What was Pemandu driving? What say you? — Saleh Mohammed

MAY 14 — Pemandu has been acknowledged by the World Bank. The effectiveness of the methodology was also validated and credit given to the Big Fast Results (BFR) Methodology and its National Transformation Programme (NTP) achievements. Seemingly, the NTP over-performs the majority of its own targets in most of the key areas.

In the NTP Annual Report 2015 published last year, the Prime Minister (PM) said: “Based on achievements so far, I can say with confidence that come 2020, we will be exactly where we envisioned ourselves to be – a truly developed country.”

Congratulations to Pemandu and the officers who have worked hard to receive such accolades from the World Bank and the PM.

Now let us look from the other stakeholders viewpoint.

In a recent interview with the Sunday Star, the no-nonsense, incorruptible public official who selflessly serves the nation and people, the Public Services Department (PSD) director-general, Datuk Seri Zainal Rahim Seman said his department has been busy formulating policies to upgrade the management and development of human resources.

Hardly a few weeks after he took office, he had to face the perennial criticisms of “bloated” and unproductive civil service and also high-profiled corruption cases among government servants. He said that his focus now is to look for an alternative delivery solution that will make the civil service not only more efficient and effective but also more caring. He also reminded the 1.6 million-strong civil servants in the country to uphold strong integrity and good work ethics.

How would the above situation and statements from the civil service head honcho compare to what the World Bank reported? There may be about 1,400 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) mentioned in the NTP annual report and consistently scoring more than 100% achievement every year since 2010 but it does not reconcile with the statements from the PSD director-general. I have discussed the point on KPIs in my article titled ‘Be inclusive to achieve vision’ (The Star 29 April 2016).

If the NTP is a success, the director-general would not have to spend so much time formulating policies and upgrading the management and development of civil servants. There would be no criticisms of “bloated” and unproductive civil service and high-profiled corruption cases. Why would he want to find an alternative delivery solution for a more efficient, effective and a more caring civil service? Why is he worried about strong integrity and good work ethics?

Some publications reported, what makes Pemandu so effective is the level of granularity and transparency that has gone into the reporting of the achievements and KPIs. Further, the transformation strategy may have many qualities that scholars consider to be hallmarks of good strategy but what is more important is the successful achievement of stated objectives.

Pemandu’s website explained “The narratives are not about the government solving all our problems. It cannot but what it should do is what we cannot do for ourselves – protect the sanctity and security of this nation; to provide every child a decent education; keep our waters clean; invest in new schools and new roads; provide convenience and accessibility to world class amenities”.

Realities

There are many cross-border smuggling cases and how many intrusions and abductions happened in Sabah? Only a few days ago the Kuala Lumpur deputy police chief said snatch theft is on the rise in the federal capital. The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) under the US Department of State had assessed KL as being a high-threat location.

We may have provided decent education but what about the quality of our graduates? We invest in new schools and roads but what about maintenance of the present ones? There were a million ridership for MRT (for free) in the month of its launch but we have not seen the numbers for the subsequent months. Even the CEO of the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) do not use the MRT regularly!

Pak Lah was spot on when he said Malaysia is a country with first-world infrastructure but third-world mentality.

Pemandu’s website shows the GTP Objectives as the brainchild of the PM. The GTP is deeply rooted in the motto of 1Malaysia of ‘People First, Performance Now’ (PFPN).

There may be pockets of success for the PFPN but take the example of Goods and Service Tax (GST). Inflation and cost of living is on the rising trend and the ‘People’ have to incur GST to pay for the ‘bloated’ civil service. 1Malaysia is not really working very well with stories of yellow and red shirts and even rifts and splits within the governing and opposition parties.   

For the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) - a part of NTP - its goal is to elevate the country to developed-nation status by 2020, targeting GNI per capita of US$15,000 (RM65,079). I have also touched on this point in my article ‘Be inclusive to achieve vision’.

Given current economic scenario, the GNI target is a pipe dream and the PM will have to take back his words.

I am perplexed by the former Pemandu chief executive reasoning. He said this was achievable despite the recent global economic slowdown and if the ringgit had stayed at RM3.20 against the US dollar, the nation would have achieve its goal as early as 2015. Does it mean we were a developed nation in 2015 (using an exchange rate of RM3.20) and demoted in 2016? Does it mean we have to depend on the will or pleasure of exchange rates to be a developed nation? Currently, per capita income for developed economies averaged over US$35,000.

While one part of the World Bank acknowledged the effectiveness of Pemandu’s methodology and NTP achievements, another unit of the World Bank commented on productivity growth. Productivity growth declined since the 2008 global financial crisis. The average annual productivity growth from 2010 to 2015 was 2 per cent only.

Going forward, policymakers will face a complex challenge to enhance productivity while accelerating physical and human capital formation. Malaysia’s existing institutional and policy arrangements pose several challenges that need to be addressed in order to refocus attention on productivity growth. We also do not have productivity-specific data to measure productivity.

I am sorry to hear that Pemandu has been deprived of its status (disestablished) as of March 1, 2017.

But we now have a Pemandu Associates Sdn Bhd (PASB), set up as an independent private management consultancy to cater for the transition of Pemandu’s responsibilities to the new Civil Service Delivery (CSD) unit by February 2019. As per reports, Pemandu monitors progress towards the NTP KPI targets on a weekly basis and MDAs (Ministries, Departments and Agencies) submit information to Pemandu every week. Pemandu reviews the information and updates its dashboard. With such solicitous attention and support, do the civil service still need a two-year transition?

Pemandu explained that the activities required support during a two-year transition to make way for capacity building within the civil service. The question to ask here is why capacity development was not addressed for the last seven years? Is it because of the obsession or emphasis was on numbers (KPIs, GNI, below budget, etc) that existing capacities which require improvements and capabilities to take over were neglected?

Or is it Pemandu went ‘too fast’ with the BFR? When the speed of a vehicle doubles, it needs about four times the distance to stop and it will make it more difficult to drive safely! That could be a plausible reason why PASB needs a two-year transition.

Since what makes Pemandu so effective is the level of granularity and transparency that has gone into its reporting, it would be good if the disestablished Pemandu could produce a report to show whether it was happy with its achievements (own KPIs) and details on the amounts spent for the last seven years with breakdowns on external consultants (both domestic and foreign) costs. Since it has been disestablished we may not be able to see the report for 2016!

By the way, PASB will derive income from consultancy work provided to ministries as well as work for foreign governments. I would like to suggest that PASB provide its services to the ministries pro bono as a national service programme. There were enough hand-holding and attention given to the ministries for the last seven years. Besides, I have full confidence in the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) which is tasked to oversee the new CSD unit which now carries the former Pemandu’s responsibilities.

On hindsight, Pemandu should have trained its gun to optimise programmes and expenditures and plant the seeds for sustainable growth rather than chasing numbers.

What say you?

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.