Deciphering ties between private sector, civil service

 

During the first movement control order (MCO), a former minister shared an interesting take on a particular division which engulfs Malaysia.

And he was not talking about racial, religious, or political divisions.

“The fact is, there are two Malaysias we are dealing with. One is those employed in the private sector, who are struggling to make ends meet.

“On the other hand, we have the civil servants who are still receiving their salaries on time despite the nationwide lockdown,” the former minister told me in private.

So, this is the “divide” I would like to talk about here – the civil service and private sector.

Often, we have heard many stereotypes levelled at both equally important drivers of national development.

As for the civil service, the stereotype levelled against them usually comes with the word “lazy”, and how they sit there earning remuneration with little effort put into doing their work.

In turn, some stereotypes levelled at those in the private sector are that they are just being “money-minded”.

And at times, those in the private sector are accused of being “unpatriotic” as they refuse to work in the civil service due to “lower remuneration”.

The thing is, none of the prejudices holds water. In fact, as mentioned earlier, both institutions are equally important in driving national development.

Both equally important

While the private sector drives the nation’s economy and contributes in terms of taxes, the civil service executes development policies enacted by the executive to ensure the private sector will have ease in doing business and others.

Both share a symbiotic relationship, and both need each other for the country to thrive.

For example, can you imagine if there are no regulatory bodies in place to ensure compliance by the private sector? One may see chemical factories being established right smack in the middle of a housing area!

Similarly, the civil service would not be able to get paid if there are no taxes collected from the private sector. In fact, none of us will be able to even purchase food items because it is the private sector that operates grocery shops, wet markets, and hypermarkets.

So instead of taking an “adversarial approach” driven by certain quarters with shallow mindsets, both sectors must narrow the gap to ensure Malaysians continue to enjoy prosperity and stability for years to come.

However, I wish to share one suggestion for the civil service, please ensure that you facilitate entrepreneurs and citizens to ease applications and approval processes.

As long as the people and businesspersons comply with regulations, necessary approvals and documentation must be provided as soon as possible.

This is something perhaps the government should look into, especially when it comes to citizenship issues.

And I would like to share a suggestion with those who keep accusing civil servants of being “lazy”. Do keep your blanket statements at bay.

As someone who had served in the civil service for a year under contract, let me assure you that there was no room for laziness in that particular agency.

In fact, the CEO of the particular agency can be seen as always on the go, hardly seen taking any breaks in between as she runs back and forth attending meetings with bureaucrats and handling day-to-day issues.

So, let both sectors rebuild and strengthen ties with each other…Malaysia really depends on it. - Mkini

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G VINOD is a member of the Malaysiakini team.