FROM 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) to Felda Global Ventures (FGV) to even Sime Darby, government linked companies (GLC) have continued to become vehicles for odd and shady deals that continue to baffle the country’s corporate sector as they waste millions, if not billions, in taxpayer’s ringgit. 

We have all seen it happen time and time again to the best of companies in Malaysia’s history, and no sector has been safe from it – from banking to steelworks to even the automotive industry, we have constantly seen Malaysian companies find themselves in a rut, needing to be bailed out by the federal government, or be part of an authoritarian cover-up.

The recommendation by the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission’s (MACC) Advisory Board to stop those bearing political office from holding any posts in the corporate sector is a step in the right direction. However, it needs to be extended to state GLCs as well.

To take it a step further, if we are already moving towards removing politicians from the corporate sector, shouldn’t it also apply to civil servants?

This needs to be said, seeing as how the Congress of Union of Employees in the Public and Civil Service (CUEPACS) insists on the government allowing their members to be allowed to run businesses in order to make ends meet.

If civil servants are indeed struggling to make ends meet, the solution should not be to allow them to enter the corporate sector, but to review their salaries.

To ensure higher pay for the civil service would mean two possible scenarios – either we review the employment of the civil service en masse, looking at who is getting paid too much and who is getting paid too little, along with whether there are overweight middle levels in ministries which require trimming. 

Or we increase taxes and government revenue to ensure that the civil service as it is can be paid more and ensure they are free from the influence of corruption. Or at the very least, give them one less reason to be corrupt.

But with an annual salary totalling RM74 billion and an annual pension totalling RM19 billion more, the question of just how much higher should or could our civil servants’ salaries go begs to be addressed. Some suggest that instead of increasing, it is time to set a ceiling when it comes to such figures.

And in the midst of the debate surrounding civil servants’ salaries, the governments goes and creates multiple “quasi-government” companies which are allowed to pay their staff higher salaries while docking the pay from the coffers of the civil service.

There needs to be a proper review of where we would like to set the boundaries between politics, corporations and the civil service. 

At the same time, should retired or parliamentarians who fail to be re-elected be given posts in government departments and companies, or should they just be dependent on the pension they earn instead of a post-political career handout?

Should ministers, chief ministers, lawmakers and even secretaries general be placed to oversee corporate affairs and even influence decisions in this sector opaquely, with bias and even conflict of interest being overlooked?

All of these need to be discussed, policies need to be formed, and political will and people power needed to push it through.

There are a lot of areas where we can reform the public, corporate and political sector that need to be in place, especially if we want to reach 2050 in one piece. And quite honestly, I sincerely doubt that it can be done with a political culture of handouts and patronage as we see in both side of Malaysia’s political divide. – June 16, 2017.

* Hafidz loves to ruffle feathers and believes in the EA Games tag line of challenging everything. Most times, he represents the Devil’s Advocate on multiple issues.

* 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.