Thesun 2009-06-11 Page11 Getting The Message Across

theSun

| THURSDAY JUNE 11 2009

11

INTERVIEWS VIEWS

That’s the beauty of the government; this prime minister and the previous PM encourage empowerment. I don’t check with the PM all the time on certain things because he has empowered me to make the best decisions.”

from that section”. I don’t care from which division you come from, you must be able to tell the position of your department. So I ask (the officers) “you want me to be nice or rude to you?” If nice, I say “that’s not the way … can you take some time out and find out and tell me your position?” If rude then “you get out!” So how do we change the mind of the civil servants? This is what the government is asking us to do … communications. Civil servants have been doing the same old thing for years. So for me personally I want to learn. You must learn … continue learning. That’s why I am learning from you (the media).

it’s a work in progress. Just like how the MACC (Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission) has now replaced the ACA (Anti-Corruption Agency).

Local authorities are still in the pits. Look at the Selangor state secretary and financial officer. They declared they would clear the backlog of land titles but until now habuk pun tarak! They did move to clear the backlog. I challenge you. They moved but not 100% because of the strata titles. The problem was with the developers. They did not want to give (the titles) because they can collect management fees.

But they don’t have the executive powers. Might as well close BPA and ask everyone to cc to you. If anyone were to cc a complaint to BPA, will the agencies move as fast as they would if the mail was cc to you? They must! It’s a work in progress and I am drumming this into the service!

You said in Perak, the suspension of the state secretary was not valid because he is a federal officer. What about incompetent federal staff at state level? The mentri besar should talk to me. Then I will take action. The other concern is the Public Complaints Bureau (BPA). Look how long it takes to respond and solve problems. BPA takes two days to reply to email. Shouldn’t BPA move out of Putrajaya to be close to the people? In England, the citizen’s advisory bureau is always near a public transport hub to make it easy for the public. How many people can come to Putrajaya? I normally answer emails within a day. I also realise that I cannot have a BPA in every area. Do you know we have a BPA in the chief secretary’s office? In the Public Services Departm e n t (PSD) and in every agency? You must t r e a t c o m plaints as a gift and if you do that, then each of us is a BPA. BPA has no executive power, only persuasion. So when you send a complaint to me, I become the BPA. So right now, all of you must have a strong BPA unit in your ministry because if anyone complains about you, you must have at least the No. 2 attending to it. Why do you need BPA at all? Why do we need this middleman to take and pass on complaints when each agency already has a public relations unit? I agree with you. This must be looked at as phasing ourselves out. One day we will not need it, but

Well the MACC is another story … (Laughs) OK… That’s why I told the BPA you don’t wait for people to complain, you ARE the complainant! You go out and find out the problems. Having said that, the departments must regulate themselves too. Should BPA be the KPI authority? Why not? I think they can have a role there.

If you are going to do it for publicity then it’s wrong, you must be sincere in ensuring that the service is improved. BPA now acts as a post box. Yes, that’s why we need enforcement (and implementation). To me it’s very important that we tweak the system and compel the agencies to take feedback from BPA seriously. I will see to it. Let’s talk about the controversy surrounding government scholarships. The problem is we have 10,000 people who want to do medicine and everyone wants to do it in Ireland. And Ireland does not cater to just Malaysians! So you have 10,000 students applying for 2,000 places. How does the PSD decide who gets what? We decided in our infinite wisdom, to have four categories – brilliant students 10%; race quota 60%; East Malaysian students 10% and poor families 10%. In Sarawak for instance, the boy living along the Rajang River may not have even seen a car but he scores 7A1s. Yet, the quality of his As may not be as good as the other 20,000 who scored straight As. Also, some schools limit the number of subjects. There’s this student who scored nine A1s. He gets 100% – full marks for all the papers. A student from another school is allowed to sit for 20 subjects; he gets 20A1s but all 90% plus marks. So who’s better? This student who got 9A1s wants to do medicine just as the student who got 20A1s … so who gets to go? We look at the marks! When you have these shouldn’t your co-curriculum be counted? Yes! That’s why we have cocurriculum and the interview. And the panellists are from a wide spectrum of society from various (ethnic) and professional backgrounds. If I represented the country in sports like Nicol David, shouldn’t I be given priority for a scholarship? Of course! … but provided you fulfil the minimum requirements. In Sabah, Sarawak, you must have a minimum of A2. So you cannot begrudge these people who get scholarships. Results lousy … ya, but he’s from Sarawak! He’s from a poor family!