Civil servants must overcome the waning in trust in the government institution to ensure that it remains relevant, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said today.

Abdullah said governing in the future is not going to be an easy task as there are various challenges to overcome and civil servants had to take stock of what is happening in the world today.

He identified the challenges as a better educated and knowledgeable citizenry; increasingly diverse and fragmented interest groups; greater authority being given to supra and sub-national institutions; changing lifestyles and patterns of employment; a call for the government to be more transparent and a need to give priority to issues of national unity.

Abdullah said this in his speech when officiating the 6th National Civil Service Conference themed 'A Knowledge-based Economy: Forging Ahead for National Transformation' at National Institute of Public Administration at Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur.

Later, when asked to expand on 'a decline in trust in government', Abdullah told reporters: "We hear many things about government administration being corrupted and ineffective. We need to pay attention to these problems, improve the situation and enhance our effectiveness."

Transparency

However, Abdullah questioned the allegations of lack of transparency hurled against government institutions.

"We have been working as before and I don't see what you mean by lack of transparency specifically," he said.

"In my ministry, for example, if there is a problem in the Immigration Department or the issuance of visa, is this called a lack of transparency?" he queried.

He clarified that when problems arise in a government department, it may be due to ineffective procedures or work systems which are no longer appropriate.

"But this is often misconstrued as lack of transparency or that there is corruption," he said.

"That is why government institutions have a client's charter, a declaration that says 'we will response to your problems, letters, requirements and permits within a certain time'.

"The elements in the client's charter indicate that we are sensitive and wish to provide better services to the rakyat without making them wait," he added.

Abdullah conceded the need to inform the rakyat about policies, work ethics and procedures of the civil service as a lack of understanding will breed all sorts of assumptions.

Points of view

He cited the example of an application for land being submitted to the Mentri Besar's (MB) office for approval.

"People think that they can get approval immediately, but the procedures are elaborate as the MB's office need to get approval from various departments such as the Department of Environment, the Land Office and the District Office.

"Many departments would have to give their points of view as to whether the land is appropriate for what it has been applied for. Only then is the application submitted to the state government for further approval.

"However, when people have to wait long they will say 'there, they are waiting to be given money'," he said.

Abdullah said he has never denied that there were problems in government institutions, such as bureaucracy.

"There are a lot (of problems) but we must continue to improve and I think the civil service today has demonstrated its capacity to work faster and to deal with issues faster than civil servants in the early days," he said.

The three-day conference is being attended by senior officers from the public and private sectors, academicians, researchers and representatives from non-governmental organisations (NGOs).