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Monday 27 April 2009

KPIs... and gaji buta, again

By Jeff Ooi,

My happy weekend is disturbed as Monday blues come tomorrow.

It's the nagging question of KPIs, but this time, the loud-mouthing comes from yet another political reject (though he didn't make it through the 'backdoor listing'.

He talks about how policy implementers, the civil servants, who can drum up formidable resistance just to hamstring a minister and derail his plans. Quote The NST:

Relating his experience, Kayveas tells of how a plan could not get off the ground quickly because the officer in charge was away on course.

When the officer returned, months were spent on getting a proper working paper drawn up.

More months passed before the necessary approvals were received.

"By the time we could really move ahead with it, the general election was already called."

According to Kayveas, the number one reason why ideas do not get translated into working policies is because "there is a yawning chasm in motivation and incentive between political appointees and civil servants".

I beg to disagree as besides positions, perks, privileges and authority, entrenched politics of civil service had come into play.

'Super Big Devils'

Gone are the days where super time-scale officers under the Pegawai Tadbir dan Diplomat (PTD) called the shots from upstairs. Nowadays, it's the super-elite group called the JUSA (Jawatan Utama Sektor Awam) that shelters some of the crème de la crème of the Super Big Devils.

The head at Biro Tatanegara -- that splits the nation rather than uniting it -- and the head at the FIC (Foreign Investment Committee) within the EPU within the PM's Department, are but some of those demons.

In Penang and Selangor, where the ruling party is not BN, the big challenge is exercebated by senior civil servants who still pledge their allegiance to state government of yesterday's -- and they are protected, using Kayveas's words, by an exclusive cabal of obvious political masters.

This, I can testify after one year being an MP in Penang.

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