniques Into Developing Countries
Development Administration proponents focused on importing western public
management techniques into the developing nations Most scholars reviewed back the
indoctrination of public administration following the Weberian tradition
The goal of this instillation was to establish a bureaucracy that is rational free from
political interference efficient and following the ideal-type Weberian tradition
(Rondinelli 1983)
Based on Weberian Tradition
Principles introduced by a famous German sociologist Max Weber (1864
ndash 1920)
(a) Positions determined by hierarchy
(b) Positions filled in based on merit candidates appointed
(c) Staff paid with substantial wages and with provision of pension
(d) Staff subjected to control and set up systematic discipline
| 25
These are some problems of incompatibility This problem occurred due
to differences in culture values financial strength that hinder the
successful instillation of western management techniques
What goes well in the western do not necessarily goes well in the east Upon realizing
the incompatibility problems development administration scholars responsively
modified their agenda Strong pressure exerted upon the civil service to increase its
performance and play a developmental role
The successful general election of 1964 the Alliance Government sought to fulfil its
promises of increasing the welfare of the citizens and raising the standard of living of
the masses It showed however that the burdens the first time in the bureaucracy
asked to shoulder since history of the Independence had increased more rapidly than
public service their capabilities
Government of that a deliberate Malaysia obtained the services of a team of
consultants to undertake a review of the public made to study administration (Abdullah
Sanusi Ahmad 1994) This was the first time in the administrative history of the public
service that a deliberate system of the attempt made to study the administrative
country with systems of the country with a view to suggesting a view to reforms and
innovations
The main objective of suggesting the study was to achieve efficiency and
administrative reforms and leadership in the public service to meet the needs of
innovations The Report recommended improving administrative systems by speeding
government action reducing costs and improving the quality of service (Abdullah
Sanusi Ahmad 1994)
26 |
22 PHASE II ndash
Political modernization institution building and administrative
reform (including reorganization reinventing the government
and debureaucracy)
221 Political modernization
The ability of a political system to produce new behaviours and organizations
that changes in demands over time Political stability was a pre-requisite for
the successful implementation of development programs Efforts to establish
political culture emphasized on peoplersquos participation Also to a
governmentrsquos efforts to carry out programs designed to reshape its physical
human and cultural environment and to also enlarge governmentrsquos capacity
to engage in such programs In virtually all governments the action arm the
main instrument for program implementation is the public bureaucracy Not
only that bureaucrats do exercise political functions but that they and that a
significant degree of bureaucratic power is functionally requisite for the
organization of a developed system of government
However in Malaysia at that time in the 1960s countries vastly ruled and
administered by political elite Polarization of society based on status and
race was apparent (elite v the mass) Political democracy is available but
controlled by the ruling elite this is due to lack of education and opportunity for
political participation involvement of the public There was no distinction
between policy formulation and implementation which is against the
dichotomy of policy and administration Even though democratic political
culture had flourished political participation controlled and in some places
suppressed by the government
The civil service was entrusted with the mammoth task of implementing the
five-year economic plans The government effort contributed to the
remarkable performance of the economy However the inequitable distribution
of the wealth among the major ethnic groups resulted in a racial turmoil in
1969 that almost became catastrophic Consequently the New Economic
Policy (NEP) was formulated and implemented in 1970 which necessitated
an even bigger role for the government in terms of its size involvement and
| 27
expenditure This was done to ensure the successful implementation of
programs for poverty eradication and restructuring of society the two primary
objectives of the policy Measures were taken to upgrade the planning and
implementation capabilities of the government so that the plans would be
executed without any serious shortfall Administrative reform was on the
agenda of among leaders in the developing nations for at least four decades
since 1960s
222 Institution Building
Institution Building amp Project Planning were picked as strategies to further
guide the government of developing countries during the first part of the 70s
(Rondinelli 1985)
Institution defined as procedures morale norms and values that are
supposed to control onersquos behavior (Van Arkardie 1990)
In the context of development administration institution defined as
organizations such as government agencies public enterprises banks the
arm forces and hospitals (Van Arkardie 1990 Van Rennin and Waisfisz
1988)
Milton Esman (1972) defines institution building as the process of planning
structuring and guiding new and restructured organizations As a result
three initiatives introduced that is closure of unnecessary organizations
creation of new organizations restructured existing organizations with new
goals and objectives
Government organizations underwent strenuous re-definition exercises
According to economists (especially development economists) institution can
be defined as procedures morale norms and values that are supposed to
control onersquos behaviour (Van Akadie 1990 Feeny 1988 North 1981)
Ruttan and Hayami (1984) define institution from this perspective as
procedures that are applicable to a given society or to a group of people that
is constituted into perception which is shared among members of that
particular group or society (Van Arkdie 1990)
28 |
In other words institution refers to ldquoinstrumentsrdquo that are available within
society or a nation that actually control the behaviour of the people in terms of
norms and values Society in this context does not only refer to individuals in
their groups but it also comprises of other economic elements such as the
government private sector consumer and all the transactions carried out
between them (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
In this context of development administration institution can be defined as
organization such as government agencies public enterprises banks the arm
forces and hospitals (Van Arkdie 1990 Van Rennin and Waisfisz 1988)
Thus in terms of institution building institution seeing from a micro and macro
perspectives Government institutions referred as the macro level because it
includes the whole government machinery especially those that are functional
in formulating policies At the micro level institutions referred to as
departments agencies and other governmental bodies that are involved in the
implementation policies (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Second Malaysia Plan incorporated a National Rural Development Plan
aimed at reorganizing and mobilizing institutions and efforts toward
modernizing and developing the rural sector At the district or local level the
District Rural Development Committee implemented monitored and reviewed
as the rural development projects in what known as the Rural Economic
Development (RED Book) Plan (Fatimah Mohd Arshad 1997) The projects
focused on building basic infrastructures and institutions such as RISDA
MARA Koperasi Bank Pertanian Bank Pembangunan and so on The
infrastructural approach intended to provide linkages to the rural economy
provide rural employment and raise productivity and incomes of rural peasant
The social and economic infrastructures provided were rural roads drainage
and irrigation facilities basic amenities like rural electricity water school
health community and religious centres and others The rural institution such
as MARDI established to facilitate production and marketing functions and
Koperasi Desa also to provide the credit need of the rural peasants These
infrastructures and institutions expected to generate rural employment
besides raising productivity incomes socio-economic status of the rural
population (Fatimah Mohd Arshad 1997)
| 29
223 Administrative Reform
Administrative reform simply means a transformation of
administrative machinery taking up a new form new goals and
objectives (Rondinelli 1985)
The term administrative reform has acquired multiple views but no doubt
there is consensus that the outcome of administrative reforms should result in
efficient and effective public sector service structures improvement of public
sector operational performance and economic development (Caiden 1991)
Difficulty in administering reform is that policies that threatened the livelihood
of political actors including bureaucrats with stakes avoided Evidence of this
can be seen in the policies of deregulation financial reform and privatization
due to the political and economic clout In other words successful
implementation required the cooperation of the very political actors who were
the targets of reform In developing countries the distinction between
politicians and bureaucrats tends to be blurred and an alliance between the
ruling elite and high-ranking officials has often led to an oligarchy of power
and privilege (Seidman and Seidman 1994)
In the case of Malaysia the post-independence period involved the extensive
expansion of state functions For instance economic management programs
and projects launched and new public organizations were created
Mobilization programs were also established and variously labelled nation-
building programs The main goal of course is to involve the citizens into the
mainstream of economic and social development Public institutions and
bureaucracy were the centre-piece of these new endeavours Doctrines of
guardianship via political parties and the executive dominated the
management of public affairs largely to the exclusion of public participation
First step taken by Tun Abdul Razak was to transform completely the colonial-
based bureaucracy that filled with weaknesses such as corruption and red
tapes Moreover the problems of the attitudes of the public servants at that
time which he quoted as the ldquoSeven Deadly Sinsrdquo
30 |
The 1967 reformation adopted institution-building approach to elevate
bureaucratic effectiveness (Esman 1972) The role of public service and
administration has significantly changed over the years in line with the
countrys economic growth and development Its mission objectives and
functions had undergone various degrees of reform especially under the
explicit and implicit influences of changes in public policies development
strategies and initiatives These reforms took place in two distinctive phases
namely the period of rapid economic growth in 1960s and 1970s which
required development administration and institution building and the period
from 1980 to the present that necessitated the consolidation and qualitative
upgrading of the government machinery The success of Malaysias
development programs to a significant extent can be attributed as not only to
the efficient and effective functioning of the economic system but also to the
stabilizing and integrative functioning of the countrys public administration
system
| 31
The First Malaysia Plan thus had to address the problem of unemployment
which reared its head for the first time in the 1960s despite encouraging
growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) employment rates had not
grown at a commensurate pace In addition there was also the problem of
ethnic specialization in certain professions with the Chinese dominating the
marketplace the Malays dominating the civil service and the Indians largely
participating in specialist professions such as law The income disparity
between rural and urban areas that the Second Malayan Five Year Plan had
sought to resolve not satisfactorily eliminated Therefore what the
government does is to increase the level of employment and to give chances
to the unemployed and make sure that the standard of living becomes well
(httpwwwstategov)
2231 Reorganization
The worldwide recession of 1980s and its consequent effects
on domestic economy left the Malaysia government reduce the
size of its public sector Privatization and organizational
reorganization were among the variety of measures initiated
towards achieving this goal The reorganization measures have
contributed to reducing the size of public bureaucracy and the
financial burden of the government through savings in huge
operating costs and capital expenditure The organizational
reorganization initiated in 1989 aimed at ensuring that the size
of the public service was consistent with its new roles and
functions in the society Between 1992 and 1997 a total of 570
agencies have been reviewed and reorganized with a
considerable reduction in the number of posts (Ahmad Sarji
1996)
32 |
2232 Reinventing
The advancements in the field of information technology (IT)
has offered enormous prospect for transforming service
provision and widened citizens expectations for more efficient
and responsive delivery of public services This has also put
pressures on the government to reinvent itself and produce
innovations in the service delivery systems The Malaysian
government appears to be well ahead of many other
developing countries in terms of emphasizing its significance
and undertaking programs for IT application in the
administration In fact a major feature of the current
administrative reforms in Malaysia is the stress on IT The
Multimedia Super Corridor established in 1996 is seen as a
milestone in the development of IT application in all areas
including the government Subsequently the government
initiated an E-Government scheme seeking to dramatically
enhance the performance and quality of public services by
harnessing IT and multi-media (GOM 2000 Karim and Khalid
2003)
2233 Debureaucracy
Redesign of the governmental processes was essential in order
to achieve dramatic improvements in service delivery Two
important studies initiated by the government in the early 1990s
led to the introduction of major revision in procedural matters of
the business of the government Public agencies in general
have been asked to review the existing ways of doing things in
order to reduce red-tape and expedite the delivery of services
and to take appropriate actions to ease regulations and
procedures for the benefit of their clients (Sarji 1996)
| 33
23 PHASE III ndash
Projects planning privatization amp public enterprise
231 Projects Planning
In 1970rsquos developing nations were all over the world rushed to secure foreign
aides in every shape and figure There were active roles by international
financial institutions in providing funds for developing nations in project
planning This was due to the favourable economic achievements in the West
and savings into financial institutions skyrocketed with unprecedented high
since World War II Financial experts in those countries had suggested that
these institutions provide long terms and low interest rate loans to developing
nations to help them with their development agenda One of the main
requirements for such loans was that recipient countries need to set up a
comprehensive project planning and appraisal system (Rondinelli 1985)
The objective of project planning was that only feasible projects can
determine the recipients ability to service their loans By this time recipient
countries still lacked experience and expertise especially in high technological
skills and know ndash how Foreign experts were brought in and they paid from the
loan Direct intervention from foreign organization and even their
governments were very difficult to curtail and in some instances their
involvement exceeded beyond the limits Failure to pay back loans made few
poor countries indebted to the rich countries not only in terms of money but in
terms of political authority as well
Governments of developing nations much tensed with such development but
they were tight up with procedures and requirements Project appraisals also
determined by fund providers Although officials from the recipient countries
were also involved they did not have the knowledge to perform project
assessment on their own Management training became a very important
avenue for the officials to upgrade their knowledge and to learn from the
foreign experts (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
A good and effective project planning approaches however had tremendous
effect on economic growth due to superb infrastructure development
especially in the urban area Urbanization centred on the capital of states and
earmarked areas for administration culture and commerce
34 |
Urbanization is widely accepted as part of the development process
Arguably however are the positive and negative consequences of that
process where much literature has focused on the latter in many developing
countries Diffusion of urbanization in Malaysia has contributed to the general
improvements of the living environment through the provision of infrastructure
and services such as conventional housing water and electricity supplies
sanitation sewerage transport and telecommunications and so forth
232 Privatization
The government has to provide all the infrastructure and accommodation for
the country including road electricity water supply and building and industrial
facilities This is because the private sector in the country during that time did
not have enough capital to finance the development projects The private
sectors need assistance from the government to implement huge projects
However the private sector slowly starting to take over the function of the
government to develop the country by sharing the burden to finance the
development project with the government due to the strong government
policies protecting local business endeavour The responsibility to develop the
country slowly goes to the private sector and multinational corporate agency
These open the opportunity for the privatization and corporation between the
public sector and private sector
Thus this would allow the government to reduce its stakes in some projects
and releasing public funds for other purposes The burden of developing
certain projects gradually shifted to private companies This initiative had
widely opened the propensity to privatization and joint venture efforts between
the government and the private sector
This scenario is seeing in countries such as Singapore Taiwan South Korea
Hong Kong Brazil and Malaysia The development that shared between the
government and private sector would allow the government to reduce its
stakes in those projects and cutting expenses
| 35
The Privatization Policy was introduced on the march 1983 by Tun Dr
Mahathir Bin Mohamed after the announcement of the Malaysia Incorporated
Policy in 25th February 1983 Privatization policy simply means the transfer of
property or responsibility from the public sector (government) to the private
sector (business) Given the resource constraints the government has
decided that it will facilitate the private sector to play the aggressive role in the
future economic development of the country It is therefore apparent to the
civil servants that to achieve this objective a new management culture is
needed Quick reactions and decisions are imperative and in fact critical to
enable the private enterprises to be competitive on a global scale
Privatization was seen to be the means of stimulating and improving the
overall efficiency of the economy Privatization will not only relieve the
government of the financial and administrative burden but also improve the
efficiency and increase the productivity of the services It will also stimulate
private entrepreneurship and investment thus accelerating the rate of growth
of the economy and able to reduce the size and presence of the public sector
with the monopolistic tendencies in the economy and help to meet the
objectives of the National Development Policy
The objectives are to reduce the government financial and administrative
burden The scope of government is wide They cannot cover all the aspects
in the Malaysia So the main objective for the government is to reduce their
burden in term of financial and administrative Through this policy the
government transferred some of the property responsibility and burden to the
private sector So as a result the allocation of budget can be saved and use
for other aspect Second is to create more opportunity for the Bumiputras to
established private corporations By giving more chances to the private
sector the government will be able create the opportunity job for the people
especially bumiputras to establish and join the private corporation It also will
encourage them to increase their economic level for more growth and can
compete with other races Other objective is to increase efficiency in dividing
our natural resources However the private sector has more expertise
compare to the public sector They have many professional that expert in the
particular fields So the implementing of privatization policy can manage the
natural resources more efficient and systematic Telekom Malaysia and
Tenaga Nasional for instance
36 |
Government would select an appropriate agencies that deemed profitable and
offers for complete privatization or simply engaging in joint-venture projects
with private enterprises The result of privatization is the lowered cost in
government spending and open up opportunity to redistribute the saved
resources to other sectors such as helping the poor community Privatization
involves the transfer of government equities to the private sector The
government selects suitable agencies that deemed profitable and offers for
complete privatization or engaging in joint-venture projects with private
enterprises This program successfully implemented in developed countries
As a result privatization reduces cost in governmentrsquos spending and
expenditure Besides that it gives opportunity for the government to
redistribute the saved resources to help the poor citizens to increase their
standard of living (Mahathir Mohamad 1984)
This policy can be considered as successful and later being example by other
developing countries that amazed with the rapid development in Malaysia
Among the example of agencies or departments that had been successfully
privatized were telecommunications department (now is known as TELEKOM
MALAYSIA BERHAD) national electricity board (now is known as TENAGA
NASIONAL BERHAD) and railway board (now is known as KTMB)(Rozalli
Hashim 2005)
Although these agencies fully privatized because of governmentrsquos interests in
terms of government ownership and budget we can see the successfulness
of the implementation of this policy These agencies transformed into GLC
(Government Link Companies) that operate on their own generate their own
revenues and compete with multi-national company Besides that there are
also GLC that buy shares from overseas company and own many subsidiaries
in foreign countries and within Malaysia For example Telekom Malaysia (TM)
has many subsidiaries in foreign companies such as Indonesia Singapore
Sri Lanka and etcetera This shows the successfulness of privatization of
telecommunication industry in Malaysia
| 37
233 Public enterprise
Development administration was involved largely with the public sector
However efforts to develop nation involves a huge sum of money In 1980s
development administration was involved largely with the public sector
Private sector rarely involved in any debates and discussion regarding
development administration One of the reasons was that private sector in that
time is still struggling in terms of doing business relative to the abilities of their
competitors especially foreign and multi-national companies (Donald JHarris
1999)
The challenges that appear in that time was to find the ways on how to
improve the capabilities of the public and private sector in planning preparing
for the changes in social and economic and to regulate the regulation on how
to improve the efficiency of the administration to achieve fair economic
development for all the citizen (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Recognizing this need the government continues to promote the spirit of
Malaysia Incorporated which introduced in 1983 This policy represents a
new way of approaching the task of national development The fundamental
basis of this approach is that successful national development requires the
public and private sectors to adhere to the perception of the nation as a
corporate business entity jointly owned by both sectors and working in
tandem in pursuit of a common mission
As exemplified by the success of Japan and South Korea there must be the
unity of purpose of government and business Business leaders politicians
and government officials ought to realize that their roles are not mutually
exclusive Unilateral action that affects the well-being of the other would only
breed distrust and contempt
The resulting benefit of this cooperation is higher growth and expansion of the
private sector leading to spin-offs in economic investment expansion and
growth as well as the generation of employment opportunities The increase
in government revenues could then enable the government to finance not only
socio-economic development but also the public administrative machinery
This policy presupposes a changing role for the public sector from the
traditional role of a regulator to the new role of a service agency planner and
facilitator (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
38 |
24 PHASE IV ndash
Development Management ndash quality management Civil Society
(Responsible individuals and NGOs) deregulation
administrative achievements in developing countries
241 Quality Management
The quality movement became further intensified and strengthened when a
comprehensive award system was introduced in an attempt to institutionalize
the culture of excellence in the public service This policy has become the
driving force behind the systematic and continuous efforts by public agencies
to upgrade in terms of quality and innovative ways and means to better serve
their customers While the implementation of such innovations has already
marked the beginning of quality management in the public service further
inroads have been made with the adoption of internationally recognized ISO
9000 series in 1996 and the benchmarking programs in 1999 The
government agencies are required to examine relevant best practices by a
benchmarking partner and seek ways and means to adopt and improve upon
their applications in their own organizations (Sarji 1996)
242 Civil Society
Civil society defined as the sphere of institutions organisations and
individuals located between the family state and market in which people
associate voluntarily to advance common interests (Moten 2008)
Larry Diamond 1994 defines it as the realm of organised social life that is
voluntary (largely) self generating self supporting and autonomous from the
state and bound by a legal order or set of shared rulesrdquo
Civil society organisations in Malaysia have expanded considerably since
independence and particularly since the 1980s In 1957 after independence
there were 1741 organisations registered with the Registrar of Societies By
1996 this number had increased to 28 219 As of December 31 1998 there
were 29 574 registered societies in the country with 56 626 branches all
over the country (New Sunday Times February 21 1999 Moten 2008)
| 39
This increase indicates changing attitudes in Malaysian society in responding
to their socio-political needs and responsibilities by relying more and more on
collective ideas and actions and not just expecting governmental leadership or
familial support In general associations can be categorised as environmental
groups consumer groups human rights groups development groups and
womenrsquos group Among the major actors are Aliran Consumersrsquo Association
of Pulau Pinang (CAP) Federation of Malaysian Consumersrsquo Association
(FOMCA) and many more others On issues like drug rehabilitation juvenile
delinquency youth and child development or welfare policies the government
has enthusiastically co-operated with civil associations to promote
development (Moten 2008)
These cooperation is very important as the roles and responsibilities fulfil by
these civil organisations to some extent had voluntarily helped to reduce
social problems which at the same time reduces government burden to
handle these problems Thus human capital and expenditure of the
government can be channelled to other efforts of development Pengasih is
one of the examples of an outstanding civil organisation that is cooperating
hand in hand to help the drug addicts to register voluntarily in this
rehabilitation centre So does Pernim that is helping HIV positive AIDS
children
40 |
| 41
243 Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and
regulations that constrain the operation of market forces Deregulation does
not mean elimination of laws against fraud or property rights but eliminating or
reducing government control of how business is done thereby moving toward
a more laissez-faire free market
It is different from liberalization where more players enter in the market but
continues the regulation and guarantee of consumer rights and maximum and
minimum prices (httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
Deregulation is different from liberalization because a liberalized market while
often having fewer and simpler regulations can also have regulations to
increase efficiency and protect consumers rights one example being anti-
monopoly legislation However the terms are often used interchangeably
within deregulatedliberalized industries
A parallel development with deregulation has been organized ongoing
programs to review regulatory initiatives with a view to minimizing simplifying
and making more cost effective regulations
(httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
The 1998 Malaysian Budget was unveiled on 17 October 1997 a major focus
was placed on reducing the current account deficit through inter alias a
package of measures aimed at reducing imports and increasing exports of
goods and services At the same time the Government re-emphasized its
commitment to deregulation and liberalization particularly in the financial
sector measures were introduced to extend foreign access to real estate
purchases and develop the capital market and Malaysias commitment to the
WTO financial services negotiations was reaffirmed with particular reference
to liberalization of the insurance and brokerage industries
(httpwwwwtoorgenglishtratop_etpr_etp67_ehtm)
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
| 23
20 HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION
The period from 1957 through 1980 in the development of Malaysia is characterizes by
institution building proliferation of public enterprises and dominant role of government
agencies Policies related to programs for better accessibility to education better
social welfare benefits equitable distribution of economic cake and social services
improved contribution of agricultural sector to the economy and planned diversification
of the nations industrial base remained important features of the governments long-
term plan
Development in 1950s the government focused was on agriculture Agriculture was
one of the important economic sources for the country then Most of the Malays in
1950 lived in rural areas and their income depended on agriculture During this period
the agricultural policy designed to serve primarily the needs of British colonial rule with
a purposive neglect of the rural sector While the British companies projected into
plantation agriculture largely rubber and other commercial produce agriculture the
local person which is Malays remained largely in subsistence and smallholder
agriculture (httpeconupmedumy)
The neglected rural economy in general became involutes incomes were very low
because output and prices were low output was low because of poor traditional
production techniques and low income led to a lower standard of welfare This
scenario considered as the legacy of the British colonial agricultural policy became
the basis that shaped Malaysia rural development policy after independence In
addition development of agriculture also later helps the government to improve and
implement the objectives and goals of the government
In Malaysia rigorous reform made in 1967 the first time under the efforts of the late
Tun Abdul Razak The reform made with a purpose to solve numerous problems within
the nationrsquos public administration especially to expedite the implementation of
development programs
In the 1970s Malaysia began to imitate the four Asian Tiger economies (Republic of
Korea (South Korea) Republic of China (Taiwan) then British Crown Colony of Hong
Kong and the Republic of Singapore) and committed itself to a transition from being
reliant on mining and agriculture to an economy that depends more on manufacturing
With Japanese investment heavy industries flourished and in a matter of years
Malaysian exports became the countrys primary growth engine
24 |
Development administration effort in 1980rsquos is the most important and crucial effort
made by the government because it is the beginning to develop a modern country
During this era there are many changes made by the government to develop this
country effectively Efforts in 1980rsquos also considered as the most important step in the
development of the country as in these years we see that the private sector is being
encouraged by the government to be involve in the development administration
through privatization and corporation policy Besides that the government also try to
improve the public sector although it did not been clearly seen in these years There
are several efforts made by the government to improve development administration in
the country Among the efforts are improving the capacity of public and private
institutions privatization policy distribution policies the values of responsiveness and
accountability and decentralization of developments projects (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
21 PHASE I ndash
Instillation Of Western Administrative And Management
Techniques Into Developing Countries
Development Administration proponents focused on importing western public
management techniques into the developing nations Most scholars reviewed back the
indoctrination of public administration following the Weberian tradition
The goal of this instillation was to establish a bureaucracy that is rational free from
political interference efficient and following the ideal-type Weberian tradition
(Rondinelli 1983)
Based on Weberian Tradition
Principles introduced by a famous German sociologist Max Weber (1864
ndash 1920)
(a) Positions determined by hierarchy
(b) Positions filled in based on merit candidates appointed
(c) Staff paid with substantial wages and with provision of pension
(d) Staff subjected to control and set up systematic discipline
| 25
These are some problems of incompatibility This problem occurred due
to differences in culture values financial strength that hinder the
successful instillation of western management techniques
What goes well in the western do not necessarily goes well in the east Upon realizing
the incompatibility problems development administration scholars responsively
modified their agenda Strong pressure exerted upon the civil service to increase its
performance and play a developmental role
The successful general election of 1964 the Alliance Government sought to fulfil its
promises of increasing the welfare of the citizens and raising the standard of living of
the masses It showed however that the burdens the first time in the bureaucracy
asked to shoulder since history of the Independence had increased more rapidly than
public service their capabilities
Government of that a deliberate Malaysia obtained the services of a team of
consultants to undertake a review of the public made to study administration (Abdullah
Sanusi Ahmad 1994) This was the first time in the administrative history of the public
service that a deliberate system of the attempt made to study the administrative
country with systems of the country with a view to suggesting a view to reforms and
innovations
The main objective of suggesting the study was to achieve efficiency and
administrative reforms and leadership in the public service to meet the needs of
innovations The Report recommended improving administrative systems by speeding
government action reducing costs and improving the quality of service (Abdullah
Sanusi Ahmad 1994)
26 |
22 PHASE II ndash
Political modernization institution building and administrative
reform (including reorganization reinventing the government
and debureaucracy)
221 Political modernization
The ability of a political system to produce new behaviours and organizations
that changes in demands over time Political stability was a pre-requisite for
the successful implementation of development programs Efforts to establish
political culture emphasized on peoplersquos participation Also to a
governmentrsquos efforts to carry out programs designed to reshape its physical
human and cultural environment and to also enlarge governmentrsquos capacity
to engage in such programs In virtually all governments the action arm the
main instrument for program implementation is the public bureaucracy Not
only that bureaucrats do exercise political functions but that they and that a
significant degree of bureaucratic power is functionally requisite for the
organization of a developed system of government
However in Malaysia at that time in the 1960s countries vastly ruled and
administered by political elite Polarization of society based on status and
race was apparent (elite v the mass) Political democracy is available but
controlled by the ruling elite this is due to lack of education and opportunity for
political participation involvement of the public There was no distinction
between policy formulation and implementation which is against the
dichotomy of policy and administration Even though democratic political
culture had flourished political participation controlled and in some places
suppressed by the government
The civil service was entrusted with the mammoth task of implementing the
five-year economic plans The government effort contributed to the
remarkable performance of the economy However the inequitable distribution
of the wealth among the major ethnic groups resulted in a racial turmoil in
1969 that almost became catastrophic Consequently the New Economic
Policy (NEP) was formulated and implemented in 1970 which necessitated
an even bigger role for the government in terms of its size involvement and
| 27
expenditure This was done to ensure the successful implementation of
programs for poverty eradication and restructuring of society the two primary
objectives of the policy Measures were taken to upgrade the planning and
implementation capabilities of the government so that the plans would be
executed without any serious shortfall Administrative reform was on the
agenda of among leaders in the developing nations for at least four decades
since 1960s
222 Institution Building
Institution Building amp Project Planning were picked as strategies to further
guide the government of developing countries during the first part of the 70s
(Rondinelli 1985)
Institution defined as procedures morale norms and values that are
supposed to control onersquos behavior (Van Arkardie 1990)
In the context of development administration institution defined as
organizations such as government agencies public enterprises banks the
arm forces and hospitals (Van Arkardie 1990 Van Rennin and Waisfisz
1988)
Milton Esman (1972) defines institution building as the process of planning
structuring and guiding new and restructured organizations As a result
three initiatives introduced that is closure of unnecessary organizations
creation of new organizations restructured existing organizations with new
goals and objectives
Government organizations underwent strenuous re-definition exercises
According to economists (especially development economists) institution can
be defined as procedures morale norms and values that are supposed to
control onersquos behaviour (Van Akadie 1990 Feeny 1988 North 1981)
Ruttan and Hayami (1984) define institution from this perspective as
procedures that are applicable to a given society or to a group of people that
is constituted into perception which is shared among members of that
particular group or society (Van Arkdie 1990)
28 |
In other words institution refers to ldquoinstrumentsrdquo that are available within
society or a nation that actually control the behaviour of the people in terms of
norms and values Society in this context does not only refer to individuals in
their groups but it also comprises of other economic elements such as the
government private sector consumer and all the transactions carried out
between them (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
In this context of development administration institution can be defined as
organization such as government agencies public enterprises banks the arm
forces and hospitals (Van Arkdie 1990 Van Rennin and Waisfisz 1988)
Thus in terms of institution building institution seeing from a micro and macro
perspectives Government institutions referred as the macro level because it
includes the whole government machinery especially those that are functional
in formulating policies At the micro level institutions referred to as
departments agencies and other governmental bodies that are involved in the
implementation policies (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Second Malaysia Plan incorporated a National Rural Development Plan
aimed at reorganizing and mobilizing institutions and efforts toward
modernizing and developing the rural sector At the district or local level the
District Rural Development Committee implemented monitored and reviewed
as the rural development projects in what known as the Rural Economic
Development (RED Book) Plan (Fatimah Mohd Arshad 1997) The projects
focused on building basic infrastructures and institutions such as RISDA
MARA Koperasi Bank Pertanian Bank Pembangunan and so on The
infrastructural approach intended to provide linkages to the rural economy
provide rural employment and raise productivity and incomes of rural peasant
The social and economic infrastructures provided were rural roads drainage
and irrigation facilities basic amenities like rural electricity water school
health community and religious centres and others The rural institution such
as MARDI established to facilitate production and marketing functions and
Koperasi Desa also to provide the credit need of the rural peasants These
infrastructures and institutions expected to generate rural employment
besides raising productivity incomes socio-economic status of the rural
population (Fatimah Mohd Arshad 1997)
| 29
223 Administrative Reform
Administrative reform simply means a transformation of
administrative machinery taking up a new form new goals and
objectives (Rondinelli 1985)
The term administrative reform has acquired multiple views but no doubt
there is consensus that the outcome of administrative reforms should result in
efficient and effective public sector service structures improvement of public
sector operational performance and economic development (Caiden 1991)
Difficulty in administering reform is that policies that threatened the livelihood
of political actors including bureaucrats with stakes avoided Evidence of this
can be seen in the policies of deregulation financial reform and privatization
due to the political and economic clout In other words successful
implementation required the cooperation of the very political actors who were
the targets of reform In developing countries the distinction between
politicians and bureaucrats tends to be blurred and an alliance between the
ruling elite and high-ranking officials has often led to an oligarchy of power
and privilege (Seidman and Seidman 1994)
In the case of Malaysia the post-independence period involved the extensive
expansion of state functions For instance economic management programs
and projects launched and new public organizations were created
Mobilization programs were also established and variously labelled nation-
building programs The main goal of course is to involve the citizens into the
mainstream of economic and social development Public institutions and
bureaucracy were the centre-piece of these new endeavours Doctrines of
guardianship via political parties and the executive dominated the
management of public affairs largely to the exclusion of public participation
First step taken by Tun Abdul Razak was to transform completely the colonial-
based bureaucracy that filled with weaknesses such as corruption and red
tapes Moreover the problems of the attitudes of the public servants at that
time which he quoted as the ldquoSeven Deadly Sinsrdquo
30 |
The 1967 reformation adopted institution-building approach to elevate
bureaucratic effectiveness (Esman 1972) The role of public service and
administration has significantly changed over the years in line with the
countrys economic growth and development Its mission objectives and
functions had undergone various degrees of reform especially under the
explicit and implicit influences of changes in public policies development
strategies and initiatives These reforms took place in two distinctive phases
namely the period of rapid economic growth in 1960s and 1970s which
required development administration and institution building and the period
from 1980 to the present that necessitated the consolidation and qualitative
upgrading of the government machinery The success of Malaysias
development programs to a significant extent can be attributed as not only to
the efficient and effective functioning of the economic system but also to the
stabilizing and integrative functioning of the countrys public administration
system
| 31
The First Malaysia Plan thus had to address the problem of unemployment
which reared its head for the first time in the 1960s despite encouraging
growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) employment rates had not
grown at a commensurate pace In addition there was also the problem of
ethnic specialization in certain professions with the Chinese dominating the
marketplace the Malays dominating the civil service and the Indians largely
participating in specialist professions such as law The income disparity
between rural and urban areas that the Second Malayan Five Year Plan had
sought to resolve not satisfactorily eliminated Therefore what the
government does is to increase the level of employment and to give chances
to the unemployed and make sure that the standard of living becomes well
(httpwwwstategov)
2231 Reorganization
The worldwide recession of 1980s and its consequent effects
on domestic economy left the Malaysia government reduce the
size of its public sector Privatization and organizational
reorganization were among the variety of measures initiated
towards achieving this goal The reorganization measures have
contributed to reducing the size of public bureaucracy and the
financial burden of the government through savings in huge
operating costs and capital expenditure The organizational
reorganization initiated in 1989 aimed at ensuring that the size
of the public service was consistent with its new roles and
functions in the society Between 1992 and 1997 a total of 570
agencies have been reviewed and reorganized with a
considerable reduction in the number of posts (Ahmad Sarji
1996)
32 |
2232 Reinventing
The advancements in the field of information technology (IT)
has offered enormous prospect for transforming service
provision and widened citizens expectations for more efficient
and responsive delivery of public services This has also put
pressures on the government to reinvent itself and produce
innovations in the service delivery systems The Malaysian
government appears to be well ahead of many other
developing countries in terms of emphasizing its significance
and undertaking programs for IT application in the
administration In fact a major feature of the current
administrative reforms in Malaysia is the stress on IT The
Multimedia Super Corridor established in 1996 is seen as a
milestone in the development of IT application in all areas
including the government Subsequently the government
initiated an E-Government scheme seeking to dramatically
enhance the performance and quality of public services by
harnessing IT and multi-media (GOM 2000 Karim and Khalid
2003)
2233 Debureaucracy
Redesign of the governmental processes was essential in order
to achieve dramatic improvements in service delivery Two
important studies initiated by the government in the early 1990s
led to the introduction of major revision in procedural matters of
the business of the government Public agencies in general
have been asked to review the existing ways of doing things in
order to reduce red-tape and expedite the delivery of services
and to take appropriate actions to ease regulations and
procedures for the benefit of their clients (Sarji 1996)
| 33
23 PHASE III ndash
Projects planning privatization amp public enterprise
231 Projects Planning
In 1970rsquos developing nations were all over the world rushed to secure foreign
aides in every shape and figure There were active roles by international
financial institutions in providing funds for developing nations in project
planning This was due to the favourable economic achievements in the West
and savings into financial institutions skyrocketed with unprecedented high
since World War II Financial experts in those countries had suggested that
these institutions provide long terms and low interest rate loans to developing
nations to help them with their development agenda One of the main
requirements for such loans was that recipient countries need to set up a
comprehensive project planning and appraisal system (Rondinelli 1985)
The objective of project planning was that only feasible projects can
determine the recipients ability to service their loans By this time recipient
countries still lacked experience and expertise especially in high technological
skills and know ndash how Foreign experts were brought in and they paid from the
loan Direct intervention from foreign organization and even their
governments were very difficult to curtail and in some instances their
involvement exceeded beyond the limits Failure to pay back loans made few
poor countries indebted to the rich countries not only in terms of money but in
terms of political authority as well
Governments of developing nations much tensed with such development but
they were tight up with procedures and requirements Project appraisals also
determined by fund providers Although officials from the recipient countries
were also involved they did not have the knowledge to perform project
assessment on their own Management training became a very important
avenue for the officials to upgrade their knowledge and to learn from the
foreign experts (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
A good and effective project planning approaches however had tremendous
effect on economic growth due to superb infrastructure development
especially in the urban area Urbanization centred on the capital of states and
earmarked areas for administration culture and commerce
34 |
Urbanization is widely accepted as part of the development process
Arguably however are the positive and negative consequences of that
process where much literature has focused on the latter in many developing
countries Diffusion of urbanization in Malaysia has contributed to the general
improvements of the living environment through the provision of infrastructure
and services such as conventional housing water and electricity supplies
sanitation sewerage transport and telecommunications and so forth
232 Privatization
The government has to provide all the infrastructure and accommodation for
the country including road electricity water supply and building and industrial
facilities This is because the private sector in the country during that time did
not have enough capital to finance the development projects The private
sectors need assistance from the government to implement huge projects
However the private sector slowly starting to take over the function of the
government to develop the country by sharing the burden to finance the
development project with the government due to the strong government
policies protecting local business endeavour The responsibility to develop the
country slowly goes to the private sector and multinational corporate agency
These open the opportunity for the privatization and corporation between the
public sector and private sector
Thus this would allow the government to reduce its stakes in some projects
and releasing public funds for other purposes The burden of developing
certain projects gradually shifted to private companies This initiative had
widely opened the propensity to privatization and joint venture efforts between
the government and the private sector
This scenario is seeing in countries such as Singapore Taiwan South Korea
Hong Kong Brazil and Malaysia The development that shared between the
government and private sector would allow the government to reduce its
stakes in those projects and cutting expenses
| 35
The Privatization Policy was introduced on the march 1983 by Tun Dr
Mahathir Bin Mohamed after the announcement of the Malaysia Incorporated
Policy in 25th February 1983 Privatization policy simply means the transfer of
property or responsibility from the public sector (government) to the private
sector (business) Given the resource constraints the government has
decided that it will facilitate the private sector to play the aggressive role in the
future economic development of the country It is therefore apparent to the
civil servants that to achieve this objective a new management culture is
needed Quick reactions and decisions are imperative and in fact critical to
enable the private enterprises to be competitive on a global scale
Privatization was seen to be the means of stimulating and improving the
overall efficiency of the economy Privatization will not only relieve the
government of the financial and administrative burden but also improve the
efficiency and increase the productivity of the services It will also stimulate
private entrepreneurship and investment thus accelerating the rate of growth
of the economy and able to reduce the size and presence of the public sector
with the monopolistic tendencies in the economy and help to meet the
objectives of the National Development Policy
The objectives are to reduce the government financial and administrative
burden The scope of government is wide They cannot cover all the aspects
in the Malaysia So the main objective for the government is to reduce their
burden in term of financial and administrative Through this policy the
government transferred some of the property responsibility and burden to the
private sector So as a result the allocation of budget can be saved and use
for other aspect Second is to create more opportunity for the Bumiputras to
established private corporations By giving more chances to the private
sector the government will be able create the opportunity job for the people
especially bumiputras to establish and join the private corporation It also will
encourage them to increase their economic level for more growth and can
compete with other races Other objective is to increase efficiency in dividing
our natural resources However the private sector has more expertise
compare to the public sector They have many professional that expert in the
particular fields So the implementing of privatization policy can manage the
natural resources more efficient and systematic Telekom Malaysia and
Tenaga Nasional for instance
36 |
Government would select an appropriate agencies that deemed profitable and
offers for complete privatization or simply engaging in joint-venture projects
with private enterprises The result of privatization is the lowered cost in
government spending and open up opportunity to redistribute the saved
resources to other sectors such as helping the poor community Privatization
involves the transfer of government equities to the private sector The
government selects suitable agencies that deemed profitable and offers for
complete privatization or engaging in joint-venture projects with private
enterprises This program successfully implemented in developed countries
As a result privatization reduces cost in governmentrsquos spending and
expenditure Besides that it gives opportunity for the government to
redistribute the saved resources to help the poor citizens to increase their
standard of living (Mahathir Mohamad 1984)
This policy can be considered as successful and later being example by other
developing countries that amazed with the rapid development in Malaysia
Among the example of agencies or departments that had been successfully
privatized were telecommunications department (now is known as TELEKOM
MALAYSIA BERHAD) national electricity board (now is known as TENAGA
NASIONAL BERHAD) and railway board (now is known as KTMB)(Rozalli
Hashim 2005)
Although these agencies fully privatized because of governmentrsquos interests in
terms of government ownership and budget we can see the successfulness
of the implementation of this policy These agencies transformed into GLC
(Government Link Companies) that operate on their own generate their own
revenues and compete with multi-national company Besides that there are
also GLC that buy shares from overseas company and own many subsidiaries
in foreign countries and within Malaysia For example Telekom Malaysia (TM)
has many subsidiaries in foreign companies such as Indonesia Singapore
Sri Lanka and etcetera This shows the successfulness of privatization of
telecommunication industry in Malaysia
| 37
233 Public enterprise
Development administration was involved largely with the public sector
However efforts to develop nation involves a huge sum of money In 1980s
development administration was involved largely with the public sector
Private sector rarely involved in any debates and discussion regarding
development administration One of the reasons was that private sector in that
time is still struggling in terms of doing business relative to the abilities of their
competitors especially foreign and multi-national companies (Donald JHarris
1999)
The challenges that appear in that time was to find the ways on how to
improve the capabilities of the public and private sector in planning preparing
for the changes in social and economic and to regulate the regulation on how
to improve the efficiency of the administration to achieve fair economic
development for all the citizen (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Recognizing this need the government continues to promote the spirit of
Malaysia Incorporated which introduced in 1983 This policy represents a
new way of approaching the task of national development The fundamental
basis of this approach is that successful national development requires the
public and private sectors to adhere to the perception of the nation as a
corporate business entity jointly owned by both sectors and working in
tandem in pursuit of a common mission
As exemplified by the success of Japan and South Korea there must be the
unity of purpose of government and business Business leaders politicians
and government officials ought to realize that their roles are not mutually
exclusive Unilateral action that affects the well-being of the other would only
breed distrust and contempt
The resulting benefit of this cooperation is higher growth and expansion of the
private sector leading to spin-offs in economic investment expansion and
growth as well as the generation of employment opportunities The increase
in government revenues could then enable the government to finance not only
socio-economic development but also the public administrative machinery
This policy presupposes a changing role for the public sector from the
traditional role of a regulator to the new role of a service agency planner and
facilitator (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
38 |
24 PHASE IV ndash
Development Management ndash quality management Civil Society
(Responsible individuals and NGOs) deregulation
administrative achievements in developing countries
241 Quality Management
The quality movement became further intensified and strengthened when a
comprehensive award system was introduced in an attempt to institutionalize
the culture of excellence in the public service This policy has become the
driving force behind the systematic and continuous efforts by public agencies
to upgrade in terms of quality and innovative ways and means to better serve
their customers While the implementation of such innovations has already
marked the beginning of quality management in the public service further
inroads have been made with the adoption of internationally recognized ISO
9000 series in 1996 and the benchmarking programs in 1999 The
government agencies are required to examine relevant best practices by a
benchmarking partner and seek ways and means to adopt and improve upon
their applications in their own organizations (Sarji 1996)
242 Civil Society
Civil society defined as the sphere of institutions organisations and
individuals located between the family state and market in which people
associate voluntarily to advance common interests (Moten 2008)
Larry Diamond 1994 defines it as the realm of organised social life that is
voluntary (largely) self generating self supporting and autonomous from the
state and bound by a legal order or set of shared rulesrdquo
Civil society organisations in Malaysia have expanded considerably since
independence and particularly since the 1980s In 1957 after independence
there were 1741 organisations registered with the Registrar of Societies By
1996 this number had increased to 28 219 As of December 31 1998 there
were 29 574 registered societies in the country with 56 626 branches all
over the country (New Sunday Times February 21 1999 Moten 2008)
| 39
This increase indicates changing attitudes in Malaysian society in responding
to their socio-political needs and responsibilities by relying more and more on
collective ideas and actions and not just expecting governmental leadership or
familial support In general associations can be categorised as environmental
groups consumer groups human rights groups development groups and
womenrsquos group Among the major actors are Aliran Consumersrsquo Association
of Pulau Pinang (CAP) Federation of Malaysian Consumersrsquo Association
(FOMCA) and many more others On issues like drug rehabilitation juvenile
delinquency youth and child development or welfare policies the government
has enthusiastically co-operated with civil associations to promote
development (Moten 2008)
These cooperation is very important as the roles and responsibilities fulfil by
these civil organisations to some extent had voluntarily helped to reduce
social problems which at the same time reduces government burden to
handle these problems Thus human capital and expenditure of the
government can be channelled to other efforts of development Pengasih is
one of the examples of an outstanding civil organisation that is cooperating
hand in hand to help the drug addicts to register voluntarily in this
rehabilitation centre So does Pernim that is helping HIV positive AIDS
children
40 |
| 41
243 Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and
regulations that constrain the operation of market forces Deregulation does
not mean elimination of laws against fraud or property rights but eliminating or
reducing government control of how business is done thereby moving toward
a more laissez-faire free market
It is different from liberalization where more players enter in the market but
continues the regulation and guarantee of consumer rights and maximum and
minimum prices (httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
Deregulation is different from liberalization because a liberalized market while
often having fewer and simpler regulations can also have regulations to
increase efficiency and protect consumers rights one example being anti-
monopoly legislation However the terms are often used interchangeably
within deregulatedliberalized industries
A parallel development with deregulation has been organized ongoing
programs to review regulatory initiatives with a view to minimizing simplifying
and making more cost effective regulations
(httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
The 1998 Malaysian Budget was unveiled on 17 October 1997 a major focus
was placed on reducing the current account deficit through inter alias a
package of measures aimed at reducing imports and increasing exports of
goods and services At the same time the Government re-emphasized its
commitment to deregulation and liberalization particularly in the financial
sector measures were introduced to extend foreign access to real estate
purchases and develop the capital market and Malaysias commitment to the
WTO financial services negotiations was reaffirmed with particular reference
to liberalization of the insurance and brokerage industries
(httpwwwwtoorgenglishtratop_etpr_etp67_ehtm)
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
24 |
Development administration effort in 1980rsquos is the most important and crucial effort
made by the government because it is the beginning to develop a modern country
During this era there are many changes made by the government to develop this
country effectively Efforts in 1980rsquos also considered as the most important step in the
development of the country as in these years we see that the private sector is being
encouraged by the government to be involve in the development administration
through privatization and corporation policy Besides that the government also try to
improve the public sector although it did not been clearly seen in these years There
are several efforts made by the government to improve development administration in
the country Among the efforts are improving the capacity of public and private
institutions privatization policy distribution policies the values of responsiveness and
accountability and decentralization of developments projects (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
21 PHASE I ndash
Instillation Of Western Administrative And Management
Techniques Into Developing Countries
Development Administration proponents focused on importing western public
management techniques into the developing nations Most scholars reviewed back the
indoctrination of public administration following the Weberian tradition
The goal of this instillation was to establish a bureaucracy that is rational free from
political interference efficient and following the ideal-type Weberian tradition
(Rondinelli 1983)
Based on Weberian Tradition
Principles introduced by a famous German sociologist Max Weber (1864
ndash 1920)
(a) Positions determined by hierarchy
(b) Positions filled in based on merit candidates appointed
(c) Staff paid with substantial wages and with provision of pension
(d) Staff subjected to control and set up systematic discipline
| 25
These are some problems of incompatibility This problem occurred due
to differences in culture values financial strength that hinder the
successful instillation of western management techniques
What goes well in the western do not necessarily goes well in the east Upon realizing
the incompatibility problems development administration scholars responsively
modified their agenda Strong pressure exerted upon the civil service to increase its
performance and play a developmental role
The successful general election of 1964 the Alliance Government sought to fulfil its
promises of increasing the welfare of the citizens and raising the standard of living of
the masses It showed however that the burdens the first time in the bureaucracy
asked to shoulder since history of the Independence had increased more rapidly than
public service their capabilities
Government of that a deliberate Malaysia obtained the services of a team of
consultants to undertake a review of the public made to study administration (Abdullah
Sanusi Ahmad 1994) This was the first time in the administrative history of the public
service that a deliberate system of the attempt made to study the administrative
country with systems of the country with a view to suggesting a view to reforms and
innovations
The main objective of suggesting the study was to achieve efficiency and
administrative reforms and leadership in the public service to meet the needs of
innovations The Report recommended improving administrative systems by speeding
government action reducing costs and improving the quality of service (Abdullah
Sanusi Ahmad 1994)
26 |
22 PHASE II ndash
Political modernization institution building and administrative
reform (including reorganization reinventing the government
and debureaucracy)
221 Political modernization
The ability of a political system to produce new behaviours and organizations
that changes in demands over time Political stability was a pre-requisite for
the successful implementation of development programs Efforts to establish
political culture emphasized on peoplersquos participation Also to a
governmentrsquos efforts to carry out programs designed to reshape its physical
human and cultural environment and to also enlarge governmentrsquos capacity
to engage in such programs In virtually all governments the action arm the
main instrument for program implementation is the public bureaucracy Not
only that bureaucrats do exercise political functions but that they and that a
significant degree of bureaucratic power is functionally requisite for the
organization of a developed system of government
However in Malaysia at that time in the 1960s countries vastly ruled and
administered by political elite Polarization of society based on status and
race was apparent (elite v the mass) Political democracy is available but
controlled by the ruling elite this is due to lack of education and opportunity for
political participation involvement of the public There was no distinction
between policy formulation and implementation which is against the
dichotomy of policy and administration Even though democratic political
culture had flourished political participation controlled and in some places
suppressed by the government
The civil service was entrusted with the mammoth task of implementing the
five-year economic plans The government effort contributed to the
remarkable performance of the economy However the inequitable distribution
of the wealth among the major ethnic groups resulted in a racial turmoil in
1969 that almost became catastrophic Consequently the New Economic
Policy (NEP) was formulated and implemented in 1970 which necessitated
an even bigger role for the government in terms of its size involvement and
| 27
expenditure This was done to ensure the successful implementation of
programs for poverty eradication and restructuring of society the two primary
objectives of the policy Measures were taken to upgrade the planning and
implementation capabilities of the government so that the plans would be
executed without any serious shortfall Administrative reform was on the
agenda of among leaders in the developing nations for at least four decades
since 1960s
222 Institution Building
Institution Building amp Project Planning were picked as strategies to further
guide the government of developing countries during the first part of the 70s
(Rondinelli 1985)
Institution defined as procedures morale norms and values that are
supposed to control onersquos behavior (Van Arkardie 1990)
In the context of development administration institution defined as
organizations such as government agencies public enterprises banks the
arm forces and hospitals (Van Arkardie 1990 Van Rennin and Waisfisz
1988)
Milton Esman (1972) defines institution building as the process of planning
structuring and guiding new and restructured organizations As a result
three initiatives introduced that is closure of unnecessary organizations
creation of new organizations restructured existing organizations with new
goals and objectives
Government organizations underwent strenuous re-definition exercises
According to economists (especially development economists) institution can
be defined as procedures morale norms and values that are supposed to
control onersquos behaviour (Van Akadie 1990 Feeny 1988 North 1981)
Ruttan and Hayami (1984) define institution from this perspective as
procedures that are applicable to a given society or to a group of people that
is constituted into perception which is shared among members of that
particular group or society (Van Arkdie 1990)
28 |
In other words institution refers to ldquoinstrumentsrdquo that are available within
society or a nation that actually control the behaviour of the people in terms of
norms and values Society in this context does not only refer to individuals in
their groups but it also comprises of other economic elements such as the
government private sector consumer and all the transactions carried out
between them (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
In this context of development administration institution can be defined as
organization such as government agencies public enterprises banks the arm
forces and hospitals (Van Arkdie 1990 Van Rennin and Waisfisz 1988)
Thus in terms of institution building institution seeing from a micro and macro
perspectives Government institutions referred as the macro level because it
includes the whole government machinery especially those that are functional
in formulating policies At the micro level institutions referred to as
departments agencies and other governmental bodies that are involved in the
implementation policies (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Second Malaysia Plan incorporated a National Rural Development Plan
aimed at reorganizing and mobilizing institutions and efforts toward
modernizing and developing the rural sector At the district or local level the
District Rural Development Committee implemented monitored and reviewed
as the rural development projects in what known as the Rural Economic
Development (RED Book) Plan (Fatimah Mohd Arshad 1997) The projects
focused on building basic infrastructures and institutions such as RISDA
MARA Koperasi Bank Pertanian Bank Pembangunan and so on The
infrastructural approach intended to provide linkages to the rural economy
provide rural employment and raise productivity and incomes of rural peasant
The social and economic infrastructures provided were rural roads drainage
and irrigation facilities basic amenities like rural electricity water school
health community and religious centres and others The rural institution such
as MARDI established to facilitate production and marketing functions and
Koperasi Desa also to provide the credit need of the rural peasants These
infrastructures and institutions expected to generate rural employment
besides raising productivity incomes socio-economic status of the rural
population (Fatimah Mohd Arshad 1997)
| 29
223 Administrative Reform
Administrative reform simply means a transformation of
administrative machinery taking up a new form new goals and
objectives (Rondinelli 1985)
The term administrative reform has acquired multiple views but no doubt
there is consensus that the outcome of administrative reforms should result in
efficient and effective public sector service structures improvement of public
sector operational performance and economic development (Caiden 1991)
Difficulty in administering reform is that policies that threatened the livelihood
of political actors including bureaucrats with stakes avoided Evidence of this
can be seen in the policies of deregulation financial reform and privatization
due to the political and economic clout In other words successful
implementation required the cooperation of the very political actors who were
the targets of reform In developing countries the distinction between
politicians and bureaucrats tends to be blurred and an alliance between the
ruling elite and high-ranking officials has often led to an oligarchy of power
and privilege (Seidman and Seidman 1994)
In the case of Malaysia the post-independence period involved the extensive
expansion of state functions For instance economic management programs
and projects launched and new public organizations were created
Mobilization programs were also established and variously labelled nation-
building programs The main goal of course is to involve the citizens into the
mainstream of economic and social development Public institutions and
bureaucracy were the centre-piece of these new endeavours Doctrines of
guardianship via political parties and the executive dominated the
management of public affairs largely to the exclusion of public participation
First step taken by Tun Abdul Razak was to transform completely the colonial-
based bureaucracy that filled with weaknesses such as corruption and red
tapes Moreover the problems of the attitudes of the public servants at that
time which he quoted as the ldquoSeven Deadly Sinsrdquo
30 |
The 1967 reformation adopted institution-building approach to elevate
bureaucratic effectiveness (Esman 1972) The role of public service and
administration has significantly changed over the years in line with the
countrys economic growth and development Its mission objectives and
functions had undergone various degrees of reform especially under the
explicit and implicit influences of changes in public policies development
strategies and initiatives These reforms took place in two distinctive phases
namely the period of rapid economic growth in 1960s and 1970s which
required development administration and institution building and the period
from 1980 to the present that necessitated the consolidation and qualitative
upgrading of the government machinery The success of Malaysias
development programs to a significant extent can be attributed as not only to
the efficient and effective functioning of the economic system but also to the
stabilizing and integrative functioning of the countrys public administration
system
| 31
The First Malaysia Plan thus had to address the problem of unemployment
which reared its head for the first time in the 1960s despite encouraging
growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) employment rates had not
grown at a commensurate pace In addition there was also the problem of
ethnic specialization in certain professions with the Chinese dominating the
marketplace the Malays dominating the civil service and the Indians largely
participating in specialist professions such as law The income disparity
between rural and urban areas that the Second Malayan Five Year Plan had
sought to resolve not satisfactorily eliminated Therefore what the
government does is to increase the level of employment and to give chances
to the unemployed and make sure that the standard of living becomes well
(httpwwwstategov)
2231 Reorganization
The worldwide recession of 1980s and its consequent effects
on domestic economy left the Malaysia government reduce the
size of its public sector Privatization and organizational
reorganization were among the variety of measures initiated
towards achieving this goal The reorganization measures have
contributed to reducing the size of public bureaucracy and the
financial burden of the government through savings in huge
operating costs and capital expenditure The organizational
reorganization initiated in 1989 aimed at ensuring that the size
of the public service was consistent with its new roles and
functions in the society Between 1992 and 1997 a total of 570
agencies have been reviewed and reorganized with a
considerable reduction in the number of posts (Ahmad Sarji
1996)
32 |
2232 Reinventing
The advancements in the field of information technology (IT)
has offered enormous prospect for transforming service
provision and widened citizens expectations for more efficient
and responsive delivery of public services This has also put
pressures on the government to reinvent itself and produce
innovations in the service delivery systems The Malaysian
government appears to be well ahead of many other
developing countries in terms of emphasizing its significance
and undertaking programs for IT application in the
administration In fact a major feature of the current
administrative reforms in Malaysia is the stress on IT The
Multimedia Super Corridor established in 1996 is seen as a
milestone in the development of IT application in all areas
including the government Subsequently the government
initiated an E-Government scheme seeking to dramatically
enhance the performance and quality of public services by
harnessing IT and multi-media (GOM 2000 Karim and Khalid
2003)
2233 Debureaucracy
Redesign of the governmental processes was essential in order
to achieve dramatic improvements in service delivery Two
important studies initiated by the government in the early 1990s
led to the introduction of major revision in procedural matters of
the business of the government Public agencies in general
have been asked to review the existing ways of doing things in
order to reduce red-tape and expedite the delivery of services
and to take appropriate actions to ease regulations and
procedures for the benefit of their clients (Sarji 1996)
| 33
23 PHASE III ndash
Projects planning privatization amp public enterprise
231 Projects Planning
In 1970rsquos developing nations were all over the world rushed to secure foreign
aides in every shape and figure There were active roles by international
financial institutions in providing funds for developing nations in project
planning This was due to the favourable economic achievements in the West
and savings into financial institutions skyrocketed with unprecedented high
since World War II Financial experts in those countries had suggested that
these institutions provide long terms and low interest rate loans to developing
nations to help them with their development agenda One of the main
requirements for such loans was that recipient countries need to set up a
comprehensive project planning and appraisal system (Rondinelli 1985)
The objective of project planning was that only feasible projects can
determine the recipients ability to service their loans By this time recipient
countries still lacked experience and expertise especially in high technological
skills and know ndash how Foreign experts were brought in and they paid from the
loan Direct intervention from foreign organization and even their
governments were very difficult to curtail and in some instances their
involvement exceeded beyond the limits Failure to pay back loans made few
poor countries indebted to the rich countries not only in terms of money but in
terms of political authority as well
Governments of developing nations much tensed with such development but
they were tight up with procedures and requirements Project appraisals also
determined by fund providers Although officials from the recipient countries
were also involved they did not have the knowledge to perform project
assessment on their own Management training became a very important
avenue for the officials to upgrade their knowledge and to learn from the
foreign experts (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
A good and effective project planning approaches however had tremendous
effect on economic growth due to superb infrastructure development
especially in the urban area Urbanization centred on the capital of states and
earmarked areas for administration culture and commerce
34 |
Urbanization is widely accepted as part of the development process
Arguably however are the positive and negative consequences of that
process where much literature has focused on the latter in many developing
countries Diffusion of urbanization in Malaysia has contributed to the general
improvements of the living environment through the provision of infrastructure
and services such as conventional housing water and electricity supplies
sanitation sewerage transport and telecommunications and so forth
232 Privatization
The government has to provide all the infrastructure and accommodation for
the country including road electricity water supply and building and industrial
facilities This is because the private sector in the country during that time did
not have enough capital to finance the development projects The private
sectors need assistance from the government to implement huge projects
However the private sector slowly starting to take over the function of the
government to develop the country by sharing the burden to finance the
development project with the government due to the strong government
policies protecting local business endeavour The responsibility to develop the
country slowly goes to the private sector and multinational corporate agency
These open the opportunity for the privatization and corporation between the
public sector and private sector
Thus this would allow the government to reduce its stakes in some projects
and releasing public funds for other purposes The burden of developing
certain projects gradually shifted to private companies This initiative had
widely opened the propensity to privatization and joint venture efforts between
the government and the private sector
This scenario is seeing in countries such as Singapore Taiwan South Korea
Hong Kong Brazil and Malaysia The development that shared between the
government and private sector would allow the government to reduce its
stakes in those projects and cutting expenses
| 35
The Privatization Policy was introduced on the march 1983 by Tun Dr
Mahathir Bin Mohamed after the announcement of the Malaysia Incorporated
Policy in 25th February 1983 Privatization policy simply means the transfer of
property or responsibility from the public sector (government) to the private
sector (business) Given the resource constraints the government has
decided that it will facilitate the private sector to play the aggressive role in the
future economic development of the country It is therefore apparent to the
civil servants that to achieve this objective a new management culture is
needed Quick reactions and decisions are imperative and in fact critical to
enable the private enterprises to be competitive on a global scale
Privatization was seen to be the means of stimulating and improving the
overall efficiency of the economy Privatization will not only relieve the
government of the financial and administrative burden but also improve the
efficiency and increase the productivity of the services It will also stimulate
private entrepreneurship and investment thus accelerating the rate of growth
of the economy and able to reduce the size and presence of the public sector
with the monopolistic tendencies in the economy and help to meet the
objectives of the National Development Policy
The objectives are to reduce the government financial and administrative
burden The scope of government is wide They cannot cover all the aspects
in the Malaysia So the main objective for the government is to reduce their
burden in term of financial and administrative Through this policy the
government transferred some of the property responsibility and burden to the
private sector So as a result the allocation of budget can be saved and use
for other aspect Second is to create more opportunity for the Bumiputras to
established private corporations By giving more chances to the private
sector the government will be able create the opportunity job for the people
especially bumiputras to establish and join the private corporation It also will
encourage them to increase their economic level for more growth and can
compete with other races Other objective is to increase efficiency in dividing
our natural resources However the private sector has more expertise
compare to the public sector They have many professional that expert in the
particular fields So the implementing of privatization policy can manage the
natural resources more efficient and systematic Telekom Malaysia and
Tenaga Nasional for instance
36 |
Government would select an appropriate agencies that deemed profitable and
offers for complete privatization or simply engaging in joint-venture projects
with private enterprises The result of privatization is the lowered cost in
government spending and open up opportunity to redistribute the saved
resources to other sectors such as helping the poor community Privatization
involves the transfer of government equities to the private sector The
government selects suitable agencies that deemed profitable and offers for
complete privatization or engaging in joint-venture projects with private
enterprises This program successfully implemented in developed countries
As a result privatization reduces cost in governmentrsquos spending and
expenditure Besides that it gives opportunity for the government to
redistribute the saved resources to help the poor citizens to increase their
standard of living (Mahathir Mohamad 1984)
This policy can be considered as successful and later being example by other
developing countries that amazed with the rapid development in Malaysia
Among the example of agencies or departments that had been successfully
privatized were telecommunications department (now is known as TELEKOM
MALAYSIA BERHAD) national electricity board (now is known as TENAGA
NASIONAL BERHAD) and railway board (now is known as KTMB)(Rozalli
Hashim 2005)
Although these agencies fully privatized because of governmentrsquos interests in
terms of government ownership and budget we can see the successfulness
of the implementation of this policy These agencies transformed into GLC
(Government Link Companies) that operate on their own generate their own
revenues and compete with multi-national company Besides that there are
also GLC that buy shares from overseas company and own many subsidiaries
in foreign countries and within Malaysia For example Telekom Malaysia (TM)
has many subsidiaries in foreign companies such as Indonesia Singapore
Sri Lanka and etcetera This shows the successfulness of privatization of
telecommunication industry in Malaysia
| 37
233 Public enterprise
Development administration was involved largely with the public sector
However efforts to develop nation involves a huge sum of money In 1980s
development administration was involved largely with the public sector
Private sector rarely involved in any debates and discussion regarding
development administration One of the reasons was that private sector in that
time is still struggling in terms of doing business relative to the abilities of their
competitors especially foreign and multi-national companies (Donald JHarris
1999)
The challenges that appear in that time was to find the ways on how to
improve the capabilities of the public and private sector in planning preparing
for the changes in social and economic and to regulate the regulation on how
to improve the efficiency of the administration to achieve fair economic
development for all the citizen (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Recognizing this need the government continues to promote the spirit of
Malaysia Incorporated which introduced in 1983 This policy represents a
new way of approaching the task of national development The fundamental
basis of this approach is that successful national development requires the
public and private sectors to adhere to the perception of the nation as a
corporate business entity jointly owned by both sectors and working in
tandem in pursuit of a common mission
As exemplified by the success of Japan and South Korea there must be the
unity of purpose of government and business Business leaders politicians
and government officials ought to realize that their roles are not mutually
exclusive Unilateral action that affects the well-being of the other would only
breed distrust and contempt
The resulting benefit of this cooperation is higher growth and expansion of the
private sector leading to spin-offs in economic investment expansion and
growth as well as the generation of employment opportunities The increase
in government revenues could then enable the government to finance not only
socio-economic development but also the public administrative machinery
This policy presupposes a changing role for the public sector from the
traditional role of a regulator to the new role of a service agency planner and
facilitator (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
38 |
24 PHASE IV ndash
Development Management ndash quality management Civil Society
(Responsible individuals and NGOs) deregulation
administrative achievements in developing countries
241 Quality Management
The quality movement became further intensified and strengthened when a
comprehensive award system was introduced in an attempt to institutionalize
the culture of excellence in the public service This policy has become the
driving force behind the systematic and continuous efforts by public agencies
to upgrade in terms of quality and innovative ways and means to better serve
their customers While the implementation of such innovations has already
marked the beginning of quality management in the public service further
inroads have been made with the adoption of internationally recognized ISO
9000 series in 1996 and the benchmarking programs in 1999 The
government agencies are required to examine relevant best practices by a
benchmarking partner and seek ways and means to adopt and improve upon
their applications in their own organizations (Sarji 1996)
242 Civil Society
Civil society defined as the sphere of institutions organisations and
individuals located between the family state and market in which people
associate voluntarily to advance common interests (Moten 2008)
Larry Diamond 1994 defines it as the realm of organised social life that is
voluntary (largely) self generating self supporting and autonomous from the
state and bound by a legal order or set of shared rulesrdquo
Civil society organisations in Malaysia have expanded considerably since
independence and particularly since the 1980s In 1957 after independence
there were 1741 organisations registered with the Registrar of Societies By
1996 this number had increased to 28 219 As of December 31 1998 there
were 29 574 registered societies in the country with 56 626 branches all
over the country (New Sunday Times February 21 1999 Moten 2008)
| 39
This increase indicates changing attitudes in Malaysian society in responding
to their socio-political needs and responsibilities by relying more and more on
collective ideas and actions and not just expecting governmental leadership or
familial support In general associations can be categorised as environmental
groups consumer groups human rights groups development groups and
womenrsquos group Among the major actors are Aliran Consumersrsquo Association
of Pulau Pinang (CAP) Federation of Malaysian Consumersrsquo Association
(FOMCA) and many more others On issues like drug rehabilitation juvenile
delinquency youth and child development or welfare policies the government
has enthusiastically co-operated with civil associations to promote
development (Moten 2008)
These cooperation is very important as the roles and responsibilities fulfil by
these civil organisations to some extent had voluntarily helped to reduce
social problems which at the same time reduces government burden to
handle these problems Thus human capital and expenditure of the
government can be channelled to other efforts of development Pengasih is
one of the examples of an outstanding civil organisation that is cooperating
hand in hand to help the drug addicts to register voluntarily in this
rehabilitation centre So does Pernim that is helping HIV positive AIDS
children
40 |
| 41
243 Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and
regulations that constrain the operation of market forces Deregulation does
not mean elimination of laws against fraud or property rights but eliminating or
reducing government control of how business is done thereby moving toward
a more laissez-faire free market
It is different from liberalization where more players enter in the market but
continues the regulation and guarantee of consumer rights and maximum and
minimum prices (httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
Deregulation is different from liberalization because a liberalized market while
often having fewer and simpler regulations can also have regulations to
increase efficiency and protect consumers rights one example being anti-
monopoly legislation However the terms are often used interchangeably
within deregulatedliberalized industries
A parallel development with deregulation has been organized ongoing
programs to review regulatory initiatives with a view to minimizing simplifying
and making more cost effective regulations
(httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
The 1998 Malaysian Budget was unveiled on 17 October 1997 a major focus
was placed on reducing the current account deficit through inter alias a
package of measures aimed at reducing imports and increasing exports of
goods and services At the same time the Government re-emphasized its
commitment to deregulation and liberalization particularly in the financial
sector measures were introduced to extend foreign access to real estate
purchases and develop the capital market and Malaysias commitment to the
WTO financial services negotiations was reaffirmed with particular reference
to liberalization of the insurance and brokerage industries
(httpwwwwtoorgenglishtratop_etpr_etp67_ehtm)
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
| 25
These are some problems of incompatibility This problem occurred due
to differences in culture values financial strength that hinder the
successful instillation of western management techniques
What goes well in the western do not necessarily goes well in the east Upon realizing
the incompatibility problems development administration scholars responsively
modified their agenda Strong pressure exerted upon the civil service to increase its
performance and play a developmental role
The successful general election of 1964 the Alliance Government sought to fulfil its
promises of increasing the welfare of the citizens and raising the standard of living of
the masses It showed however that the burdens the first time in the bureaucracy
asked to shoulder since history of the Independence had increased more rapidly than
public service their capabilities
Government of that a deliberate Malaysia obtained the services of a team of
consultants to undertake a review of the public made to study administration (Abdullah
Sanusi Ahmad 1994) This was the first time in the administrative history of the public
service that a deliberate system of the attempt made to study the administrative
country with systems of the country with a view to suggesting a view to reforms and
innovations
The main objective of suggesting the study was to achieve efficiency and
administrative reforms and leadership in the public service to meet the needs of
innovations The Report recommended improving administrative systems by speeding
government action reducing costs and improving the quality of service (Abdullah
Sanusi Ahmad 1994)
26 |
22 PHASE II ndash
Political modernization institution building and administrative
reform (including reorganization reinventing the government
and debureaucracy)
221 Political modernization
The ability of a political system to produce new behaviours and organizations
that changes in demands over time Political stability was a pre-requisite for
the successful implementation of development programs Efforts to establish
political culture emphasized on peoplersquos participation Also to a
governmentrsquos efforts to carry out programs designed to reshape its physical
human and cultural environment and to also enlarge governmentrsquos capacity
to engage in such programs In virtually all governments the action arm the
main instrument for program implementation is the public bureaucracy Not
only that bureaucrats do exercise political functions but that they and that a
significant degree of bureaucratic power is functionally requisite for the
organization of a developed system of government
However in Malaysia at that time in the 1960s countries vastly ruled and
administered by political elite Polarization of society based on status and
race was apparent (elite v the mass) Political democracy is available but
controlled by the ruling elite this is due to lack of education and opportunity for
political participation involvement of the public There was no distinction
between policy formulation and implementation which is against the
dichotomy of policy and administration Even though democratic political
culture had flourished political participation controlled and in some places
suppressed by the government
The civil service was entrusted with the mammoth task of implementing the
five-year economic plans The government effort contributed to the
remarkable performance of the economy However the inequitable distribution
of the wealth among the major ethnic groups resulted in a racial turmoil in
1969 that almost became catastrophic Consequently the New Economic
Policy (NEP) was formulated and implemented in 1970 which necessitated
an even bigger role for the government in terms of its size involvement and
| 27
expenditure This was done to ensure the successful implementation of
programs for poverty eradication and restructuring of society the two primary
objectives of the policy Measures were taken to upgrade the planning and
implementation capabilities of the government so that the plans would be
executed without any serious shortfall Administrative reform was on the
agenda of among leaders in the developing nations for at least four decades
since 1960s
222 Institution Building
Institution Building amp Project Planning were picked as strategies to further
guide the government of developing countries during the first part of the 70s
(Rondinelli 1985)
Institution defined as procedures morale norms and values that are
supposed to control onersquos behavior (Van Arkardie 1990)
In the context of development administration institution defined as
organizations such as government agencies public enterprises banks the
arm forces and hospitals (Van Arkardie 1990 Van Rennin and Waisfisz
1988)
Milton Esman (1972) defines institution building as the process of planning
structuring and guiding new and restructured organizations As a result
three initiatives introduced that is closure of unnecessary organizations
creation of new organizations restructured existing organizations with new
goals and objectives
Government organizations underwent strenuous re-definition exercises
According to economists (especially development economists) institution can
be defined as procedures morale norms and values that are supposed to
control onersquos behaviour (Van Akadie 1990 Feeny 1988 North 1981)
Ruttan and Hayami (1984) define institution from this perspective as
procedures that are applicable to a given society or to a group of people that
is constituted into perception which is shared among members of that
particular group or society (Van Arkdie 1990)
28 |
In other words institution refers to ldquoinstrumentsrdquo that are available within
society or a nation that actually control the behaviour of the people in terms of
norms and values Society in this context does not only refer to individuals in
their groups but it also comprises of other economic elements such as the
government private sector consumer and all the transactions carried out
between them (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
In this context of development administration institution can be defined as
organization such as government agencies public enterprises banks the arm
forces and hospitals (Van Arkdie 1990 Van Rennin and Waisfisz 1988)
Thus in terms of institution building institution seeing from a micro and macro
perspectives Government institutions referred as the macro level because it
includes the whole government machinery especially those that are functional
in formulating policies At the micro level institutions referred to as
departments agencies and other governmental bodies that are involved in the
implementation policies (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Second Malaysia Plan incorporated a National Rural Development Plan
aimed at reorganizing and mobilizing institutions and efforts toward
modernizing and developing the rural sector At the district or local level the
District Rural Development Committee implemented monitored and reviewed
as the rural development projects in what known as the Rural Economic
Development (RED Book) Plan (Fatimah Mohd Arshad 1997) The projects
focused on building basic infrastructures and institutions such as RISDA
MARA Koperasi Bank Pertanian Bank Pembangunan and so on The
infrastructural approach intended to provide linkages to the rural economy
provide rural employment and raise productivity and incomes of rural peasant
The social and economic infrastructures provided were rural roads drainage
and irrigation facilities basic amenities like rural electricity water school
health community and religious centres and others The rural institution such
as MARDI established to facilitate production and marketing functions and
Koperasi Desa also to provide the credit need of the rural peasants These
infrastructures and institutions expected to generate rural employment
besides raising productivity incomes socio-economic status of the rural
population (Fatimah Mohd Arshad 1997)
| 29
223 Administrative Reform
Administrative reform simply means a transformation of
administrative machinery taking up a new form new goals and
objectives (Rondinelli 1985)
The term administrative reform has acquired multiple views but no doubt
there is consensus that the outcome of administrative reforms should result in
efficient and effective public sector service structures improvement of public
sector operational performance and economic development (Caiden 1991)
Difficulty in administering reform is that policies that threatened the livelihood
of political actors including bureaucrats with stakes avoided Evidence of this
can be seen in the policies of deregulation financial reform and privatization
due to the political and economic clout In other words successful
implementation required the cooperation of the very political actors who were
the targets of reform In developing countries the distinction between
politicians and bureaucrats tends to be blurred and an alliance between the
ruling elite and high-ranking officials has often led to an oligarchy of power
and privilege (Seidman and Seidman 1994)
In the case of Malaysia the post-independence period involved the extensive
expansion of state functions For instance economic management programs
and projects launched and new public organizations were created
Mobilization programs were also established and variously labelled nation-
building programs The main goal of course is to involve the citizens into the
mainstream of economic and social development Public institutions and
bureaucracy were the centre-piece of these new endeavours Doctrines of
guardianship via political parties and the executive dominated the
management of public affairs largely to the exclusion of public participation
First step taken by Tun Abdul Razak was to transform completely the colonial-
based bureaucracy that filled with weaknesses such as corruption and red
tapes Moreover the problems of the attitudes of the public servants at that
time which he quoted as the ldquoSeven Deadly Sinsrdquo
30 |
The 1967 reformation adopted institution-building approach to elevate
bureaucratic effectiveness (Esman 1972) The role of public service and
administration has significantly changed over the years in line with the
countrys economic growth and development Its mission objectives and
functions had undergone various degrees of reform especially under the
explicit and implicit influences of changes in public policies development
strategies and initiatives These reforms took place in two distinctive phases
namely the period of rapid economic growth in 1960s and 1970s which
required development administration and institution building and the period
from 1980 to the present that necessitated the consolidation and qualitative
upgrading of the government machinery The success of Malaysias
development programs to a significant extent can be attributed as not only to
the efficient and effective functioning of the economic system but also to the
stabilizing and integrative functioning of the countrys public administration
system
| 31
The First Malaysia Plan thus had to address the problem of unemployment
which reared its head for the first time in the 1960s despite encouraging
growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) employment rates had not
grown at a commensurate pace In addition there was also the problem of
ethnic specialization in certain professions with the Chinese dominating the
marketplace the Malays dominating the civil service and the Indians largely
participating in specialist professions such as law The income disparity
between rural and urban areas that the Second Malayan Five Year Plan had
sought to resolve not satisfactorily eliminated Therefore what the
government does is to increase the level of employment and to give chances
to the unemployed and make sure that the standard of living becomes well
(httpwwwstategov)
2231 Reorganization
The worldwide recession of 1980s and its consequent effects
on domestic economy left the Malaysia government reduce the
size of its public sector Privatization and organizational
reorganization were among the variety of measures initiated
towards achieving this goal The reorganization measures have
contributed to reducing the size of public bureaucracy and the
financial burden of the government through savings in huge
operating costs and capital expenditure The organizational
reorganization initiated in 1989 aimed at ensuring that the size
of the public service was consistent with its new roles and
functions in the society Between 1992 and 1997 a total of 570
agencies have been reviewed and reorganized with a
considerable reduction in the number of posts (Ahmad Sarji
1996)
32 |
2232 Reinventing
The advancements in the field of information technology (IT)
has offered enormous prospect for transforming service
provision and widened citizens expectations for more efficient
and responsive delivery of public services This has also put
pressures on the government to reinvent itself and produce
innovations in the service delivery systems The Malaysian
government appears to be well ahead of many other
developing countries in terms of emphasizing its significance
and undertaking programs for IT application in the
administration In fact a major feature of the current
administrative reforms in Malaysia is the stress on IT The
Multimedia Super Corridor established in 1996 is seen as a
milestone in the development of IT application in all areas
including the government Subsequently the government
initiated an E-Government scheme seeking to dramatically
enhance the performance and quality of public services by
harnessing IT and multi-media (GOM 2000 Karim and Khalid
2003)
2233 Debureaucracy
Redesign of the governmental processes was essential in order
to achieve dramatic improvements in service delivery Two
important studies initiated by the government in the early 1990s
led to the introduction of major revision in procedural matters of
the business of the government Public agencies in general
have been asked to review the existing ways of doing things in
order to reduce red-tape and expedite the delivery of services
and to take appropriate actions to ease regulations and
procedures for the benefit of their clients (Sarji 1996)
| 33
23 PHASE III ndash
Projects planning privatization amp public enterprise
231 Projects Planning
In 1970rsquos developing nations were all over the world rushed to secure foreign
aides in every shape and figure There were active roles by international
financial institutions in providing funds for developing nations in project
planning This was due to the favourable economic achievements in the West
and savings into financial institutions skyrocketed with unprecedented high
since World War II Financial experts in those countries had suggested that
these institutions provide long terms and low interest rate loans to developing
nations to help them with their development agenda One of the main
requirements for such loans was that recipient countries need to set up a
comprehensive project planning and appraisal system (Rondinelli 1985)
The objective of project planning was that only feasible projects can
determine the recipients ability to service their loans By this time recipient
countries still lacked experience and expertise especially in high technological
skills and know ndash how Foreign experts were brought in and they paid from the
loan Direct intervention from foreign organization and even their
governments were very difficult to curtail and in some instances their
involvement exceeded beyond the limits Failure to pay back loans made few
poor countries indebted to the rich countries not only in terms of money but in
terms of political authority as well
Governments of developing nations much tensed with such development but
they were tight up with procedures and requirements Project appraisals also
determined by fund providers Although officials from the recipient countries
were also involved they did not have the knowledge to perform project
assessment on their own Management training became a very important
avenue for the officials to upgrade their knowledge and to learn from the
foreign experts (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
A good and effective project planning approaches however had tremendous
effect on economic growth due to superb infrastructure development
especially in the urban area Urbanization centred on the capital of states and
earmarked areas for administration culture and commerce
34 |
Urbanization is widely accepted as part of the development process
Arguably however are the positive and negative consequences of that
process where much literature has focused on the latter in many developing
countries Diffusion of urbanization in Malaysia has contributed to the general
improvements of the living environment through the provision of infrastructure
and services such as conventional housing water and electricity supplies
sanitation sewerage transport and telecommunications and so forth
232 Privatization
The government has to provide all the infrastructure and accommodation for
the country including road electricity water supply and building and industrial
facilities This is because the private sector in the country during that time did
not have enough capital to finance the development projects The private
sectors need assistance from the government to implement huge projects
However the private sector slowly starting to take over the function of the
government to develop the country by sharing the burden to finance the
development project with the government due to the strong government
policies protecting local business endeavour The responsibility to develop the
country slowly goes to the private sector and multinational corporate agency
These open the opportunity for the privatization and corporation between the
public sector and private sector
Thus this would allow the government to reduce its stakes in some projects
and releasing public funds for other purposes The burden of developing
certain projects gradually shifted to private companies This initiative had
widely opened the propensity to privatization and joint venture efforts between
the government and the private sector
This scenario is seeing in countries such as Singapore Taiwan South Korea
Hong Kong Brazil and Malaysia The development that shared between the
government and private sector would allow the government to reduce its
stakes in those projects and cutting expenses
| 35
The Privatization Policy was introduced on the march 1983 by Tun Dr
Mahathir Bin Mohamed after the announcement of the Malaysia Incorporated
Policy in 25th February 1983 Privatization policy simply means the transfer of
property or responsibility from the public sector (government) to the private
sector (business) Given the resource constraints the government has
decided that it will facilitate the private sector to play the aggressive role in the
future economic development of the country It is therefore apparent to the
civil servants that to achieve this objective a new management culture is
needed Quick reactions and decisions are imperative and in fact critical to
enable the private enterprises to be competitive on a global scale
Privatization was seen to be the means of stimulating and improving the
overall efficiency of the economy Privatization will not only relieve the
government of the financial and administrative burden but also improve the
efficiency and increase the productivity of the services It will also stimulate
private entrepreneurship and investment thus accelerating the rate of growth
of the economy and able to reduce the size and presence of the public sector
with the monopolistic tendencies in the economy and help to meet the
objectives of the National Development Policy
The objectives are to reduce the government financial and administrative
burden The scope of government is wide They cannot cover all the aspects
in the Malaysia So the main objective for the government is to reduce their
burden in term of financial and administrative Through this policy the
government transferred some of the property responsibility and burden to the
private sector So as a result the allocation of budget can be saved and use
for other aspect Second is to create more opportunity for the Bumiputras to
established private corporations By giving more chances to the private
sector the government will be able create the opportunity job for the people
especially bumiputras to establish and join the private corporation It also will
encourage them to increase their economic level for more growth and can
compete with other races Other objective is to increase efficiency in dividing
our natural resources However the private sector has more expertise
compare to the public sector They have many professional that expert in the
particular fields So the implementing of privatization policy can manage the
natural resources more efficient and systematic Telekom Malaysia and
Tenaga Nasional for instance
36 |
Government would select an appropriate agencies that deemed profitable and
offers for complete privatization or simply engaging in joint-venture projects
with private enterprises The result of privatization is the lowered cost in
government spending and open up opportunity to redistribute the saved
resources to other sectors such as helping the poor community Privatization
involves the transfer of government equities to the private sector The
government selects suitable agencies that deemed profitable and offers for
complete privatization or engaging in joint-venture projects with private
enterprises This program successfully implemented in developed countries
As a result privatization reduces cost in governmentrsquos spending and
expenditure Besides that it gives opportunity for the government to
redistribute the saved resources to help the poor citizens to increase their
standard of living (Mahathir Mohamad 1984)
This policy can be considered as successful and later being example by other
developing countries that amazed with the rapid development in Malaysia
Among the example of agencies or departments that had been successfully
privatized were telecommunications department (now is known as TELEKOM
MALAYSIA BERHAD) national electricity board (now is known as TENAGA
NASIONAL BERHAD) and railway board (now is known as KTMB)(Rozalli
Hashim 2005)
Although these agencies fully privatized because of governmentrsquos interests in
terms of government ownership and budget we can see the successfulness
of the implementation of this policy These agencies transformed into GLC
(Government Link Companies) that operate on their own generate their own
revenues and compete with multi-national company Besides that there are
also GLC that buy shares from overseas company and own many subsidiaries
in foreign countries and within Malaysia For example Telekom Malaysia (TM)
has many subsidiaries in foreign companies such as Indonesia Singapore
Sri Lanka and etcetera This shows the successfulness of privatization of
telecommunication industry in Malaysia
| 37
233 Public enterprise
Development administration was involved largely with the public sector
However efforts to develop nation involves a huge sum of money In 1980s
development administration was involved largely with the public sector
Private sector rarely involved in any debates and discussion regarding
development administration One of the reasons was that private sector in that
time is still struggling in terms of doing business relative to the abilities of their
competitors especially foreign and multi-national companies (Donald JHarris
1999)
The challenges that appear in that time was to find the ways on how to
improve the capabilities of the public and private sector in planning preparing
for the changes in social and economic and to regulate the regulation on how
to improve the efficiency of the administration to achieve fair economic
development for all the citizen (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Recognizing this need the government continues to promote the spirit of
Malaysia Incorporated which introduced in 1983 This policy represents a
new way of approaching the task of national development The fundamental
basis of this approach is that successful national development requires the
public and private sectors to adhere to the perception of the nation as a
corporate business entity jointly owned by both sectors and working in
tandem in pursuit of a common mission
As exemplified by the success of Japan and South Korea there must be the
unity of purpose of government and business Business leaders politicians
and government officials ought to realize that their roles are not mutually
exclusive Unilateral action that affects the well-being of the other would only
breed distrust and contempt
The resulting benefit of this cooperation is higher growth and expansion of the
private sector leading to spin-offs in economic investment expansion and
growth as well as the generation of employment opportunities The increase
in government revenues could then enable the government to finance not only
socio-economic development but also the public administrative machinery
This policy presupposes a changing role for the public sector from the
traditional role of a regulator to the new role of a service agency planner and
facilitator (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
38 |
24 PHASE IV ndash
Development Management ndash quality management Civil Society
(Responsible individuals and NGOs) deregulation
administrative achievements in developing countries
241 Quality Management
The quality movement became further intensified and strengthened when a
comprehensive award system was introduced in an attempt to institutionalize
the culture of excellence in the public service This policy has become the
driving force behind the systematic and continuous efforts by public agencies
to upgrade in terms of quality and innovative ways and means to better serve
their customers While the implementation of such innovations has already
marked the beginning of quality management in the public service further
inroads have been made with the adoption of internationally recognized ISO
9000 series in 1996 and the benchmarking programs in 1999 The
government agencies are required to examine relevant best practices by a
benchmarking partner and seek ways and means to adopt and improve upon
their applications in their own organizations (Sarji 1996)
242 Civil Society
Civil society defined as the sphere of institutions organisations and
individuals located between the family state and market in which people
associate voluntarily to advance common interests (Moten 2008)
Larry Diamond 1994 defines it as the realm of organised social life that is
voluntary (largely) self generating self supporting and autonomous from the
state and bound by a legal order or set of shared rulesrdquo
Civil society organisations in Malaysia have expanded considerably since
independence and particularly since the 1980s In 1957 after independence
there were 1741 organisations registered with the Registrar of Societies By
1996 this number had increased to 28 219 As of December 31 1998 there
were 29 574 registered societies in the country with 56 626 branches all
over the country (New Sunday Times February 21 1999 Moten 2008)
| 39
This increase indicates changing attitudes in Malaysian society in responding
to their socio-political needs and responsibilities by relying more and more on
collective ideas and actions and not just expecting governmental leadership or
familial support In general associations can be categorised as environmental
groups consumer groups human rights groups development groups and
womenrsquos group Among the major actors are Aliran Consumersrsquo Association
of Pulau Pinang (CAP) Federation of Malaysian Consumersrsquo Association
(FOMCA) and many more others On issues like drug rehabilitation juvenile
delinquency youth and child development or welfare policies the government
has enthusiastically co-operated with civil associations to promote
development (Moten 2008)
These cooperation is very important as the roles and responsibilities fulfil by
these civil organisations to some extent had voluntarily helped to reduce
social problems which at the same time reduces government burden to
handle these problems Thus human capital and expenditure of the
government can be channelled to other efforts of development Pengasih is
one of the examples of an outstanding civil organisation that is cooperating
hand in hand to help the drug addicts to register voluntarily in this
rehabilitation centre So does Pernim that is helping HIV positive AIDS
children
40 |
| 41
243 Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and
regulations that constrain the operation of market forces Deregulation does
not mean elimination of laws against fraud or property rights but eliminating or
reducing government control of how business is done thereby moving toward
a more laissez-faire free market
It is different from liberalization where more players enter in the market but
continues the regulation and guarantee of consumer rights and maximum and
minimum prices (httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
Deregulation is different from liberalization because a liberalized market while
often having fewer and simpler regulations can also have regulations to
increase efficiency and protect consumers rights one example being anti-
monopoly legislation However the terms are often used interchangeably
within deregulatedliberalized industries
A parallel development with deregulation has been organized ongoing
programs to review regulatory initiatives with a view to minimizing simplifying
and making more cost effective regulations
(httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
The 1998 Malaysian Budget was unveiled on 17 October 1997 a major focus
was placed on reducing the current account deficit through inter alias a
package of measures aimed at reducing imports and increasing exports of
goods and services At the same time the Government re-emphasized its
commitment to deregulation and liberalization particularly in the financial
sector measures were introduced to extend foreign access to real estate
purchases and develop the capital market and Malaysias commitment to the
WTO financial services negotiations was reaffirmed with particular reference
to liberalization of the insurance and brokerage industries
(httpwwwwtoorgenglishtratop_etpr_etp67_ehtm)
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
26 |
22 PHASE II ndash
Political modernization institution building and administrative
reform (including reorganization reinventing the government
and debureaucracy)
221 Political modernization
The ability of a political system to produce new behaviours and organizations
that changes in demands over time Political stability was a pre-requisite for
the successful implementation of development programs Efforts to establish
political culture emphasized on peoplersquos participation Also to a
governmentrsquos efforts to carry out programs designed to reshape its physical
human and cultural environment and to also enlarge governmentrsquos capacity
to engage in such programs In virtually all governments the action arm the
main instrument for program implementation is the public bureaucracy Not
only that bureaucrats do exercise political functions but that they and that a
significant degree of bureaucratic power is functionally requisite for the
organization of a developed system of government
However in Malaysia at that time in the 1960s countries vastly ruled and
administered by political elite Polarization of society based on status and
race was apparent (elite v the mass) Political democracy is available but
controlled by the ruling elite this is due to lack of education and opportunity for
political participation involvement of the public There was no distinction
between policy formulation and implementation which is against the
dichotomy of policy and administration Even though democratic political
culture had flourished political participation controlled and in some places
suppressed by the government
The civil service was entrusted with the mammoth task of implementing the
five-year economic plans The government effort contributed to the
remarkable performance of the economy However the inequitable distribution
of the wealth among the major ethnic groups resulted in a racial turmoil in
1969 that almost became catastrophic Consequently the New Economic
Policy (NEP) was formulated and implemented in 1970 which necessitated
an even bigger role for the government in terms of its size involvement and
| 27
expenditure This was done to ensure the successful implementation of
programs for poverty eradication and restructuring of society the two primary
objectives of the policy Measures were taken to upgrade the planning and
implementation capabilities of the government so that the plans would be
executed without any serious shortfall Administrative reform was on the
agenda of among leaders in the developing nations for at least four decades
since 1960s
222 Institution Building
Institution Building amp Project Planning were picked as strategies to further
guide the government of developing countries during the first part of the 70s
(Rondinelli 1985)
Institution defined as procedures morale norms and values that are
supposed to control onersquos behavior (Van Arkardie 1990)
In the context of development administration institution defined as
organizations such as government agencies public enterprises banks the
arm forces and hospitals (Van Arkardie 1990 Van Rennin and Waisfisz
1988)
Milton Esman (1972) defines institution building as the process of planning
structuring and guiding new and restructured organizations As a result
three initiatives introduced that is closure of unnecessary organizations
creation of new organizations restructured existing organizations with new
goals and objectives
Government organizations underwent strenuous re-definition exercises
According to economists (especially development economists) institution can
be defined as procedures morale norms and values that are supposed to
control onersquos behaviour (Van Akadie 1990 Feeny 1988 North 1981)
Ruttan and Hayami (1984) define institution from this perspective as
procedures that are applicable to a given society or to a group of people that
is constituted into perception which is shared among members of that
particular group or society (Van Arkdie 1990)
28 |
In other words institution refers to ldquoinstrumentsrdquo that are available within
society or a nation that actually control the behaviour of the people in terms of
norms and values Society in this context does not only refer to individuals in
their groups but it also comprises of other economic elements such as the
government private sector consumer and all the transactions carried out
between them (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
In this context of development administration institution can be defined as
organization such as government agencies public enterprises banks the arm
forces and hospitals (Van Arkdie 1990 Van Rennin and Waisfisz 1988)
Thus in terms of institution building institution seeing from a micro and macro
perspectives Government institutions referred as the macro level because it
includes the whole government machinery especially those that are functional
in formulating policies At the micro level institutions referred to as
departments agencies and other governmental bodies that are involved in the
implementation policies (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Second Malaysia Plan incorporated a National Rural Development Plan
aimed at reorganizing and mobilizing institutions and efforts toward
modernizing and developing the rural sector At the district or local level the
District Rural Development Committee implemented monitored and reviewed
as the rural development projects in what known as the Rural Economic
Development (RED Book) Plan (Fatimah Mohd Arshad 1997) The projects
focused on building basic infrastructures and institutions such as RISDA
MARA Koperasi Bank Pertanian Bank Pembangunan and so on The
infrastructural approach intended to provide linkages to the rural economy
provide rural employment and raise productivity and incomes of rural peasant
The social and economic infrastructures provided were rural roads drainage
and irrigation facilities basic amenities like rural electricity water school
health community and religious centres and others The rural institution such
as MARDI established to facilitate production and marketing functions and
Koperasi Desa also to provide the credit need of the rural peasants These
infrastructures and institutions expected to generate rural employment
besides raising productivity incomes socio-economic status of the rural
population (Fatimah Mohd Arshad 1997)
| 29
223 Administrative Reform
Administrative reform simply means a transformation of
administrative machinery taking up a new form new goals and
objectives (Rondinelli 1985)
The term administrative reform has acquired multiple views but no doubt
there is consensus that the outcome of administrative reforms should result in
efficient and effective public sector service structures improvement of public
sector operational performance and economic development (Caiden 1991)
Difficulty in administering reform is that policies that threatened the livelihood
of political actors including bureaucrats with stakes avoided Evidence of this
can be seen in the policies of deregulation financial reform and privatization
due to the political and economic clout In other words successful
implementation required the cooperation of the very political actors who were
the targets of reform In developing countries the distinction between
politicians and bureaucrats tends to be blurred and an alliance between the
ruling elite and high-ranking officials has often led to an oligarchy of power
and privilege (Seidman and Seidman 1994)
In the case of Malaysia the post-independence period involved the extensive
expansion of state functions For instance economic management programs
and projects launched and new public organizations were created
Mobilization programs were also established and variously labelled nation-
building programs The main goal of course is to involve the citizens into the
mainstream of economic and social development Public institutions and
bureaucracy were the centre-piece of these new endeavours Doctrines of
guardianship via political parties and the executive dominated the
management of public affairs largely to the exclusion of public participation
First step taken by Tun Abdul Razak was to transform completely the colonial-
based bureaucracy that filled with weaknesses such as corruption and red
tapes Moreover the problems of the attitudes of the public servants at that
time which he quoted as the ldquoSeven Deadly Sinsrdquo
30 |
The 1967 reformation adopted institution-building approach to elevate
bureaucratic effectiveness (Esman 1972) The role of public service and
administration has significantly changed over the years in line with the
countrys economic growth and development Its mission objectives and
functions had undergone various degrees of reform especially under the
explicit and implicit influences of changes in public policies development
strategies and initiatives These reforms took place in two distinctive phases
namely the period of rapid economic growth in 1960s and 1970s which
required development administration and institution building and the period
from 1980 to the present that necessitated the consolidation and qualitative
upgrading of the government machinery The success of Malaysias
development programs to a significant extent can be attributed as not only to
the efficient and effective functioning of the economic system but also to the
stabilizing and integrative functioning of the countrys public administration
system
| 31
The First Malaysia Plan thus had to address the problem of unemployment
which reared its head for the first time in the 1960s despite encouraging
growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) employment rates had not
grown at a commensurate pace In addition there was also the problem of
ethnic specialization in certain professions with the Chinese dominating the
marketplace the Malays dominating the civil service and the Indians largely
participating in specialist professions such as law The income disparity
between rural and urban areas that the Second Malayan Five Year Plan had
sought to resolve not satisfactorily eliminated Therefore what the
government does is to increase the level of employment and to give chances
to the unemployed and make sure that the standard of living becomes well
(httpwwwstategov)
2231 Reorganization
The worldwide recession of 1980s and its consequent effects
on domestic economy left the Malaysia government reduce the
size of its public sector Privatization and organizational
reorganization were among the variety of measures initiated
towards achieving this goal The reorganization measures have
contributed to reducing the size of public bureaucracy and the
financial burden of the government through savings in huge
operating costs and capital expenditure The organizational
reorganization initiated in 1989 aimed at ensuring that the size
of the public service was consistent with its new roles and
functions in the society Between 1992 and 1997 a total of 570
agencies have been reviewed and reorganized with a
considerable reduction in the number of posts (Ahmad Sarji
1996)
32 |
2232 Reinventing
The advancements in the field of information technology (IT)
has offered enormous prospect for transforming service
provision and widened citizens expectations for more efficient
and responsive delivery of public services This has also put
pressures on the government to reinvent itself and produce
innovations in the service delivery systems The Malaysian
government appears to be well ahead of many other
developing countries in terms of emphasizing its significance
and undertaking programs for IT application in the
administration In fact a major feature of the current
administrative reforms in Malaysia is the stress on IT The
Multimedia Super Corridor established in 1996 is seen as a
milestone in the development of IT application in all areas
including the government Subsequently the government
initiated an E-Government scheme seeking to dramatically
enhance the performance and quality of public services by
harnessing IT and multi-media (GOM 2000 Karim and Khalid
2003)
2233 Debureaucracy
Redesign of the governmental processes was essential in order
to achieve dramatic improvements in service delivery Two
important studies initiated by the government in the early 1990s
led to the introduction of major revision in procedural matters of
the business of the government Public agencies in general
have been asked to review the existing ways of doing things in
order to reduce red-tape and expedite the delivery of services
and to take appropriate actions to ease regulations and
procedures for the benefit of their clients (Sarji 1996)
| 33
23 PHASE III ndash
Projects planning privatization amp public enterprise
231 Projects Planning
In 1970rsquos developing nations were all over the world rushed to secure foreign
aides in every shape and figure There were active roles by international
financial institutions in providing funds for developing nations in project
planning This was due to the favourable economic achievements in the West
and savings into financial institutions skyrocketed with unprecedented high
since World War II Financial experts in those countries had suggested that
these institutions provide long terms and low interest rate loans to developing
nations to help them with their development agenda One of the main
requirements for such loans was that recipient countries need to set up a
comprehensive project planning and appraisal system (Rondinelli 1985)
The objective of project planning was that only feasible projects can
determine the recipients ability to service their loans By this time recipient
countries still lacked experience and expertise especially in high technological
skills and know ndash how Foreign experts were brought in and they paid from the
loan Direct intervention from foreign organization and even their
governments were very difficult to curtail and in some instances their
involvement exceeded beyond the limits Failure to pay back loans made few
poor countries indebted to the rich countries not only in terms of money but in
terms of political authority as well
Governments of developing nations much tensed with such development but
they were tight up with procedures and requirements Project appraisals also
determined by fund providers Although officials from the recipient countries
were also involved they did not have the knowledge to perform project
assessment on their own Management training became a very important
avenue for the officials to upgrade their knowledge and to learn from the
foreign experts (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
A good and effective project planning approaches however had tremendous
effect on economic growth due to superb infrastructure development
especially in the urban area Urbanization centred on the capital of states and
earmarked areas for administration culture and commerce
34 |
Urbanization is widely accepted as part of the development process
Arguably however are the positive and negative consequences of that
process where much literature has focused on the latter in many developing
countries Diffusion of urbanization in Malaysia has contributed to the general
improvements of the living environment through the provision of infrastructure
and services such as conventional housing water and electricity supplies
sanitation sewerage transport and telecommunications and so forth
232 Privatization
The government has to provide all the infrastructure and accommodation for
the country including road electricity water supply and building and industrial
facilities This is because the private sector in the country during that time did
not have enough capital to finance the development projects The private
sectors need assistance from the government to implement huge projects
However the private sector slowly starting to take over the function of the
government to develop the country by sharing the burden to finance the
development project with the government due to the strong government
policies protecting local business endeavour The responsibility to develop the
country slowly goes to the private sector and multinational corporate agency
These open the opportunity for the privatization and corporation between the
public sector and private sector
Thus this would allow the government to reduce its stakes in some projects
and releasing public funds for other purposes The burden of developing
certain projects gradually shifted to private companies This initiative had
widely opened the propensity to privatization and joint venture efforts between
the government and the private sector
This scenario is seeing in countries such as Singapore Taiwan South Korea
Hong Kong Brazil and Malaysia The development that shared between the
government and private sector would allow the government to reduce its
stakes in those projects and cutting expenses
| 35
The Privatization Policy was introduced on the march 1983 by Tun Dr
Mahathir Bin Mohamed after the announcement of the Malaysia Incorporated
Policy in 25th February 1983 Privatization policy simply means the transfer of
property or responsibility from the public sector (government) to the private
sector (business) Given the resource constraints the government has
decided that it will facilitate the private sector to play the aggressive role in the
future economic development of the country It is therefore apparent to the
civil servants that to achieve this objective a new management culture is
needed Quick reactions and decisions are imperative and in fact critical to
enable the private enterprises to be competitive on a global scale
Privatization was seen to be the means of stimulating and improving the
overall efficiency of the economy Privatization will not only relieve the
government of the financial and administrative burden but also improve the
efficiency and increase the productivity of the services It will also stimulate
private entrepreneurship and investment thus accelerating the rate of growth
of the economy and able to reduce the size and presence of the public sector
with the monopolistic tendencies in the economy and help to meet the
objectives of the National Development Policy
The objectives are to reduce the government financial and administrative
burden The scope of government is wide They cannot cover all the aspects
in the Malaysia So the main objective for the government is to reduce their
burden in term of financial and administrative Through this policy the
government transferred some of the property responsibility and burden to the
private sector So as a result the allocation of budget can be saved and use
for other aspect Second is to create more opportunity for the Bumiputras to
established private corporations By giving more chances to the private
sector the government will be able create the opportunity job for the people
especially bumiputras to establish and join the private corporation It also will
encourage them to increase their economic level for more growth and can
compete with other races Other objective is to increase efficiency in dividing
our natural resources However the private sector has more expertise
compare to the public sector They have many professional that expert in the
particular fields So the implementing of privatization policy can manage the
natural resources more efficient and systematic Telekom Malaysia and
Tenaga Nasional for instance
36 |
Government would select an appropriate agencies that deemed profitable and
offers for complete privatization or simply engaging in joint-venture projects
with private enterprises The result of privatization is the lowered cost in
government spending and open up opportunity to redistribute the saved
resources to other sectors such as helping the poor community Privatization
involves the transfer of government equities to the private sector The
government selects suitable agencies that deemed profitable and offers for
complete privatization or engaging in joint-venture projects with private
enterprises This program successfully implemented in developed countries
As a result privatization reduces cost in governmentrsquos spending and
expenditure Besides that it gives opportunity for the government to
redistribute the saved resources to help the poor citizens to increase their
standard of living (Mahathir Mohamad 1984)
This policy can be considered as successful and later being example by other
developing countries that amazed with the rapid development in Malaysia
Among the example of agencies or departments that had been successfully
privatized were telecommunications department (now is known as TELEKOM
MALAYSIA BERHAD) national electricity board (now is known as TENAGA
NASIONAL BERHAD) and railway board (now is known as KTMB)(Rozalli
Hashim 2005)
Although these agencies fully privatized because of governmentrsquos interests in
terms of government ownership and budget we can see the successfulness
of the implementation of this policy These agencies transformed into GLC
(Government Link Companies) that operate on their own generate their own
revenues and compete with multi-national company Besides that there are
also GLC that buy shares from overseas company and own many subsidiaries
in foreign countries and within Malaysia For example Telekom Malaysia (TM)
has many subsidiaries in foreign companies such as Indonesia Singapore
Sri Lanka and etcetera This shows the successfulness of privatization of
telecommunication industry in Malaysia
| 37
233 Public enterprise
Development administration was involved largely with the public sector
However efforts to develop nation involves a huge sum of money In 1980s
development administration was involved largely with the public sector
Private sector rarely involved in any debates and discussion regarding
development administration One of the reasons was that private sector in that
time is still struggling in terms of doing business relative to the abilities of their
competitors especially foreign and multi-national companies (Donald JHarris
1999)
The challenges that appear in that time was to find the ways on how to
improve the capabilities of the public and private sector in planning preparing
for the changes in social and economic and to regulate the regulation on how
to improve the efficiency of the administration to achieve fair economic
development for all the citizen (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Recognizing this need the government continues to promote the spirit of
Malaysia Incorporated which introduced in 1983 This policy represents a
new way of approaching the task of national development The fundamental
basis of this approach is that successful national development requires the
public and private sectors to adhere to the perception of the nation as a
corporate business entity jointly owned by both sectors and working in
tandem in pursuit of a common mission
As exemplified by the success of Japan and South Korea there must be the
unity of purpose of government and business Business leaders politicians
and government officials ought to realize that their roles are not mutually
exclusive Unilateral action that affects the well-being of the other would only
breed distrust and contempt
The resulting benefit of this cooperation is higher growth and expansion of the
private sector leading to spin-offs in economic investment expansion and
growth as well as the generation of employment opportunities The increase
in government revenues could then enable the government to finance not only
socio-economic development but also the public administrative machinery
This policy presupposes a changing role for the public sector from the
traditional role of a regulator to the new role of a service agency planner and
facilitator (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
38 |
24 PHASE IV ndash
Development Management ndash quality management Civil Society
(Responsible individuals and NGOs) deregulation
administrative achievements in developing countries
241 Quality Management
The quality movement became further intensified and strengthened when a
comprehensive award system was introduced in an attempt to institutionalize
the culture of excellence in the public service This policy has become the
driving force behind the systematic and continuous efforts by public agencies
to upgrade in terms of quality and innovative ways and means to better serve
their customers While the implementation of such innovations has already
marked the beginning of quality management in the public service further
inroads have been made with the adoption of internationally recognized ISO
9000 series in 1996 and the benchmarking programs in 1999 The
government agencies are required to examine relevant best practices by a
benchmarking partner and seek ways and means to adopt and improve upon
their applications in their own organizations (Sarji 1996)
242 Civil Society
Civil society defined as the sphere of institutions organisations and
individuals located between the family state and market in which people
associate voluntarily to advance common interests (Moten 2008)
Larry Diamond 1994 defines it as the realm of organised social life that is
voluntary (largely) self generating self supporting and autonomous from the
state and bound by a legal order or set of shared rulesrdquo
Civil society organisations in Malaysia have expanded considerably since
independence and particularly since the 1980s In 1957 after independence
there were 1741 organisations registered with the Registrar of Societies By
1996 this number had increased to 28 219 As of December 31 1998 there
were 29 574 registered societies in the country with 56 626 branches all
over the country (New Sunday Times February 21 1999 Moten 2008)
| 39
This increase indicates changing attitudes in Malaysian society in responding
to their socio-political needs and responsibilities by relying more and more on
collective ideas and actions and not just expecting governmental leadership or
familial support In general associations can be categorised as environmental
groups consumer groups human rights groups development groups and
womenrsquos group Among the major actors are Aliran Consumersrsquo Association
of Pulau Pinang (CAP) Federation of Malaysian Consumersrsquo Association
(FOMCA) and many more others On issues like drug rehabilitation juvenile
delinquency youth and child development or welfare policies the government
has enthusiastically co-operated with civil associations to promote
development (Moten 2008)
These cooperation is very important as the roles and responsibilities fulfil by
these civil organisations to some extent had voluntarily helped to reduce
social problems which at the same time reduces government burden to
handle these problems Thus human capital and expenditure of the
government can be channelled to other efforts of development Pengasih is
one of the examples of an outstanding civil organisation that is cooperating
hand in hand to help the drug addicts to register voluntarily in this
rehabilitation centre So does Pernim that is helping HIV positive AIDS
children
40 |
| 41
243 Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and
regulations that constrain the operation of market forces Deregulation does
not mean elimination of laws against fraud or property rights but eliminating or
reducing government control of how business is done thereby moving toward
a more laissez-faire free market
It is different from liberalization where more players enter in the market but
continues the regulation and guarantee of consumer rights and maximum and
minimum prices (httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
Deregulation is different from liberalization because a liberalized market while
often having fewer and simpler regulations can also have regulations to
increase efficiency and protect consumers rights one example being anti-
monopoly legislation However the terms are often used interchangeably
within deregulatedliberalized industries
A parallel development with deregulation has been organized ongoing
programs to review regulatory initiatives with a view to minimizing simplifying
and making more cost effective regulations
(httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
The 1998 Malaysian Budget was unveiled on 17 October 1997 a major focus
was placed on reducing the current account deficit through inter alias a
package of measures aimed at reducing imports and increasing exports of
goods and services At the same time the Government re-emphasized its
commitment to deregulation and liberalization particularly in the financial
sector measures were introduced to extend foreign access to real estate
purchases and develop the capital market and Malaysias commitment to the
WTO financial services negotiations was reaffirmed with particular reference
to liberalization of the insurance and brokerage industries
(httpwwwwtoorgenglishtratop_etpr_etp67_ehtm)
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
| 27
expenditure This was done to ensure the successful implementation of
programs for poverty eradication and restructuring of society the two primary
objectives of the policy Measures were taken to upgrade the planning and
implementation capabilities of the government so that the plans would be
executed without any serious shortfall Administrative reform was on the
agenda of among leaders in the developing nations for at least four decades
since 1960s
222 Institution Building
Institution Building amp Project Planning were picked as strategies to further
guide the government of developing countries during the first part of the 70s
(Rondinelli 1985)
Institution defined as procedures morale norms and values that are
supposed to control onersquos behavior (Van Arkardie 1990)
In the context of development administration institution defined as
organizations such as government agencies public enterprises banks the
arm forces and hospitals (Van Arkardie 1990 Van Rennin and Waisfisz
1988)
Milton Esman (1972) defines institution building as the process of planning
structuring and guiding new and restructured organizations As a result
three initiatives introduced that is closure of unnecessary organizations
creation of new organizations restructured existing organizations with new
goals and objectives
Government organizations underwent strenuous re-definition exercises
According to economists (especially development economists) institution can
be defined as procedures morale norms and values that are supposed to
control onersquos behaviour (Van Akadie 1990 Feeny 1988 North 1981)
Ruttan and Hayami (1984) define institution from this perspective as
procedures that are applicable to a given society or to a group of people that
is constituted into perception which is shared among members of that
particular group or society (Van Arkdie 1990)
28 |
In other words institution refers to ldquoinstrumentsrdquo that are available within
society or a nation that actually control the behaviour of the people in terms of
norms and values Society in this context does not only refer to individuals in
their groups but it also comprises of other economic elements such as the
government private sector consumer and all the transactions carried out
between them (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
In this context of development administration institution can be defined as
organization such as government agencies public enterprises banks the arm
forces and hospitals (Van Arkdie 1990 Van Rennin and Waisfisz 1988)
Thus in terms of institution building institution seeing from a micro and macro
perspectives Government institutions referred as the macro level because it
includes the whole government machinery especially those that are functional
in formulating policies At the micro level institutions referred to as
departments agencies and other governmental bodies that are involved in the
implementation policies (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Second Malaysia Plan incorporated a National Rural Development Plan
aimed at reorganizing and mobilizing institutions and efforts toward
modernizing and developing the rural sector At the district or local level the
District Rural Development Committee implemented monitored and reviewed
as the rural development projects in what known as the Rural Economic
Development (RED Book) Plan (Fatimah Mohd Arshad 1997) The projects
focused on building basic infrastructures and institutions such as RISDA
MARA Koperasi Bank Pertanian Bank Pembangunan and so on The
infrastructural approach intended to provide linkages to the rural economy
provide rural employment and raise productivity and incomes of rural peasant
The social and economic infrastructures provided were rural roads drainage
and irrigation facilities basic amenities like rural electricity water school
health community and religious centres and others The rural institution such
as MARDI established to facilitate production and marketing functions and
Koperasi Desa also to provide the credit need of the rural peasants These
infrastructures and institutions expected to generate rural employment
besides raising productivity incomes socio-economic status of the rural
population (Fatimah Mohd Arshad 1997)
| 29
223 Administrative Reform
Administrative reform simply means a transformation of
administrative machinery taking up a new form new goals and
objectives (Rondinelli 1985)
The term administrative reform has acquired multiple views but no doubt
there is consensus that the outcome of administrative reforms should result in
efficient and effective public sector service structures improvement of public
sector operational performance and economic development (Caiden 1991)
Difficulty in administering reform is that policies that threatened the livelihood
of political actors including bureaucrats with stakes avoided Evidence of this
can be seen in the policies of deregulation financial reform and privatization
due to the political and economic clout In other words successful
implementation required the cooperation of the very political actors who were
the targets of reform In developing countries the distinction between
politicians and bureaucrats tends to be blurred and an alliance between the
ruling elite and high-ranking officials has often led to an oligarchy of power
and privilege (Seidman and Seidman 1994)
In the case of Malaysia the post-independence period involved the extensive
expansion of state functions For instance economic management programs
and projects launched and new public organizations were created
Mobilization programs were also established and variously labelled nation-
building programs The main goal of course is to involve the citizens into the
mainstream of economic and social development Public institutions and
bureaucracy were the centre-piece of these new endeavours Doctrines of
guardianship via political parties and the executive dominated the
management of public affairs largely to the exclusion of public participation
First step taken by Tun Abdul Razak was to transform completely the colonial-
based bureaucracy that filled with weaknesses such as corruption and red
tapes Moreover the problems of the attitudes of the public servants at that
time which he quoted as the ldquoSeven Deadly Sinsrdquo
30 |
The 1967 reformation adopted institution-building approach to elevate
bureaucratic effectiveness (Esman 1972) The role of public service and
administration has significantly changed over the years in line with the
countrys economic growth and development Its mission objectives and
functions had undergone various degrees of reform especially under the
explicit and implicit influences of changes in public policies development
strategies and initiatives These reforms took place in two distinctive phases
namely the period of rapid economic growth in 1960s and 1970s which
required development administration and institution building and the period
from 1980 to the present that necessitated the consolidation and qualitative
upgrading of the government machinery The success of Malaysias
development programs to a significant extent can be attributed as not only to
the efficient and effective functioning of the economic system but also to the
stabilizing and integrative functioning of the countrys public administration
system
| 31
The First Malaysia Plan thus had to address the problem of unemployment
which reared its head for the first time in the 1960s despite encouraging
growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) employment rates had not
grown at a commensurate pace In addition there was also the problem of
ethnic specialization in certain professions with the Chinese dominating the
marketplace the Malays dominating the civil service and the Indians largely
participating in specialist professions such as law The income disparity
between rural and urban areas that the Second Malayan Five Year Plan had
sought to resolve not satisfactorily eliminated Therefore what the
government does is to increase the level of employment and to give chances
to the unemployed and make sure that the standard of living becomes well
(httpwwwstategov)
2231 Reorganization
The worldwide recession of 1980s and its consequent effects
on domestic economy left the Malaysia government reduce the
size of its public sector Privatization and organizational
reorganization were among the variety of measures initiated
towards achieving this goal The reorganization measures have
contributed to reducing the size of public bureaucracy and the
financial burden of the government through savings in huge
operating costs and capital expenditure The organizational
reorganization initiated in 1989 aimed at ensuring that the size
of the public service was consistent with its new roles and
functions in the society Between 1992 and 1997 a total of 570
agencies have been reviewed and reorganized with a
considerable reduction in the number of posts (Ahmad Sarji
1996)
32 |
2232 Reinventing
The advancements in the field of information technology (IT)
has offered enormous prospect for transforming service
provision and widened citizens expectations for more efficient
and responsive delivery of public services This has also put
pressures on the government to reinvent itself and produce
innovations in the service delivery systems The Malaysian
government appears to be well ahead of many other
developing countries in terms of emphasizing its significance
and undertaking programs for IT application in the
administration In fact a major feature of the current
administrative reforms in Malaysia is the stress on IT The
Multimedia Super Corridor established in 1996 is seen as a
milestone in the development of IT application in all areas
including the government Subsequently the government
initiated an E-Government scheme seeking to dramatically
enhance the performance and quality of public services by
harnessing IT and multi-media (GOM 2000 Karim and Khalid
2003)
2233 Debureaucracy
Redesign of the governmental processes was essential in order
to achieve dramatic improvements in service delivery Two
important studies initiated by the government in the early 1990s
led to the introduction of major revision in procedural matters of
the business of the government Public agencies in general
have been asked to review the existing ways of doing things in
order to reduce red-tape and expedite the delivery of services
and to take appropriate actions to ease regulations and
procedures for the benefit of their clients (Sarji 1996)
| 33
23 PHASE III ndash
Projects planning privatization amp public enterprise
231 Projects Planning
In 1970rsquos developing nations were all over the world rushed to secure foreign
aides in every shape and figure There were active roles by international
financial institutions in providing funds for developing nations in project
planning This was due to the favourable economic achievements in the West
and savings into financial institutions skyrocketed with unprecedented high
since World War II Financial experts in those countries had suggested that
these institutions provide long terms and low interest rate loans to developing
nations to help them with their development agenda One of the main
requirements for such loans was that recipient countries need to set up a
comprehensive project planning and appraisal system (Rondinelli 1985)
The objective of project planning was that only feasible projects can
determine the recipients ability to service their loans By this time recipient
countries still lacked experience and expertise especially in high technological
skills and know ndash how Foreign experts were brought in and they paid from the
loan Direct intervention from foreign organization and even their
governments were very difficult to curtail and in some instances their
involvement exceeded beyond the limits Failure to pay back loans made few
poor countries indebted to the rich countries not only in terms of money but in
terms of political authority as well
Governments of developing nations much tensed with such development but
they were tight up with procedures and requirements Project appraisals also
determined by fund providers Although officials from the recipient countries
were also involved they did not have the knowledge to perform project
assessment on their own Management training became a very important
avenue for the officials to upgrade their knowledge and to learn from the
foreign experts (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
A good and effective project planning approaches however had tremendous
effect on economic growth due to superb infrastructure development
especially in the urban area Urbanization centred on the capital of states and
earmarked areas for administration culture and commerce
34 |
Urbanization is widely accepted as part of the development process
Arguably however are the positive and negative consequences of that
process where much literature has focused on the latter in many developing
countries Diffusion of urbanization in Malaysia has contributed to the general
improvements of the living environment through the provision of infrastructure
and services such as conventional housing water and electricity supplies
sanitation sewerage transport and telecommunications and so forth
232 Privatization
The government has to provide all the infrastructure and accommodation for
the country including road electricity water supply and building and industrial
facilities This is because the private sector in the country during that time did
not have enough capital to finance the development projects The private
sectors need assistance from the government to implement huge projects
However the private sector slowly starting to take over the function of the
government to develop the country by sharing the burden to finance the
development project with the government due to the strong government
policies protecting local business endeavour The responsibility to develop the
country slowly goes to the private sector and multinational corporate agency
These open the opportunity for the privatization and corporation between the
public sector and private sector
Thus this would allow the government to reduce its stakes in some projects
and releasing public funds for other purposes The burden of developing
certain projects gradually shifted to private companies This initiative had
widely opened the propensity to privatization and joint venture efforts between
the government and the private sector
This scenario is seeing in countries such as Singapore Taiwan South Korea
Hong Kong Brazil and Malaysia The development that shared between the
government and private sector would allow the government to reduce its
stakes in those projects and cutting expenses
| 35
The Privatization Policy was introduced on the march 1983 by Tun Dr
Mahathir Bin Mohamed after the announcement of the Malaysia Incorporated
Policy in 25th February 1983 Privatization policy simply means the transfer of
property or responsibility from the public sector (government) to the private
sector (business) Given the resource constraints the government has
decided that it will facilitate the private sector to play the aggressive role in the
future economic development of the country It is therefore apparent to the
civil servants that to achieve this objective a new management culture is
needed Quick reactions and decisions are imperative and in fact critical to
enable the private enterprises to be competitive on a global scale
Privatization was seen to be the means of stimulating and improving the
overall efficiency of the economy Privatization will not only relieve the
government of the financial and administrative burden but also improve the
efficiency and increase the productivity of the services It will also stimulate
private entrepreneurship and investment thus accelerating the rate of growth
of the economy and able to reduce the size and presence of the public sector
with the monopolistic tendencies in the economy and help to meet the
objectives of the National Development Policy
The objectives are to reduce the government financial and administrative
burden The scope of government is wide They cannot cover all the aspects
in the Malaysia So the main objective for the government is to reduce their
burden in term of financial and administrative Through this policy the
government transferred some of the property responsibility and burden to the
private sector So as a result the allocation of budget can be saved and use
for other aspect Second is to create more opportunity for the Bumiputras to
established private corporations By giving more chances to the private
sector the government will be able create the opportunity job for the people
especially bumiputras to establish and join the private corporation It also will
encourage them to increase their economic level for more growth and can
compete with other races Other objective is to increase efficiency in dividing
our natural resources However the private sector has more expertise
compare to the public sector They have many professional that expert in the
particular fields So the implementing of privatization policy can manage the
natural resources more efficient and systematic Telekom Malaysia and
Tenaga Nasional for instance
36 |
Government would select an appropriate agencies that deemed profitable and
offers for complete privatization or simply engaging in joint-venture projects
with private enterprises The result of privatization is the lowered cost in
government spending and open up opportunity to redistribute the saved
resources to other sectors such as helping the poor community Privatization
involves the transfer of government equities to the private sector The
government selects suitable agencies that deemed profitable and offers for
complete privatization or engaging in joint-venture projects with private
enterprises This program successfully implemented in developed countries
As a result privatization reduces cost in governmentrsquos spending and
expenditure Besides that it gives opportunity for the government to
redistribute the saved resources to help the poor citizens to increase their
standard of living (Mahathir Mohamad 1984)
This policy can be considered as successful and later being example by other
developing countries that amazed with the rapid development in Malaysia
Among the example of agencies or departments that had been successfully
privatized were telecommunications department (now is known as TELEKOM
MALAYSIA BERHAD) national electricity board (now is known as TENAGA
NASIONAL BERHAD) and railway board (now is known as KTMB)(Rozalli
Hashim 2005)
Although these agencies fully privatized because of governmentrsquos interests in
terms of government ownership and budget we can see the successfulness
of the implementation of this policy These agencies transformed into GLC
(Government Link Companies) that operate on their own generate their own
revenues and compete with multi-national company Besides that there are
also GLC that buy shares from overseas company and own many subsidiaries
in foreign countries and within Malaysia For example Telekom Malaysia (TM)
has many subsidiaries in foreign companies such as Indonesia Singapore
Sri Lanka and etcetera This shows the successfulness of privatization of
telecommunication industry in Malaysia
| 37
233 Public enterprise
Development administration was involved largely with the public sector
However efforts to develop nation involves a huge sum of money In 1980s
development administration was involved largely with the public sector
Private sector rarely involved in any debates and discussion regarding
development administration One of the reasons was that private sector in that
time is still struggling in terms of doing business relative to the abilities of their
competitors especially foreign and multi-national companies (Donald JHarris
1999)
The challenges that appear in that time was to find the ways on how to
improve the capabilities of the public and private sector in planning preparing
for the changes in social and economic and to regulate the regulation on how
to improve the efficiency of the administration to achieve fair economic
development for all the citizen (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Recognizing this need the government continues to promote the spirit of
Malaysia Incorporated which introduced in 1983 This policy represents a
new way of approaching the task of national development The fundamental
basis of this approach is that successful national development requires the
public and private sectors to adhere to the perception of the nation as a
corporate business entity jointly owned by both sectors and working in
tandem in pursuit of a common mission
As exemplified by the success of Japan and South Korea there must be the
unity of purpose of government and business Business leaders politicians
and government officials ought to realize that their roles are not mutually
exclusive Unilateral action that affects the well-being of the other would only
breed distrust and contempt
The resulting benefit of this cooperation is higher growth and expansion of the
private sector leading to spin-offs in economic investment expansion and
growth as well as the generation of employment opportunities The increase
in government revenues could then enable the government to finance not only
socio-economic development but also the public administrative machinery
This policy presupposes a changing role for the public sector from the
traditional role of a regulator to the new role of a service agency planner and
facilitator (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
38 |
24 PHASE IV ndash
Development Management ndash quality management Civil Society
(Responsible individuals and NGOs) deregulation
administrative achievements in developing countries
241 Quality Management
The quality movement became further intensified and strengthened when a
comprehensive award system was introduced in an attempt to institutionalize
the culture of excellence in the public service This policy has become the
driving force behind the systematic and continuous efforts by public agencies
to upgrade in terms of quality and innovative ways and means to better serve
their customers While the implementation of such innovations has already
marked the beginning of quality management in the public service further
inroads have been made with the adoption of internationally recognized ISO
9000 series in 1996 and the benchmarking programs in 1999 The
government agencies are required to examine relevant best practices by a
benchmarking partner and seek ways and means to adopt and improve upon
their applications in their own organizations (Sarji 1996)
242 Civil Society
Civil society defined as the sphere of institutions organisations and
individuals located between the family state and market in which people
associate voluntarily to advance common interests (Moten 2008)
Larry Diamond 1994 defines it as the realm of organised social life that is
voluntary (largely) self generating self supporting and autonomous from the
state and bound by a legal order or set of shared rulesrdquo
Civil society organisations in Malaysia have expanded considerably since
independence and particularly since the 1980s In 1957 after independence
there were 1741 organisations registered with the Registrar of Societies By
1996 this number had increased to 28 219 As of December 31 1998 there
were 29 574 registered societies in the country with 56 626 branches all
over the country (New Sunday Times February 21 1999 Moten 2008)
| 39
This increase indicates changing attitudes in Malaysian society in responding
to their socio-political needs and responsibilities by relying more and more on
collective ideas and actions and not just expecting governmental leadership or
familial support In general associations can be categorised as environmental
groups consumer groups human rights groups development groups and
womenrsquos group Among the major actors are Aliran Consumersrsquo Association
of Pulau Pinang (CAP) Federation of Malaysian Consumersrsquo Association
(FOMCA) and many more others On issues like drug rehabilitation juvenile
delinquency youth and child development or welfare policies the government
has enthusiastically co-operated with civil associations to promote
development (Moten 2008)
These cooperation is very important as the roles and responsibilities fulfil by
these civil organisations to some extent had voluntarily helped to reduce
social problems which at the same time reduces government burden to
handle these problems Thus human capital and expenditure of the
government can be channelled to other efforts of development Pengasih is
one of the examples of an outstanding civil organisation that is cooperating
hand in hand to help the drug addicts to register voluntarily in this
rehabilitation centre So does Pernim that is helping HIV positive AIDS
children
40 |
| 41
243 Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and
regulations that constrain the operation of market forces Deregulation does
not mean elimination of laws against fraud or property rights but eliminating or
reducing government control of how business is done thereby moving toward
a more laissez-faire free market
It is different from liberalization where more players enter in the market but
continues the regulation and guarantee of consumer rights and maximum and
minimum prices (httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
Deregulation is different from liberalization because a liberalized market while
often having fewer and simpler regulations can also have regulations to
increase efficiency and protect consumers rights one example being anti-
monopoly legislation However the terms are often used interchangeably
within deregulatedliberalized industries
A parallel development with deregulation has been organized ongoing
programs to review regulatory initiatives with a view to minimizing simplifying
and making more cost effective regulations
(httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
The 1998 Malaysian Budget was unveiled on 17 October 1997 a major focus
was placed on reducing the current account deficit through inter alias a
package of measures aimed at reducing imports and increasing exports of
goods and services At the same time the Government re-emphasized its
commitment to deregulation and liberalization particularly in the financial
sector measures were introduced to extend foreign access to real estate
purchases and develop the capital market and Malaysias commitment to the
WTO financial services negotiations was reaffirmed with particular reference
to liberalization of the insurance and brokerage industries
(httpwwwwtoorgenglishtratop_etpr_etp67_ehtm)
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
28 |
In other words institution refers to ldquoinstrumentsrdquo that are available within
society or a nation that actually control the behaviour of the people in terms of
norms and values Society in this context does not only refer to individuals in
their groups but it also comprises of other economic elements such as the
government private sector consumer and all the transactions carried out
between them (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
In this context of development administration institution can be defined as
organization such as government agencies public enterprises banks the arm
forces and hospitals (Van Arkdie 1990 Van Rennin and Waisfisz 1988)
Thus in terms of institution building institution seeing from a micro and macro
perspectives Government institutions referred as the macro level because it
includes the whole government machinery especially those that are functional
in formulating policies At the micro level institutions referred to as
departments agencies and other governmental bodies that are involved in the
implementation policies (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Second Malaysia Plan incorporated a National Rural Development Plan
aimed at reorganizing and mobilizing institutions and efforts toward
modernizing and developing the rural sector At the district or local level the
District Rural Development Committee implemented monitored and reviewed
as the rural development projects in what known as the Rural Economic
Development (RED Book) Plan (Fatimah Mohd Arshad 1997) The projects
focused on building basic infrastructures and institutions such as RISDA
MARA Koperasi Bank Pertanian Bank Pembangunan and so on The
infrastructural approach intended to provide linkages to the rural economy
provide rural employment and raise productivity and incomes of rural peasant
The social and economic infrastructures provided were rural roads drainage
and irrigation facilities basic amenities like rural electricity water school
health community and religious centres and others The rural institution such
as MARDI established to facilitate production and marketing functions and
Koperasi Desa also to provide the credit need of the rural peasants These
infrastructures and institutions expected to generate rural employment
besides raising productivity incomes socio-economic status of the rural
population (Fatimah Mohd Arshad 1997)
| 29
223 Administrative Reform
Administrative reform simply means a transformation of
administrative machinery taking up a new form new goals and
objectives (Rondinelli 1985)
The term administrative reform has acquired multiple views but no doubt
there is consensus that the outcome of administrative reforms should result in
efficient and effective public sector service structures improvement of public
sector operational performance and economic development (Caiden 1991)
Difficulty in administering reform is that policies that threatened the livelihood
of political actors including bureaucrats with stakes avoided Evidence of this
can be seen in the policies of deregulation financial reform and privatization
due to the political and economic clout In other words successful
implementation required the cooperation of the very political actors who were
the targets of reform In developing countries the distinction between
politicians and bureaucrats tends to be blurred and an alliance between the
ruling elite and high-ranking officials has often led to an oligarchy of power
and privilege (Seidman and Seidman 1994)
In the case of Malaysia the post-independence period involved the extensive
expansion of state functions For instance economic management programs
and projects launched and new public organizations were created
Mobilization programs were also established and variously labelled nation-
building programs The main goal of course is to involve the citizens into the
mainstream of economic and social development Public institutions and
bureaucracy were the centre-piece of these new endeavours Doctrines of
guardianship via political parties and the executive dominated the
management of public affairs largely to the exclusion of public participation
First step taken by Tun Abdul Razak was to transform completely the colonial-
based bureaucracy that filled with weaknesses such as corruption and red
tapes Moreover the problems of the attitudes of the public servants at that
time which he quoted as the ldquoSeven Deadly Sinsrdquo
30 |
The 1967 reformation adopted institution-building approach to elevate
bureaucratic effectiveness (Esman 1972) The role of public service and
administration has significantly changed over the years in line with the
countrys economic growth and development Its mission objectives and
functions had undergone various degrees of reform especially under the
explicit and implicit influences of changes in public policies development
strategies and initiatives These reforms took place in two distinctive phases
namely the period of rapid economic growth in 1960s and 1970s which
required development administration and institution building and the period
from 1980 to the present that necessitated the consolidation and qualitative
upgrading of the government machinery The success of Malaysias
development programs to a significant extent can be attributed as not only to
the efficient and effective functioning of the economic system but also to the
stabilizing and integrative functioning of the countrys public administration
system
| 31
The First Malaysia Plan thus had to address the problem of unemployment
which reared its head for the first time in the 1960s despite encouraging
growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) employment rates had not
grown at a commensurate pace In addition there was also the problem of
ethnic specialization in certain professions with the Chinese dominating the
marketplace the Malays dominating the civil service and the Indians largely
participating in specialist professions such as law The income disparity
between rural and urban areas that the Second Malayan Five Year Plan had
sought to resolve not satisfactorily eliminated Therefore what the
government does is to increase the level of employment and to give chances
to the unemployed and make sure that the standard of living becomes well
(httpwwwstategov)
2231 Reorganization
The worldwide recession of 1980s and its consequent effects
on domestic economy left the Malaysia government reduce the
size of its public sector Privatization and organizational
reorganization were among the variety of measures initiated
towards achieving this goal The reorganization measures have
contributed to reducing the size of public bureaucracy and the
financial burden of the government through savings in huge
operating costs and capital expenditure The organizational
reorganization initiated in 1989 aimed at ensuring that the size
of the public service was consistent with its new roles and
functions in the society Between 1992 and 1997 a total of 570
agencies have been reviewed and reorganized with a
considerable reduction in the number of posts (Ahmad Sarji
1996)
32 |
2232 Reinventing
The advancements in the field of information technology (IT)
has offered enormous prospect for transforming service
provision and widened citizens expectations for more efficient
and responsive delivery of public services This has also put
pressures on the government to reinvent itself and produce
innovations in the service delivery systems The Malaysian
government appears to be well ahead of many other
developing countries in terms of emphasizing its significance
and undertaking programs for IT application in the
administration In fact a major feature of the current
administrative reforms in Malaysia is the stress on IT The
Multimedia Super Corridor established in 1996 is seen as a
milestone in the development of IT application in all areas
including the government Subsequently the government
initiated an E-Government scheme seeking to dramatically
enhance the performance and quality of public services by
harnessing IT and multi-media (GOM 2000 Karim and Khalid
2003)
2233 Debureaucracy
Redesign of the governmental processes was essential in order
to achieve dramatic improvements in service delivery Two
important studies initiated by the government in the early 1990s
led to the introduction of major revision in procedural matters of
the business of the government Public agencies in general
have been asked to review the existing ways of doing things in
order to reduce red-tape and expedite the delivery of services
and to take appropriate actions to ease regulations and
procedures for the benefit of their clients (Sarji 1996)
| 33
23 PHASE III ndash
Projects planning privatization amp public enterprise
231 Projects Planning
In 1970rsquos developing nations were all over the world rushed to secure foreign
aides in every shape and figure There were active roles by international
financial institutions in providing funds for developing nations in project
planning This was due to the favourable economic achievements in the West
and savings into financial institutions skyrocketed with unprecedented high
since World War II Financial experts in those countries had suggested that
these institutions provide long terms and low interest rate loans to developing
nations to help them with their development agenda One of the main
requirements for such loans was that recipient countries need to set up a
comprehensive project planning and appraisal system (Rondinelli 1985)
The objective of project planning was that only feasible projects can
determine the recipients ability to service their loans By this time recipient
countries still lacked experience and expertise especially in high technological
skills and know ndash how Foreign experts were brought in and they paid from the
loan Direct intervention from foreign organization and even their
governments were very difficult to curtail and in some instances their
involvement exceeded beyond the limits Failure to pay back loans made few
poor countries indebted to the rich countries not only in terms of money but in
terms of political authority as well
Governments of developing nations much tensed with such development but
they were tight up with procedures and requirements Project appraisals also
determined by fund providers Although officials from the recipient countries
were also involved they did not have the knowledge to perform project
assessment on their own Management training became a very important
avenue for the officials to upgrade their knowledge and to learn from the
foreign experts (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
A good and effective project planning approaches however had tremendous
effect on economic growth due to superb infrastructure development
especially in the urban area Urbanization centred on the capital of states and
earmarked areas for administration culture and commerce
34 |
Urbanization is widely accepted as part of the development process
Arguably however are the positive and negative consequences of that
process where much literature has focused on the latter in many developing
countries Diffusion of urbanization in Malaysia has contributed to the general
improvements of the living environment through the provision of infrastructure
and services such as conventional housing water and electricity supplies
sanitation sewerage transport and telecommunications and so forth
232 Privatization
The government has to provide all the infrastructure and accommodation for
the country including road electricity water supply and building and industrial
facilities This is because the private sector in the country during that time did
not have enough capital to finance the development projects The private
sectors need assistance from the government to implement huge projects
However the private sector slowly starting to take over the function of the
government to develop the country by sharing the burden to finance the
development project with the government due to the strong government
policies protecting local business endeavour The responsibility to develop the
country slowly goes to the private sector and multinational corporate agency
These open the opportunity for the privatization and corporation between the
public sector and private sector
Thus this would allow the government to reduce its stakes in some projects
and releasing public funds for other purposes The burden of developing
certain projects gradually shifted to private companies This initiative had
widely opened the propensity to privatization and joint venture efforts between
the government and the private sector
This scenario is seeing in countries such as Singapore Taiwan South Korea
Hong Kong Brazil and Malaysia The development that shared between the
government and private sector would allow the government to reduce its
stakes in those projects and cutting expenses
| 35
The Privatization Policy was introduced on the march 1983 by Tun Dr
Mahathir Bin Mohamed after the announcement of the Malaysia Incorporated
Policy in 25th February 1983 Privatization policy simply means the transfer of
property or responsibility from the public sector (government) to the private
sector (business) Given the resource constraints the government has
decided that it will facilitate the private sector to play the aggressive role in the
future economic development of the country It is therefore apparent to the
civil servants that to achieve this objective a new management culture is
needed Quick reactions and decisions are imperative and in fact critical to
enable the private enterprises to be competitive on a global scale
Privatization was seen to be the means of stimulating and improving the
overall efficiency of the economy Privatization will not only relieve the
government of the financial and administrative burden but also improve the
efficiency and increase the productivity of the services It will also stimulate
private entrepreneurship and investment thus accelerating the rate of growth
of the economy and able to reduce the size and presence of the public sector
with the monopolistic tendencies in the economy and help to meet the
objectives of the National Development Policy
The objectives are to reduce the government financial and administrative
burden The scope of government is wide They cannot cover all the aspects
in the Malaysia So the main objective for the government is to reduce their
burden in term of financial and administrative Through this policy the
government transferred some of the property responsibility and burden to the
private sector So as a result the allocation of budget can be saved and use
for other aspect Second is to create more opportunity for the Bumiputras to
established private corporations By giving more chances to the private
sector the government will be able create the opportunity job for the people
especially bumiputras to establish and join the private corporation It also will
encourage them to increase their economic level for more growth and can
compete with other races Other objective is to increase efficiency in dividing
our natural resources However the private sector has more expertise
compare to the public sector They have many professional that expert in the
particular fields So the implementing of privatization policy can manage the
natural resources more efficient and systematic Telekom Malaysia and
Tenaga Nasional for instance
36 |
Government would select an appropriate agencies that deemed profitable and
offers for complete privatization or simply engaging in joint-venture projects
with private enterprises The result of privatization is the lowered cost in
government spending and open up opportunity to redistribute the saved
resources to other sectors such as helping the poor community Privatization
involves the transfer of government equities to the private sector The
government selects suitable agencies that deemed profitable and offers for
complete privatization or engaging in joint-venture projects with private
enterprises This program successfully implemented in developed countries
As a result privatization reduces cost in governmentrsquos spending and
expenditure Besides that it gives opportunity for the government to
redistribute the saved resources to help the poor citizens to increase their
standard of living (Mahathir Mohamad 1984)
This policy can be considered as successful and later being example by other
developing countries that amazed with the rapid development in Malaysia
Among the example of agencies or departments that had been successfully
privatized were telecommunications department (now is known as TELEKOM
MALAYSIA BERHAD) national electricity board (now is known as TENAGA
NASIONAL BERHAD) and railway board (now is known as KTMB)(Rozalli
Hashim 2005)
Although these agencies fully privatized because of governmentrsquos interests in
terms of government ownership and budget we can see the successfulness
of the implementation of this policy These agencies transformed into GLC
(Government Link Companies) that operate on their own generate their own
revenues and compete with multi-national company Besides that there are
also GLC that buy shares from overseas company and own many subsidiaries
in foreign countries and within Malaysia For example Telekom Malaysia (TM)
has many subsidiaries in foreign companies such as Indonesia Singapore
Sri Lanka and etcetera This shows the successfulness of privatization of
telecommunication industry in Malaysia
| 37
233 Public enterprise
Development administration was involved largely with the public sector
However efforts to develop nation involves a huge sum of money In 1980s
development administration was involved largely with the public sector
Private sector rarely involved in any debates and discussion regarding
development administration One of the reasons was that private sector in that
time is still struggling in terms of doing business relative to the abilities of their
competitors especially foreign and multi-national companies (Donald JHarris
1999)
The challenges that appear in that time was to find the ways on how to
improve the capabilities of the public and private sector in planning preparing
for the changes in social and economic and to regulate the regulation on how
to improve the efficiency of the administration to achieve fair economic
development for all the citizen (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Recognizing this need the government continues to promote the spirit of
Malaysia Incorporated which introduced in 1983 This policy represents a
new way of approaching the task of national development The fundamental
basis of this approach is that successful national development requires the
public and private sectors to adhere to the perception of the nation as a
corporate business entity jointly owned by both sectors and working in
tandem in pursuit of a common mission
As exemplified by the success of Japan and South Korea there must be the
unity of purpose of government and business Business leaders politicians
and government officials ought to realize that their roles are not mutually
exclusive Unilateral action that affects the well-being of the other would only
breed distrust and contempt
The resulting benefit of this cooperation is higher growth and expansion of the
private sector leading to spin-offs in economic investment expansion and
growth as well as the generation of employment opportunities The increase
in government revenues could then enable the government to finance not only
socio-economic development but also the public administrative machinery
This policy presupposes a changing role for the public sector from the
traditional role of a regulator to the new role of a service agency planner and
facilitator (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
38 |
24 PHASE IV ndash
Development Management ndash quality management Civil Society
(Responsible individuals and NGOs) deregulation
administrative achievements in developing countries
241 Quality Management
The quality movement became further intensified and strengthened when a
comprehensive award system was introduced in an attempt to institutionalize
the culture of excellence in the public service This policy has become the
driving force behind the systematic and continuous efforts by public agencies
to upgrade in terms of quality and innovative ways and means to better serve
their customers While the implementation of such innovations has already
marked the beginning of quality management in the public service further
inroads have been made with the adoption of internationally recognized ISO
9000 series in 1996 and the benchmarking programs in 1999 The
government agencies are required to examine relevant best practices by a
benchmarking partner and seek ways and means to adopt and improve upon
their applications in their own organizations (Sarji 1996)
242 Civil Society
Civil society defined as the sphere of institutions organisations and
individuals located between the family state and market in which people
associate voluntarily to advance common interests (Moten 2008)
Larry Diamond 1994 defines it as the realm of organised social life that is
voluntary (largely) self generating self supporting and autonomous from the
state and bound by a legal order or set of shared rulesrdquo
Civil society organisations in Malaysia have expanded considerably since
independence and particularly since the 1980s In 1957 after independence
there were 1741 organisations registered with the Registrar of Societies By
1996 this number had increased to 28 219 As of December 31 1998 there
were 29 574 registered societies in the country with 56 626 branches all
over the country (New Sunday Times February 21 1999 Moten 2008)
| 39
This increase indicates changing attitudes in Malaysian society in responding
to their socio-political needs and responsibilities by relying more and more on
collective ideas and actions and not just expecting governmental leadership or
familial support In general associations can be categorised as environmental
groups consumer groups human rights groups development groups and
womenrsquos group Among the major actors are Aliran Consumersrsquo Association
of Pulau Pinang (CAP) Federation of Malaysian Consumersrsquo Association
(FOMCA) and many more others On issues like drug rehabilitation juvenile
delinquency youth and child development or welfare policies the government
has enthusiastically co-operated with civil associations to promote
development (Moten 2008)
These cooperation is very important as the roles and responsibilities fulfil by
these civil organisations to some extent had voluntarily helped to reduce
social problems which at the same time reduces government burden to
handle these problems Thus human capital and expenditure of the
government can be channelled to other efforts of development Pengasih is
one of the examples of an outstanding civil organisation that is cooperating
hand in hand to help the drug addicts to register voluntarily in this
rehabilitation centre So does Pernim that is helping HIV positive AIDS
children
40 |
| 41
243 Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and
regulations that constrain the operation of market forces Deregulation does
not mean elimination of laws against fraud or property rights but eliminating or
reducing government control of how business is done thereby moving toward
a more laissez-faire free market
It is different from liberalization where more players enter in the market but
continues the regulation and guarantee of consumer rights and maximum and
minimum prices (httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
Deregulation is different from liberalization because a liberalized market while
often having fewer and simpler regulations can also have regulations to
increase efficiency and protect consumers rights one example being anti-
monopoly legislation However the terms are often used interchangeably
within deregulatedliberalized industries
A parallel development with deregulation has been organized ongoing
programs to review regulatory initiatives with a view to minimizing simplifying
and making more cost effective regulations
(httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
The 1998 Malaysian Budget was unveiled on 17 October 1997 a major focus
was placed on reducing the current account deficit through inter alias a
package of measures aimed at reducing imports and increasing exports of
goods and services At the same time the Government re-emphasized its
commitment to deregulation and liberalization particularly in the financial
sector measures were introduced to extend foreign access to real estate
purchases and develop the capital market and Malaysias commitment to the
WTO financial services negotiations was reaffirmed with particular reference
to liberalization of the insurance and brokerage industries
(httpwwwwtoorgenglishtratop_etpr_etp67_ehtm)
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
| 29
223 Administrative Reform
Administrative reform simply means a transformation of
administrative machinery taking up a new form new goals and
objectives (Rondinelli 1985)
The term administrative reform has acquired multiple views but no doubt
there is consensus that the outcome of administrative reforms should result in
efficient and effective public sector service structures improvement of public
sector operational performance and economic development (Caiden 1991)
Difficulty in administering reform is that policies that threatened the livelihood
of political actors including bureaucrats with stakes avoided Evidence of this
can be seen in the policies of deregulation financial reform and privatization
due to the political and economic clout In other words successful
implementation required the cooperation of the very political actors who were
the targets of reform In developing countries the distinction between
politicians and bureaucrats tends to be blurred and an alliance between the
ruling elite and high-ranking officials has often led to an oligarchy of power
and privilege (Seidman and Seidman 1994)
In the case of Malaysia the post-independence period involved the extensive
expansion of state functions For instance economic management programs
and projects launched and new public organizations were created
Mobilization programs were also established and variously labelled nation-
building programs The main goal of course is to involve the citizens into the
mainstream of economic and social development Public institutions and
bureaucracy were the centre-piece of these new endeavours Doctrines of
guardianship via political parties and the executive dominated the
management of public affairs largely to the exclusion of public participation
First step taken by Tun Abdul Razak was to transform completely the colonial-
based bureaucracy that filled with weaknesses such as corruption and red
tapes Moreover the problems of the attitudes of the public servants at that
time which he quoted as the ldquoSeven Deadly Sinsrdquo
30 |
The 1967 reformation adopted institution-building approach to elevate
bureaucratic effectiveness (Esman 1972) The role of public service and
administration has significantly changed over the years in line with the
countrys economic growth and development Its mission objectives and
functions had undergone various degrees of reform especially under the
explicit and implicit influences of changes in public policies development
strategies and initiatives These reforms took place in two distinctive phases
namely the period of rapid economic growth in 1960s and 1970s which
required development administration and institution building and the period
from 1980 to the present that necessitated the consolidation and qualitative
upgrading of the government machinery The success of Malaysias
development programs to a significant extent can be attributed as not only to
the efficient and effective functioning of the economic system but also to the
stabilizing and integrative functioning of the countrys public administration
system
| 31
The First Malaysia Plan thus had to address the problem of unemployment
which reared its head for the first time in the 1960s despite encouraging
growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) employment rates had not
grown at a commensurate pace In addition there was also the problem of
ethnic specialization in certain professions with the Chinese dominating the
marketplace the Malays dominating the civil service and the Indians largely
participating in specialist professions such as law The income disparity
between rural and urban areas that the Second Malayan Five Year Plan had
sought to resolve not satisfactorily eliminated Therefore what the
government does is to increase the level of employment and to give chances
to the unemployed and make sure that the standard of living becomes well
(httpwwwstategov)
2231 Reorganization
The worldwide recession of 1980s and its consequent effects
on domestic economy left the Malaysia government reduce the
size of its public sector Privatization and organizational
reorganization were among the variety of measures initiated
towards achieving this goal The reorganization measures have
contributed to reducing the size of public bureaucracy and the
financial burden of the government through savings in huge
operating costs and capital expenditure The organizational
reorganization initiated in 1989 aimed at ensuring that the size
of the public service was consistent with its new roles and
functions in the society Between 1992 and 1997 a total of 570
agencies have been reviewed and reorganized with a
considerable reduction in the number of posts (Ahmad Sarji
1996)
32 |
2232 Reinventing
The advancements in the field of information technology (IT)
has offered enormous prospect for transforming service
provision and widened citizens expectations for more efficient
and responsive delivery of public services This has also put
pressures on the government to reinvent itself and produce
innovations in the service delivery systems The Malaysian
government appears to be well ahead of many other
developing countries in terms of emphasizing its significance
and undertaking programs for IT application in the
administration In fact a major feature of the current
administrative reforms in Malaysia is the stress on IT The
Multimedia Super Corridor established in 1996 is seen as a
milestone in the development of IT application in all areas
including the government Subsequently the government
initiated an E-Government scheme seeking to dramatically
enhance the performance and quality of public services by
harnessing IT and multi-media (GOM 2000 Karim and Khalid
2003)
2233 Debureaucracy
Redesign of the governmental processes was essential in order
to achieve dramatic improvements in service delivery Two
important studies initiated by the government in the early 1990s
led to the introduction of major revision in procedural matters of
the business of the government Public agencies in general
have been asked to review the existing ways of doing things in
order to reduce red-tape and expedite the delivery of services
and to take appropriate actions to ease regulations and
procedures for the benefit of their clients (Sarji 1996)
| 33
23 PHASE III ndash
Projects planning privatization amp public enterprise
231 Projects Planning
In 1970rsquos developing nations were all over the world rushed to secure foreign
aides in every shape and figure There were active roles by international
financial institutions in providing funds for developing nations in project
planning This was due to the favourable economic achievements in the West
and savings into financial institutions skyrocketed with unprecedented high
since World War II Financial experts in those countries had suggested that
these institutions provide long terms and low interest rate loans to developing
nations to help them with their development agenda One of the main
requirements for such loans was that recipient countries need to set up a
comprehensive project planning and appraisal system (Rondinelli 1985)
The objective of project planning was that only feasible projects can
determine the recipients ability to service their loans By this time recipient
countries still lacked experience and expertise especially in high technological
skills and know ndash how Foreign experts were brought in and they paid from the
loan Direct intervention from foreign organization and even their
governments were very difficult to curtail and in some instances their
involvement exceeded beyond the limits Failure to pay back loans made few
poor countries indebted to the rich countries not only in terms of money but in
terms of political authority as well
Governments of developing nations much tensed with such development but
they were tight up with procedures and requirements Project appraisals also
determined by fund providers Although officials from the recipient countries
were also involved they did not have the knowledge to perform project
assessment on their own Management training became a very important
avenue for the officials to upgrade their knowledge and to learn from the
foreign experts (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
A good and effective project planning approaches however had tremendous
effect on economic growth due to superb infrastructure development
especially in the urban area Urbanization centred on the capital of states and
earmarked areas for administration culture and commerce
34 |
Urbanization is widely accepted as part of the development process
Arguably however are the positive and negative consequences of that
process where much literature has focused on the latter in many developing
countries Diffusion of urbanization in Malaysia has contributed to the general
improvements of the living environment through the provision of infrastructure
and services such as conventional housing water and electricity supplies
sanitation sewerage transport and telecommunications and so forth
232 Privatization
The government has to provide all the infrastructure and accommodation for
the country including road electricity water supply and building and industrial
facilities This is because the private sector in the country during that time did
not have enough capital to finance the development projects The private
sectors need assistance from the government to implement huge projects
However the private sector slowly starting to take over the function of the
government to develop the country by sharing the burden to finance the
development project with the government due to the strong government
policies protecting local business endeavour The responsibility to develop the
country slowly goes to the private sector and multinational corporate agency
These open the opportunity for the privatization and corporation between the
public sector and private sector
Thus this would allow the government to reduce its stakes in some projects
and releasing public funds for other purposes The burden of developing
certain projects gradually shifted to private companies This initiative had
widely opened the propensity to privatization and joint venture efforts between
the government and the private sector
This scenario is seeing in countries such as Singapore Taiwan South Korea
Hong Kong Brazil and Malaysia The development that shared between the
government and private sector would allow the government to reduce its
stakes in those projects and cutting expenses
| 35
The Privatization Policy was introduced on the march 1983 by Tun Dr
Mahathir Bin Mohamed after the announcement of the Malaysia Incorporated
Policy in 25th February 1983 Privatization policy simply means the transfer of
property or responsibility from the public sector (government) to the private
sector (business) Given the resource constraints the government has
decided that it will facilitate the private sector to play the aggressive role in the
future economic development of the country It is therefore apparent to the
civil servants that to achieve this objective a new management culture is
needed Quick reactions and decisions are imperative and in fact critical to
enable the private enterprises to be competitive on a global scale
Privatization was seen to be the means of stimulating and improving the
overall efficiency of the economy Privatization will not only relieve the
government of the financial and administrative burden but also improve the
efficiency and increase the productivity of the services It will also stimulate
private entrepreneurship and investment thus accelerating the rate of growth
of the economy and able to reduce the size and presence of the public sector
with the monopolistic tendencies in the economy and help to meet the
objectives of the National Development Policy
The objectives are to reduce the government financial and administrative
burden The scope of government is wide They cannot cover all the aspects
in the Malaysia So the main objective for the government is to reduce their
burden in term of financial and administrative Through this policy the
government transferred some of the property responsibility and burden to the
private sector So as a result the allocation of budget can be saved and use
for other aspect Second is to create more opportunity for the Bumiputras to
established private corporations By giving more chances to the private
sector the government will be able create the opportunity job for the people
especially bumiputras to establish and join the private corporation It also will
encourage them to increase their economic level for more growth and can
compete with other races Other objective is to increase efficiency in dividing
our natural resources However the private sector has more expertise
compare to the public sector They have many professional that expert in the
particular fields So the implementing of privatization policy can manage the
natural resources more efficient and systematic Telekom Malaysia and
Tenaga Nasional for instance
36 |
Government would select an appropriate agencies that deemed profitable and
offers for complete privatization or simply engaging in joint-venture projects
with private enterprises The result of privatization is the lowered cost in
government spending and open up opportunity to redistribute the saved
resources to other sectors such as helping the poor community Privatization
involves the transfer of government equities to the private sector The
government selects suitable agencies that deemed profitable and offers for
complete privatization or engaging in joint-venture projects with private
enterprises This program successfully implemented in developed countries
As a result privatization reduces cost in governmentrsquos spending and
expenditure Besides that it gives opportunity for the government to
redistribute the saved resources to help the poor citizens to increase their
standard of living (Mahathir Mohamad 1984)
This policy can be considered as successful and later being example by other
developing countries that amazed with the rapid development in Malaysia
Among the example of agencies or departments that had been successfully
privatized were telecommunications department (now is known as TELEKOM
MALAYSIA BERHAD) national electricity board (now is known as TENAGA
NASIONAL BERHAD) and railway board (now is known as KTMB)(Rozalli
Hashim 2005)
Although these agencies fully privatized because of governmentrsquos interests in
terms of government ownership and budget we can see the successfulness
of the implementation of this policy These agencies transformed into GLC
(Government Link Companies) that operate on their own generate their own
revenues and compete with multi-national company Besides that there are
also GLC that buy shares from overseas company and own many subsidiaries
in foreign countries and within Malaysia For example Telekom Malaysia (TM)
has many subsidiaries in foreign companies such as Indonesia Singapore
Sri Lanka and etcetera This shows the successfulness of privatization of
telecommunication industry in Malaysia
| 37
233 Public enterprise
Development administration was involved largely with the public sector
However efforts to develop nation involves a huge sum of money In 1980s
development administration was involved largely with the public sector
Private sector rarely involved in any debates and discussion regarding
development administration One of the reasons was that private sector in that
time is still struggling in terms of doing business relative to the abilities of their
competitors especially foreign and multi-national companies (Donald JHarris
1999)
The challenges that appear in that time was to find the ways on how to
improve the capabilities of the public and private sector in planning preparing
for the changes in social and economic and to regulate the regulation on how
to improve the efficiency of the administration to achieve fair economic
development for all the citizen (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Recognizing this need the government continues to promote the spirit of
Malaysia Incorporated which introduced in 1983 This policy represents a
new way of approaching the task of national development The fundamental
basis of this approach is that successful national development requires the
public and private sectors to adhere to the perception of the nation as a
corporate business entity jointly owned by both sectors and working in
tandem in pursuit of a common mission
As exemplified by the success of Japan and South Korea there must be the
unity of purpose of government and business Business leaders politicians
and government officials ought to realize that their roles are not mutually
exclusive Unilateral action that affects the well-being of the other would only
breed distrust and contempt
The resulting benefit of this cooperation is higher growth and expansion of the
private sector leading to spin-offs in economic investment expansion and
growth as well as the generation of employment opportunities The increase
in government revenues could then enable the government to finance not only
socio-economic development but also the public administrative machinery
This policy presupposes a changing role for the public sector from the
traditional role of a regulator to the new role of a service agency planner and
facilitator (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
38 |
24 PHASE IV ndash
Development Management ndash quality management Civil Society
(Responsible individuals and NGOs) deregulation
administrative achievements in developing countries
241 Quality Management
The quality movement became further intensified and strengthened when a
comprehensive award system was introduced in an attempt to institutionalize
the culture of excellence in the public service This policy has become the
driving force behind the systematic and continuous efforts by public agencies
to upgrade in terms of quality and innovative ways and means to better serve
their customers While the implementation of such innovations has already
marked the beginning of quality management in the public service further
inroads have been made with the adoption of internationally recognized ISO
9000 series in 1996 and the benchmarking programs in 1999 The
government agencies are required to examine relevant best practices by a
benchmarking partner and seek ways and means to adopt and improve upon
their applications in their own organizations (Sarji 1996)
242 Civil Society
Civil society defined as the sphere of institutions organisations and
individuals located between the family state and market in which people
associate voluntarily to advance common interests (Moten 2008)
Larry Diamond 1994 defines it as the realm of organised social life that is
voluntary (largely) self generating self supporting and autonomous from the
state and bound by a legal order or set of shared rulesrdquo
Civil society organisations in Malaysia have expanded considerably since
independence and particularly since the 1980s In 1957 after independence
there were 1741 organisations registered with the Registrar of Societies By
1996 this number had increased to 28 219 As of December 31 1998 there
were 29 574 registered societies in the country with 56 626 branches all
over the country (New Sunday Times February 21 1999 Moten 2008)
| 39
This increase indicates changing attitudes in Malaysian society in responding
to their socio-political needs and responsibilities by relying more and more on
collective ideas and actions and not just expecting governmental leadership or
familial support In general associations can be categorised as environmental
groups consumer groups human rights groups development groups and
womenrsquos group Among the major actors are Aliran Consumersrsquo Association
of Pulau Pinang (CAP) Federation of Malaysian Consumersrsquo Association
(FOMCA) and many more others On issues like drug rehabilitation juvenile
delinquency youth and child development or welfare policies the government
has enthusiastically co-operated with civil associations to promote
development (Moten 2008)
These cooperation is very important as the roles and responsibilities fulfil by
these civil organisations to some extent had voluntarily helped to reduce
social problems which at the same time reduces government burden to
handle these problems Thus human capital and expenditure of the
government can be channelled to other efforts of development Pengasih is
one of the examples of an outstanding civil organisation that is cooperating
hand in hand to help the drug addicts to register voluntarily in this
rehabilitation centre So does Pernim that is helping HIV positive AIDS
children
40 |
| 41
243 Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and
regulations that constrain the operation of market forces Deregulation does
not mean elimination of laws against fraud or property rights but eliminating or
reducing government control of how business is done thereby moving toward
a more laissez-faire free market
It is different from liberalization where more players enter in the market but
continues the regulation and guarantee of consumer rights and maximum and
minimum prices (httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
Deregulation is different from liberalization because a liberalized market while
often having fewer and simpler regulations can also have regulations to
increase efficiency and protect consumers rights one example being anti-
monopoly legislation However the terms are often used interchangeably
within deregulatedliberalized industries
A parallel development with deregulation has been organized ongoing
programs to review regulatory initiatives with a view to minimizing simplifying
and making more cost effective regulations
(httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
The 1998 Malaysian Budget was unveiled on 17 October 1997 a major focus
was placed on reducing the current account deficit through inter alias a
package of measures aimed at reducing imports and increasing exports of
goods and services At the same time the Government re-emphasized its
commitment to deregulation and liberalization particularly in the financial
sector measures were introduced to extend foreign access to real estate
purchases and develop the capital market and Malaysias commitment to the
WTO financial services negotiations was reaffirmed with particular reference
to liberalization of the insurance and brokerage industries
(httpwwwwtoorgenglishtratop_etpr_etp67_ehtm)
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
30 |
The 1967 reformation adopted institution-building approach to elevate
bureaucratic effectiveness (Esman 1972) The role of public service and
administration has significantly changed over the years in line with the
countrys economic growth and development Its mission objectives and
functions had undergone various degrees of reform especially under the
explicit and implicit influences of changes in public policies development
strategies and initiatives These reforms took place in two distinctive phases
namely the period of rapid economic growth in 1960s and 1970s which
required development administration and institution building and the period
from 1980 to the present that necessitated the consolidation and qualitative
upgrading of the government machinery The success of Malaysias
development programs to a significant extent can be attributed as not only to
the efficient and effective functioning of the economic system but also to the
stabilizing and integrative functioning of the countrys public administration
system
| 31
The First Malaysia Plan thus had to address the problem of unemployment
which reared its head for the first time in the 1960s despite encouraging
growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) employment rates had not
grown at a commensurate pace In addition there was also the problem of
ethnic specialization in certain professions with the Chinese dominating the
marketplace the Malays dominating the civil service and the Indians largely
participating in specialist professions such as law The income disparity
between rural and urban areas that the Second Malayan Five Year Plan had
sought to resolve not satisfactorily eliminated Therefore what the
government does is to increase the level of employment and to give chances
to the unemployed and make sure that the standard of living becomes well
(httpwwwstategov)
2231 Reorganization
The worldwide recession of 1980s and its consequent effects
on domestic economy left the Malaysia government reduce the
size of its public sector Privatization and organizational
reorganization were among the variety of measures initiated
towards achieving this goal The reorganization measures have
contributed to reducing the size of public bureaucracy and the
financial burden of the government through savings in huge
operating costs and capital expenditure The organizational
reorganization initiated in 1989 aimed at ensuring that the size
of the public service was consistent with its new roles and
functions in the society Between 1992 and 1997 a total of 570
agencies have been reviewed and reorganized with a
considerable reduction in the number of posts (Ahmad Sarji
1996)
32 |
2232 Reinventing
The advancements in the field of information technology (IT)
has offered enormous prospect for transforming service
provision and widened citizens expectations for more efficient
and responsive delivery of public services This has also put
pressures on the government to reinvent itself and produce
innovations in the service delivery systems The Malaysian
government appears to be well ahead of many other
developing countries in terms of emphasizing its significance
and undertaking programs for IT application in the
administration In fact a major feature of the current
administrative reforms in Malaysia is the stress on IT The
Multimedia Super Corridor established in 1996 is seen as a
milestone in the development of IT application in all areas
including the government Subsequently the government
initiated an E-Government scheme seeking to dramatically
enhance the performance and quality of public services by
harnessing IT and multi-media (GOM 2000 Karim and Khalid
2003)
2233 Debureaucracy
Redesign of the governmental processes was essential in order
to achieve dramatic improvements in service delivery Two
important studies initiated by the government in the early 1990s
led to the introduction of major revision in procedural matters of
the business of the government Public agencies in general
have been asked to review the existing ways of doing things in
order to reduce red-tape and expedite the delivery of services
and to take appropriate actions to ease regulations and
procedures for the benefit of their clients (Sarji 1996)
| 33
23 PHASE III ndash
Projects planning privatization amp public enterprise
231 Projects Planning
In 1970rsquos developing nations were all over the world rushed to secure foreign
aides in every shape and figure There were active roles by international
financial institutions in providing funds for developing nations in project
planning This was due to the favourable economic achievements in the West
and savings into financial institutions skyrocketed with unprecedented high
since World War II Financial experts in those countries had suggested that
these institutions provide long terms and low interest rate loans to developing
nations to help them with their development agenda One of the main
requirements for such loans was that recipient countries need to set up a
comprehensive project planning and appraisal system (Rondinelli 1985)
The objective of project planning was that only feasible projects can
determine the recipients ability to service their loans By this time recipient
countries still lacked experience and expertise especially in high technological
skills and know ndash how Foreign experts were brought in and they paid from the
loan Direct intervention from foreign organization and even their
governments were very difficult to curtail and in some instances their
involvement exceeded beyond the limits Failure to pay back loans made few
poor countries indebted to the rich countries not only in terms of money but in
terms of political authority as well
Governments of developing nations much tensed with such development but
they were tight up with procedures and requirements Project appraisals also
determined by fund providers Although officials from the recipient countries
were also involved they did not have the knowledge to perform project
assessment on their own Management training became a very important
avenue for the officials to upgrade their knowledge and to learn from the
foreign experts (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
A good and effective project planning approaches however had tremendous
effect on economic growth due to superb infrastructure development
especially in the urban area Urbanization centred on the capital of states and
earmarked areas for administration culture and commerce
34 |
Urbanization is widely accepted as part of the development process
Arguably however are the positive and negative consequences of that
process where much literature has focused on the latter in many developing
countries Diffusion of urbanization in Malaysia has contributed to the general
improvements of the living environment through the provision of infrastructure
and services such as conventional housing water and electricity supplies
sanitation sewerage transport and telecommunications and so forth
232 Privatization
The government has to provide all the infrastructure and accommodation for
the country including road electricity water supply and building and industrial
facilities This is because the private sector in the country during that time did
not have enough capital to finance the development projects The private
sectors need assistance from the government to implement huge projects
However the private sector slowly starting to take over the function of the
government to develop the country by sharing the burden to finance the
development project with the government due to the strong government
policies protecting local business endeavour The responsibility to develop the
country slowly goes to the private sector and multinational corporate agency
These open the opportunity for the privatization and corporation between the
public sector and private sector
Thus this would allow the government to reduce its stakes in some projects
and releasing public funds for other purposes The burden of developing
certain projects gradually shifted to private companies This initiative had
widely opened the propensity to privatization and joint venture efforts between
the government and the private sector
This scenario is seeing in countries such as Singapore Taiwan South Korea
Hong Kong Brazil and Malaysia The development that shared between the
government and private sector would allow the government to reduce its
stakes in those projects and cutting expenses
| 35
The Privatization Policy was introduced on the march 1983 by Tun Dr
Mahathir Bin Mohamed after the announcement of the Malaysia Incorporated
Policy in 25th February 1983 Privatization policy simply means the transfer of
property or responsibility from the public sector (government) to the private
sector (business) Given the resource constraints the government has
decided that it will facilitate the private sector to play the aggressive role in the
future economic development of the country It is therefore apparent to the
civil servants that to achieve this objective a new management culture is
needed Quick reactions and decisions are imperative and in fact critical to
enable the private enterprises to be competitive on a global scale
Privatization was seen to be the means of stimulating and improving the
overall efficiency of the economy Privatization will not only relieve the
government of the financial and administrative burden but also improve the
efficiency and increase the productivity of the services It will also stimulate
private entrepreneurship and investment thus accelerating the rate of growth
of the economy and able to reduce the size and presence of the public sector
with the monopolistic tendencies in the economy and help to meet the
objectives of the National Development Policy
The objectives are to reduce the government financial and administrative
burden The scope of government is wide They cannot cover all the aspects
in the Malaysia So the main objective for the government is to reduce their
burden in term of financial and administrative Through this policy the
government transferred some of the property responsibility and burden to the
private sector So as a result the allocation of budget can be saved and use
for other aspect Second is to create more opportunity for the Bumiputras to
established private corporations By giving more chances to the private
sector the government will be able create the opportunity job for the people
especially bumiputras to establish and join the private corporation It also will
encourage them to increase their economic level for more growth and can
compete with other races Other objective is to increase efficiency in dividing
our natural resources However the private sector has more expertise
compare to the public sector They have many professional that expert in the
particular fields So the implementing of privatization policy can manage the
natural resources more efficient and systematic Telekom Malaysia and
Tenaga Nasional for instance
36 |
Government would select an appropriate agencies that deemed profitable and
offers for complete privatization or simply engaging in joint-venture projects
with private enterprises The result of privatization is the lowered cost in
government spending and open up opportunity to redistribute the saved
resources to other sectors such as helping the poor community Privatization
involves the transfer of government equities to the private sector The
government selects suitable agencies that deemed profitable and offers for
complete privatization or engaging in joint-venture projects with private
enterprises This program successfully implemented in developed countries
As a result privatization reduces cost in governmentrsquos spending and
expenditure Besides that it gives opportunity for the government to
redistribute the saved resources to help the poor citizens to increase their
standard of living (Mahathir Mohamad 1984)
This policy can be considered as successful and later being example by other
developing countries that amazed with the rapid development in Malaysia
Among the example of agencies or departments that had been successfully
privatized were telecommunications department (now is known as TELEKOM
MALAYSIA BERHAD) national electricity board (now is known as TENAGA
NASIONAL BERHAD) and railway board (now is known as KTMB)(Rozalli
Hashim 2005)
Although these agencies fully privatized because of governmentrsquos interests in
terms of government ownership and budget we can see the successfulness
of the implementation of this policy These agencies transformed into GLC
(Government Link Companies) that operate on their own generate their own
revenues and compete with multi-national company Besides that there are
also GLC that buy shares from overseas company and own many subsidiaries
in foreign countries and within Malaysia For example Telekom Malaysia (TM)
has many subsidiaries in foreign companies such as Indonesia Singapore
Sri Lanka and etcetera This shows the successfulness of privatization of
telecommunication industry in Malaysia
| 37
233 Public enterprise
Development administration was involved largely with the public sector
However efforts to develop nation involves a huge sum of money In 1980s
development administration was involved largely with the public sector
Private sector rarely involved in any debates and discussion regarding
development administration One of the reasons was that private sector in that
time is still struggling in terms of doing business relative to the abilities of their
competitors especially foreign and multi-national companies (Donald JHarris
1999)
The challenges that appear in that time was to find the ways on how to
improve the capabilities of the public and private sector in planning preparing
for the changes in social and economic and to regulate the regulation on how
to improve the efficiency of the administration to achieve fair economic
development for all the citizen (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Recognizing this need the government continues to promote the spirit of
Malaysia Incorporated which introduced in 1983 This policy represents a
new way of approaching the task of national development The fundamental
basis of this approach is that successful national development requires the
public and private sectors to adhere to the perception of the nation as a
corporate business entity jointly owned by both sectors and working in
tandem in pursuit of a common mission
As exemplified by the success of Japan and South Korea there must be the
unity of purpose of government and business Business leaders politicians
and government officials ought to realize that their roles are not mutually
exclusive Unilateral action that affects the well-being of the other would only
breed distrust and contempt
The resulting benefit of this cooperation is higher growth and expansion of the
private sector leading to spin-offs in economic investment expansion and
growth as well as the generation of employment opportunities The increase
in government revenues could then enable the government to finance not only
socio-economic development but also the public administrative machinery
This policy presupposes a changing role for the public sector from the
traditional role of a regulator to the new role of a service agency planner and
facilitator (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
38 |
24 PHASE IV ndash
Development Management ndash quality management Civil Society
(Responsible individuals and NGOs) deregulation
administrative achievements in developing countries
241 Quality Management
The quality movement became further intensified and strengthened when a
comprehensive award system was introduced in an attempt to institutionalize
the culture of excellence in the public service This policy has become the
driving force behind the systematic and continuous efforts by public agencies
to upgrade in terms of quality and innovative ways and means to better serve
their customers While the implementation of such innovations has already
marked the beginning of quality management in the public service further
inroads have been made with the adoption of internationally recognized ISO
9000 series in 1996 and the benchmarking programs in 1999 The
government agencies are required to examine relevant best practices by a
benchmarking partner and seek ways and means to adopt and improve upon
their applications in their own organizations (Sarji 1996)
242 Civil Society
Civil society defined as the sphere of institutions organisations and
individuals located between the family state and market in which people
associate voluntarily to advance common interests (Moten 2008)
Larry Diamond 1994 defines it as the realm of organised social life that is
voluntary (largely) self generating self supporting and autonomous from the
state and bound by a legal order or set of shared rulesrdquo
Civil society organisations in Malaysia have expanded considerably since
independence and particularly since the 1980s In 1957 after independence
there were 1741 organisations registered with the Registrar of Societies By
1996 this number had increased to 28 219 As of December 31 1998 there
were 29 574 registered societies in the country with 56 626 branches all
over the country (New Sunday Times February 21 1999 Moten 2008)
| 39
This increase indicates changing attitudes in Malaysian society in responding
to their socio-political needs and responsibilities by relying more and more on
collective ideas and actions and not just expecting governmental leadership or
familial support In general associations can be categorised as environmental
groups consumer groups human rights groups development groups and
womenrsquos group Among the major actors are Aliran Consumersrsquo Association
of Pulau Pinang (CAP) Federation of Malaysian Consumersrsquo Association
(FOMCA) and many more others On issues like drug rehabilitation juvenile
delinquency youth and child development or welfare policies the government
has enthusiastically co-operated with civil associations to promote
development (Moten 2008)
These cooperation is very important as the roles and responsibilities fulfil by
these civil organisations to some extent had voluntarily helped to reduce
social problems which at the same time reduces government burden to
handle these problems Thus human capital and expenditure of the
government can be channelled to other efforts of development Pengasih is
one of the examples of an outstanding civil organisation that is cooperating
hand in hand to help the drug addicts to register voluntarily in this
rehabilitation centre So does Pernim that is helping HIV positive AIDS
children
40 |
| 41
243 Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and
regulations that constrain the operation of market forces Deregulation does
not mean elimination of laws against fraud or property rights but eliminating or
reducing government control of how business is done thereby moving toward
a more laissez-faire free market
It is different from liberalization where more players enter in the market but
continues the regulation and guarantee of consumer rights and maximum and
minimum prices (httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
Deregulation is different from liberalization because a liberalized market while
often having fewer and simpler regulations can also have regulations to
increase efficiency and protect consumers rights one example being anti-
monopoly legislation However the terms are often used interchangeably
within deregulatedliberalized industries
A parallel development with deregulation has been organized ongoing
programs to review regulatory initiatives with a view to minimizing simplifying
and making more cost effective regulations
(httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
The 1998 Malaysian Budget was unveiled on 17 October 1997 a major focus
was placed on reducing the current account deficit through inter alias a
package of measures aimed at reducing imports and increasing exports of
goods and services At the same time the Government re-emphasized its
commitment to deregulation and liberalization particularly in the financial
sector measures were introduced to extend foreign access to real estate
purchases and develop the capital market and Malaysias commitment to the
WTO financial services negotiations was reaffirmed with particular reference
to liberalization of the insurance and brokerage industries
(httpwwwwtoorgenglishtratop_etpr_etp67_ehtm)
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
| 31
The First Malaysia Plan thus had to address the problem of unemployment
which reared its head for the first time in the 1960s despite encouraging
growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) employment rates had not
grown at a commensurate pace In addition there was also the problem of
ethnic specialization in certain professions with the Chinese dominating the
marketplace the Malays dominating the civil service and the Indians largely
participating in specialist professions such as law The income disparity
between rural and urban areas that the Second Malayan Five Year Plan had
sought to resolve not satisfactorily eliminated Therefore what the
government does is to increase the level of employment and to give chances
to the unemployed and make sure that the standard of living becomes well
(httpwwwstategov)
2231 Reorganization
The worldwide recession of 1980s and its consequent effects
on domestic economy left the Malaysia government reduce the
size of its public sector Privatization and organizational
reorganization were among the variety of measures initiated
towards achieving this goal The reorganization measures have
contributed to reducing the size of public bureaucracy and the
financial burden of the government through savings in huge
operating costs and capital expenditure The organizational
reorganization initiated in 1989 aimed at ensuring that the size
of the public service was consistent with its new roles and
functions in the society Between 1992 and 1997 a total of 570
agencies have been reviewed and reorganized with a
considerable reduction in the number of posts (Ahmad Sarji
1996)
32 |
2232 Reinventing
The advancements in the field of information technology (IT)
has offered enormous prospect for transforming service
provision and widened citizens expectations for more efficient
and responsive delivery of public services This has also put
pressures on the government to reinvent itself and produce
innovations in the service delivery systems The Malaysian
government appears to be well ahead of many other
developing countries in terms of emphasizing its significance
and undertaking programs for IT application in the
administration In fact a major feature of the current
administrative reforms in Malaysia is the stress on IT The
Multimedia Super Corridor established in 1996 is seen as a
milestone in the development of IT application in all areas
including the government Subsequently the government
initiated an E-Government scheme seeking to dramatically
enhance the performance and quality of public services by
harnessing IT and multi-media (GOM 2000 Karim and Khalid
2003)
2233 Debureaucracy
Redesign of the governmental processes was essential in order
to achieve dramatic improvements in service delivery Two
important studies initiated by the government in the early 1990s
led to the introduction of major revision in procedural matters of
the business of the government Public agencies in general
have been asked to review the existing ways of doing things in
order to reduce red-tape and expedite the delivery of services
and to take appropriate actions to ease regulations and
procedures for the benefit of their clients (Sarji 1996)
| 33
23 PHASE III ndash
Projects planning privatization amp public enterprise
231 Projects Planning
In 1970rsquos developing nations were all over the world rushed to secure foreign
aides in every shape and figure There were active roles by international
financial institutions in providing funds for developing nations in project
planning This was due to the favourable economic achievements in the West
and savings into financial institutions skyrocketed with unprecedented high
since World War II Financial experts in those countries had suggested that
these institutions provide long terms and low interest rate loans to developing
nations to help them with their development agenda One of the main
requirements for such loans was that recipient countries need to set up a
comprehensive project planning and appraisal system (Rondinelli 1985)
The objective of project planning was that only feasible projects can
determine the recipients ability to service their loans By this time recipient
countries still lacked experience and expertise especially in high technological
skills and know ndash how Foreign experts were brought in and they paid from the
loan Direct intervention from foreign organization and even their
governments were very difficult to curtail and in some instances their
involvement exceeded beyond the limits Failure to pay back loans made few
poor countries indebted to the rich countries not only in terms of money but in
terms of political authority as well
Governments of developing nations much tensed with such development but
they were tight up with procedures and requirements Project appraisals also
determined by fund providers Although officials from the recipient countries
were also involved they did not have the knowledge to perform project
assessment on their own Management training became a very important
avenue for the officials to upgrade their knowledge and to learn from the
foreign experts (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
A good and effective project planning approaches however had tremendous
effect on economic growth due to superb infrastructure development
especially in the urban area Urbanization centred on the capital of states and
earmarked areas for administration culture and commerce
34 |
Urbanization is widely accepted as part of the development process
Arguably however are the positive and negative consequences of that
process where much literature has focused on the latter in many developing
countries Diffusion of urbanization in Malaysia has contributed to the general
improvements of the living environment through the provision of infrastructure
and services such as conventional housing water and electricity supplies
sanitation sewerage transport and telecommunications and so forth
232 Privatization
The government has to provide all the infrastructure and accommodation for
the country including road electricity water supply and building and industrial
facilities This is because the private sector in the country during that time did
not have enough capital to finance the development projects The private
sectors need assistance from the government to implement huge projects
However the private sector slowly starting to take over the function of the
government to develop the country by sharing the burden to finance the
development project with the government due to the strong government
policies protecting local business endeavour The responsibility to develop the
country slowly goes to the private sector and multinational corporate agency
These open the opportunity for the privatization and corporation between the
public sector and private sector
Thus this would allow the government to reduce its stakes in some projects
and releasing public funds for other purposes The burden of developing
certain projects gradually shifted to private companies This initiative had
widely opened the propensity to privatization and joint venture efforts between
the government and the private sector
This scenario is seeing in countries such as Singapore Taiwan South Korea
Hong Kong Brazil and Malaysia The development that shared between the
government and private sector would allow the government to reduce its
stakes in those projects and cutting expenses
| 35
The Privatization Policy was introduced on the march 1983 by Tun Dr
Mahathir Bin Mohamed after the announcement of the Malaysia Incorporated
Policy in 25th February 1983 Privatization policy simply means the transfer of
property or responsibility from the public sector (government) to the private
sector (business) Given the resource constraints the government has
decided that it will facilitate the private sector to play the aggressive role in the
future economic development of the country It is therefore apparent to the
civil servants that to achieve this objective a new management culture is
needed Quick reactions and decisions are imperative and in fact critical to
enable the private enterprises to be competitive on a global scale
Privatization was seen to be the means of stimulating and improving the
overall efficiency of the economy Privatization will not only relieve the
government of the financial and administrative burden but also improve the
efficiency and increase the productivity of the services It will also stimulate
private entrepreneurship and investment thus accelerating the rate of growth
of the economy and able to reduce the size and presence of the public sector
with the monopolistic tendencies in the economy and help to meet the
objectives of the National Development Policy
The objectives are to reduce the government financial and administrative
burden The scope of government is wide They cannot cover all the aspects
in the Malaysia So the main objective for the government is to reduce their
burden in term of financial and administrative Through this policy the
government transferred some of the property responsibility and burden to the
private sector So as a result the allocation of budget can be saved and use
for other aspect Second is to create more opportunity for the Bumiputras to
established private corporations By giving more chances to the private
sector the government will be able create the opportunity job for the people
especially bumiputras to establish and join the private corporation It also will
encourage them to increase their economic level for more growth and can
compete with other races Other objective is to increase efficiency in dividing
our natural resources However the private sector has more expertise
compare to the public sector They have many professional that expert in the
particular fields So the implementing of privatization policy can manage the
natural resources more efficient and systematic Telekom Malaysia and
Tenaga Nasional for instance
36 |
Government would select an appropriate agencies that deemed profitable and
offers for complete privatization or simply engaging in joint-venture projects
with private enterprises The result of privatization is the lowered cost in
government spending and open up opportunity to redistribute the saved
resources to other sectors such as helping the poor community Privatization
involves the transfer of government equities to the private sector The
government selects suitable agencies that deemed profitable and offers for
complete privatization or engaging in joint-venture projects with private
enterprises This program successfully implemented in developed countries
As a result privatization reduces cost in governmentrsquos spending and
expenditure Besides that it gives opportunity for the government to
redistribute the saved resources to help the poor citizens to increase their
standard of living (Mahathir Mohamad 1984)
This policy can be considered as successful and later being example by other
developing countries that amazed with the rapid development in Malaysia
Among the example of agencies or departments that had been successfully
privatized were telecommunications department (now is known as TELEKOM
MALAYSIA BERHAD) national electricity board (now is known as TENAGA
NASIONAL BERHAD) and railway board (now is known as KTMB)(Rozalli
Hashim 2005)
Although these agencies fully privatized because of governmentrsquos interests in
terms of government ownership and budget we can see the successfulness
of the implementation of this policy These agencies transformed into GLC
(Government Link Companies) that operate on their own generate their own
revenues and compete with multi-national company Besides that there are
also GLC that buy shares from overseas company and own many subsidiaries
in foreign countries and within Malaysia For example Telekom Malaysia (TM)
has many subsidiaries in foreign companies such as Indonesia Singapore
Sri Lanka and etcetera This shows the successfulness of privatization of
telecommunication industry in Malaysia
| 37
233 Public enterprise
Development administration was involved largely with the public sector
However efforts to develop nation involves a huge sum of money In 1980s
development administration was involved largely with the public sector
Private sector rarely involved in any debates and discussion regarding
development administration One of the reasons was that private sector in that
time is still struggling in terms of doing business relative to the abilities of their
competitors especially foreign and multi-national companies (Donald JHarris
1999)
The challenges that appear in that time was to find the ways on how to
improve the capabilities of the public and private sector in planning preparing
for the changes in social and economic and to regulate the regulation on how
to improve the efficiency of the administration to achieve fair economic
development for all the citizen (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Recognizing this need the government continues to promote the spirit of
Malaysia Incorporated which introduced in 1983 This policy represents a
new way of approaching the task of national development The fundamental
basis of this approach is that successful national development requires the
public and private sectors to adhere to the perception of the nation as a
corporate business entity jointly owned by both sectors and working in
tandem in pursuit of a common mission
As exemplified by the success of Japan and South Korea there must be the
unity of purpose of government and business Business leaders politicians
and government officials ought to realize that their roles are not mutually
exclusive Unilateral action that affects the well-being of the other would only
breed distrust and contempt
The resulting benefit of this cooperation is higher growth and expansion of the
private sector leading to spin-offs in economic investment expansion and
growth as well as the generation of employment opportunities The increase
in government revenues could then enable the government to finance not only
socio-economic development but also the public administrative machinery
This policy presupposes a changing role for the public sector from the
traditional role of a regulator to the new role of a service agency planner and
facilitator (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
38 |
24 PHASE IV ndash
Development Management ndash quality management Civil Society
(Responsible individuals and NGOs) deregulation
administrative achievements in developing countries
241 Quality Management
The quality movement became further intensified and strengthened when a
comprehensive award system was introduced in an attempt to institutionalize
the culture of excellence in the public service This policy has become the
driving force behind the systematic and continuous efforts by public agencies
to upgrade in terms of quality and innovative ways and means to better serve
their customers While the implementation of such innovations has already
marked the beginning of quality management in the public service further
inroads have been made with the adoption of internationally recognized ISO
9000 series in 1996 and the benchmarking programs in 1999 The
government agencies are required to examine relevant best practices by a
benchmarking partner and seek ways and means to adopt and improve upon
their applications in their own organizations (Sarji 1996)
242 Civil Society
Civil society defined as the sphere of institutions organisations and
individuals located between the family state and market in which people
associate voluntarily to advance common interests (Moten 2008)
Larry Diamond 1994 defines it as the realm of organised social life that is
voluntary (largely) self generating self supporting and autonomous from the
state and bound by a legal order or set of shared rulesrdquo
Civil society organisations in Malaysia have expanded considerably since
independence and particularly since the 1980s In 1957 after independence
there were 1741 organisations registered with the Registrar of Societies By
1996 this number had increased to 28 219 As of December 31 1998 there
were 29 574 registered societies in the country with 56 626 branches all
over the country (New Sunday Times February 21 1999 Moten 2008)
| 39
This increase indicates changing attitudes in Malaysian society in responding
to their socio-political needs and responsibilities by relying more and more on
collective ideas and actions and not just expecting governmental leadership or
familial support In general associations can be categorised as environmental
groups consumer groups human rights groups development groups and
womenrsquos group Among the major actors are Aliran Consumersrsquo Association
of Pulau Pinang (CAP) Federation of Malaysian Consumersrsquo Association
(FOMCA) and many more others On issues like drug rehabilitation juvenile
delinquency youth and child development or welfare policies the government
has enthusiastically co-operated with civil associations to promote
development (Moten 2008)
These cooperation is very important as the roles and responsibilities fulfil by
these civil organisations to some extent had voluntarily helped to reduce
social problems which at the same time reduces government burden to
handle these problems Thus human capital and expenditure of the
government can be channelled to other efforts of development Pengasih is
one of the examples of an outstanding civil organisation that is cooperating
hand in hand to help the drug addicts to register voluntarily in this
rehabilitation centre So does Pernim that is helping HIV positive AIDS
children
40 |
| 41
243 Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and
regulations that constrain the operation of market forces Deregulation does
not mean elimination of laws against fraud or property rights but eliminating or
reducing government control of how business is done thereby moving toward
a more laissez-faire free market
It is different from liberalization where more players enter in the market but
continues the regulation and guarantee of consumer rights and maximum and
minimum prices (httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
Deregulation is different from liberalization because a liberalized market while
often having fewer and simpler regulations can also have regulations to
increase efficiency and protect consumers rights one example being anti-
monopoly legislation However the terms are often used interchangeably
within deregulatedliberalized industries
A parallel development with deregulation has been organized ongoing
programs to review regulatory initiatives with a view to minimizing simplifying
and making more cost effective regulations
(httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
The 1998 Malaysian Budget was unveiled on 17 October 1997 a major focus
was placed on reducing the current account deficit through inter alias a
package of measures aimed at reducing imports and increasing exports of
goods and services At the same time the Government re-emphasized its
commitment to deregulation and liberalization particularly in the financial
sector measures were introduced to extend foreign access to real estate
purchases and develop the capital market and Malaysias commitment to the
WTO financial services negotiations was reaffirmed with particular reference
to liberalization of the insurance and brokerage industries
(httpwwwwtoorgenglishtratop_etpr_etp67_ehtm)
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
32 |
2232 Reinventing
The advancements in the field of information technology (IT)
has offered enormous prospect for transforming service
provision and widened citizens expectations for more efficient
and responsive delivery of public services This has also put
pressures on the government to reinvent itself and produce
innovations in the service delivery systems The Malaysian
government appears to be well ahead of many other
developing countries in terms of emphasizing its significance
and undertaking programs for IT application in the
administration In fact a major feature of the current
administrative reforms in Malaysia is the stress on IT The
Multimedia Super Corridor established in 1996 is seen as a
milestone in the development of IT application in all areas
including the government Subsequently the government
initiated an E-Government scheme seeking to dramatically
enhance the performance and quality of public services by
harnessing IT and multi-media (GOM 2000 Karim and Khalid
2003)
2233 Debureaucracy
Redesign of the governmental processes was essential in order
to achieve dramatic improvements in service delivery Two
important studies initiated by the government in the early 1990s
led to the introduction of major revision in procedural matters of
the business of the government Public agencies in general
have been asked to review the existing ways of doing things in
order to reduce red-tape and expedite the delivery of services
and to take appropriate actions to ease regulations and
procedures for the benefit of their clients (Sarji 1996)
| 33
23 PHASE III ndash
Projects planning privatization amp public enterprise
231 Projects Planning
In 1970rsquos developing nations were all over the world rushed to secure foreign
aides in every shape and figure There were active roles by international
financial institutions in providing funds for developing nations in project
planning This was due to the favourable economic achievements in the West
and savings into financial institutions skyrocketed with unprecedented high
since World War II Financial experts in those countries had suggested that
these institutions provide long terms and low interest rate loans to developing
nations to help them with their development agenda One of the main
requirements for such loans was that recipient countries need to set up a
comprehensive project planning and appraisal system (Rondinelli 1985)
The objective of project planning was that only feasible projects can
determine the recipients ability to service their loans By this time recipient
countries still lacked experience and expertise especially in high technological
skills and know ndash how Foreign experts were brought in and they paid from the
loan Direct intervention from foreign organization and even their
governments were very difficult to curtail and in some instances their
involvement exceeded beyond the limits Failure to pay back loans made few
poor countries indebted to the rich countries not only in terms of money but in
terms of political authority as well
Governments of developing nations much tensed with such development but
they were tight up with procedures and requirements Project appraisals also
determined by fund providers Although officials from the recipient countries
were also involved they did not have the knowledge to perform project
assessment on their own Management training became a very important
avenue for the officials to upgrade their knowledge and to learn from the
foreign experts (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
A good and effective project planning approaches however had tremendous
effect on economic growth due to superb infrastructure development
especially in the urban area Urbanization centred on the capital of states and
earmarked areas for administration culture and commerce
34 |
Urbanization is widely accepted as part of the development process
Arguably however are the positive and negative consequences of that
process where much literature has focused on the latter in many developing
countries Diffusion of urbanization in Malaysia has contributed to the general
improvements of the living environment through the provision of infrastructure
and services such as conventional housing water and electricity supplies
sanitation sewerage transport and telecommunications and so forth
232 Privatization
The government has to provide all the infrastructure and accommodation for
the country including road electricity water supply and building and industrial
facilities This is because the private sector in the country during that time did
not have enough capital to finance the development projects The private
sectors need assistance from the government to implement huge projects
However the private sector slowly starting to take over the function of the
government to develop the country by sharing the burden to finance the
development project with the government due to the strong government
policies protecting local business endeavour The responsibility to develop the
country slowly goes to the private sector and multinational corporate agency
These open the opportunity for the privatization and corporation between the
public sector and private sector
Thus this would allow the government to reduce its stakes in some projects
and releasing public funds for other purposes The burden of developing
certain projects gradually shifted to private companies This initiative had
widely opened the propensity to privatization and joint venture efforts between
the government and the private sector
This scenario is seeing in countries such as Singapore Taiwan South Korea
Hong Kong Brazil and Malaysia The development that shared between the
government and private sector would allow the government to reduce its
stakes in those projects and cutting expenses
| 35
The Privatization Policy was introduced on the march 1983 by Tun Dr
Mahathir Bin Mohamed after the announcement of the Malaysia Incorporated
Policy in 25th February 1983 Privatization policy simply means the transfer of
property or responsibility from the public sector (government) to the private
sector (business) Given the resource constraints the government has
decided that it will facilitate the private sector to play the aggressive role in the
future economic development of the country It is therefore apparent to the
civil servants that to achieve this objective a new management culture is
needed Quick reactions and decisions are imperative and in fact critical to
enable the private enterprises to be competitive on a global scale
Privatization was seen to be the means of stimulating and improving the
overall efficiency of the economy Privatization will not only relieve the
government of the financial and administrative burden but also improve the
efficiency and increase the productivity of the services It will also stimulate
private entrepreneurship and investment thus accelerating the rate of growth
of the economy and able to reduce the size and presence of the public sector
with the monopolistic tendencies in the economy and help to meet the
objectives of the National Development Policy
The objectives are to reduce the government financial and administrative
burden The scope of government is wide They cannot cover all the aspects
in the Malaysia So the main objective for the government is to reduce their
burden in term of financial and administrative Through this policy the
government transferred some of the property responsibility and burden to the
private sector So as a result the allocation of budget can be saved and use
for other aspect Second is to create more opportunity for the Bumiputras to
established private corporations By giving more chances to the private
sector the government will be able create the opportunity job for the people
especially bumiputras to establish and join the private corporation It also will
encourage them to increase their economic level for more growth and can
compete with other races Other objective is to increase efficiency in dividing
our natural resources However the private sector has more expertise
compare to the public sector They have many professional that expert in the
particular fields So the implementing of privatization policy can manage the
natural resources more efficient and systematic Telekom Malaysia and
Tenaga Nasional for instance
36 |
Government would select an appropriate agencies that deemed profitable and
offers for complete privatization or simply engaging in joint-venture projects
with private enterprises The result of privatization is the lowered cost in
government spending and open up opportunity to redistribute the saved
resources to other sectors such as helping the poor community Privatization
involves the transfer of government equities to the private sector The
government selects suitable agencies that deemed profitable and offers for
complete privatization or engaging in joint-venture projects with private
enterprises This program successfully implemented in developed countries
As a result privatization reduces cost in governmentrsquos spending and
expenditure Besides that it gives opportunity for the government to
redistribute the saved resources to help the poor citizens to increase their
standard of living (Mahathir Mohamad 1984)
This policy can be considered as successful and later being example by other
developing countries that amazed with the rapid development in Malaysia
Among the example of agencies or departments that had been successfully
privatized were telecommunications department (now is known as TELEKOM
MALAYSIA BERHAD) national electricity board (now is known as TENAGA
NASIONAL BERHAD) and railway board (now is known as KTMB)(Rozalli
Hashim 2005)
Although these agencies fully privatized because of governmentrsquos interests in
terms of government ownership and budget we can see the successfulness
of the implementation of this policy These agencies transformed into GLC
(Government Link Companies) that operate on their own generate their own
revenues and compete with multi-national company Besides that there are
also GLC that buy shares from overseas company and own many subsidiaries
in foreign countries and within Malaysia For example Telekom Malaysia (TM)
has many subsidiaries in foreign companies such as Indonesia Singapore
Sri Lanka and etcetera This shows the successfulness of privatization of
telecommunication industry in Malaysia
| 37
233 Public enterprise
Development administration was involved largely with the public sector
However efforts to develop nation involves a huge sum of money In 1980s
development administration was involved largely with the public sector
Private sector rarely involved in any debates and discussion regarding
development administration One of the reasons was that private sector in that
time is still struggling in terms of doing business relative to the abilities of their
competitors especially foreign and multi-national companies (Donald JHarris
1999)
The challenges that appear in that time was to find the ways on how to
improve the capabilities of the public and private sector in planning preparing
for the changes in social and economic and to regulate the regulation on how
to improve the efficiency of the administration to achieve fair economic
development for all the citizen (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Recognizing this need the government continues to promote the spirit of
Malaysia Incorporated which introduced in 1983 This policy represents a
new way of approaching the task of national development The fundamental
basis of this approach is that successful national development requires the
public and private sectors to adhere to the perception of the nation as a
corporate business entity jointly owned by both sectors and working in
tandem in pursuit of a common mission
As exemplified by the success of Japan and South Korea there must be the
unity of purpose of government and business Business leaders politicians
and government officials ought to realize that their roles are not mutually
exclusive Unilateral action that affects the well-being of the other would only
breed distrust and contempt
The resulting benefit of this cooperation is higher growth and expansion of the
private sector leading to spin-offs in economic investment expansion and
growth as well as the generation of employment opportunities The increase
in government revenues could then enable the government to finance not only
socio-economic development but also the public administrative machinery
This policy presupposes a changing role for the public sector from the
traditional role of a regulator to the new role of a service agency planner and
facilitator (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
38 |
24 PHASE IV ndash
Development Management ndash quality management Civil Society
(Responsible individuals and NGOs) deregulation
administrative achievements in developing countries
241 Quality Management
The quality movement became further intensified and strengthened when a
comprehensive award system was introduced in an attempt to institutionalize
the culture of excellence in the public service This policy has become the
driving force behind the systematic and continuous efforts by public agencies
to upgrade in terms of quality and innovative ways and means to better serve
their customers While the implementation of such innovations has already
marked the beginning of quality management in the public service further
inroads have been made with the adoption of internationally recognized ISO
9000 series in 1996 and the benchmarking programs in 1999 The
government agencies are required to examine relevant best practices by a
benchmarking partner and seek ways and means to adopt and improve upon
their applications in their own organizations (Sarji 1996)
242 Civil Society
Civil society defined as the sphere of institutions organisations and
individuals located between the family state and market in which people
associate voluntarily to advance common interests (Moten 2008)
Larry Diamond 1994 defines it as the realm of organised social life that is
voluntary (largely) self generating self supporting and autonomous from the
state and bound by a legal order or set of shared rulesrdquo
Civil society organisations in Malaysia have expanded considerably since
independence and particularly since the 1980s In 1957 after independence
there were 1741 organisations registered with the Registrar of Societies By
1996 this number had increased to 28 219 As of December 31 1998 there
were 29 574 registered societies in the country with 56 626 branches all
over the country (New Sunday Times February 21 1999 Moten 2008)
| 39
This increase indicates changing attitudes in Malaysian society in responding
to their socio-political needs and responsibilities by relying more and more on
collective ideas and actions and not just expecting governmental leadership or
familial support In general associations can be categorised as environmental
groups consumer groups human rights groups development groups and
womenrsquos group Among the major actors are Aliran Consumersrsquo Association
of Pulau Pinang (CAP) Federation of Malaysian Consumersrsquo Association
(FOMCA) and many more others On issues like drug rehabilitation juvenile
delinquency youth and child development or welfare policies the government
has enthusiastically co-operated with civil associations to promote
development (Moten 2008)
These cooperation is very important as the roles and responsibilities fulfil by
these civil organisations to some extent had voluntarily helped to reduce
social problems which at the same time reduces government burden to
handle these problems Thus human capital and expenditure of the
government can be channelled to other efforts of development Pengasih is
one of the examples of an outstanding civil organisation that is cooperating
hand in hand to help the drug addicts to register voluntarily in this
rehabilitation centre So does Pernim that is helping HIV positive AIDS
children
40 |
| 41
243 Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and
regulations that constrain the operation of market forces Deregulation does
not mean elimination of laws against fraud or property rights but eliminating or
reducing government control of how business is done thereby moving toward
a more laissez-faire free market
It is different from liberalization where more players enter in the market but
continues the regulation and guarantee of consumer rights and maximum and
minimum prices (httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
Deregulation is different from liberalization because a liberalized market while
often having fewer and simpler regulations can also have regulations to
increase efficiency and protect consumers rights one example being anti-
monopoly legislation However the terms are often used interchangeably
within deregulatedliberalized industries
A parallel development with deregulation has been organized ongoing
programs to review regulatory initiatives with a view to minimizing simplifying
and making more cost effective regulations
(httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
The 1998 Malaysian Budget was unveiled on 17 October 1997 a major focus
was placed on reducing the current account deficit through inter alias a
package of measures aimed at reducing imports and increasing exports of
goods and services At the same time the Government re-emphasized its
commitment to deregulation and liberalization particularly in the financial
sector measures were introduced to extend foreign access to real estate
purchases and develop the capital market and Malaysias commitment to the
WTO financial services negotiations was reaffirmed with particular reference
to liberalization of the insurance and brokerage industries
(httpwwwwtoorgenglishtratop_etpr_etp67_ehtm)
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
| 33
23 PHASE III ndash
Projects planning privatization amp public enterprise
231 Projects Planning
In 1970rsquos developing nations were all over the world rushed to secure foreign
aides in every shape and figure There were active roles by international
financial institutions in providing funds for developing nations in project
planning This was due to the favourable economic achievements in the West
and savings into financial institutions skyrocketed with unprecedented high
since World War II Financial experts in those countries had suggested that
these institutions provide long terms and low interest rate loans to developing
nations to help them with their development agenda One of the main
requirements for such loans was that recipient countries need to set up a
comprehensive project planning and appraisal system (Rondinelli 1985)
The objective of project planning was that only feasible projects can
determine the recipients ability to service their loans By this time recipient
countries still lacked experience and expertise especially in high technological
skills and know ndash how Foreign experts were brought in and they paid from the
loan Direct intervention from foreign organization and even their
governments were very difficult to curtail and in some instances their
involvement exceeded beyond the limits Failure to pay back loans made few
poor countries indebted to the rich countries not only in terms of money but in
terms of political authority as well
Governments of developing nations much tensed with such development but
they were tight up with procedures and requirements Project appraisals also
determined by fund providers Although officials from the recipient countries
were also involved they did not have the knowledge to perform project
assessment on their own Management training became a very important
avenue for the officials to upgrade their knowledge and to learn from the
foreign experts (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
A good and effective project planning approaches however had tremendous
effect on economic growth due to superb infrastructure development
especially in the urban area Urbanization centred on the capital of states and
earmarked areas for administration culture and commerce
34 |
Urbanization is widely accepted as part of the development process
Arguably however are the positive and negative consequences of that
process where much literature has focused on the latter in many developing
countries Diffusion of urbanization in Malaysia has contributed to the general
improvements of the living environment through the provision of infrastructure
and services such as conventional housing water and electricity supplies
sanitation sewerage transport and telecommunications and so forth
232 Privatization
The government has to provide all the infrastructure and accommodation for
the country including road electricity water supply and building and industrial
facilities This is because the private sector in the country during that time did
not have enough capital to finance the development projects The private
sectors need assistance from the government to implement huge projects
However the private sector slowly starting to take over the function of the
government to develop the country by sharing the burden to finance the
development project with the government due to the strong government
policies protecting local business endeavour The responsibility to develop the
country slowly goes to the private sector and multinational corporate agency
These open the opportunity for the privatization and corporation between the
public sector and private sector
Thus this would allow the government to reduce its stakes in some projects
and releasing public funds for other purposes The burden of developing
certain projects gradually shifted to private companies This initiative had
widely opened the propensity to privatization and joint venture efforts between
the government and the private sector
This scenario is seeing in countries such as Singapore Taiwan South Korea
Hong Kong Brazil and Malaysia The development that shared between the
government and private sector would allow the government to reduce its
stakes in those projects and cutting expenses
| 35
The Privatization Policy was introduced on the march 1983 by Tun Dr
Mahathir Bin Mohamed after the announcement of the Malaysia Incorporated
Policy in 25th February 1983 Privatization policy simply means the transfer of
property or responsibility from the public sector (government) to the private
sector (business) Given the resource constraints the government has
decided that it will facilitate the private sector to play the aggressive role in the
future economic development of the country It is therefore apparent to the
civil servants that to achieve this objective a new management culture is
needed Quick reactions and decisions are imperative and in fact critical to
enable the private enterprises to be competitive on a global scale
Privatization was seen to be the means of stimulating and improving the
overall efficiency of the economy Privatization will not only relieve the
government of the financial and administrative burden but also improve the
efficiency and increase the productivity of the services It will also stimulate
private entrepreneurship and investment thus accelerating the rate of growth
of the economy and able to reduce the size and presence of the public sector
with the monopolistic tendencies in the economy and help to meet the
objectives of the National Development Policy
The objectives are to reduce the government financial and administrative
burden The scope of government is wide They cannot cover all the aspects
in the Malaysia So the main objective for the government is to reduce their
burden in term of financial and administrative Through this policy the
government transferred some of the property responsibility and burden to the
private sector So as a result the allocation of budget can be saved and use
for other aspect Second is to create more opportunity for the Bumiputras to
established private corporations By giving more chances to the private
sector the government will be able create the opportunity job for the people
especially bumiputras to establish and join the private corporation It also will
encourage them to increase their economic level for more growth and can
compete with other races Other objective is to increase efficiency in dividing
our natural resources However the private sector has more expertise
compare to the public sector They have many professional that expert in the
particular fields So the implementing of privatization policy can manage the
natural resources more efficient and systematic Telekom Malaysia and
Tenaga Nasional for instance
36 |
Government would select an appropriate agencies that deemed profitable and
offers for complete privatization or simply engaging in joint-venture projects
with private enterprises The result of privatization is the lowered cost in
government spending and open up opportunity to redistribute the saved
resources to other sectors such as helping the poor community Privatization
involves the transfer of government equities to the private sector The
government selects suitable agencies that deemed profitable and offers for
complete privatization or engaging in joint-venture projects with private
enterprises This program successfully implemented in developed countries
As a result privatization reduces cost in governmentrsquos spending and
expenditure Besides that it gives opportunity for the government to
redistribute the saved resources to help the poor citizens to increase their
standard of living (Mahathir Mohamad 1984)
This policy can be considered as successful and later being example by other
developing countries that amazed with the rapid development in Malaysia
Among the example of agencies or departments that had been successfully
privatized were telecommunications department (now is known as TELEKOM
MALAYSIA BERHAD) national electricity board (now is known as TENAGA
NASIONAL BERHAD) and railway board (now is known as KTMB)(Rozalli
Hashim 2005)
Although these agencies fully privatized because of governmentrsquos interests in
terms of government ownership and budget we can see the successfulness
of the implementation of this policy These agencies transformed into GLC
(Government Link Companies) that operate on their own generate their own
revenues and compete with multi-national company Besides that there are
also GLC that buy shares from overseas company and own many subsidiaries
in foreign countries and within Malaysia For example Telekom Malaysia (TM)
has many subsidiaries in foreign companies such as Indonesia Singapore
Sri Lanka and etcetera This shows the successfulness of privatization of
telecommunication industry in Malaysia
| 37
233 Public enterprise
Development administration was involved largely with the public sector
However efforts to develop nation involves a huge sum of money In 1980s
development administration was involved largely with the public sector
Private sector rarely involved in any debates and discussion regarding
development administration One of the reasons was that private sector in that
time is still struggling in terms of doing business relative to the abilities of their
competitors especially foreign and multi-national companies (Donald JHarris
1999)
The challenges that appear in that time was to find the ways on how to
improve the capabilities of the public and private sector in planning preparing
for the changes in social and economic and to regulate the regulation on how
to improve the efficiency of the administration to achieve fair economic
development for all the citizen (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Recognizing this need the government continues to promote the spirit of
Malaysia Incorporated which introduced in 1983 This policy represents a
new way of approaching the task of national development The fundamental
basis of this approach is that successful national development requires the
public and private sectors to adhere to the perception of the nation as a
corporate business entity jointly owned by both sectors and working in
tandem in pursuit of a common mission
As exemplified by the success of Japan and South Korea there must be the
unity of purpose of government and business Business leaders politicians
and government officials ought to realize that their roles are not mutually
exclusive Unilateral action that affects the well-being of the other would only
breed distrust and contempt
The resulting benefit of this cooperation is higher growth and expansion of the
private sector leading to spin-offs in economic investment expansion and
growth as well as the generation of employment opportunities The increase
in government revenues could then enable the government to finance not only
socio-economic development but also the public administrative machinery
This policy presupposes a changing role for the public sector from the
traditional role of a regulator to the new role of a service agency planner and
facilitator (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
38 |
24 PHASE IV ndash
Development Management ndash quality management Civil Society
(Responsible individuals and NGOs) deregulation
administrative achievements in developing countries
241 Quality Management
The quality movement became further intensified and strengthened when a
comprehensive award system was introduced in an attempt to institutionalize
the culture of excellence in the public service This policy has become the
driving force behind the systematic and continuous efforts by public agencies
to upgrade in terms of quality and innovative ways and means to better serve
their customers While the implementation of such innovations has already
marked the beginning of quality management in the public service further
inroads have been made with the adoption of internationally recognized ISO
9000 series in 1996 and the benchmarking programs in 1999 The
government agencies are required to examine relevant best practices by a
benchmarking partner and seek ways and means to adopt and improve upon
their applications in their own organizations (Sarji 1996)
242 Civil Society
Civil society defined as the sphere of institutions organisations and
individuals located between the family state and market in which people
associate voluntarily to advance common interests (Moten 2008)
Larry Diamond 1994 defines it as the realm of organised social life that is
voluntary (largely) self generating self supporting and autonomous from the
state and bound by a legal order or set of shared rulesrdquo
Civil society organisations in Malaysia have expanded considerably since
independence and particularly since the 1980s In 1957 after independence
there were 1741 organisations registered with the Registrar of Societies By
1996 this number had increased to 28 219 As of December 31 1998 there
were 29 574 registered societies in the country with 56 626 branches all
over the country (New Sunday Times February 21 1999 Moten 2008)
| 39
This increase indicates changing attitudes in Malaysian society in responding
to their socio-political needs and responsibilities by relying more and more on
collective ideas and actions and not just expecting governmental leadership or
familial support In general associations can be categorised as environmental
groups consumer groups human rights groups development groups and
womenrsquos group Among the major actors are Aliran Consumersrsquo Association
of Pulau Pinang (CAP) Federation of Malaysian Consumersrsquo Association
(FOMCA) and many more others On issues like drug rehabilitation juvenile
delinquency youth and child development or welfare policies the government
has enthusiastically co-operated with civil associations to promote
development (Moten 2008)
These cooperation is very important as the roles and responsibilities fulfil by
these civil organisations to some extent had voluntarily helped to reduce
social problems which at the same time reduces government burden to
handle these problems Thus human capital and expenditure of the
government can be channelled to other efforts of development Pengasih is
one of the examples of an outstanding civil organisation that is cooperating
hand in hand to help the drug addicts to register voluntarily in this
rehabilitation centre So does Pernim that is helping HIV positive AIDS
children
40 |
| 41
243 Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and
regulations that constrain the operation of market forces Deregulation does
not mean elimination of laws against fraud or property rights but eliminating or
reducing government control of how business is done thereby moving toward
a more laissez-faire free market
It is different from liberalization where more players enter in the market but
continues the regulation and guarantee of consumer rights and maximum and
minimum prices (httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
Deregulation is different from liberalization because a liberalized market while
often having fewer and simpler regulations can also have regulations to
increase efficiency and protect consumers rights one example being anti-
monopoly legislation However the terms are often used interchangeably
within deregulatedliberalized industries
A parallel development with deregulation has been organized ongoing
programs to review regulatory initiatives with a view to minimizing simplifying
and making more cost effective regulations
(httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
The 1998 Malaysian Budget was unveiled on 17 October 1997 a major focus
was placed on reducing the current account deficit through inter alias a
package of measures aimed at reducing imports and increasing exports of
goods and services At the same time the Government re-emphasized its
commitment to deregulation and liberalization particularly in the financial
sector measures were introduced to extend foreign access to real estate
purchases and develop the capital market and Malaysias commitment to the
WTO financial services negotiations was reaffirmed with particular reference
to liberalization of the insurance and brokerage industries
(httpwwwwtoorgenglishtratop_etpr_etp67_ehtm)
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
34 |
Urbanization is widely accepted as part of the development process
Arguably however are the positive and negative consequences of that
process where much literature has focused on the latter in many developing
countries Diffusion of urbanization in Malaysia has contributed to the general
improvements of the living environment through the provision of infrastructure
and services such as conventional housing water and electricity supplies
sanitation sewerage transport and telecommunications and so forth
232 Privatization
The government has to provide all the infrastructure and accommodation for
the country including road electricity water supply and building and industrial
facilities This is because the private sector in the country during that time did
not have enough capital to finance the development projects The private
sectors need assistance from the government to implement huge projects
However the private sector slowly starting to take over the function of the
government to develop the country by sharing the burden to finance the
development project with the government due to the strong government
policies protecting local business endeavour The responsibility to develop the
country slowly goes to the private sector and multinational corporate agency
These open the opportunity for the privatization and corporation between the
public sector and private sector
Thus this would allow the government to reduce its stakes in some projects
and releasing public funds for other purposes The burden of developing
certain projects gradually shifted to private companies This initiative had
widely opened the propensity to privatization and joint venture efforts between
the government and the private sector
This scenario is seeing in countries such as Singapore Taiwan South Korea
Hong Kong Brazil and Malaysia The development that shared between the
government and private sector would allow the government to reduce its
stakes in those projects and cutting expenses
| 35
The Privatization Policy was introduced on the march 1983 by Tun Dr
Mahathir Bin Mohamed after the announcement of the Malaysia Incorporated
Policy in 25th February 1983 Privatization policy simply means the transfer of
property or responsibility from the public sector (government) to the private
sector (business) Given the resource constraints the government has
decided that it will facilitate the private sector to play the aggressive role in the
future economic development of the country It is therefore apparent to the
civil servants that to achieve this objective a new management culture is
needed Quick reactions and decisions are imperative and in fact critical to
enable the private enterprises to be competitive on a global scale
Privatization was seen to be the means of stimulating and improving the
overall efficiency of the economy Privatization will not only relieve the
government of the financial and administrative burden but also improve the
efficiency and increase the productivity of the services It will also stimulate
private entrepreneurship and investment thus accelerating the rate of growth
of the economy and able to reduce the size and presence of the public sector
with the monopolistic tendencies in the economy and help to meet the
objectives of the National Development Policy
The objectives are to reduce the government financial and administrative
burden The scope of government is wide They cannot cover all the aspects
in the Malaysia So the main objective for the government is to reduce their
burden in term of financial and administrative Through this policy the
government transferred some of the property responsibility and burden to the
private sector So as a result the allocation of budget can be saved and use
for other aspect Second is to create more opportunity for the Bumiputras to
established private corporations By giving more chances to the private
sector the government will be able create the opportunity job for the people
especially bumiputras to establish and join the private corporation It also will
encourage them to increase their economic level for more growth and can
compete with other races Other objective is to increase efficiency in dividing
our natural resources However the private sector has more expertise
compare to the public sector They have many professional that expert in the
particular fields So the implementing of privatization policy can manage the
natural resources more efficient and systematic Telekom Malaysia and
Tenaga Nasional for instance
36 |
Government would select an appropriate agencies that deemed profitable and
offers for complete privatization or simply engaging in joint-venture projects
with private enterprises The result of privatization is the lowered cost in
government spending and open up opportunity to redistribute the saved
resources to other sectors such as helping the poor community Privatization
involves the transfer of government equities to the private sector The
government selects suitable agencies that deemed profitable and offers for
complete privatization or engaging in joint-venture projects with private
enterprises This program successfully implemented in developed countries
As a result privatization reduces cost in governmentrsquos spending and
expenditure Besides that it gives opportunity for the government to
redistribute the saved resources to help the poor citizens to increase their
standard of living (Mahathir Mohamad 1984)
This policy can be considered as successful and later being example by other
developing countries that amazed with the rapid development in Malaysia
Among the example of agencies or departments that had been successfully
privatized were telecommunications department (now is known as TELEKOM
MALAYSIA BERHAD) national electricity board (now is known as TENAGA
NASIONAL BERHAD) and railway board (now is known as KTMB)(Rozalli
Hashim 2005)
Although these agencies fully privatized because of governmentrsquos interests in
terms of government ownership and budget we can see the successfulness
of the implementation of this policy These agencies transformed into GLC
(Government Link Companies) that operate on their own generate their own
revenues and compete with multi-national company Besides that there are
also GLC that buy shares from overseas company and own many subsidiaries
in foreign countries and within Malaysia For example Telekom Malaysia (TM)
has many subsidiaries in foreign companies such as Indonesia Singapore
Sri Lanka and etcetera This shows the successfulness of privatization of
telecommunication industry in Malaysia
| 37
233 Public enterprise
Development administration was involved largely with the public sector
However efforts to develop nation involves a huge sum of money In 1980s
development administration was involved largely with the public sector
Private sector rarely involved in any debates and discussion regarding
development administration One of the reasons was that private sector in that
time is still struggling in terms of doing business relative to the abilities of their
competitors especially foreign and multi-national companies (Donald JHarris
1999)
The challenges that appear in that time was to find the ways on how to
improve the capabilities of the public and private sector in planning preparing
for the changes in social and economic and to regulate the regulation on how
to improve the efficiency of the administration to achieve fair economic
development for all the citizen (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Recognizing this need the government continues to promote the spirit of
Malaysia Incorporated which introduced in 1983 This policy represents a
new way of approaching the task of national development The fundamental
basis of this approach is that successful national development requires the
public and private sectors to adhere to the perception of the nation as a
corporate business entity jointly owned by both sectors and working in
tandem in pursuit of a common mission
As exemplified by the success of Japan and South Korea there must be the
unity of purpose of government and business Business leaders politicians
and government officials ought to realize that their roles are not mutually
exclusive Unilateral action that affects the well-being of the other would only
breed distrust and contempt
The resulting benefit of this cooperation is higher growth and expansion of the
private sector leading to spin-offs in economic investment expansion and
growth as well as the generation of employment opportunities The increase
in government revenues could then enable the government to finance not only
socio-economic development but also the public administrative machinery
This policy presupposes a changing role for the public sector from the
traditional role of a regulator to the new role of a service agency planner and
facilitator (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
38 |
24 PHASE IV ndash
Development Management ndash quality management Civil Society
(Responsible individuals and NGOs) deregulation
administrative achievements in developing countries
241 Quality Management
The quality movement became further intensified and strengthened when a
comprehensive award system was introduced in an attempt to institutionalize
the culture of excellence in the public service This policy has become the
driving force behind the systematic and continuous efforts by public agencies
to upgrade in terms of quality and innovative ways and means to better serve
their customers While the implementation of such innovations has already
marked the beginning of quality management in the public service further
inroads have been made with the adoption of internationally recognized ISO
9000 series in 1996 and the benchmarking programs in 1999 The
government agencies are required to examine relevant best practices by a
benchmarking partner and seek ways and means to adopt and improve upon
their applications in their own organizations (Sarji 1996)
242 Civil Society
Civil society defined as the sphere of institutions organisations and
individuals located between the family state and market in which people
associate voluntarily to advance common interests (Moten 2008)
Larry Diamond 1994 defines it as the realm of organised social life that is
voluntary (largely) self generating self supporting and autonomous from the
state and bound by a legal order or set of shared rulesrdquo
Civil society organisations in Malaysia have expanded considerably since
independence and particularly since the 1980s In 1957 after independence
there were 1741 organisations registered with the Registrar of Societies By
1996 this number had increased to 28 219 As of December 31 1998 there
were 29 574 registered societies in the country with 56 626 branches all
over the country (New Sunday Times February 21 1999 Moten 2008)
| 39
This increase indicates changing attitudes in Malaysian society in responding
to their socio-political needs and responsibilities by relying more and more on
collective ideas and actions and not just expecting governmental leadership or
familial support In general associations can be categorised as environmental
groups consumer groups human rights groups development groups and
womenrsquos group Among the major actors are Aliran Consumersrsquo Association
of Pulau Pinang (CAP) Federation of Malaysian Consumersrsquo Association
(FOMCA) and many more others On issues like drug rehabilitation juvenile
delinquency youth and child development or welfare policies the government
has enthusiastically co-operated with civil associations to promote
development (Moten 2008)
These cooperation is very important as the roles and responsibilities fulfil by
these civil organisations to some extent had voluntarily helped to reduce
social problems which at the same time reduces government burden to
handle these problems Thus human capital and expenditure of the
government can be channelled to other efforts of development Pengasih is
one of the examples of an outstanding civil organisation that is cooperating
hand in hand to help the drug addicts to register voluntarily in this
rehabilitation centre So does Pernim that is helping HIV positive AIDS
children
40 |
| 41
243 Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and
regulations that constrain the operation of market forces Deregulation does
not mean elimination of laws against fraud or property rights but eliminating or
reducing government control of how business is done thereby moving toward
a more laissez-faire free market
It is different from liberalization where more players enter in the market but
continues the regulation and guarantee of consumer rights and maximum and
minimum prices (httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
Deregulation is different from liberalization because a liberalized market while
often having fewer and simpler regulations can also have regulations to
increase efficiency and protect consumers rights one example being anti-
monopoly legislation However the terms are often used interchangeably
within deregulatedliberalized industries
A parallel development with deregulation has been organized ongoing
programs to review regulatory initiatives with a view to minimizing simplifying
and making more cost effective regulations
(httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
The 1998 Malaysian Budget was unveiled on 17 October 1997 a major focus
was placed on reducing the current account deficit through inter alias a
package of measures aimed at reducing imports and increasing exports of
goods and services At the same time the Government re-emphasized its
commitment to deregulation and liberalization particularly in the financial
sector measures were introduced to extend foreign access to real estate
purchases and develop the capital market and Malaysias commitment to the
WTO financial services negotiations was reaffirmed with particular reference
to liberalization of the insurance and brokerage industries
(httpwwwwtoorgenglishtratop_etpr_etp67_ehtm)
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
| 35
The Privatization Policy was introduced on the march 1983 by Tun Dr
Mahathir Bin Mohamed after the announcement of the Malaysia Incorporated
Policy in 25th February 1983 Privatization policy simply means the transfer of
property or responsibility from the public sector (government) to the private
sector (business) Given the resource constraints the government has
decided that it will facilitate the private sector to play the aggressive role in the
future economic development of the country It is therefore apparent to the
civil servants that to achieve this objective a new management culture is
needed Quick reactions and decisions are imperative and in fact critical to
enable the private enterprises to be competitive on a global scale
Privatization was seen to be the means of stimulating and improving the
overall efficiency of the economy Privatization will not only relieve the
government of the financial and administrative burden but also improve the
efficiency and increase the productivity of the services It will also stimulate
private entrepreneurship and investment thus accelerating the rate of growth
of the economy and able to reduce the size and presence of the public sector
with the monopolistic tendencies in the economy and help to meet the
objectives of the National Development Policy
The objectives are to reduce the government financial and administrative
burden The scope of government is wide They cannot cover all the aspects
in the Malaysia So the main objective for the government is to reduce their
burden in term of financial and administrative Through this policy the
government transferred some of the property responsibility and burden to the
private sector So as a result the allocation of budget can be saved and use
for other aspect Second is to create more opportunity for the Bumiputras to
established private corporations By giving more chances to the private
sector the government will be able create the opportunity job for the people
especially bumiputras to establish and join the private corporation It also will
encourage them to increase their economic level for more growth and can
compete with other races Other objective is to increase efficiency in dividing
our natural resources However the private sector has more expertise
compare to the public sector They have many professional that expert in the
particular fields So the implementing of privatization policy can manage the
natural resources more efficient and systematic Telekom Malaysia and
Tenaga Nasional for instance
36 |
Government would select an appropriate agencies that deemed profitable and
offers for complete privatization or simply engaging in joint-venture projects
with private enterprises The result of privatization is the lowered cost in
government spending and open up opportunity to redistribute the saved
resources to other sectors such as helping the poor community Privatization
involves the transfer of government equities to the private sector The
government selects suitable agencies that deemed profitable and offers for
complete privatization or engaging in joint-venture projects with private
enterprises This program successfully implemented in developed countries
As a result privatization reduces cost in governmentrsquos spending and
expenditure Besides that it gives opportunity for the government to
redistribute the saved resources to help the poor citizens to increase their
standard of living (Mahathir Mohamad 1984)
This policy can be considered as successful and later being example by other
developing countries that amazed with the rapid development in Malaysia
Among the example of agencies or departments that had been successfully
privatized were telecommunications department (now is known as TELEKOM
MALAYSIA BERHAD) national electricity board (now is known as TENAGA
NASIONAL BERHAD) and railway board (now is known as KTMB)(Rozalli
Hashim 2005)
Although these agencies fully privatized because of governmentrsquos interests in
terms of government ownership and budget we can see the successfulness
of the implementation of this policy These agencies transformed into GLC
(Government Link Companies) that operate on their own generate their own
revenues and compete with multi-national company Besides that there are
also GLC that buy shares from overseas company and own many subsidiaries
in foreign countries and within Malaysia For example Telekom Malaysia (TM)
has many subsidiaries in foreign companies such as Indonesia Singapore
Sri Lanka and etcetera This shows the successfulness of privatization of
telecommunication industry in Malaysia
| 37
233 Public enterprise
Development administration was involved largely with the public sector
However efforts to develop nation involves a huge sum of money In 1980s
development administration was involved largely with the public sector
Private sector rarely involved in any debates and discussion regarding
development administration One of the reasons was that private sector in that
time is still struggling in terms of doing business relative to the abilities of their
competitors especially foreign and multi-national companies (Donald JHarris
1999)
The challenges that appear in that time was to find the ways on how to
improve the capabilities of the public and private sector in planning preparing
for the changes in social and economic and to regulate the regulation on how
to improve the efficiency of the administration to achieve fair economic
development for all the citizen (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Recognizing this need the government continues to promote the spirit of
Malaysia Incorporated which introduced in 1983 This policy represents a
new way of approaching the task of national development The fundamental
basis of this approach is that successful national development requires the
public and private sectors to adhere to the perception of the nation as a
corporate business entity jointly owned by both sectors and working in
tandem in pursuit of a common mission
As exemplified by the success of Japan and South Korea there must be the
unity of purpose of government and business Business leaders politicians
and government officials ought to realize that their roles are not mutually
exclusive Unilateral action that affects the well-being of the other would only
breed distrust and contempt
The resulting benefit of this cooperation is higher growth and expansion of the
private sector leading to spin-offs in economic investment expansion and
growth as well as the generation of employment opportunities The increase
in government revenues could then enable the government to finance not only
socio-economic development but also the public administrative machinery
This policy presupposes a changing role for the public sector from the
traditional role of a regulator to the new role of a service agency planner and
facilitator (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
38 |
24 PHASE IV ndash
Development Management ndash quality management Civil Society
(Responsible individuals and NGOs) deregulation
administrative achievements in developing countries
241 Quality Management
The quality movement became further intensified and strengthened when a
comprehensive award system was introduced in an attempt to institutionalize
the culture of excellence in the public service This policy has become the
driving force behind the systematic and continuous efforts by public agencies
to upgrade in terms of quality and innovative ways and means to better serve
their customers While the implementation of such innovations has already
marked the beginning of quality management in the public service further
inroads have been made with the adoption of internationally recognized ISO
9000 series in 1996 and the benchmarking programs in 1999 The
government agencies are required to examine relevant best practices by a
benchmarking partner and seek ways and means to adopt and improve upon
their applications in their own organizations (Sarji 1996)
242 Civil Society
Civil society defined as the sphere of institutions organisations and
individuals located between the family state and market in which people
associate voluntarily to advance common interests (Moten 2008)
Larry Diamond 1994 defines it as the realm of organised social life that is
voluntary (largely) self generating self supporting and autonomous from the
state and bound by a legal order or set of shared rulesrdquo
Civil society organisations in Malaysia have expanded considerably since
independence and particularly since the 1980s In 1957 after independence
there were 1741 organisations registered with the Registrar of Societies By
1996 this number had increased to 28 219 As of December 31 1998 there
were 29 574 registered societies in the country with 56 626 branches all
over the country (New Sunday Times February 21 1999 Moten 2008)
| 39
This increase indicates changing attitudes in Malaysian society in responding
to their socio-political needs and responsibilities by relying more and more on
collective ideas and actions and not just expecting governmental leadership or
familial support In general associations can be categorised as environmental
groups consumer groups human rights groups development groups and
womenrsquos group Among the major actors are Aliran Consumersrsquo Association
of Pulau Pinang (CAP) Federation of Malaysian Consumersrsquo Association
(FOMCA) and many more others On issues like drug rehabilitation juvenile
delinquency youth and child development or welfare policies the government
has enthusiastically co-operated with civil associations to promote
development (Moten 2008)
These cooperation is very important as the roles and responsibilities fulfil by
these civil organisations to some extent had voluntarily helped to reduce
social problems which at the same time reduces government burden to
handle these problems Thus human capital and expenditure of the
government can be channelled to other efforts of development Pengasih is
one of the examples of an outstanding civil organisation that is cooperating
hand in hand to help the drug addicts to register voluntarily in this
rehabilitation centre So does Pernim that is helping HIV positive AIDS
children
40 |
| 41
243 Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and
regulations that constrain the operation of market forces Deregulation does
not mean elimination of laws against fraud or property rights but eliminating or
reducing government control of how business is done thereby moving toward
a more laissez-faire free market
It is different from liberalization where more players enter in the market but
continues the regulation and guarantee of consumer rights and maximum and
minimum prices (httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
Deregulation is different from liberalization because a liberalized market while
often having fewer and simpler regulations can also have regulations to
increase efficiency and protect consumers rights one example being anti-
monopoly legislation However the terms are often used interchangeably
within deregulatedliberalized industries
A parallel development with deregulation has been organized ongoing
programs to review regulatory initiatives with a view to minimizing simplifying
and making more cost effective regulations
(httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
The 1998 Malaysian Budget was unveiled on 17 October 1997 a major focus
was placed on reducing the current account deficit through inter alias a
package of measures aimed at reducing imports and increasing exports of
goods and services At the same time the Government re-emphasized its
commitment to deregulation and liberalization particularly in the financial
sector measures were introduced to extend foreign access to real estate
purchases and develop the capital market and Malaysias commitment to the
WTO financial services negotiations was reaffirmed with particular reference
to liberalization of the insurance and brokerage industries
(httpwwwwtoorgenglishtratop_etpr_etp67_ehtm)
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
36 |
Government would select an appropriate agencies that deemed profitable and
offers for complete privatization or simply engaging in joint-venture projects
with private enterprises The result of privatization is the lowered cost in
government spending and open up opportunity to redistribute the saved
resources to other sectors such as helping the poor community Privatization
involves the transfer of government equities to the private sector The
government selects suitable agencies that deemed profitable and offers for
complete privatization or engaging in joint-venture projects with private
enterprises This program successfully implemented in developed countries
As a result privatization reduces cost in governmentrsquos spending and
expenditure Besides that it gives opportunity for the government to
redistribute the saved resources to help the poor citizens to increase their
standard of living (Mahathir Mohamad 1984)
This policy can be considered as successful and later being example by other
developing countries that amazed with the rapid development in Malaysia
Among the example of agencies or departments that had been successfully
privatized were telecommunications department (now is known as TELEKOM
MALAYSIA BERHAD) national electricity board (now is known as TENAGA
NASIONAL BERHAD) and railway board (now is known as KTMB)(Rozalli
Hashim 2005)
Although these agencies fully privatized because of governmentrsquos interests in
terms of government ownership and budget we can see the successfulness
of the implementation of this policy These agencies transformed into GLC
(Government Link Companies) that operate on their own generate their own
revenues and compete with multi-national company Besides that there are
also GLC that buy shares from overseas company and own many subsidiaries
in foreign countries and within Malaysia For example Telekom Malaysia (TM)
has many subsidiaries in foreign companies such as Indonesia Singapore
Sri Lanka and etcetera This shows the successfulness of privatization of
telecommunication industry in Malaysia
| 37
233 Public enterprise
Development administration was involved largely with the public sector
However efforts to develop nation involves a huge sum of money In 1980s
development administration was involved largely with the public sector
Private sector rarely involved in any debates and discussion regarding
development administration One of the reasons was that private sector in that
time is still struggling in terms of doing business relative to the abilities of their
competitors especially foreign and multi-national companies (Donald JHarris
1999)
The challenges that appear in that time was to find the ways on how to
improve the capabilities of the public and private sector in planning preparing
for the changes in social and economic and to regulate the regulation on how
to improve the efficiency of the administration to achieve fair economic
development for all the citizen (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Recognizing this need the government continues to promote the spirit of
Malaysia Incorporated which introduced in 1983 This policy represents a
new way of approaching the task of national development The fundamental
basis of this approach is that successful national development requires the
public and private sectors to adhere to the perception of the nation as a
corporate business entity jointly owned by both sectors and working in
tandem in pursuit of a common mission
As exemplified by the success of Japan and South Korea there must be the
unity of purpose of government and business Business leaders politicians
and government officials ought to realize that their roles are not mutually
exclusive Unilateral action that affects the well-being of the other would only
breed distrust and contempt
The resulting benefit of this cooperation is higher growth and expansion of the
private sector leading to spin-offs in economic investment expansion and
growth as well as the generation of employment opportunities The increase
in government revenues could then enable the government to finance not only
socio-economic development but also the public administrative machinery
This policy presupposes a changing role for the public sector from the
traditional role of a regulator to the new role of a service agency planner and
facilitator (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
38 |
24 PHASE IV ndash
Development Management ndash quality management Civil Society
(Responsible individuals and NGOs) deregulation
administrative achievements in developing countries
241 Quality Management
The quality movement became further intensified and strengthened when a
comprehensive award system was introduced in an attempt to institutionalize
the culture of excellence in the public service This policy has become the
driving force behind the systematic and continuous efforts by public agencies
to upgrade in terms of quality and innovative ways and means to better serve
their customers While the implementation of such innovations has already
marked the beginning of quality management in the public service further
inroads have been made with the adoption of internationally recognized ISO
9000 series in 1996 and the benchmarking programs in 1999 The
government agencies are required to examine relevant best practices by a
benchmarking partner and seek ways and means to adopt and improve upon
their applications in their own organizations (Sarji 1996)
242 Civil Society
Civil society defined as the sphere of institutions organisations and
individuals located between the family state and market in which people
associate voluntarily to advance common interests (Moten 2008)
Larry Diamond 1994 defines it as the realm of organised social life that is
voluntary (largely) self generating self supporting and autonomous from the
state and bound by a legal order or set of shared rulesrdquo
Civil society organisations in Malaysia have expanded considerably since
independence and particularly since the 1980s In 1957 after independence
there were 1741 organisations registered with the Registrar of Societies By
1996 this number had increased to 28 219 As of December 31 1998 there
were 29 574 registered societies in the country with 56 626 branches all
over the country (New Sunday Times February 21 1999 Moten 2008)
| 39
This increase indicates changing attitudes in Malaysian society in responding
to their socio-political needs and responsibilities by relying more and more on
collective ideas and actions and not just expecting governmental leadership or
familial support In general associations can be categorised as environmental
groups consumer groups human rights groups development groups and
womenrsquos group Among the major actors are Aliran Consumersrsquo Association
of Pulau Pinang (CAP) Federation of Malaysian Consumersrsquo Association
(FOMCA) and many more others On issues like drug rehabilitation juvenile
delinquency youth and child development or welfare policies the government
has enthusiastically co-operated with civil associations to promote
development (Moten 2008)
These cooperation is very important as the roles and responsibilities fulfil by
these civil organisations to some extent had voluntarily helped to reduce
social problems which at the same time reduces government burden to
handle these problems Thus human capital and expenditure of the
government can be channelled to other efforts of development Pengasih is
one of the examples of an outstanding civil organisation that is cooperating
hand in hand to help the drug addicts to register voluntarily in this
rehabilitation centre So does Pernim that is helping HIV positive AIDS
children
40 |
| 41
243 Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and
regulations that constrain the operation of market forces Deregulation does
not mean elimination of laws against fraud or property rights but eliminating or
reducing government control of how business is done thereby moving toward
a more laissez-faire free market
It is different from liberalization where more players enter in the market but
continues the regulation and guarantee of consumer rights and maximum and
minimum prices (httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
Deregulation is different from liberalization because a liberalized market while
often having fewer and simpler regulations can also have regulations to
increase efficiency and protect consumers rights one example being anti-
monopoly legislation However the terms are often used interchangeably
within deregulatedliberalized industries
A parallel development with deregulation has been organized ongoing
programs to review regulatory initiatives with a view to minimizing simplifying
and making more cost effective regulations
(httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
The 1998 Malaysian Budget was unveiled on 17 October 1997 a major focus
was placed on reducing the current account deficit through inter alias a
package of measures aimed at reducing imports and increasing exports of
goods and services At the same time the Government re-emphasized its
commitment to deregulation and liberalization particularly in the financial
sector measures were introduced to extend foreign access to real estate
purchases and develop the capital market and Malaysias commitment to the
WTO financial services negotiations was reaffirmed with particular reference
to liberalization of the insurance and brokerage industries
(httpwwwwtoorgenglishtratop_etpr_etp67_ehtm)
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
| 37
233 Public enterprise
Development administration was involved largely with the public sector
However efforts to develop nation involves a huge sum of money In 1980s
development administration was involved largely with the public sector
Private sector rarely involved in any debates and discussion regarding
development administration One of the reasons was that private sector in that
time is still struggling in terms of doing business relative to the abilities of their
competitors especially foreign and multi-national companies (Donald JHarris
1999)
The challenges that appear in that time was to find the ways on how to
improve the capabilities of the public and private sector in planning preparing
for the changes in social and economic and to regulate the regulation on how
to improve the efficiency of the administration to achieve fair economic
development for all the citizen (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Recognizing this need the government continues to promote the spirit of
Malaysia Incorporated which introduced in 1983 This policy represents a
new way of approaching the task of national development The fundamental
basis of this approach is that successful national development requires the
public and private sectors to adhere to the perception of the nation as a
corporate business entity jointly owned by both sectors and working in
tandem in pursuit of a common mission
As exemplified by the success of Japan and South Korea there must be the
unity of purpose of government and business Business leaders politicians
and government officials ought to realize that their roles are not mutually
exclusive Unilateral action that affects the well-being of the other would only
breed distrust and contempt
The resulting benefit of this cooperation is higher growth and expansion of the
private sector leading to spin-offs in economic investment expansion and
growth as well as the generation of employment opportunities The increase
in government revenues could then enable the government to finance not only
socio-economic development but also the public administrative machinery
This policy presupposes a changing role for the public sector from the
traditional role of a regulator to the new role of a service agency planner and
facilitator (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
38 |
24 PHASE IV ndash
Development Management ndash quality management Civil Society
(Responsible individuals and NGOs) deregulation
administrative achievements in developing countries
241 Quality Management
The quality movement became further intensified and strengthened when a
comprehensive award system was introduced in an attempt to institutionalize
the culture of excellence in the public service This policy has become the
driving force behind the systematic and continuous efforts by public agencies
to upgrade in terms of quality and innovative ways and means to better serve
their customers While the implementation of such innovations has already
marked the beginning of quality management in the public service further
inroads have been made with the adoption of internationally recognized ISO
9000 series in 1996 and the benchmarking programs in 1999 The
government agencies are required to examine relevant best practices by a
benchmarking partner and seek ways and means to adopt and improve upon
their applications in their own organizations (Sarji 1996)
242 Civil Society
Civil society defined as the sphere of institutions organisations and
individuals located between the family state and market in which people
associate voluntarily to advance common interests (Moten 2008)
Larry Diamond 1994 defines it as the realm of organised social life that is
voluntary (largely) self generating self supporting and autonomous from the
state and bound by a legal order or set of shared rulesrdquo
Civil society organisations in Malaysia have expanded considerably since
independence and particularly since the 1980s In 1957 after independence
there were 1741 organisations registered with the Registrar of Societies By
1996 this number had increased to 28 219 As of December 31 1998 there
were 29 574 registered societies in the country with 56 626 branches all
over the country (New Sunday Times February 21 1999 Moten 2008)
| 39
This increase indicates changing attitudes in Malaysian society in responding
to their socio-political needs and responsibilities by relying more and more on
collective ideas and actions and not just expecting governmental leadership or
familial support In general associations can be categorised as environmental
groups consumer groups human rights groups development groups and
womenrsquos group Among the major actors are Aliran Consumersrsquo Association
of Pulau Pinang (CAP) Federation of Malaysian Consumersrsquo Association
(FOMCA) and many more others On issues like drug rehabilitation juvenile
delinquency youth and child development or welfare policies the government
has enthusiastically co-operated with civil associations to promote
development (Moten 2008)
These cooperation is very important as the roles and responsibilities fulfil by
these civil organisations to some extent had voluntarily helped to reduce
social problems which at the same time reduces government burden to
handle these problems Thus human capital and expenditure of the
government can be channelled to other efforts of development Pengasih is
one of the examples of an outstanding civil organisation that is cooperating
hand in hand to help the drug addicts to register voluntarily in this
rehabilitation centre So does Pernim that is helping HIV positive AIDS
children
40 |
| 41
243 Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and
regulations that constrain the operation of market forces Deregulation does
not mean elimination of laws against fraud or property rights but eliminating or
reducing government control of how business is done thereby moving toward
a more laissez-faire free market
It is different from liberalization where more players enter in the market but
continues the regulation and guarantee of consumer rights and maximum and
minimum prices (httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
Deregulation is different from liberalization because a liberalized market while
often having fewer and simpler regulations can also have regulations to
increase efficiency and protect consumers rights one example being anti-
monopoly legislation However the terms are often used interchangeably
within deregulatedliberalized industries
A parallel development with deregulation has been organized ongoing
programs to review regulatory initiatives with a view to minimizing simplifying
and making more cost effective regulations
(httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
The 1998 Malaysian Budget was unveiled on 17 October 1997 a major focus
was placed on reducing the current account deficit through inter alias a
package of measures aimed at reducing imports and increasing exports of
goods and services At the same time the Government re-emphasized its
commitment to deregulation and liberalization particularly in the financial
sector measures were introduced to extend foreign access to real estate
purchases and develop the capital market and Malaysias commitment to the
WTO financial services negotiations was reaffirmed with particular reference
to liberalization of the insurance and brokerage industries
(httpwwwwtoorgenglishtratop_etpr_etp67_ehtm)
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
38 |
24 PHASE IV ndash
Development Management ndash quality management Civil Society
(Responsible individuals and NGOs) deregulation
administrative achievements in developing countries
241 Quality Management
The quality movement became further intensified and strengthened when a
comprehensive award system was introduced in an attempt to institutionalize
the culture of excellence in the public service This policy has become the
driving force behind the systematic and continuous efforts by public agencies
to upgrade in terms of quality and innovative ways and means to better serve
their customers While the implementation of such innovations has already
marked the beginning of quality management in the public service further
inroads have been made with the adoption of internationally recognized ISO
9000 series in 1996 and the benchmarking programs in 1999 The
government agencies are required to examine relevant best practices by a
benchmarking partner and seek ways and means to adopt and improve upon
their applications in their own organizations (Sarji 1996)
242 Civil Society
Civil society defined as the sphere of institutions organisations and
individuals located between the family state and market in which people
associate voluntarily to advance common interests (Moten 2008)
Larry Diamond 1994 defines it as the realm of organised social life that is
voluntary (largely) self generating self supporting and autonomous from the
state and bound by a legal order or set of shared rulesrdquo
Civil society organisations in Malaysia have expanded considerably since
independence and particularly since the 1980s In 1957 after independence
there were 1741 organisations registered with the Registrar of Societies By
1996 this number had increased to 28 219 As of December 31 1998 there
were 29 574 registered societies in the country with 56 626 branches all
over the country (New Sunday Times February 21 1999 Moten 2008)
| 39
This increase indicates changing attitudes in Malaysian society in responding
to their socio-political needs and responsibilities by relying more and more on
collective ideas and actions and not just expecting governmental leadership or
familial support In general associations can be categorised as environmental
groups consumer groups human rights groups development groups and
womenrsquos group Among the major actors are Aliran Consumersrsquo Association
of Pulau Pinang (CAP) Federation of Malaysian Consumersrsquo Association
(FOMCA) and many more others On issues like drug rehabilitation juvenile
delinquency youth and child development or welfare policies the government
has enthusiastically co-operated with civil associations to promote
development (Moten 2008)
These cooperation is very important as the roles and responsibilities fulfil by
these civil organisations to some extent had voluntarily helped to reduce
social problems which at the same time reduces government burden to
handle these problems Thus human capital and expenditure of the
government can be channelled to other efforts of development Pengasih is
one of the examples of an outstanding civil organisation that is cooperating
hand in hand to help the drug addicts to register voluntarily in this
rehabilitation centre So does Pernim that is helping HIV positive AIDS
children
40 |
| 41
243 Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and
regulations that constrain the operation of market forces Deregulation does
not mean elimination of laws against fraud or property rights but eliminating or
reducing government control of how business is done thereby moving toward
a more laissez-faire free market
It is different from liberalization where more players enter in the market but
continues the regulation and guarantee of consumer rights and maximum and
minimum prices (httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
Deregulation is different from liberalization because a liberalized market while
often having fewer and simpler regulations can also have regulations to
increase efficiency and protect consumers rights one example being anti-
monopoly legislation However the terms are often used interchangeably
within deregulatedliberalized industries
A parallel development with deregulation has been organized ongoing
programs to review regulatory initiatives with a view to minimizing simplifying
and making more cost effective regulations
(httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
The 1998 Malaysian Budget was unveiled on 17 October 1997 a major focus
was placed on reducing the current account deficit through inter alias a
package of measures aimed at reducing imports and increasing exports of
goods and services At the same time the Government re-emphasized its
commitment to deregulation and liberalization particularly in the financial
sector measures were introduced to extend foreign access to real estate
purchases and develop the capital market and Malaysias commitment to the
WTO financial services negotiations was reaffirmed with particular reference
to liberalization of the insurance and brokerage industries
(httpwwwwtoorgenglishtratop_etpr_etp67_ehtm)
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
| 39
This increase indicates changing attitudes in Malaysian society in responding
to their socio-political needs and responsibilities by relying more and more on
collective ideas and actions and not just expecting governmental leadership or
familial support In general associations can be categorised as environmental
groups consumer groups human rights groups development groups and
womenrsquos group Among the major actors are Aliran Consumersrsquo Association
of Pulau Pinang (CAP) Federation of Malaysian Consumersrsquo Association
(FOMCA) and many more others On issues like drug rehabilitation juvenile
delinquency youth and child development or welfare policies the government
has enthusiastically co-operated with civil associations to promote
development (Moten 2008)
These cooperation is very important as the roles and responsibilities fulfil by
these civil organisations to some extent had voluntarily helped to reduce
social problems which at the same time reduces government burden to
handle these problems Thus human capital and expenditure of the
government can be channelled to other efforts of development Pengasih is
one of the examples of an outstanding civil organisation that is cooperating
hand in hand to help the drug addicts to register voluntarily in this
rehabilitation centre So does Pernim that is helping HIV positive AIDS
children
40 |
| 41
243 Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and
regulations that constrain the operation of market forces Deregulation does
not mean elimination of laws against fraud or property rights but eliminating or
reducing government control of how business is done thereby moving toward
a more laissez-faire free market
It is different from liberalization where more players enter in the market but
continues the regulation and guarantee of consumer rights and maximum and
minimum prices (httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
Deregulation is different from liberalization because a liberalized market while
often having fewer and simpler regulations can also have regulations to
increase efficiency and protect consumers rights one example being anti-
monopoly legislation However the terms are often used interchangeably
within deregulatedliberalized industries
A parallel development with deregulation has been organized ongoing
programs to review regulatory initiatives with a view to minimizing simplifying
and making more cost effective regulations
(httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
The 1998 Malaysian Budget was unveiled on 17 October 1997 a major focus
was placed on reducing the current account deficit through inter alias a
package of measures aimed at reducing imports and increasing exports of
goods and services At the same time the Government re-emphasized its
commitment to deregulation and liberalization particularly in the financial
sector measures were introduced to extend foreign access to real estate
purchases and develop the capital market and Malaysias commitment to the
WTO financial services negotiations was reaffirmed with particular reference
to liberalization of the insurance and brokerage industries
(httpwwwwtoorgenglishtratop_etpr_etp67_ehtm)
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
40 |
| 41
243 Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and
regulations that constrain the operation of market forces Deregulation does
not mean elimination of laws against fraud or property rights but eliminating or
reducing government control of how business is done thereby moving toward
a more laissez-faire free market
It is different from liberalization where more players enter in the market but
continues the regulation and guarantee of consumer rights and maximum and
minimum prices (httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
Deregulation is different from liberalization because a liberalized market while
often having fewer and simpler regulations can also have regulations to
increase efficiency and protect consumers rights one example being anti-
monopoly legislation However the terms are often used interchangeably
within deregulatedliberalized industries
A parallel development with deregulation has been organized ongoing
programs to review regulatory initiatives with a view to minimizing simplifying
and making more cost effective regulations
(httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
The 1998 Malaysian Budget was unveiled on 17 October 1997 a major focus
was placed on reducing the current account deficit through inter alias a
package of measures aimed at reducing imports and increasing exports of
goods and services At the same time the Government re-emphasized its
commitment to deregulation and liberalization particularly in the financial
sector measures were introduced to extend foreign access to real estate
purchases and develop the capital market and Malaysias commitment to the
WTO financial services negotiations was reaffirmed with particular reference
to liberalization of the insurance and brokerage industries
(httpwwwwtoorgenglishtratop_etpr_etp67_ehtm)
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
| 41
243 Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and
regulations that constrain the operation of market forces Deregulation does
not mean elimination of laws against fraud or property rights but eliminating or
reducing government control of how business is done thereby moving toward
a more laissez-faire free market
It is different from liberalization where more players enter in the market but
continues the regulation and guarantee of consumer rights and maximum and
minimum prices (httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
Deregulation is different from liberalization because a liberalized market while
often having fewer and simpler regulations can also have regulations to
increase efficiency and protect consumers rights one example being anti-
monopoly legislation However the terms are often used interchangeably
within deregulatedliberalized industries
A parallel development with deregulation has been organized ongoing
programs to review regulatory initiatives with a view to minimizing simplifying
and making more cost effective regulations
(httpenwikipediaorgwikiDeregulation)
The 1998 Malaysian Budget was unveiled on 17 October 1997 a major focus
was placed on reducing the current account deficit through inter alias a
package of measures aimed at reducing imports and increasing exports of
goods and services At the same time the Government re-emphasized its
commitment to deregulation and liberalization particularly in the financial
sector measures were introduced to extend foreign access to real estate
purchases and develop the capital market and Malaysias commitment to the
WTO financial services negotiations was reaffirmed with particular reference
to liberalization of the insurance and brokerage industries
(httpwwwwtoorgenglishtratop_etpr_etp67_ehtm)
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
42 |
244 Administrative achievements in developing countries
(Malaysia)
Expansion of organizational capabilities
It shake the entire bureaucracy to be more effective and re-
distribute development benefits equitably across the country
Objectives of this effort
To focus on implementation of development projects and
redistribution of development projects throughout nation
boundaries
In 1970rsquos New Economic Plan implemented in Malaysia was the First
Economic Plan It was the first economic plan for the whole of
Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak included mdash as opposed to just Malaya
which previous economic plans (such as the Second Malayan Five Year
Plan) had confined them to This was because development in the
1960s and 1970s was mainly active in the west coast because of the
commercial activities compared to the east coast and the states of
Sabah and Sarawak
To successfully achieved a more balanced development
throughout nationrsquos boundaries due to the redistribution
In other words the economic plan with the implementation of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) the government began to improve the
distribution of development budget equitably across the nationrsquos
boundary even to Sabah and Sarawak This effort at the same time is
to ensure that the poverty will reduced as to achieve zero poverty in
Malaysia despite boundaries The economic plan also stresses to
maintain the welfare of the people in the country which the government
improve the standard of living among the people in the rural area or the
people that considered poor nation wide
To fight against poverty by efficiently implemented
development projects that will benefit the people
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
| 43
To provide the need for an extensive administrative
development services to the people
The Plans objectives were to promote the welfare of all citizens and
improve the living conditions in rural areas particularly among low-
income groups The Plan attempted to increase access to medical
facilities in rural areas through the formation of the Rural Health Service
District hospital facilities upgraded to handle referrals from the clinics
the Service operated Medical sub centres founded in urban areas and
by the end of the Plan the gap between rural and urban areas in terms
of quality of healthcare had narrowed eliminated East
Malaysian (Sabah and Sarawak) medical facilities in particular were less
well equipped and staffed than those in West Malaysia (formerly
Malaya)
Distribution policies
Distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation
The main targets development administration in 1980s is to reduce the
problem of poverty Since the majority of the population at that time is under
the poverty the government needs to take some actions to reduce this
problem Actually the planning to reduce the number of poverty is the main
agenda since independence Many strategies adopted to ensure the
distribution of wealth more equitably across the nation Some of the strategies
employed were progressive taxation system provision of subsidies
scholarships and affirmative actions (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning with Malaysian Plan
the New Economic Policy and later the National Development Policy aimed at
compressing the gap between the rich and the poor Strategies such as
Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham Bumiputera clearly depict
governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic benefits to the people
irrespective of their economic abilities (Rozalli Hashim 2005)
New Economic Policy implemented in 1970s It is the twenty (20) years
programme and it is including development administration in 1980s until 1990
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
44 |
The main purpose of this policy is to create the national unity eradicating
poverty irrespective of race restructuring of society to correct the identification
of race with economic function and many more
The fourth Malaysian Plan (1981-1985) and the fifth Malaysian Plan (1986-
1990) also are more concentrating to develop the national unity and to
balance socio-economic among the nation Other policy such as National
Development Policy (NDP) was to achieve balanced development as a
catalyst to establish unity and a just community
One of the strategies towards economic development suggested by the World
Bank was redistribution with growth Some of the strategies suggested were
progressive taxation system provision of subsidies scholarships and other
affirmative actions Malaysia for example has taken various steps beginning
with the Malaysia Plan the New Economic Policy and later the National
Development Policy aimed at compressing the gap between the rich and the
poor Strategies such as the Amanah Saham Nasional and Amanah Saham
Bumiputra clearly depict governmentrsquos commitment to distribute economic
benefits to the people irrespective of their economic abilities
Responsiveness and Accountability
ldquoResponsivenessrdquo administrative responsibility to react immediately upon
any demand in terms of public needs (Deindhart 1984) To respond
immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the rural
poor ldquoAccountabilityrdquo intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all government administrators (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feeling of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties
Responsiveness refers to the quality of being responsive reacting quickly as
a quality of people it involves responding with emotion to people and events
Whereby accountability refers to the responsibility to someone or for some
activity (retrieved on 6th Feb 2007 wwwwikipediaorgresponsiveness)
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
| 45
Beside in paying attention on policy aspect and institution development
administration after 1980 also pay attention in developing the officer in
bureaucracy Issue on the value that the officer need to have was become
obvious as the mind of people are become more matured because of the
development in education
The public officials are more expose to the complaint and evaluation from the
people Thus it is important for them to change to gain the respect from the
people Therefore the value of the public service need to be re-access to
comply with the want and needs of the people that have become more
complex Instead of become efficient and effective they need to become
more responsive and more accountability
In 1980s responsiveness simply understood as the administrative
responsibility to immediately reacted upon any demand in terms of public
needs (Deinthard 1984) Among developing nations there were dire need to
respond immediately to the requirements of basic needs especially among the
rural poor By establishing good system to react quickly to public grievances
the government could carry out its development program with minimum
resistance
Accountability assumed an intrinsic responsibility that was supposed to be
inherent in all governmentrsquos administration (Luke 1989) Public officialsrsquo
accountability referred as the feelings of being responsible in all actions taken
by them in performing their duties Thus each duty performed by the officers
subjected to its outcome whether it is good or otherwise In the final analysis
officers would be very careful in carrying out their duties
The trend of development in this era required officers to well train in every
aspects of their work This was a very important fact because a successful
administrative structure needed to ensure the distribution of development
projects to the most remote areas that previously were underprivileged (Gillis
et all 1987)
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
46 |
Projects implementation through decentralization
Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) had suggested that development projects
implemented based on decentralization The local government system in
Malaysia was perhaps the most successful implementation of
decentralization The rationale was local managers or officers understood
better the needs and requirements of their localities and resources optimally
used
Cheema and Randinelli has suggested that the implementation of the
development project need to be decentralization as they feel that
centralization of power can cause delay in project because of poor
supervision as there is far from the management
Decentralization refers to the policy of delegating decision-making authority
throughout an organization relatively away from a central authority Some
features of a decentralized organization are fewer tiers to the organizational
structure wider span of control and a bottom-to-top flow of decision-effecting
ideas
The local authority is given more autonomy in doing their job Two types of
decentralization practice in Malaysia that is devolution and deconcentration
Deconcentration is a process of delegation of responsibility and authority by
the central government to the local unit while devolution refers to the
transferring of power to make decision to the local authority Example of
deconcentration is District Officer while devolution is Local Government
Although Malaysia practices decentralization since independence but there is
still much power that are hold under the federal Thus by transfer power to the
local authority that are directly involve in the development the project will
become successful The rational is local authority that implement the project
are more knowledgeable on what the problem and the need of the local
people
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
| 47
QUESTION 1
Explain the roles of political modernization in the effort of Development Administration
(25 marks)
QUESTION 2
Elaborate on the Administrative Reform strategies in Malaysia
(25 marks)
QUESTION 3
Differentiate between private enterprise and public enterprise
(25 marks)
QUESTION 4
Distinguish between Debureaucracy and Deregulation
(25 marks)
QUESTION 5
Discuss the achievements of Development Administration in Malaysia
(25 marks)
48 |
48 |
