Former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin said Malaysia should emulate the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiated by President Donald Trump to streamline the United States’ civil service.
However, he stressed that such a move should not involve layoffs. Instead, the focus should be on retraining and redeploying civil servants, alongside the adoption of automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
He also suggested that the initiative should be led by a talented individual from the private sector.
“I’ve mentioned this before on our podcast. If given the opportunity, I would like to restructure our government, but we cannot lay off anyone. Instead, we should redeploy civil servants to roles that will be essential in the next five to 10 years, while transitioning functions that can be automated or managed by AI.
“If I were in the Prime Minister’s Office today, I would advocate for the establishment of DOGE, led by a brilliant private sector mind tasked with developing a roadmap for restructuring the civil service over the next five to 15 years, with a guarantee that no one will be laid off. This would, of course, involve the mobilisation and reassignment of duties,” he added.
Khairy was responding to a question during an episode of the ‘Kena Soal’ podcast, a spin-off of ‘Keluar Sekejap,’ which he co-hosts with Shahril Hamdan. The listener asked whether Malaysia should adopt an entity similar to DOGE.
DOGE was created during Trump’s administration and headed by billionaire Elon Musk, with the goal of streamlining the US civil service.
In reply to Shahril’s suggestion that the government should announce the right ratio of civil servants for the next decade, Khairy said he preferred a more discreet approach to avoid significant opposition.
“In my opinion, in the context of Malaysia, even announcing the ratio may come at a high political cost. I would prefer to keep this quiet. Internally, if we know that a department, for example, no longer requires 100 staff but only 20 over the next five years, we can manage this gradually.
“During recruitment and retirement processes, we begin sunsetting certain tasks. For instance, we don’t replace those who retire, and new recruits are deployed to ministries where their expertise is most needed, such as the Health Ministry or Education Ministry. The JPA (Public Service Department) should start adjusting accordingly.”
He also said that this process should be carried out discreetly to avoid objections from unions like Cuepacs (Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services) and PTD (Administrative and Diplomatic Officers).
“They will likely oppose such moves, accusing politicians of undermining the careers of Malay civil servants,” Khairy said.
Malaysia Civil Service Exorbitant Mismanagement Wastage Over RM122 Billion Annually
The Auditor-General’s Report usually highlights the wastage and leakage of allocated budget and taxpayers’ money
Don’t expect any civil servants to be charged and jailed for the mismanagement of funds.
The Auditor-General’s Report has no impact on any civil servant as the auditor-general has no authority to prosecute.
The enforcement agencies pretend not to know, not to see, and not to rock the boat.
The blame is always on the standard operating procedure (SOP) and not on anybody else.
When nobody goes to jail for the misappropriation of funds, most civil servants think it is SOP as no action is taken.
The most salient point raised by the recent Auditor-General’s Report 2022 was the exorbitant wastage running to over RM122 billion which was seen as recurring annually.
How then will Malaysia be poised to emerge as a dynamic and resilient player in the global economic arena if mismanagement and corruption work hand in hand? Are civil service officers being reprimanded or fired for losses and wastage in their organisations? NO! As a result, the losses keep repeating.
There was also an incident where those civil servants who caused the loss of funds did so due to stupid decisions and not due to corruption.
There is no law to charge for stupidity. When the head of the government can do what he likes with impunity, the civil servants just follow.
The rakyat won’t be able to see any changes now and forever as the ruling coalition depends on the civil servants to vote them in.
This corruption is so deeply entrenched within the civil service that it is nearly impossible to rectify.
In presenting the report Federal Agencies, Auditor-General of Malaysia Datuk Wan Suraya Wan Mohd Radzi, highlighted five federal agencies recorded deficits amounting to RM3.115bil.
The five are the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda), the Electric Industry Fund Group (KWIE), the Railway Asset Corporation (RAC), the National Trust Fund Group (KWAN), and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).
The report found that Felda’s expenditure in 2022 amounted to RM1.947bil.“The expenditure within Felda exceeded the income of RM0.942bil due to an increase in the impairment of value by RM0.742bil, resulting in a profit loss of RM1.005bil,” it said.
“This situation is partly caused by the impairment of investment value by RM0.380 billion, amounts owed by subsidiary companies totalling RM0.193bil, and settler debts amounting to RM0.147bil,” the report added.
It said that KWIE’s expenditure was RM1.015bil in 2022, exceeding its income of RM0.025 bil and this has produced a deficit of RM0.990bil in KWIE.
“This is because KWIE does not receive any revenue from the excess electricity tariff rebates or charges due to increased fuel costs.
Additionally, KWIE’s funds are used to cover rebate expenses as a mitigation plan to minimize the impact of electricity tariffs on consumers,” it said.
Meanwhile, the RAC’s expenditure in 2022 was RM0.641bil, surpassing its income of RM0.157bil, resulting in RM0.484 bil of losses.
This is due to a decrease in the sale of used goods by RM0.162bil in 2022.
As Malaysia spearheads its economic recovery, it’s disheartening to see such leakages exposed.
“The nation can pave the way to a more robust and technologically advanced future by only curbing the wastage by mismanagement by the civil service. In contrast, embracing innovation, promoting collaboration, and prioritising economic development is the only way to gain economic momentum.
“Malaysia’s economic outlook is optimistic, provided the civil service and other government agencies play a significant role in driving innovation, competitiveness, and economic growth.
“The latest Auditor-General’s Report reports losses by government agencies annually, which is waste of taxpayer money,” said a concerned Malaysian and experienced banker.
Gopala Krishnan,(Pic, Above) who spent 40 years in the Banking industry and retired as Deputy Chief Executive Officer of a leading bank’s Treasury and Investment Banking, expressed his concern about the report, which revealed that ten federal agencies have loan balances of RM 122 billion for 2022.
The Auditor-General had said her office introduced a dashboard for the public to see who is doing poorly and why. This is also to ensure that audited federal agencies can take appropriate action to improve their financial statement preparation in the future.
She is proactive and has developed the Auditor-General’s Dashboard (AGD) online platform starting this year. (https://agdashboard.audit.gov.my/)
Through AGD, all types of Auditor-General’s certificates on Federal Agencies’ Financial Statements will be displayed.
“The display via AGD demonstrates the importance of good governance through principles of transparency, accountability, efficiency, and effectiveness in addressing audit findings,” she said through the Auditor-General’s Report on Federal Agencies’ Financial Statements for the Year 2022 presented in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday (March 6).
The objective of the AGD is to ensure that agencies’ audit units take immediate action on the issues raised in the Auditor General’s Report (LKAN), thus resolving outstanding issues. It also aims to inform the public online about LKAN issues concisely and accurately and promote transparency.
It is also a pressure trigger to speed up the resolution of issues raised in LKAN. To further improve public perception of the Auditor General’s report.
Wan Suraya said that as of Jan 11, 140 out of 144 Federal Agencies’ Financial Statements for 2022 had been submitted for the Auditor-General’s verification, with 130 statements being audited and certified.
It was reported that 116 Federal Agencies’ Financial Statements for 2022 have been issued Auditor-General’s certificates without reprimand. While 14 Federal Agencies’ Financial Statements have been issued Auditor-General’s certificates with Modified Opinions, comprising 13 Adverse Opinions and one Disclaimer of Opinion.
She said financial statement analysis has been used to assess the financial performance of federal agencies based on five aspects: Current Excesses and Deficiencies, Assets and Liabilities, Federal Government Grants, Loans, and Investments in Subsidiary Companies.
For the first time, Wan Suraya said this year’s report also included an analysis of subsidiary companies experiencing losses for three years starting from 2020.
“The introduction of Key Audit Area Reporting in 2023 for auditing Federal Agencies’ Financial Statements for 2022 emphasises material and significant matters affecting federal agencies’ financial position and performance.
“The Key Audit Areas for the 2022 financial statements are related to issues of going concern, valuation of investments, and dividend payments to contributors. This is in line with strengthening governance in the federal agency administration management system, including addressing issues of inefficiency, wastage, and extravagance,” she said.
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