The task force given the tough job of trying to cut the red tape that has tied up the flow of business has turned out to be a committee on a fast track, bringing about many changes.

WHEN the Special Task Force to Facilitate Business (Pemudah) was set up on Jan 7 last year, its formation was met with much scepticism, as it was a joint panel comprising heads of the civil service and chief executives from the private sector.

Many dismissed it as another “talk shop” committee and a PR exercise to placate criticism against the Government.

Even panel member Tan Sri G. Gnanalingam, who is the executive chairman of Westport, was sceptical and told senior editors at a dinner that he did not expect to be involved with Pemudah for long.

“Give me six months and I will quit,” he said then.

But 12 months on, Pemudah has proven to be everything it set out to be and then some.

“Sometimes when I look back at the past 12 months, I am surprised at what we have achieved. Yes, there was a time I felt some frustration at the replies to the queries we had.

“However, once we got moving, it seems there was nothing that we could not do,” said Gnanalingam in an interview to mark the first anniversary of Pemudah.

Looking a bit embarrassed when reminded about his quit remark last January, the Westport boss explained that the willingness of senior civil servants in the task force to listen to all suggestions took him and the other CEOs by surprise.

Why then does Pemudah work? After all, none of the ideas were new.

“There are two main reasons – Pak Lah (Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) and the KSN (Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan).

“The PM is an ex-civil servant and he knows what’s happening, he wants to attack this on two fronts – he owes the citizens of this country a good delivery system, and at the same time, he wants the civil service itself to regain its self-respect,” said Gnanalingam.

He said Sidek was committed to bringing the glory back to the service.

“He has been a civil servant all his life, and has been all over the world and seen how other civil services operate, when he was attached with Miti (Ministry of International Trade and Industry)

“He has seen the best and the worse. I guess he knows where the Malaysian civil service stood. He is now the top civil servant and realises that he is now in a position to initiate the change,” said Gnanalingam, or Tan Sri G as he is popularly known.

The 12 CEOs from the private sector have found perfect partners in the 12 top civil servants in Pemudah. The likes of Public Services Commission director-general Tan Sri Ismail Adam and the various secretary-generals share Sidek’s vision in improving the service.

“These 12 people are tired of the bad image of the civil service but they do not think it is difficult to overcome these issues. We from the private sector in Pemudah are only there to point out the problems, it is the top civil servants who come out with the solutions,” said Gnanalingam.

However, Gnanalingam was quick to point out that just because the KSN and his KSUs (secretary-general) were open-minded did not mean that all the problems had been resolved.

“The problem is down the line. They are on a different wavelength from the top. The lower-rungs are so set in their ways because it’s been like this for decades.”

Among the many success achieved by Pemudah, Gnanalingam cites the following as his favourites:

> The time taken to register a company with the Companies Commission of Malaysia – from three days to just one day.

> Approving work passes for expatriate workers within seven days.

> Issuing of passports within 24 hours instead of weeks.

> Hotels now need only one composite licence from a local authority instead of 15.

> Income tax returns reduced from 30 days to two weeks.

“I am especially proud of these successes because the emphasis in on speed. We have shortened time required to do business in Malaysia.

“Now that things are moving faster, this means there will be less reason for bribes to be offered. With faster service and reduced corruption, Malaysia will be considered more competitive and that has always been one of our main priority in Pemudah.”

However, Gnanalingam calls these achievements “low-lying fruits” or the ones that could easily be done.

“Now we will climb higher up the tree to pluck the fruits up there. This will be the true test for Pemudah.

“This is where we will see the extent of the little Napoleans, how influential and how widespread the disease is. There are 1.2 million civil servants and I am sure the bulk of them are with us. We just have to get them to come out and move away from the little Napoleans.

“We just need to get the message to them.”

Asked about the series of Pemudah advertisements that have been appearing in newspapers, he said it was an effort to inform the people of what had been done and also to remind the civil servants of their agreement.

“Very often, we hear of complaints that a certain officer is not willing to this or that because he has not received the circular from the top.

“Well, this is what the advertisements are – they are the circulars from them,” Gnanalingam said.


By Wong Sai Wan
The Star, 06.02.2008