PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (ADS 404)

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Mohd Amir Bin Harun

2013909997
NAMAF1B

Describe Malaysian Bureaucracy

1.

Introduction/background

Malaysia gained its Independence in 1957; and the administration has been
reshaped and varied ever since. Bureaucracy is viewed as a political phenomenon in that
it is seen inimical to certain basic political values. Based on this concept, the employees
more loyal to the individual compare to our mission. There are two type of bureaucracy
such as representative bureaucracy and neutral bureaucracy. The bureaucracy must be
based on rules and regulation, comprehensive to guide the company. The bureaucracy
shows us how the delegation of power run the organization, based on the bureaucracy
concept, the lower manager must followed the top manager same with the main idea of
delegation of power.
2.

The history of Malaysian Public Administration

British Colonial Period (1874 1957)

British colonial introduced British administration by following the Westminster (England)
style of public service. British Colonial appointed British Residents to implement British
Colonial Policy. British Colonial Civil Servants (MSC & MAS) played important roles in
administering the Federated and Non-Federated Malaya States.
Post-Independent Period (1957 1970)
Malaysia first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman established government of The
Federation of Malaya and the formation of Malaysian in 1963. Parliamentary Democracy
and Constitutional Monarchy by maintaining the British style of administration. The
Federal Constitution and till now is the supreme law. Two types of Malaysian Civil Service
was established to implement the government policy. The Diplomatic Service (PTD) and
General Service (PTA). The government was the main provider of public services.
New Economic Plan (NEP) Period (1971 1990)
Tun Abdul Razak (1971 1976) took over the Premiership from Tunku Abdul Rahman
and established MAGERAN (Majlis Gerakan Negara) after the The 13 Mei 1969 tragedy.
Under Tun Razak NEP was formulated. Public administration played very important role in
social and economic development. (Red Book) Rural development was the focus e.g.:
FELDA & FELCRA.
1990s
Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad (1981 2003) became the fourth Prime Minister. He is
been held as the Development Era for Malaysian. Look East Policy is the motto of public
administrative during his tenure. He introduced the Vision 2020, Malaysian incorporated,
privatisation and Islamic policy to change and improve the government. Several
government agencies were privatized e.g.; Telekom and TNB. He established many
government company (GLCs) to run government business (PROTON). MAMPU Modernization and Manpower Planning Unit was established. The major government
activities were on development of mega projects such as (development of KLIA). Public
administration has become the major provider and facilitator of private activities. 1996
the government introduced MSC and e-government as the new initiative to increase the

application of ICT in the public sector. Private Finance Initiative (PFI) source of financing
of government projects (development highways PLUS).
Year 2000
Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (2003 2009) as the fifth Prime Minister. Not many policy
changes were introduced. The principle of Islam Hadhari, Concept of good governance
and integrity National Integrity Plan (NIP) in the public sector was also introduced. The
enhancement of ICT applications in the public sector. Government website as the online
media to disseminate information and deliver services (E-Government).
2009 Now
Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak became the sixth Prime Minister. After his
appointment, he introduced 1Malaysia concept. 1Malaysia is an on-going campaign
announced by Prime Minister Najib Razak on 16 September 2008, calling for the cabinet,
government agencies, and civil servants to emphasise ethnic harmony, national unity,
and efficient governance. The eight values of 1Malaysia as articulated by Najib Razak are
perseverance, a culture of excellence, acceptance, loyalty, education, humility, integrity,
and meritocracy. Najib's government is in the process of implementing its Government
Transformation Programme (GTP) to improve the quality of public services, increase
efficiency, and make government more transparent. Specific measures include the use of
Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to measure the performance of officials and agencies
and National Key Result Areas (NKRA) to define goals for specific areas of public policy.
Under Najib the Malaysian government has implemented many measures to increase
transparency and government accountability. These measures include the use of Key
Performance Indicators (KPI) to hold ministers accountable for their work.
3.

The structure of Malaysian bureaucracy

Neutral Bureaucracy
Neutral in this context means do not support either group in dispute. Neutral
bureaucracy is a bureaucracy that neutral in term of politics. They only perform their
task in order to implement policy without involving in politics. The public officers are
chosen based on their qualification and skills unlike the representative bureaucracy. After
they are chosen, they will be place in a department that suits with their qualification. In
our country Malaysia, there are rules that prevent our government officers from
participate actively in politics or become member in any political parties. For example,
there is a rule in Public Instruction that forbids them from participating in politics. They
have to resign if they want to join politic.
Representative Bureaucracy
In the type of bureaucracy, there are two types of bureaucracy which is the
representative bureaucracy and the neutral bureaucracy. Both bureaucracies have their
own distinguish specific features in serving the society. In the representative
bureaucracy, the public administrator acts as a representative of the citizen and not and
not as a neutral public officers. Representative bureaucracy is based on believe that the
ratio of every minority groups in every occupation in government agency need to be
equal as the percentage of the group population in the state.
For example, if the percentage of population in Malaysia is 70% Malays, 15% Chinese,
10% Indians and 5% for other races, the member of every public administration must be
chosen according to the percentage of the group population that has been stated. It is
based on the social justice concept which the public administrators are to represent the
composition of race, ethnic and gender in the country so that the public policies can be
conducted. This is also based on principle that bureaucracy exists to provide public

services and also to offer vacancy and economic development to the citizens. In
representative bureaucracy, the public position is viewed as a right that should be
divided among every group of people in the community.
This separation from the earlier public administration believes made it possible for public
administration scholars to consider that the socio-political appearance of civil servants
also mattered. In other words, bureaucracies, their civil services and the civil servants
themselves are not apolitical machines. Civil servants perform inseparable political tasks
and discretion is used in the performance of the tasks.
Characteristics of Bureaucracy
The bureaucracy is a formal structure of a group of people to achieve common goals.
The bureaucracy is a division of work based on their own function. In that case, the
number of specialist will increase because they use the delegation of power to increase
their quality to serve the public. The characteristics which will make an organization
more or less bureaucratic are firstly that a bureaucracy consists a number of offices with
fixed official jurisdiction. Such a feature of organizations may take on considerable
importance for governments concerned with improving efficiency, so that they demand
greater bureaucracy. The characteristic makes the delegation of work run more
effectively. Webers characteristic of a bureaucracy is so pure that for organization or
associations would ever come close and to complete realization of all of them.
Rules and Regulations
The function of rules and regulation are comprehensive to guide the company. They
make a decision based on the rules and regulation to avoid misuse power. The power of
the laws can make a work effectively and efficient. For example, the top manager makes
a law where subordinates who coming late will get a punishment, they must follow all
the instructions stated. Other example is the punch card system. It has been more than
a decade the punch card system is used in not only government agencies but also all
other companies and organizations. As a result, the public bureaucrats so as the
employees become more punctual than before. Furthermore, the organization is
controlled through formal written rules. Usually all activities are controlled effectively by
using abstract rules and regulations consistently. By using this method, it is easier for
the higher levels to manage their subordinates consistently effective and efficient. The
advantage of this trait is also to ensure uniformity, clear standards and provides a
valuable sense continuously in the government agencies. For example, as police officers,
they have to wear the smart attire which is their blue uniform when performing their
duties. This is because this policy has been stated in the police department regulations.
Impersonality of Relationships
One of the most important characteristics of bureaucracy is the work or tasks performed
are complied with the rules and regulations provided which are also applied to some
cases without involving any personal issues and emotions. The bureaucrats are expected
to behave formally and unemotionally. The power of officers depends on the Bureaucracy
Law to ensure justice in bureaucracy. The justice implied such as formal equality
treatment has been a major yardstick which bureaucratic behavior in bureaucrats is
judged. According to Max Weber, operations of the organizations are characterized by
impersonal rules that explicitly state the duties, responsibilities, standardized procedures
and conduct of officers. Officers are highly specialized. Appointments for the officers are
made and finally chosen based on their specialized qualifications rather than ascribed
criteria. All of these ideal characteristics have one goal which is to promote the efficiency
in attaining the organization's goals. Based on this statement, any personal interest
occurred among the bureaucrats are avoided and so as the biasness.

Division of Labor
The concept of separation of power is used. Specialization in technical field is part of
power division or systematic duty. The tasks will be divided into many departments by its
own function. The tasks are divided to make the job run effectively and efficiently.
Bureaucracy is the system that practice clear division of labor in the administration.
There is a specialization in every work done. Each person has his or her own duties and
functions to perform within specific limits. It produces effectiveness in the large scale of
organization. Moreover, every department has their own expertise. So, all the
subordinates in an organization no need to have the knowledge and skills of all the
departments involved.
Hierarchical Structure
Every organization is originally formed to achieve their objectives. However, objectives
cannot be attained without the coordinated efforts of a hierarchical structure. Vertically,
each level controls the level below. This shows that the lower level get instructions and
directions from the upper level which also means, each official is under the supervision of
a higher official. This formal hierarchical structure is the basis of central planning and
centralized decision making. The positive aspect of these criteria is it clarifies who is in
command.
Authority Structure
The authority to give the commands is required in bureaucracy. The duties are
distributed in a stable way and are strictly delimited by rules concerning the coercive
means which may be placed at the disposal of officials. Through the authority structure,
the managers will be able to carry out managerial approach or responsibilities towards
their subordinates easily, effectively and efficiently. Another distinguishing mark is that
the typical bureaucratic official is in authority. Authority is exercised within the limits of
the offices jurisdiction. Bureaucracy is thus characterized by what Weber called legal
authority. The legitimacy of that authority rests on a belief in the legality of the
impersonal rules which confer on the occupants of bureaucratic offices the right to issue
commands within the scope of their offices jurisdiction. For example, Kamal as the head
of accounting department also as a leader has the responsibility to lead, monitor and
motivate his employees in order to ensure the work within the department runs
smoothly. He also must make sure that his employees performances are at the standard
level that is set by him.
Lifelong Career Commitment
In a bureaucratic management system, employments in public sector are viewed as a
lifelong career commitment. Traditionally, Asia organizations such as NEC, Samsung, and
Toyota have hired key workers with an expectation by the parties that a permanent
employment contract was being made. In general, lifelong career commitment means
the job security is guaranteed as long as the employee is technically qualified and
performs satisfactorily. Entrance requirement such as a level of education and
experiences also based on qualification rather than connection. The organization used
job security, tenure, step by step salary increase and pensions to ensure that employees
satisfactorily perform the assigned duties. Recognition is granted when an employee
demonstrates the competencies required to handle the demands of the next higher
position. Managers in bureaucratic organization, such as the civil service, often rely on
the result of written and physical test, amount of formal education and previous work
experiences in hiring the employees and recognizing them decision making.

References:
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www.bustingbureaucracy.com
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