The
Malaysian Administrative and Diplomatic Service (in the national
language the Perkhidmatan Tadbir dan Diplomatik – PTD), which replaced
the Malayan Civil Service (M.C.S), is often referred to as the premier
service. It is a small service comprising 3,672 officers, who occupy
select senior administrative posts reserved for them in the government,
such as Secretaries-General, important Heads of Departments, some State
Secretaries and District Officers, as well as Ambassadors and High
Commissioners. Traditionally, the Chief Secretary to the Government is
chosen from the senior ranks of the PTD. The Government has been
persuaded to maintain this tradition, as well as holding the other posts
mentioned for the PTD. The M.C.S and now its successor, the PTD, have
always shown quality of work, productivity for performance, discipline
and a high sense of accountability. It is also a tradition for the Chief
Secretary to the Government to officiate its annual conference.
The Malaysian Administrative and Diplomatic Service has been the crème de la crème
of the administration. It has many things in its favour – its
performance has been good. If the occasional officer lacks in probity,
he acts alone; this is in outstanding contrast to some countries where
services of similar eminence have corruption institutionalised, and
those at the top share the loot with the subordinates. In many
ex-colonial British territories, the administrative services are still
being castigated as the vestige of a colonial past, fit only for the
administration of the status quo. In those countries the administrative
service is being reviled as rule-ridden, generalist, and antediluvian.
Even in countries like New Zealand and Australia, they have moved
towards appointing chief executive officers, who are administrative
heads of Ministries, on a performance contract basis. The career system
of the Administrative and Diplomatic Service has worked well for
Malaysia. What do Ministers expect of their senior civil servants, in
particular the Secretary-General of the Director-General? First, the
officers must be responsive to the directives of their Ministers;
secondly, Ministers must be able to rely on them for candid, clear and
rapid advice on policy proposals and plans; the Ministers look to them
for the proper supervision of the department’s expenditure and financial
management. The Administrative and Diplomatic Service officers must
display professionalism of the highest order. The Service is now
composed of relatively young officers, of whom in 1995, about 40 per
cent were aged 40 and below, and 31 per cent aged between 41 and 45
years. Should the Malaysian Administrative and Diplomatic Service
officers continue to be Secretary-General and to hold top administrative
positions? The answer to the question is that they will continue to do
so as long as the Government has the confidence, and the officers do the
job properly, adhering to the great canons of the service – efficiency,
mastery of the subjects which they deal with, impartiality towards the
clients, judiciousness, fairness and fidelity to the facts.
Excerpts from the book The Chief Secretary to the Government, Malaysia by Tun Ahmad Sarji bin Abdul Hamid; MPH Publishing (1996)
