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Near the beginning of 2010 the Malaysian government launched its Government Transformation Program (GTP) Roadmap which explains in detail its master plan in making up for the indispensable things they’ve been neglecting. The GTP would be Barisan National’s latest array of dictums in its crusade to win back people’s hearts, minds and trust for the next General Election. Among other propagations of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s would be National Key Performance Index (KPI), National Key Results Areas (NKRA), Juara Rakyat and, of course, all of these goes under Najib’s big 1Malaysia: People First, Performance Now manifesto.
Introduced by Najib in April last year, the objective of GTP is two-fold – first, to transform the Government to be more effective in its delivery of services and accountable for outcomes that matter most to the rakyat; and second, to move Malaysia forward to become an advanced, united and just society with high standards of living for all. This would be in line with the national mission of achieving Vision 2020 - whereby Malaysia is to become a fully developed nation.
To spearhead the GTP they went on to set up Performance Delivery & Management Unit (PEMANDU) which would oversee implementation and assess progress of the GTP. Labs were set up across the country for PEMANDU to conduct extensive research on what the rakyat wants to see improved. From there, they identified six National Key Result Areas (NKRAs) which are reducing crime, fighting corruption, improving standards of education, raising living standards of low-income households, improving rural basic infrastructure and improving urban public transport.
The Driving Force Behind PEMANDU
A unit under the Prime Minister’s Department, PEMANDU has an additional role which is to facilitate and support delivery of both the NKRAs and MKRAs (Ministerial National Key Result Areas). Put in charge as Chairman of the PEMANDU board is Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (in charge of National Unity and Performance Management) Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon while its Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer is Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Dato’ Seri Idris Jala.
The best talent from both the civil service and private sector are roped in to allow PEMANDU to carry out its responsibilities effectively. While the responsibility for end-to-end delivery of NKRA and MKRA outcomes ultimately rests with the respective ministries, PEMANDU has been mandated to catalyse bold changes in public sector delivery, support the ministries in the delivery planning process and provide an independent view of performance and progress to the PM and ministers.
I, and I think most, would think both Koh and Idris are very well-suited for the job and it’s refreshing to see two persons get picked genuinely for their merits seeing as Koh is from Gerakan and Idris is a mover and shaker from the corporate sector. While Koh has ample experience in politics, being the current President of Gerakan and a former Chief Minister of Penang for 18 years, Idris is somewhat a wild card. However, the latter is no stranger to transformation having turned around Malaysia Airlines, when he was its managing director, from being RM1.7bil indebt to making a record profit of RM900mil in less than two years.
Despite his incredibly impressive portfolio in saving the ailing national airline and as managing director with Shell previous to that, these are achievements in the corporate world; Politics is a different ballgame and some critics are already saying that Idris will have trouble grappling with resistance as there’s way too much vested interest out there. They’re also saying old hand ministers will eat Idris alive.
Personally, after sitting through Idris’ GTP presentation on the day of its launch, I find him as quite an interesting character. He’s not the stereotypical corporate smartass type who uses fancy terminologies that would only confuse the everyday Joe who may not be in the know. He uses simple words without sounding like he’s talking down to the audience - a quality most ministers and politicians lack. People are getting tired of listening to those pompous types who come up with bombastic plans but fall short when it comes to delivery. It’s Idris’ ability to engage people at all levels and imparting them with optimism that would make the GTP work. Let’s hope that fortune favours the fearless.
GTP's Biggest Challenge: Curbing Corruption
Anyone can come up with a brilliant plan but executing it successfully is the hard part. It must be said that tackling the problem of corruption would undoubtedly be the most challenging part of the six NKRA identified especially for Idris who was an outsider to politics until only recently. He will inevitably be faced with resistance, especially from senior ministers who’s been in the loop and ‘on the take’ for quite some time.
The underlying concern here would be the question of how far Najib will be implementing the GTP. As far as corruption goes, we all have heard of how rampant it transpires among politicians. If Najib is to really go all out with the instigation of GTP, especially in the curbing corruption part of the NKRA, than more than half, if not all, of the members of the cabinet will be under MACC investigation by now. We know, of course, that that’s not going to happen.
Government to Shape Up or Ship Out
There are two ways to looking at the basis of the somewhat drastic action plan that is the GTP. It could be a genuinely dignified means of making things right for the people or, on the other hand, it could plainly be a case of desperate measure called by desperate circumstances.
In any case (and I think it’s likely to be a bit of both), the revelation of GTP, let alone it’s comprehensive roadmap, is indeed risky business. Even Najib, who fancy himself as the Father of Transformation, acknowledges the tall order that entails in its implementation in his speech during its launch when he half-jokingly said “Even I myself am getting a bit panicky.”
But despite putting his administration and himself in peril of losing the people’s confidence and, in turn, the next General Election, the GTP does have certain advantages to Najib. Inevitably, Machiavellian tactics may just be what's administered here given that the GTP would not only keep ministers on their toes, it would also act as a coercion against those who step out of line or, more crucially, turn against the prime minister and UMNO president. After all, the enemies that pose the most threat are the ones you're sharing the bed with and with the implementation of GTP and all the dirty laundries that’s been thriving within the government, any sign of dissention from any party may just result in implication and incrimination of corruption charges.
It’s hard not to commend this “bold and big” GTP initiative and being transparent about the details of the master plan shows that the government really means business. The implementation of the GTP is more pressing than ever now especially with the hiccups in the recent state of affairs involving TLDM’s ‘marine’ that failed to submerge (thus ‘marine’ sans the ‘sub’) and the foolish racist statements made by Najib’s then special aide Datuk Nasir Safar. Whatever it is, if the government is truly sincere about the implementation of GTP they should keep paying attention to their two prevalent critics - the rakyat and the opposition. Only with the people and opposition parties constantly keeping the government in check will we able to expect promising KPIs in the six NKRAs by the end of the first quarter when the first GTP report is made public. Related News
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