IT was a privilege to attend the 3rd Speaker’s Lecture Series hosted by the Dewan Rakyat and acquire a deeper understanding of the Kiwi model of the ombudsman’s office.

Malaysia is considering setting up its own, and we need to think our model through. My question is directed at our Kiwi friends: where should we locate our pick, given our unique history?

If I’m not mistaken, the New Zealanders influenced Malaya since about the 1950s, under our five-power defence arrangement. I remember in Year Five or Six learning about a Maori song, and later, in Form One, performing it onstage at the Ibrahim Secondary School in 1962.

If memory serves, both the Federation Military College Boy’s Company and Dewan Latihan Pegawai-Pegawai Kerajaan in Jalan Elmu – or the Government Officers’ Training Institute, now called Intan Wilayah – were set up in September 1952 under some kind of Colombo Plan with help from New Zealand.

My 7-factor theory of governance

Good governance is always a 360° activity in transparency, displaying full intentions and communicating them via published reports. There cannot be good governance with secrecy.

Traditionally, the three factors of primary governance are the legislative, executive and judiciary. Professor John Rohr argued for the US constitution as the fourth factor, and for the foundation for US public administration to be located in the American administrative state.

I agree with the administrative state argument, which pushes traditional media as the fifth factor of governance.

In my model, I used to call civil society groups the sixth factor. But after attending the Speaker’s Lecture, I am inclined to argue that the ombudsman, premised upon the Kiwi model, is more suited as the sixth factor of governance for Malaysia.

The people, who make their voice heard through general elections, must always remain the seventh factor.

Challenges of Malaysian ombudsman

I see three major challenges in executing the Malaysian model for the ombudsman’s office based on the abovesaid framework.

* Legal obstacles

Under our existing model of constitutional governance, even the attorney-general’s office is part and parcel of the executive. The Pakatan Harapan administration is significantly addressing this issue, but it still has a ways to go.

Placing the chief public prosecutor outside the executive is a difficult exercise, especially when the police force was among the most corrupt agencies. Nonetheless, the executive has been working hard to address such slippery issues.

* Financing models

The 1Malaysia Development Bhd fiasco has affected the government’s finances so severely that two major challenges will define any fiscal policy. They are the housing stockpile and National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loans, and their respective collection and repayment models.

A challenge of Budget 2020 is determining how we can come up with a common solution for these two problems. How do we allow PTPTN defaulters to convert their loans into a stock of payments towards purchases from the current stockpile of residential units, even if the pricing is apparently prohibitive?

* Influence v authority

The third and final challenge is shifting from a feudalistic mindset, where the culture of hand-kissing and carpet-laying prevails, to one where rationality and logic dictate conduct.

How can we stop resorting to power abuse to tackle every issue? How can we quit relying on the rhetoric of race and religion in problem-solving?

If we can make these transitions, I truly believe that we are well on our way to becoming a developed society by 2020, as envisioned by the Bangsa Malaysia challenge of 1981. – September 29, 2019.

* KJ John worked in public service for 32 years, retired, and started a civil group for which he is chairman of the board. He writes to inform and educate, arguing for integration with integrity in Malaysia. He believes such a transformation has to start with the mind before it sinks into the heart!

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.