Claims abound of anti-PMX factions within civil service; main culprit why many gov’t depts are failing?

 

THIS is certainly not a new accusation.

There is growing belief that the civil service is riddled with anti-Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim personnel so much so that this is slowing down meaningful progress under the Madani administration.

This was the sentiment raised in a couple of posts on X. Firstly, UrbanSage (@uyunzahra0) claimed that a friend who was previously employed in the Health Ministry (MOH) had told him that almost 90% of civil servants there were anti-PMX.

Hence, work was always late or delayed. “This was just one department, never mind the many others within MOH,” quipped the poster.

UrbanSage was responding to Jai-yen (@jaiyen) who argued that the so-called ‘dysfunction’ within MOH was NOT the fault of the Health Minister

Even if the head honcho was replaced 10 times over, the issues would remain the same. “This is because of ‘dinosaurs’ who would prevent policies that improve efficiency from being implemented,” argued Jai-yen.

In UrbanSage’s contention, the numbers were too great whereby the civil service is able to sabotage any government initiative by simply being inefficient.

He further contended that having positions on permanent tenures means that the civil service was free to frustrate government policies by playing a game of tug-of-war.

To give further context to this problem, a social media post by Tya Roslan was highlighted (as re-produced on X by @StarttCommX) who expressed extreme frustration at the problematic, time-consuming process of applying to be a permanently employed medical officer (as opposed to one being on contract).

Tya Roslan has claimed that over 2,000 medical officers had gone through great difficulty in fulfilling the application process as well as supplying the multiple documents required by MOH.

But without any explanation, the process has been thrice postponed by MOH.

The latest postponement was relayed via e-mail that was sent at 11.45pm on last Saturday (March 15).

Unable to hide his extreme disappointment, Tya Roslan said this just smacks of unprofessionalism.

She believed such ineptitude will eventually lead to many medical officers resigning and seeking their fortunes elsewhere, thus leaving the public health sector even more short-handed or been in real danger of collapsing.

Tya Roslan’s lament was echoed by another doctor who also felt that academic high achievers and national assets are being treated like trash by MOH.

UrbanSage pointedly remarked that the issue was only addressed when it had gone viral. Even then, it was to announce a change in the e-placement system to the previous one based on merit which further compounded the sense of frustration felt by the medical officers.

One netizen argued that problems of ineffective and inefficient civil service will never go away regardless of who is power.

He claimed that every party that has been in government lacked the political will to remove civil service pensions, demonstrating the immense power wielded by the administrative arm.

Another who agreed with the poster stated that many civil servants want the Madani administration gone so they can return to cushy jobs with plenty of “learning trips abroad”.

Red tape and endless bureaucracy are the bane of many societies. But they are a very real problem in Malaysia where the civil service is treated as an essential vote bank.

Immovable objects soon transform into never ending issues with the rakyat paying the ultimate price. In the case of the medical officers’ botched applications, it will be at the cost of a collapsing health service.

As highlighted by some commenters, civil servants ought to toe the line by fully supporting any sound policy that is intended for the well-being of the rakyat given that they “have happily accepted the salary raise mooted by PMX”. – March 20, 2025

- Focus Malaysia