Govt has resources, but no will to reform civil service, says economist

Free Malaysia Today

Chung Tin Fah says political concerns hinder major improvements to the sector.   Read More:  https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2025/02/27/govt-has-resources-but-no-will-to-reform-civil-service-says-economist/   Laporan Lanjut:  https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/bahasa/tempatan/2025/02/27/kerajaan-ada-sumber-tetapi-tiada-iltizam-perbaharu-perkhidmatan-awam-kata-pakar/   Free Malaysia Today is an independent, bi-lingual news portal with a focus on Malaysian current affairs.    Subscribe to our channel - http://bit.ly/2Qo08ry   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Check us out at https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com  Follow FMT on Facebook: https://bit.ly/49JJoo5  Follow FMT on Dailymotion: https://bit.ly/2WGITHM  Follow FMT on X: https://bit.ly/48zARSW  Follow FMT on Instagram: https://bit.ly/48Cq76h  Follow FMT on TikTok : https://bit.ly/3uKuQFp  Follow FMT Berita on TikTok: https://bit.ly/48vpnQG  Follow FMT Telegram - https://bit.ly/42VyzMX  Follow FMT LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/42YytEb  Follow FMT Lifestyle on Instagram: https://bit.ly/42WrsUj  Follow FMT on WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/49GMbxW  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Download FMT News App:  Google Play – http://bit.ly/2YSuV46  App Store – https://apple.co/2HNH7gZ  Huawei AppGallery - https://bit.ly/2D2OpNP   #FMTNews #CivilService #Reform

Transcript

00:00An economist said Malaysia has the resources to reform the civil service, but lacks the

00:06political will to do it.

00:09Chung Tin Fah of Health University said the government is reluctant to implement reforms

00:13such as job cuts and redeployment in the Malay-dominant civil service because they rely on it as their

00:19vote bank.

00:20In 2022, it was reported that about 90% of the 1.2 million civil servants were Mumputras.

00:27Chung also said that while the government has the necessary ideas and institutions to

00:32provide training to civil servants, he doubts it will take action.

00:36Earlier this month, former Health Minister Khairi Jamaluddin suggested that Malaysia

00:40set up its own version of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency to streamline and

00:46reform civil service operations.

00:48However, he dismissed the possibility of job cuts, proposing that workers be retrained

00:53and redeployed instead.

00:56Civil scientist Wong Chin Huat agreed that job cuts were not the solution, adding that

01:01right-sizing the civil service must be done strategically and carried out with empathy

01:06and respect.

01:07Natasha Biest, FMT News.

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Transcript

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