Governmental reform and reengineering aimed at regaining public confidence

BERNAMA

PUTRAJAYA, Mon.:
The government is determined to carry out reforms and reengineering in its political, administrative and policy aspects to regain public confidence following last month's general election, said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the government has the political will and commitment to undertake the reforms after receiving the general election results in an open manner.“The people’s voice is of utmost importance and determines everything in the system of parliamentary democracy,” he said at the Monthly Assembly of the Prime Minister’s Department here.He said the government is determined to carry out soul-searching and listen to the voice of the people and it is not merely paying lip-service but is responding to the people’s voice in a sincere and bold manner.“Our reform has not gone far enough compared to the people’s aspirations,” he said.
Najib said the people are now more educated and becoming more concerned about developments in the country and thus, whatever promises made by the government must be fulfilled.The government is committed in providing service to the people without marginalising any group, he said.He wants the civil servants to understand the people’s “psyche” because they did not show their feelings through demonstrations but through the general election.The Deputy Prime Minister said more “people-centric projects” will be implemented including providing houses and the `Hardcore Poor Housing Programmes”. “The government will ensure that its efforts will provide prosperity to the people,” he said.Najib said the government is aware that the opposition were using the “populist approach” while the government adopted the “correct approach” and “prudence approach” in the country’s financial management.“We have to convince the people that our approach is the best for the country’s future,” he said.In implementing the reforms and reengineering, the government must look into the woes of the people who felt that the country’s economy was not growing although the economic growth was between 5.5 and six per cent.“Similarly, we succeeded in bringing down the poverty rate significantly but on the ground, the situation was not commensurate or in tangent with the rate.Very soon, he said, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi wanted reforms in the judiciary to be implemented so that the people would have greater confidence in the country’s judicial system.Najib said the government is hoping for the cooperation of all members of the civil service in implementing the reforms.

Seni Perang - The Art of War

" If U are ignorant of both your enemy and yourself,

then U are a fool and certain to be defeated in every battle "

" If U know yourself, but not your enemy,

for every battle won, U still suffer a loss. "

" If U know your enemy and yourself,

U will win every battle. "

Sun Tzu

The Zon Regency -Johor Bahru

Magnanimous battle ground

Strategic Plan - About Mission

The Zon Regency (Eden Garden) - Mind boggling Strategic Plan sharing session

"One should not search for an abstract meaning in life,

Everyone has his own specific vocation or MISSION in life

to carry out a concrete assignment which demands fulfillment."

Victor Frankl

"I know where I'm going and I know the truth, and I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want. "

Muhammad Ali

Many people say their purpose in life is to be successful, be happy, or love more. These are great concepts, but they lack specificity. You cannot succed unless you have a clear definition of what it means to you. You won't be consistently happy unless you closely examine what you are doing when you are happiest, and then do more of that. You won't experience love as your life's purpose unless you understand what it means to express it through your actions, words, and deeds.

Everyone has a mission. When you discover yours, dedicate your life to it. Never deny your purpose and definition of success just because they don't match those of others. You will never feel successful unless you are doing what you feel most compelled to do.

Strategic Plan - About Vision

'Fisheye view from The Zon by the sea - Looking towards the 

proposed 'Jambatan Bengkok' - Vision not realised'

" Give us clear VISION that we may know where we stand

and what to stand for - because unless we stand for something,

we shall fall for anything."

Peter Marshall

Kita dianugerahkan keupayaan mempunyai visi. Kita melihat masa depan hanya dengan mimpi. Bagi merealisasikan visi, bagaimanapun, kita mestilah melukisnya di dalam bentuk yang hidup didalam fikiran orang lain sebagaimana juga difikiran kita. Kita mestilah dapat menyatakan visi kita itu dengan jelas dan terang. Jadikannya sesuatu yang mendebarkan hati dan bersinar didalam sanubari agar setiap daripada kita menghayati dan menjiwainya. Kalau ianya tidak mempunyai roh dan sinar harapan yang menarik minat, maka orang orang yang kita pimpin mungkin tercari cari visi lain yang yang melakaran harapan yang lebih dari apa yang ada mengenai masa depan dan kehidupan yang memberi harapan yang bermakna. 

Sharing BPM - Strategy "Quote and Riddle"

The Zone Regency - The Burning Platform

" Without a strategy the organization is like a ship

without a rudder, going around in circles"

Joel Ross and Michael Kami

Alice : Which way should I go?

Cat : That depends on where you are going.

Alice : I don't know where I'm going!

Cat : Then it doesn't matter which way you go!

Lewis Carrol 1872

Through The Looking Glass

What is strategy?

A strategy consists of the set of action and approaches that an organization employs to manage the stakeholders affairs.

Strategy is  management's "game plan" to 

• satisfy the customer
  
• Stake out a position both locally and internationally
  
• Conduct operations
  
• Complete successfully
  
• Achieve organisational objective and mandate.

"Less than 10% of strategies effectively formulated are effectively executed"

"90 % of organizations do not execute strategy successfully"

from Fortune Magazine

What is Vision ?

"Where there is no vision, the people perish."

"Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without

vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world,"

Joel Barker.

One of the greatest leadership challenges is to articulate a clear, concise vision of what you want your world to look like - and then to be able to continuosly change and update the view as situation change.

Without vision, your world will spin, but you won't make much progress. Without a willingness and ability to adapt your vision, the dreams you share will grow stale and uninspiring.

Get clear about where you are headed, but constantly adapt the picture you're painting and communicate those changes to those you lead. That will make it easier for others to follow.

Civil service must respond to conventional and alternative media, says Sidek Hassan

The civil service has to respond not only to the conventional but also the alternative media to deliver services more efficiently, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan said today. “Gone are the days when public officials could choose to ignore the media, complaints, telephone rings or even letters to editors,” he said during a luncheon talk titled “Challenges of Malaysian Business Competitiveness in the Global Economy”.  He said the notion that the alternative media was associated with “young punks” no longer holds true as it now knows no age limit. Sidek said the speed of information is such that countries and companies of today needed web-based crisis management plans to address effects of negative blogging in times of crisis. “Even the prime minister himself has initiated a website for the public to write in directly to him on any issues. If the prime minister is taking and making all efforts to engage the public individually and directly, surely this clearly sets the standard of service for the public and private sectors,” he said.

fr The NST Online.

Current number of active bloggers in Malaysia

MALAYSIA has about 500,000 active bloggers, ranking the country among the highest in the world after Indonesia and the European Union,Utusan Malaysia reported. According to Universiti Malaya media department lecturer, Dr Abu Hassan Hasbullah, this showed the power of blogs in influencing the thinking of the people, especially about politics. He said blogs currently had a wide reach considering how many Internet users visited these sites everyday. “Our research shows that 70% of the election results were influenced by information in the blogs,” he said. Dr Abu Hassan said the ruling government could use blogs but pointed out that it would take a long time for it to be popular.

Civil service role: Serve government of the day

By : DR CHRIS ANTHONY, Butterworth The NST Online

THE directive from the Penang Education Department not to compel teachers to attend official functions organised by the state government may be a good idea as many such functions are a waste of precious time.
All too often teachers are taken away from their classrooms to attend functions that are not relevant to their duties. Such valuable time could be better spent in the classroom with their students. However, the decision to grant such an option to teachers because the state is no longer under Barisan Nasional rule lacks professionalism and understanding of our democratic system. It is important to remember that teachers, as civil servants, serve the public and the government. The government is elected by the people. Therefore, civil servants must respect and take orders that are legitimate from state government officials regardless of the political party that forms it.
Civil servants themselves should be non-partisan. After being subjected to 50 years of rule by a single party it may be difficult to accept a sudden change in the administration, and the emergence of "Little Napoleons", who are reluctant to adopt changes, will be inevitable. The new administration should be patient and try to win over the trust and confidence of civil servants before embarking on radical changes, especially controversial ones. The changes they undertake should be seen to benefit the people in general and not as a means to run down the previous administration. If done with care and caution, it would be possible to change the mindset of the civil servants and develop a clear partition between a political party and the government. The people have spoken and the verdict must be accepted by all, including civil servants. They must change to adapt to working with the new government which is elected by the people. Politicians come and go but the government with its various ministries and departments should remain non-partisan, committed to serve in accordance with the laws of the state, irrespective of which party rules it. In the final analysis, the system that is in place should benefit not the party or the government but the people who are the real masters.

Opening Strategic Plan Sharing Session - KP's burning speech

The Zon Regency Grand Ballroom - The Burning Platform

It was on the 24th March, 2008 about 8.45 pm, the welcoming speech was delivered by the honorable Dato' KP... as usual my habit has always been to write down what were delivered for my own future references, I could not get the whole bunch on every sentences he could have said but the gists and facts amongst others are listed down in the structured form as follows :

• He thanked the commitee and BPM for convening this 3rd session and welcoming the southern zone participants from Johore, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Selangor and KL's HQ.
  
• He stressed the importance and benefits that must be derived from the forum i.e. every participant selected and present played an important and vital role in deliberating and enhancing the living 'strategic plan' document, the document must all times be a guided reference source in order for the department to move forward in it endeavor to become a "WCO by 2010" and onwards.
• He questioned us all whether we are still relevant, making a point here that the organization had celebrated it's 75 years old anniversary in 2006 and we felt so complacent, we are proud being part of it ... but time has changed, we are in the limelight as always when comes to "flood woes", the central agencies are looking at us, everyone in the street are pointing fingers at the organization that we are in... can we deliver ? money is spent but problems still persist on end.
• About performance in expenditure; he adamantly pointed that we are ' Pandai mintak duit tetapi masaalah tidak selesai ' the annual performance has always been excellent above 95% but by looking into the overall RM9 midterm review we had spent only about 20% of the RM6.2 billion allocated. We have yet to handle the remaining 80% within the next 2.5 years from now i.e. the other second term .. can we be able to do it ?? He meant to do it strategically .. spent it with results delivered. He has seriously started a ' war gaming room' for monitoring every projects carried out... He gave all of us an ultimatum "take it or leave it"...a do or die kind of scenario !
• He then requested all of us to think in the right perspective, giving our thoughts about the matters that need be done, who else that can deliver if not us all here, meaningful strategists, we could not be doing and keeping inside the document, to look deep inside, possibly redo making it 'workable', living and relevant document.
• He further stressed on the importance of understanding of the SP at all levels of the organization in all the divisions, states and districts. This must come handy and its not meant to be shouldered by the top leadership only.. everyone at all levels no matter where he works must subscribed to it. It's the understanding of it will make matters worth deliberating, moving and leading forward with pride towards WCO.
• He mentioned the vital need of a succession plan, a well developed game plan for a well groom set of people to be leaders that are committed, able to deliver, knowledgeable, with the right attitude and values, and willing to push and work towards achieving our vision. A guessing game, a choice of leaders that come unexpectedly would not be beneficial for an organization like us now.
• He still feels that we have not proved enough on our delivery system and being leaders in our field we have got to ' Walk the talk ', leadership is an essential ingredient in the success of our SP, to be effective and credible, effective leadership and management are vital and subscribing to the rules and regulations is definitely mandatory. How well we do our role over the next two years depends on the decisions made today. Given the short span of time, it is critical that leaders and managers must act with full commitment, boldness and having sense of urgency for action.
• Many points were mentioned and noted especially about the importance of the SMART tunnel project to KL city folks that the department had contributed, the poor performance over the RM9 midterm review etc. BUT amongst all else, he had reiterated that we all are desperate now.. the WCO goal by 2010 is around the corner and to get rid from the barrier to our strategy execution and move on.

Fight graft with integrity pacts

Josie M. Fernandez The SunSurf

WORLDWIDE, new governments pronounce passionately that combating corruption will be their priority agenda during their tenure. Malaysia is no different. The fight against corruption has been an evolving story since 1957. The first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra was instrumental in the enactment of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1961 and the establishment of the Anti-Corruption Agency. In 1998 then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad directed the formation of Integrity Management Committees in government agencies to investigate abuse of power and mismanagement. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi instituted various measures to eradicate corruption such as the Royal Police Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Police Force in December 2003.The National Integrity Plan was launched in 2006 and the Integrity Institute of Malaysia established. The Anti–Corruption Academy, a regional centre for anti-corruption training became operational in 2005.

Despite all these efforts corruption continues to be described as being pandemic in the country. Party manifestoes for the General Election 2008 therefore gave top priority to fighting corruption. Newly appointed Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng have pronounced their desire to continue the battle against corruption. It is unclear how they will do this. Khalid has stated he would look into a Freedom of Information Act (FOI) for greater transparency in the award of projects. The FOI gives citizens the right of access to bureaucratic documents. This may be helpful but enactment of laws and their implementation are not instantaneous.

Anti-corruption advocates point out that "Prosecution is a blunt tool against corruption." Prevention is better than cure in the battle against corruption as experiences from developed economies such as the UK, Germany and South Korea and developing economies such as Colombia and Indonesia indicate. One anti-corruption tool that is being used extensively in these countries is the Integrity Pact.

The Integrity Pact (IP), a tool developed by Transparency International, is intended to prevent corruption during the award of contracts for major investment projects. The IP, an important tool for integrity in procurement, contains rights and obligations that no party will pay, offer, demand or accept bribes of any kind or collude with competitors to obtain the contract or while carrying it out. Bidders will also disclose commissions paid in relation to the contract. The IP is binding on both contract suppliers and contract bidders. Sanctions and punitive actions as well as future exclusions from contract bidding are some of the actions that can be taken against those who violate the IP. Additionally, adherence to IPs is monitored by non-governmental organisations.

The IPs can be tailored to the needs of federal and state governments and local authorities. In the UK, IPs are being increasingly used in defence agreements and the construction industry. The Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe has adopted the use of IPs in defence contracts. In Germany the IP was successfully used in the expansion of the Berlin-Schonefeld airport. South Korea has significantly reduced corruption through the Korean Pact on Anti-Corruption and Transparency (K-PACT).

The K-PACT’s strategy of involving the public and private sectors, politicians and civil society has improved transparency and built investor confidence.

Colombia has implemented more than 60 IPs in various sectors including telecommunications. In Mexico more than 45 IPs are operational. The biggest infrastructure project of the decade, the El Cajon hydroelectric plant has adopted the IP. An interesting aspect of the Latin American experience of implementing IPs is the role of the Social Witness — an independent and technically competent monitor. The Muncipality of Moron in Argentina has held public hearings for contracts in waste collection services. As a result, Moron spent less on waste collection compared to other municipalities in Buenos Aires.

Closer to home, Solok district in West Sumatra offers some useful lessons in the adoption of IPs at the local level. (I was a member of the evaluation team of IP implementation in Solok in December 2006). In 2003, Gamawan Fauzi, then Regent of Solok district and now Governor of West Sumatra, studied the Korean Pact and introduced a similar pact in Solok. All procurement processes are bound by the IP. Access to public information and community participation has brought several benefits to the district. Project costs were reduced by 30%. Special awards in addition to the salary were given to public officials for efficient implementation of the IP. Defects in projects such as the Kapala Bandan bridge were highlighted as a result of community monitoring. However local contractors were not very happy with the IP implementation. Too much transparency resulted in contracts being given to outsiders resulting in loss of job opportunities for locals! This is an area that will need some attention.

The implementation of IPs is cost effective. It takes about four months for all the processes to be put in place from training of public officials, industry, civil society, procedural changes to the preparation of documents. Both Barisan Nasional (BN) and non-BN led states could make IP implementation their priority in the battle against corruption.

For a start, non-BN MPs should set the example by signing an IP that they will not abuse their power or accept bribes.

Josie Fernandez is affiliated with numerous social interest organisations, including the Integrity Institute of Malaysia.