Perdana Focus: Interview with Prof. Dr. Hazman Shah Abdullah, the Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr. Teh Hong Piow Resident Fellow

Professor Hazman at his PLF office

Q. Can you briefly explain what your research is about?

My research stems from the following observation; since 1980’s the improvement focus in the public arena has been more on the service quality and less on governance quality. The basic question has been – how can we make public agencies more efficient and effective in delivering services to the citizens?

The general answers have been to debureaucratise (make flexible), decouple (unlink service provision from policy or regulatory role), performance orientation (measure output, outcome and customer satisfaction) and rationalise (transfer to private and third sector). These outcomes have resulted in dramatic improvements in public services. Despite the service improvements the world over and at home, the public trust in government and elected officials have generally declined.

Hence the paradox, as customers, people are more satisfied now than before but as citizens, they are less trusting of the government that has performed better!

The problem is that the focus has been to improve the service quality dimension of governments with less emphasis on the governance aspects. Admittedly, the governance aspects are much more difficult to transform. This lopsided development has troubling consequences for the future of the nation. Government must not only deliver services, it must do so in way that is based on public participation, subject to the laws, with integrity, and accountability for the results. The danger is that governments are more focused on improving the delivery of services and less aggressive on improving the manner in which these improvements are brought about. Good governance is about both ends and means. This research is to dramatise these dangerous imbalance at the local government level.

In short, my research is about examining the twin arms of public governance i.e. service quality and governance quality. Public governance operates on the basic premise that when governments observe good governance practices, the quality of services and policy making will improve. Unfortunately, we have worked on mainly one front.

Q. Can you elaborate on the relevance of your research?

It is publicly acknowledged by the government that public services must be improved if the overall competitiveness of the nation is to be enhanced. Through the efforts undertaken since the 1980’s, public services have seen notable, and in some cases, remarkable improvements. But the governance dimension has generally suffered through less attention and slow changes.

Corruption is still perceived to be high, integrity of public and elected officials is questioned and trust in politicians and government is low in Malaysia; accountability of public agencies is largely internal and weak externally. These symptoms show the lack of parallel development on the governance front. As consumers, Malaysians like the public service improvements but as citizens they have misgivings about the way the government goes about its business. This paradox or imbalance must be researched and debated for better understanding so that there can be greater traction on the governance related changes.

Q. Can you let us know which local authorities (or states) you have chosen for your research, and why?

The choice of local authority is deliberate. Local authorities is the third tier of government in Malaysia, are unelected and hence, do not have a critical governance mechanism available to the state and federal governments. Local authorities continue to perceive themselves as corporations responsive to the consumers and accountable to the state (like shareholders). They have emphasised (in my mind over-emphasised) service quality and de-emphasised governance quality. This is unhealthy and does not augur well for the development of well governed local authorities. Therefore, local authorities are an excellent setting for this study.

The local authorities chosen for this study are Johor Baru City Council and Kota Baru Municipal Council. Besides being located in the extremities of Peninsula Malaysia, they are under state governments controlled by different political parties. The service-governance paradox can be studied in two different political settings.

Q. What do you hope will be the impact or benefits of your research?

I hope the research will draw attention to the developing imbalance and compel more debate both within and without the government. Research evidence can ensure the debate is serious and not polemical. The more we juxtapose and show the paradox, the more difficult it is to deny the imbalance. Hopefully, with the present resolve to improve the governance quality after the historic 12^th national election, the study can be a further catalyst in this direction particularly at the local government level.

The social, economic and political crises that we face require government to act fast and firm. But with the decline in political legitimacy (low perceived governance quality), the government will be reluctant to move forward.

Q. You mention in your research proposal that the government has reformed its service delivery and efficiency but that there are still challenges at local authority level. Can you elaborate on this statement?

Local authorities have improved their services but the improvements have not been uniform. Local authorities have changed little in so far as governance quality is concerned. In fact, some would argue that it has declined!

The growing urbanisation will bring more Malaysians within the ambit of local authorities and yet local authorities are not “open” to their influence and involvement. With growing education, information and knowledge among the people especially n the urban areas, local authorities cannot continue with their arms-length approaches. These challenges are faced in many urban local authorities on an almost daily basis.

Q. Do you believe that elected local councillors will improve governance?

At present, local authorities (LA) are government with no direct accountability to the people who pay taxes. Their role in this level of government are limited and in many cases, rejected. Elected councillors will change this and make LAs more democratic and accountable to the local residents. LAs must learn to govern, not to rule the increasing urban and educated masses.