Administrative Modernization in the Malaysian Local Government

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Pertanika Soc. Sci. Hum. 14 1 : 51-62 2006 ISSN: 0128-7702It Universiti Putra Malaysia Press

Administrative Modernization the Malaysian Local GovernmentStudy Promoting Efficiency Effectiveness and Productivity

AHMAD ATORY HUSSAI MALIKE BRAHIMDepartment ofPublic Management

Faculty of Public Management nd wUniversiti Utara Malaysia

6 1 Sintok Kedah MalaysiaKeywords: Administrative modernization reforms local government

BSTR KDalam tempoh pemerintahannya dari tahun 1981-2003, Dr. Mahathi r Mohamad telahmelaksanakan usaha pemodenan atau pembaharuan pentadbiran awam di Malaysia melaJuipelbagai dasar dan program yang telah diperkenalkan - dilihat sebagai tempoh pemodenan danpembangunan yang pesat. Usaha pemodenan pentadbiran di Malaysia tidak hanya melibatkanagensi-agensi kerajaan di peringkat persekutuan tetapi turut membabitkan kerajaan tempatan.Penyelidik telah menganalisis program program dan dasar-dasar pembaharuan yang telahdiperkenalkan melalui kajian t in jauan dar i tahun 2002-2003 daJam kalangan pegawai-pegawaikanan yang sedang berkhidmat di unit unit kerajaan tempatan di lapan bua h negeri sepertiPerlis, Pulau Pinang Kedah Kelantan, Sabah Sarawak, Pahang dan Terengganu. Pemilihannegeri-negeri ini dengan andaian mereka masih ketinggalan dan belum mencapai matlamatpembaharuan pentadbiran terutamanya di peringkat kerajaan tempatan masing-masing. Hasilkajian mendapati tidak semua usaha pembaharuan yang telah dilaksanakan oleh pihak kerajaandi peringkat kerajaan tempatan di negeri-negeri tersebut berkesan dan beIjaya. Oleh itu, unitunit kerajaan tempatan perlu bersedia melaksanakan pembaharuan dan menerima perubahandalam usaha memodenkan sistem pentadbiran masing-masing agar dapat bersaing dengankerajaan tempatan di negara negara maju da n juga di negara negara sedang membangun yanglain.

BSTR CTClosely e xam mm g the Malaysian administrative modernization or reform initiated by Dr.Mahathir Mohamad the Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003 - a decade ofmodernization an d faster economic growth - the reseacher analyses various programmes andreform policies introduced in the public administration system in Malaysia. Modernizationefforts that were carried o ut n ot only involved the federal government levels bu t also includedthe local government level. This article identifies the administrative reform efforts that wereintroduced at the local government level. Research were carried out from 2002 to 2003, togauge the opinion of the senior officers who are currently serving in various units in the localgovernments in eight states, namely Pedis, Penang Kedah Kelantan, Sabah Sarawak, Pahangand Terengganu. The eight states were chosen based on the assumptions that they are still somereform efforts implemented that have no t met the targets. The result of the research shows thatno t all reform efforts introduced and adopted in those states are effective an d successful. Thismeans that the local government must be ready to carry out reforms and changes to modernisetheir administrative system to be able to compete with other local government in other advancedand developing countries.


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Ahmad Atory Hussain M alike Br ahim

INTRO U nONTh e Malaysian government system s dividedi nt o t hr ee levels - namely federal , state andlocal governments (Ahmad Atory 2002; Malaysia1999; Phang Siew oo i 1996; Zahar i 1991).Consequently, th e state government has th eright to determine types of programmes andpolicies that ar e suitable fo r their localgovernments. Morever, th e local government sstatus and position s provided in th e MalaysianConstitution, whereby th e Constitution statest ha t th e local government is under th e poweran d control of th e respective state governments.This s a special provision stipulated in th eMalaysian Constitution to administer, formulatepolicies, develop and control fo r th e localgovernment, which s known as Th e NationalCouncil for Local Government (NCLG). Th elocal governments derive their power andautonomy through the process ofdecentralization from th e state government.Though they have little power and autonomy,they play an important role in providing basicfacilities and services, as well as maintaininginfrastructures. Th e local g ov er nm en t, t o thatextent could to find their own revenue such asgetting involved in th e privatization projectsan d so forth .Since Dr. Mahathir Mohamad became th ePrime Minister in 1981, a substantial numberof administrative reforms in the publicadministration system ha d been introduced.Th e administrative reforms that were introducedar e still carried out until now. The reformswere introduced mainly to improve and upgradeeffectiveness, image and th e quality of th eadministration of government including localgovernments. It also helped to change theattitude of th e civil servants, which s th e mostencouraging success of th e reform. Malaysiaca n no w claim to have an administrative system,which s comparable to that of other advancedand developing countries AhmadAtory 1998).There ar e some developing countries that haveemulated th e Malaysian administrative model.

However, at the local government level, effortstowards reform in the administrative system ar egiven less attention. Realising th e situation,research about th e administrative reform in th elocal government administration in Malaysia wcarried out to get th e opinions as well asevaluation from the senior officers of th eeffectiveness of the reforms that were introducedso far. The study focused on th e perceptions ofeffectiveness of various reform initiatives.

At th e local government level in Malaysia,there ar e still lack of information aboutadministrative reform carried out by th egovernment. In conjunction to that, th ediscussion in this article consists of finding ofresearch undertaken in 2002 an d completed inth e year 2003), by compiling opinions andevaluation of public officers of the localgovernment regarding the reform that ha s beenimplemented to upgrade the efficiency,effectiveness an d productivity.

Efforts to achieve and upgrade efficiency,effectiveness an d product ivity in th e publicservice an d administration ar e th e main objectiveo f th e Mahathir administration. To achieve thisobjective, various efforts an d reform strategiesthat involve work procedures and civil servantsattitude have been carried out, including at th elocal government level. Th e government ha dintroduced Malaysia-Incorporated Policy; Clean,Efficient and Trustworthy; Leadership yExample; Look East Policy; Privatisation Policyand many more in efforts to change th e attitudeof th e civil servants so that they will be morepositive, innovative, disciplined, responsible, andefficient. Apart from that, t he r ef or m aims toimprove and upgrade the capability anddeveloping system in th e public administrationin Malaysia.

These programmes and p ol ic ie s h avebr ought a lo t of changes and success inupgr a ding efficiency, effectiveness andproductivity of the public administration inMalaysia. Ahmad Atory in his b oo k e nt it le dAdministrative Reform in Malaysia (1998) haslisted down a number of reform efforts that

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Under Item 4 in List 2 of the inth Schedule, th e Malaysian Federal Constitution stipulates local government toa subject under th e State List. Hence, all local authorities fall under th e exclusive jurisdiction of th e stategovernments (Malaysia 1991; Phang Siew N oo i 1 99 6) .Following a n a m en d me n t to th e Malaysian Federal Constitution, th e government enacted, under Article 95A, th e

ational Council f or Local Government ( CLG) to advise an d coordinate th e local authorities in matters especiallypertaining to legal and major pol icy issues (Malaysia 1999; Report of th e Royal Commission of En qu iry toInvestigate in th e Working of Local Authorities in West Malaysia 1970). Also se e Ahmad Atory (2002).

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Administrative Modernization in th e Malaysian Local Government

have brought positive changes in efficiency,effectiveness an d productivity o f th e Malaysianpublic sector particularly during th e Mahathir sadministration. His findings noted that epitomeof examples ca n be seen in the. reform effortslike privatisation, trimming size of th e civilservice, attitudinal changes of th e civil servantsthough several procedural reforms like punchcard system, name tag identification among th ecivil servants, manual procedures, clientchartered, open space lay-out In addition, somepositive changes have also been identifiedthrough various programs to upgrade theleadership quality among civil servants. Someof these programs ar e as follows: i) trainingopportunities fo r levels o f civil servants; ii)better promiotion prospects an d fringe benefitssuch as opportunities for postgraduate studiesan d sabbatical leaves; iii) job specialization;an d vi) job rotation to give civil servants widerexposure to various operations of theirrespective departments. But, ho w is it at th elocal government level? Therefore, researchobjectives of this s tudy are:a) To evaluate th e extent to which reform

efforts at th e local government level wereachieved through responses of t he s en io rofficers regarding work procedures an dattitude of their colleagues; an d

b) To study th e success in privatisation as oneo f th e reforms adopted in th e localgovernment administration.Based on the objectives above, th e

effectiveness of the r ef or m p ro gr am me s an dpolicies that were introduced by Dr. MahathirMohamad administration, including th e reformin th e local government system were evaluatedby selected respondents undertaken by th eauthors. Th e evaluation made by th e officersconcerned especially those serving in th e variousunits in the local government is very importantto be known on ho w effective is the reformmade in th e local government system. Therespondents ca n give their important evaluationbecause they ar e involved directly with th eimplementation of th e reform efforts.

THE CONCEPT ADMINISTRATIVEREFORM MODERNIZATION

The concept of administrative r ef or m m ea nsdifferent things to different people. Caiden1969) uses it to refer .. . to all improvements

in administration; .. . t o g en er al administrativeoverhauls in difficult circumstances; to specificremedies fo r maladministration; to an ysuggestion fo r better government; and tointention o f self-styled administrativereformers .. . . According to Hanh 1970),administrative reform is defined as a systematican d integrated effort to bring about fundamentalchanges i n p ub li c a dm in is tr at io n to enhancepublic administrative capability to achievenational development goals. This definition isdesigned t o a cc om mo da te : i) organizationalimprovements both structural and procedural);an d ii) improvements in th e behaviour of civilservants.

Th e main objectives of structural reformsinclude th e re du ctio n of overlapping andduplicating fu nc tio ns, re de fi nitio n responsibilities, reduction of span of controlan d redesigning of organizastion an d institutions Caiden 1969: 35). Whi le th e lowest level o fs tr uc tu ral r ef or ms i nc lu de s i mp ro ve me nt inprodedures or changing th e routines of publicadministration. Incompetency of administrativeprocedures in coping with increasing demandfor impleme ntaion o f development projects isusually th e reason fo r procedural reforms. Therange of procedural reforms may vary. Reformmay take th e form of improvement in proceduresconcerned with organisation, planning, finance,b ud get in g, acco un ti ng , aud it in g, methods an dsupply management an d elimination exchangecontrol. Reforms ca n also take th e form ofsimplification of export procedures an d otheraspects such as lCT, ISO, TQM, E-Government,etc.

Basically, behavioral reforms make use ofth e p ro po si ti on s d ra wn from th e field o fpsychology an d sociology. Herbert Kaufman usest he p hr as e administrative behavior to designatehuman behavior in organizational setting,particularly behavior of o th er s. T hi s literaturewhich deals mostly with motivation is also oftenconcerned with application an d advising, fo rexample, ho w to secure greater workproductivitry or acceptance of change or changein value International Encyclopedia SocialSciences 7 2) . B ehav io ral reform ca n besubdivided into two dimensions i) personnelimprovement; an d ii ) improvement o fpersonnel behavior ot attitudes. The former isconcerned more with th e material well-being oft he p er so nn el i n t he civil service, both extrinsic

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Ahmad Atory Hussain Malike Brahim

N=187State Number of Respondents Percentage ( )

T LE 1Distribution of respondents by state

METHO OLOGY N S MPLINGThe research that was undertaken using surveymethod has with 600 questionnaires that wererandomly mailed to senior officers betweenthree an d five respondents per local authoritye. g dis tr ict officer, ass is tant dis tr ict off icers,pr es ide nt or chairman of th e district council,including those in the various units ofadministration e. g finance, engineering or

6213.911.216.633.28.212.8100

34262362 624187

PedisPenangKedah

KelantanSabah

SarawakPahang

TerengganuTotal

ource Survey Data 2002)

planning units. Th e questionnaires were onlysent to th e local governments of th e eightstates of Pedis, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan, Sabah,Sarawak, Pahang an d Terengganu as s ho wn i nTable 1). Th e local governments for otherthan these states ar e not covered in the study.About 600 questionnaires maile d, only 21035 ) were returned. Of the total 210) only187 89.04 ) were completed for th e analysis.

The questionnaire has three parts; th e firstpart is about respondent s demography such as,age, race, des ignation, sex, state, service unit

to avoid duplication with th e localgovernment laws in West Malaysia;c) Reducting the n um be rs o f local authoritythrough the combination or merger of th eexisting local authority; an d

d) Introducing uniformity of th e power an dlaws of construction works and regionalplanning through th e Building, Drain an dRoad Act 1974 Act 133), Th e U rb an a ndR ur al P la nn in g Act 1976 Act 172) an dother minor acts.

and intrinsic benefits, while the latter isconcerned with improvement of th e behaviorof civil servants in terms of th e alteration ofbelief, values, attitudes an d individual actions. is hope that by changing th e attitude an dbehavior of civil servants, efficiency, effectivenessan d productivity will follow.Th e local government system in Malaysiahas experienced c han ge s i n its administrativesystem an d structure to a greater scale sinceindependence. The effect thus brought to th erestructuring of local government in Malaysiadi d not have an y special system, structure,categories and standardised an d systematicregulation aspects. So, during that time, th egovernment saw that the situation causedproblems in th e management and administrationof various units i n th e local government. Toidentify problems, t he go ve rnm ent f or med aRoyal Commission fo r r es tr uc tu ri ng a ndinvestigating th e local government system ofwhich Athi Nahappan was made as the Chairmanof th e Royal Commission. started th einvestigation on local governments in PeninsularMalaysia on 1 July 1965 even though YangiPertuan gong Th e King of Malaysia) ha dapp ro ved the form ation o f the RoyalCommission in July 1963 Ahmad Atory, 2002;Norris 1980; Phang Siew Nooi 1996; Zahari1991) .

Mter th e investigation was undertaken, areport was sent to Yang DiPertuan Agong on 30January 1969. T he r epor t forwarded suggestionst ha t br ought to th e efforts in restructuring thelocal government in Malaysia under The LocalGovernment Act 1973 Temporary Provision).Th e ac t had a lots of effects on th e localgovernment system in Malaysia u nt il i twas thenchanged to Th e Local Government Act 1976 ct 171). U nd er T he Local Government Act1976, the restructuring process o f localgovernment in Malaysia only in the PeninsularMalaysia) was carried out with four mainobjectives as outlined below:a) Reducing th e types of local authority by

establishing only three types or entities thatis th e city council majlis bandaraya),municipality council majlis perbandaran)and an d district council majlis daerah);

b) Integrating laws involving th e formation,function an d main power of local authorityfo r th e three categories of local authority as

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and seIVice duration The second part includesquestions about efforts made to improve workingprocedures and system, upgrading pub lic seIVice,improving staff s attitude upgrading work ethicsand the us e of the computers While the thirdpart includes questions about the achievementof the privatisation policy or decentarizationpolicy that was im plem en te d at the localgovernment level and the form of privatisationthat were carried out.

IS USSIONmproving roceduresn ork ystemWhile efforts were made to improve the workingsystem and procedures in the civil seIVice, thegovernment as shown in Table 2, thenintroduced about twelve work procedures forwhich can be categorized into the proceduresand works systems. The effec tiveness inimproving work system and procedures in thecivil seIVice are based on the evaluation ofofficers who are pre se ntly seIVing in the localgovernment in the e ight sta te s as shown earlierin Table

The introduction of punch card system isaimed at to improving the work attendanceapart from upgrading the efficiency andeffectiveness the civil servant. The governmentstaff are required to punch in be fore 8.00 amand punch out after 4.15 pm While the use ofname tags is mainly for easy recognition of

t ho se offi cers w ho deal with the public. TheQuality Control Circle concept was introducedto encourage the officers to analyse the problemsand suggest solutions to overcome the problemand forward them to the management unitsThis system involves all staff in solving problemsby collectively seeking solutions.The government too had introduced th econcept of open space office to create conduciveand suitable working atmosphere The aim isto ensure the formality is reduced andcommunication in the office is smooth andeffective On the other hand theim pl em en ta tio n o f the file system inmanagement ai m to speed up the service processof the government agencies as what is happeningin the local government level. At the same timethe governmen t had d irec ted all governmentagencies including the local government toprovide manual work procedures as a tool toupgrade effectiveness in the civil seIVice.

In effort to i mp ro ve the work system andprocedure the government improved the posta lcorrespondence It is to ensure letters areprocessed efficiently and fast. B ef or e t he reformof the a dm inistra tion was implemented th egovernment did no t follow an y suitable an dexact system to call for meeting including th ewriting o f repo rt about the minutes of th emeeting as well as the actions taken to overcomeany problems or anything in connection Thusthe government provided guidelines on meeting

TABLE 2Effectiveness of work systems and procedures=187

Work System and Procedures Percent Pos itive Eva lu at io n N eu tr al U na bl e Percent Effective) to Evaluate) egative Evaluation Ineffective)Punch card

ar ne tagQuality circle controlOpen-space office layoutWork procedure manualDesk file systemPostal correspondenceManagement through meetingProductivity measurementprogrammeTQM conceptI SO 9 00 0 conceptConcept of electronic governmentS UTce Survey Data 2002)

55.672.251.358.865.858.373.882.939.043.962.641.2

21.90.514.4

17.65.95.98.04.3

30.521.414.430.5

22.527.334.223.528.335.818.212.830.534.823.028.3

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management. To strengthen the work systemsand procedures, productivity measures were alsoimplemented to upgrade the product as well asthe service quality.Based on the officers evaluation, efforts toupgrade the work systems and procedures(which consist of the twelve procedures as shownin Table 2) were been indentified. But it didnot achieve th e expected result, or in otherwords, the effectiveness is still low. Only theuse of the name tag 72.2 ), postalcorrespondence 73.8 ) and managementthrough meeting had achieved high level ofeffectiveness in upgrading work system andprocedures in th e local government. Othersprocedures such as the quality control circle(51.3 ), the use of punch cards (55.6 ), deskfile system (58.3 ), open space office layout(58.8 ), ISO 9000 standard (62.6 ) and workprocedure manual 65.8 ) that wereimplemented to upgrade efficiency andeffectiveness, only achieved moderate results(as evaluated from the respondents). On theother hand, other procedures that wereimplemented such as the ProductivityMeasurement Programmes (39 ), concept ofthe electronic government 41.2 ), TQMconcept (43.9 ) had not achieved expectedresults.

Based on the evaluation, it can be said thatthe twelve work procedures were not positivelyevaluated by th e re sponden ts . More e ffor tshould be done to upgrade and instilresponsiveness among the government staff soas to be more efficient and effective in theadministration and management of the localgovernment.

Improving ervices to the PublicThe government has stressed on efforts toimprove service quality for the public, as one ofthe reforms undertaken in the local governmentsystem. In 1982, one new concept wasintroduced, that is the One-stop Service Centre. was introduced to make it easy for th e publicto pay bills and taxes as many bills can be paidat one counter. Thus the governmentintroduced One-stop Payment Centre; One-stopService Centre; One-stop Licence Centre;Suggestion Box; and GIRO System.

Regarding the efforts to improve service tothe public, the evaluation made y the officersat the local government level on the efficiencyand the effectiveness is shown in Table 3. Fromthe evaluation, it is found that the One-stopService Counter is the most effective (70.6 ).The rest are still not that really effective,especially One-stop Licence Counter (52.4 ),One-stop Service Counter (46.5 ), SuggestionBox (32.6 ) and GIRO System (20.9 ).hanging the ttitudes the ivil ServantsAnother aspect that was stressed by th egovernment in the administrative reform of thelocal government is improving the governmentservants attitude. This is the main focus oreffort to bring changes in the civil service.Thus th e Clean, Efficient and Trustworthyconcept w s introduced in order to insti l ethicsand good moral values among those in thegovernment sectors especially at the localgovernment level. They have to show andpractice good moral values and be positive intheir attitude.

TABLE 3Effectiveness of services to the public

N=187Services

One stop payment centreOne stop service centreOne stop licence centreSuggestion boxGIRO ource Survey Data (2002)

Percent PositiveEvaluation(Effective)70.646.552.432.620.9

Neutral Unableto Evaluate)

19.336.430.517.161.5

Percent NegativeEvaluation(Ineffective)10.217.117.150.317.6

Total ( )

100100100100100

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Administrative Modernization in the Malaysian Local GovernmentApart from that the local government also

introduced the concept of Leadership-byexample, which was launched by Dr. MahathirMohamad on 1 March 1983. aimed toincreasing efficiency and productivity in thepublic service. Those of th e senior civil servantswill be the example of those under theirleardeship example. In connection with theconcept, excellent service award w implementedmainly to show appreciation to those who arereally efficient and excelled in the ir work.

On 25 February 1982, Mahathir sadministration introduced Malaysia-IncorporatedConcept. Through this concept, the governmentwants to see that Malaysia as a company thusexist cooperation between the private and publicsectors. Not only that shared intelligence canexist between the two sectors, so that this countrywill experience better economic growth. Thegovernment also in troduced the concept offriendliness among civil servants. This conceptw introduced as there had been complaintsabout the unsatisfactory counter service in thegovernment offices. So this concept wasintroduced in the hope that government officerswill be friendlier and to strengthen the earlierconcept of Leadership by Example.Based on the evaluat ion as shown in Table efforts in upgrading and improving th eattitude of civil servants were not veryencouraging. Only 72.2 of the evaluations arepositive towards the Clean Eff ic ient andTrustworthy concept. The implementation ofLeadership by Example (69 ); friendl iness69 ); and Excellent Service Award 61 )concepts are moderately evaluated. At th e sametime, the implementat ion of the MalaysiaIncorporated Policy is negatively evaluated. Only

35.3 showed positive attitude towards theconcept, thus show to us that the cooperationbetween the government and the public sectoris not that good as expected.Inculcating Work thicsin ManagementApart from the efforts discussed earlier on, theMalaysia government then instil positive ethicalvalues among civil servants. There are seventeenpositive moral values that the government triedto instil as shown in Table 5. The efficiency andthe effectiveness among civil servants in carryingout their daily work is connected to moralvalues that they possess. Thus they should bearin mind tha t only by having good moral values,positive work ethics can they be more efficientand effective in their performance. This aspectis very important, as they will deal with differentlevels of the society. Based on the evaluationfrom the respondents, it is found tha t havingpositive moral values when doing daily routineworks, determine the success of theimplementation of the reform in theadministration of the local government. It seemsthat having the values of cooperation 82.4 );self-management (73 ); and accountability76.5 ) are the best evaluation made. Theother ethical values are also seen to be quiteeffective in implementing government policies.Hence, only the values of entrepreneurship39 ) are not that popular among governmentservants.Utilization o omputers n the Local GovernmentManagementUtilization of Computers is another reformintrod uc ed durin g the Dr. Mahathir

TABLE 4Effectiveness of improving attitudes of civil servants

=187Administrative/Behaviouraltechniques

Clean, efficient and trustworthyLeadership by exampleExcellent service awardMalaysia-IncorporatedS UTce Survey Data 2002)

Percent PositiveEvaluationEffective)72.769.061.035.3

Neutral Unableto Evaluate)

4.33.24.840.1

Percent NegativeEvaluationIneffective)23.027.834.224.6

Total( )

100100100100

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Ahmad Atory Hussain Malike BrahimTABLE 5

Inculcation of work ethics among local government officersN=187

Values or Work Ethics

AccountabilityCooperationSelf-managementSelf-developmentDiligenceIntelectualTeam spiritThriftCreative and innovativePositive attitudeIntegrityResponsiveSelf-disciplineClient-orientedHigh perfomance orientedProfessionalismEnterprising ource Survey Data (2002)

Percent PositiveEvalution (Effective)

76.582.477.065.869.070.672.761.058.365.267.966.368.467.964.257.239.0

Neutral (Unableto Evaluate)

2.71.11.12.12.13.72.11.62.11.63.22.11.12.72.76.417.6

Percent NegativeEvaluation(Ineffective)20.916.621.932.128.925.725.137.439.633.228.931.630.529.433.236.443.3

Total ( )

100100100100100100100100100100100100100100100100100

TABLE 6Effectiveness of utilization of IT (computer) in local government

N=187Particular Percent PositiveEvalution

(Effective)Neutral (Unable

to Evaluate)Percent NegativeEvaluation(Ineffective)

Total )

Greater speed in policy decision 74.9 10.7 14.4 100Improvement in accuracy 78.1 8.6 13.4 100Improvement in counter service 80.2 8.6 1l.2 100Efficiency in correspondence 69.0 9.6 21.4 100Efficiency in project implementation 69.5 13.9 16.6 100More speed programme evaluation 59.4 17.1 23.5 100

administration. Though using computers fordoing work in government offices wasimplemented long ago, yet it was still not thatwidely used until 1980 s. Thus, in this research,the use of computers really shows us the positiveresult in the effectiveness and efficiency of thecivil servants to upgrade productivity.

Most respondents gave positive evaluationon the utilization of computers as shown inTable About 74.9 of the respondents statedthat the utilization of computers is very effective,

whereby 78.1 stated that the utilization ofcomputers improved accuracy, standardisationand consistency. Apart from that, about 80.2stated that computers assist in upgrading theirseffectiveness in the counter service. At the sametime respondents evaluations on the utilizationof computers are very positive in the efficiencyaspect on correspondence, proje ctimplementation and speed up programme, thatare 69.0 , 69.5 and 59.4 respectively.

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Administrative Modernization in the Malaysian Local GovernmentImplementation o Privatisation n the Localovernment ManagementOne of the important efforts in theadministrative reform that was implemented inthe Mahathir s administration s privatisationpolicy. The government objectives ofprivatisation policy are to reduce the financialburden of the government, to s timulate theeconomic growth, to promote competition,efficiency and productivity, stimulatesentrepreneurship, reduce the size of the publicsector and meets the objectives of the NewEconomic Policy.

During th e first te n years of itsimplementation, the response was no t positiveand the people were no t convinced of the policy.Yet, some do not understand why it wasimplemented. Only after that then, the realpicture about it become clearer. In theadministration and management system ofMalaysia, privatisation s believed to bring aboutchanges in behaviour, attitude and values of thegovernment servants and changes towards moreefficient, effective, competitive, productive anddynamic (Ahmad Atory 1998).ffectiveness o Privatisation ObjectivesAt th e local government level, theimplementation of privatisation was included inth e government administrat ion reform. Asmentioned above, those similar objectives ofprivatisation at the federal level are also broughtin the local government system such as to spur

local government growth, to increaseproductivity among the local government staff,to promote competition towards organisationefficiency among the local government staff, tocreate Bumiputera s opportunities in businessand to reduce government financial burden ofthe local government system Atory 1998: 286-288).

How far have the privatisation objectivesbeen achieved at the local government level?The result can be seen from the evaluationmade by the respondents of this research asshown in Table 7. About 66.8 of therespondents agree that privatisation w s aneffective tool of economic growth at the localgovernment level. About 58.3 stated thatprivatisation could increase the income of th elocal government. 61.5 respondents agree thatthe privatisation promote competition towardsefficiency of the local government organisation,where as 58.8 then agree that privatisationcreate opportunities for the bumiputera to getinvolved in business. 52.9 respondents agreeto the objective of privatisation in reducingfinancial burden of the local government system.We should bear in mind that the statistics showedin the table stated the difference percentages ofpositive and negative evaluation for severalreasons. One s that the scope for privatisationat the local level s different from one to another.Not al l the services are conduc te d fo rprivatisation. Some privatisation are dictated bystate/federal governments, perhaps they mayno t approve for a variety of reasons.

TABLE 7Effectiveness of privatization objectives

N=187eutral (Unable Percent Jegative Total ( )to Evaluate) Evaluation Ineffective)11.8 21.4 10011.2 30.5 10010.7 27.8 10011.8 29.4 10012.8 34.3 100

Objective Percent PositiveEvaluation Effective)Increase economic growth at 66.8the local level

Increase income revenue at the 58.3local council

Increase competition toward 61.5organization efficiency

To give opportunity in business 58.8to Bumiputra

To reduce financial burden of 52.9local council

ource Survey Data 2002)PertanikaJ. Soc. Sci. Hum. Vol. 14No.1 2006 9


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Mter analysing the research based on theevaluation made by the respondents about thesuccess of the implementation of privatisation,it can be said to be low and not that satisfactory.However the implementat ion a t the localgovernment level is still new to upg rade thequali ty , eff iciency and effectiveness of theadministration and the service offered.Types o Privatisation mplemented n the Localovernment SystemIn Malaysia, there are various types ofprivatisation being employed by the government.Thus, the same situation does apply to th e localgovernment as well as what is shown in Table 8.Out of 187 respondents, there are four types ofprivatisation being implemented largely at thelocal government level, ie. Contracting out107 , Management Contract 29 , Lease ofAsset 23 , Bui ld-Operate-Own 17 , BuildOperate-Transfer 21 . While Bui ld-Transfer,Build-Own Operate 13 respectively , and Saleof Equity, Sale of Asset and Management-by-Out9 respectively .Besides, th e nature of privatisation is alsoevaluated by the respondents. Privatization ofService received high number of responses, i.e.78 , Partial Privatization 29 , and FullPrivatisation 15 , while Privatisation ofProduction 3 .

Apart from these, there are many activitiesor programmes being privatised by various localgovernments , where initially they were th esolely under the responsibil ity of th e localgovernment. The research study shown in Table9 justified that since a couple years, there havequite a number of activities been privatised,especially in the form of contracting out,followed by service contract and managementcontract.

As Table 9 shows, that there are varioustypes of activities or programs being employedby th e respect ive local governments as torespond to the government policy of th eprivatisation. Amongst th e very popularprograms that are being employed are th egarbage disposal 54 , rehabilitation, cleanlinessand maintenance 20 respectively , parking areand grass cutting 16 respectively , maintenanceand road repair 13 respectively , public toilets,building and drainage main tenan ce 11respectively . While market maintenance 9 ,maintenance of street l ighting 8 , rent vehicle,landscape maintenance, construction of stallsand day and night markets 6 respectively ,sewage and drainage 5 respectively , bridgeconstruction 4 , housing project and touristmanagement center 3 respectively ; and taxcollection/home assessment 2 . is expectedthat more projetcs and programs will be

No.1.3456.78.9.10.11.12.13.14.15.

TABLE 8Types and nature of privatization implemented in th e local government

Type of PrivatizationBOT Build-Operate-TransferBOO Build On OperateContracting OutSOE Sale of EquitySOA Sale of AssetBOO Build-Operate-OwnCOR CorporatizationBT Build-TransferMBO Management-Buy-OutLOA Lease of AssetMC Management ContractThe Nature o Privatization

Privatization of serviceFull PrivatizationPartial PrivatizationPrivatization of ProductionTotal

Frequency211310799177139 3 97815 93392

ource Survey Data 2002

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TABLE 9Local government projects that are privatised

oI2345678910II1213141516171819

Types of ActivitiesParking areaLand developmentServiceMaintenance and road repai rGarbage disposalRehabilitation cleanliness an d maintenanceBuilding an d drainage maintenancePublic toiletsLandscape maintenanceMarket maintenanceBridge constructionTax collection/ home assessmentSewage and drainageConstruction of stalls and day and n ig ht marketsTourist management centerHousing projectMaintenance of street lightingRent vehicleGrass cuttingTotal

Frequency16213

5420

6942563386

16179

privatised by the local governments throughoutthe country in effort to reduce the financialburden of th e local government administrationan d at the same t ime to enhance effectivenessan d efficiency of the services rendered to thepublic

SUMM RY ND ON LUSIONReferring to various aspects that had beendiscussed it is clear that in the Mahathiradministration the main focus is to reformbehaviour of the civil servants and an d workprocedures t is the important base to improveservice to th e public especially at the localgovernment level The government officers whoare having good quality capable skilful and aswell as having positive moral values and workethics can improve the effectiveness efficiencyan d productivity of the organisation includingthat in the local government

Apart from that the government should bemore proactive to strengthen and improve thepresent local government administration systemso that it will be more competitive with goodquality an d is able to upgrade efficiency an deffectiveness It is through the local governmentthat the federal channels whatever development

programmes are to upgrade the localgovernment itself Thus to ensure the successof the reform all units at the local governmentadministration must be committed to bring indevelopment an d modernisation of the systemsin the local government from time to time Itwould be d iff icult to achieve the reformobjectives i the local government administratorshardly struggle for it

At the state an d federal government levelmore attention and research h ad b een carriedout unlike that at the local government levelwhere empirical research were not that muchbeing done Most research is done on thereform of local government laws leadershippower financial autonomy ta x and politicsDue to that details information about theeffectiveness an d result of the reform on localgovernment administration is very limitedHence the need to undertake research in theeffectiveness efficiency productivity aspects aswell as better service delivery system of the localadministration is imperative The result of thestudy can be summarised as such various reformefforts implemented at the local governmentlevel need to be improved an d paid moreattention This is becau se researche rs a re

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optimistic that the local governmentadministration is gaining momentum amid thestrong public demand for better servicesdelivered on the part of local authority. Thiswill bring some benefits for the publicadministration in th e country.

All programmes and efforts toward reformsespecially through privatisation must beupgraded and carried out continuously. isbelieved that through this programme, financialconstraints can be solved as well as can be asource of income. is also urged in the researchdone by Hazman Shah Abdullah 1992). Itstated that privatisation can overcome financialproblems and as a source of income for thegover nmen t. Apa rt from that, throughprivatisation, the government and the privatesectors is supposed to facilitate the public withservices that they need. Thus, to provide thepublic, especially the Bumiputera theopportunity to involve themselves in the businessfield, they eventually will get employment andtheir bet ter living standard will be better.

REFERENCESAHMAD ATORY HUSSAIN. 2002. Local Government:

Theory and Practice in Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur:Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

AHMAD ATORY HUSSAIN and MALlKE BRAHIM. 2003.Report of research Administrativemodernization in local government system inMalaysia: viewed from the aspects of efficiency,effectiveness and productivity. School ofSocial Development, UUM NorthernUniversity of Malaysia) unpublished). . Reformasi Pentadbiran di MalaysiaAdministrative Reform in Malaysia . KualaLumpur: Utusan Publications and DistributorsSdn. Bhd.

.1995. Administrative reforms inMalaysia: Strategies for promoting efficiencyand productivity in the public service, 19811991. Indian Joumal of Public AdministrationXLI I) January-March: 76-91. IndraprasthaEstate, Ring Road, New Delhi-llO-002.

CAJDEN G. E. 1969. Administrative Reform. Chicago:Aldine.

HANH BEEN LEE. An application of innovation theoryto the strategy of administrative reform indeveloping countries. Policy Sciences 2): 177189.

H zM N SHAH ABDULLAH. 1992. Local GovernmentFinancial Administrative in Peninsular Malaysia.Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. . International Encyclopedia of SocialScience Vol 2, Complete and UnbridgeVolume, 1. USA: Crwell Coller and Mac Millan,Inc.

JOMO K S. ed). 1986. Dasar-dasarEkonomi Mahathir.Kuala Lumpur: INSAN.MALAYSIA. 1991. Pelan Induk Penswastaan. Kuala

Lumpur: Unit Perancang Ekonomi, JabatanPerdana Menteri. Unpublished Report.

MALAYSIA. 1994. Dasar penswastaan - Bab 7. DalamDasar-dasar Pembangunan Malaysia. KualaLumpur: Institut Tadbiran Awam NegaraINTAN).

MALAYSIA. 2001. Local Government Act, 1976 Act171). Kuala Lumpur: International Law BookServices. .1999. Malaysian Federal KualaConstitution. Lumpur: International Law BookServices. 197 Report of the RoyalCommission of Enquiry to Investigate into theWoking of Local Authorities in West Malaysia.Kuala Lumpur: Government Printer.

PHANG S. N. 1996. Local Government System inMalaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa danPustaka.NORRIS, M. W. 1980. Local Government in Peninsular

Malaysia. Hamshire: Gower Publishing Co.ZAHARI, A. R. 1991. Understanding Local Government

in Malaysia. PetalingJaya: Penerbit BaktiSdn. Bhd.1996. Penswastaan dalamRancangan Malaysia Ketujuh 1996-2000)

Bab 7. Dalam Rancangan Malaysia Ketujuh1996-2000 . Kuala Lumpur: Unit PerancangEkonomi, Jabatan Perdana Menteri.

Received: 1 September 2003

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Administrative Modernization in the Malaysian Local Government

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