The recent announcement by the PM that the Government will act to recruit the best brains for the civil service is a clear admission that the government has failed to practice merit-oriented recruitment in the past, and that the performance of the civil service has suffered as a result. The public, however, is cynical about promises of reform and change which do not produce results.
| Civil Servants |
Workforce | Population* |
CS as % of Total Population |
| Indonesia | 3,928,658 | 219,883,000 | 1.79 |
| Laos PDR | 70,354 | 5,657,000 | 1.24 |
| Philippines | 1,445,498 | 79,999,000 | 1.81 |
| Thailand | 1,296,688 | 62,833,000 | 2.06 |
| Malaysia | 899,250 | 24,425,000 | 3.68 |
* Pop as at 2003, UN estimates
Source: UN Online Network in Public Administration and Finance, 2004
I hope the alarm bells on the issue of the size of our civil service are not ignored by the Prime Minister. Public sector wage bill as % of GDP; number of government employees as % of total population; recruitment growth rate, etc.- these need to be monitored and assessed on rational non-politicized cost and benefit analysis. Government should realize that in order to deliver quality services, it will need to spend money on goods and services, and not merely on salaries. What is the point of increasing the size of the civil service when non-wage public expenditure such as goods, operations and maintenance, capital expenditure, etc are squeezed? Unfortunately, the Government is continuing to give the impression that it is “an employer of last resort”. There may be a case for selective increase in some strategic sectors but overall we need a considerably leaner, more efficient and productive civil service.
Updated 30 April 2009:
Further Comment by Dr. Lim
Thanks to the readers who have requested for comparative data on Singapore’s civil service. According to a recent “The Edge Singapore” report (20 March 2009), Singapore has a total of 60,000 civil servants presently. Singapore current population is 4.6 million which means that its civil service comprises only 1.5% of the total population. Compare this with Malaysia’s figure which is approaching close to 4% of the total population, and it is clear that the term “bloated” is an inadequate description of our civil service. One reason why the Singapore figure was not included is that our political masters do not appreciate comparisons with our island neighbour, and to avoid any impression that the writer is less patriotic or may have some hidden agenda.
The size of our civil service is important not least because all Malaysians – especially tax payers – are paying their wages. Total emoluments (salaries and allowances) for the Malaysian civil service grew from $32 billion in 2007 to $41 billion in 2008. This expenditure takes up the major part of our public expenditure bill. It is likely to balloon in the years ahead. Whilst the trend has been for the contraction of the civil service in many countries, Malaysia has gone the opposite way. Whether this is prudent or irresponsible economic management and whether it should be continued as national policy needs to be discussed and put in the public limelight.
| Further Comment by Dr. Lim |
| Thanks to the readers who have requested for comparative data on Singapore’s civil service. According to a recent “The Edge Singapore” report (20 March 2009), Singapore has a total of 60,000 civil servants presently. Singapore current population is 4.6 million which means that its civil service comprises only 1.5% of the total population. Compare this with Malaysia’s figure which is approaching close to 4% of the total population, and it is clear that the term “bloated” is an inadequate description of our civil service. One reason why the Singapore figure was not included is that our political masters do not appreciate comparisons with our island neighbour, and to avoid any impression that the writer is less patriotic or may have some hidden agenda.
The size of our civil service is important not least because all Malaysians – especially tax payers – are paying their wages. Total emoluments (salaries and allowances) for the Malaysian civil service grew from $32 billion in 2007 to $41 billion in 2008. This expenditure takes up the major part of our public expenditure bill. It is likely to balloon in the years ahead. Whilst the trend has been for the contraction of the civil service in many countries, Malaysia has gone the opposite way. Whether this is prudent or irresponsible economic management and whether it should be continued as national policy needs to be discussed and put in the public limelight. |