Bureaucracies are designed to perform public business. But as soon as a bureaucracy is established, it develops an autonomous spiritual life and comes to regard the public as its enemy.
– Bruce Atkinson, American theatre critic
Bureaucracy is the death of any achievement, so said Albert Einstein. I couldn’t agree more with the theoretical physicist, widely touted as one of the greatest scientists of all time.
I am not sure in what context Einstein was talking about red tape but he would have felt government’s delayed action destroyed every kind of industry. He would have been clearly exasperated when he made that statement. I googled up and came up with this: “In Russia, they say, it is impossible to get a decent piece of bread. … Perhaps I am over-pessimistic concerning state and other forms of communal enterprise, but I expect little good from them. Bureaucracy is the death of all sound work. I have seen and experienced too many dreadful warnings.”
The term ‘bureaucracy’ apparently first emerged in the 18th century but this government administrative procedure and compliance to rules and regulations to get things done existed since ancient times and is now alive and well as it keeps evolving everywhere, and Malaysia is no exception – sadly, in Sarawak too.
Recently, several journalists urged the authorities to remove excessive bureaucracy, especially in obtaining information on government policies and programmes.
The Kuching Division Journalists’ Association claimed red tape was often the excuse to avoid giving crucial information on government policies or programmes, making it hard for journalists to disseminate news promptly and accurately.
I recall one incident in the 1980s when I was a reporter. My editor asked me to work on a piece regarding the entry of illegals from a neighbouring country. I wrote to the Immigration Department in Sibu where I was based to seek confirmation about an information which I had obtained; an officer had earlier insisted that I should write in officially.
I didn’t waste any time and personally sent the letter to the Immigration office. But even after five days, no information was forthcoming and I had no choice but to barge into the office when my numerous landline calls went unanswered.
When no one was prepared to explain the failure to respond to my request, I demanded to see the officer in charge but was told my request had to go through “several channels”. No one could provide a name! Aaah! These faceless bureaucrats! Felt like … .
Nevertheless, I went ahead with my story and it was printed. The poor editor was called up two days later and he had a lot of explanation to do. I was glad he backed me up.
Red tape is not confined to government-private sector communication in this country; bureaucracy exists at government to government level too.
For example, Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg lamented that in the past, federal projects earmarked for Sarawak couldn’t be implemented because of bureaucracy.
“The moment the projects were approved, it was usually around the end of the year, hence, it couldn’t be
implemented. That is why we need a new mechanism to allow the locals to implement certain projects,” he said.
Following Abang Johari’s negotiations with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during the formation of the unity government, the federal government decided to cut red tape for development projects below RM50 million by giving Sarawak the authority to implement these projects without having to wait for greenlight from Putrajaya.
At least something is moving under the Anwar Administration, unlike in the past when things were bogged down by unnecessary red tape.
Several prime ministers have come and gone but their pledges to remove or reduce bureaucratic practices in the civil service have gone unfulfilled.
In 2021 the then prime minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, promised to restructure the civil service to reduce bureaucracy so that there will be a clear distinction between power and responsibilities of civil servants and the political administration. He even pledged to establish a national data framework on administration policies to encourage public-private sector data sharing. But it’s just hot air.
During his second stint as prime minister from 2018 to 2020, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad failed to make any inroads in removing bureaucracy in the government administration though during his first stint as prime minister from 1981 to 2003 he managed to introduced several measures to reduce red tape and improve efficiency, like forcing civil servants to clock in to work.
In January this year, the late domestic trade and cost of living minister Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub pledged to remove red tape for local and international companies to do business smoothly by shortening bureaucratic protocol in approving applications.
“We will reduce bureaucracy issues so that those seeking to open a business are comfortable and this will lead to better economic growth.”
Hopefully, the new minister taking over from Salahuddin will continue his predecessor’s policies.
In the meantime, Sarawak in its ambitious effort to make the state’s civil service a world-class entity, should seriously look into removing or reducing bureaucracy in several of its departments and agencies. I know it’s mean to say it but for the state civil service to be efficient, the dinosaurs and deadwood have to go! Otherwise the ‘world-class’ vision will remain a pipe dream.
Sometimes I wonder why there are so much bureaucracy in the first place.
There is a lot to be done by the Anwar Administration to reduce if not remove bureaucratic procedures and policies in our country.
First and foremost it needs to reduce the size of the 1.6 million-strong civil service. Perhaps the bloated civil service is hindering its smooth administration. Trimming the government service will cut down red tape since there will be fewer civil servants to go through for speedy approvals who otherwise can delay the process because of the several levels of approval.
Then there will be less corruption of course; unnecessary red tape is a major cause of corruption. The more red tape, the more the corrupt giver has to pay to untie the red tape. Less bureaucracy enables the private sector to be less squeezed. It will allow the business sector more space to compete better.
But does the government have the political will – and courage – to change policies to cut red tape?
Another baffling issue is the fact that the right hand does not know what the left is doing. Yes, it is more important that policies and regulations from the ministry to department and agency levels have clarity and consistency.
The last thing the rakyat want to see is the ministries giving the approval but the Little Napoleons in the departments not giving the green light for reasons best known to themselves.
To end, I am sharing here the difference between ‘red tape’ and ‘bureaucracy’ as explained by a netizen on Quora website which had me in stitches.
“Red tape is when you are required to jump through hoops, fill out forms in triplicate, get them notarised, send fee – oh, but you need a remittance form, which you can order by phone and receive in eight to 15 days, and be sure to send the three copies of the form separately from the remittance. The form can be found online at My Account, you do have a My Account set up, don’t you? Oh, well first you need to apply . . . that sort of thing.
“Bureaucracy is when you request information, and 90 days later they send a message that it will be delayed, and two years later you finally get an answer on a question that is now obsolete.”
“Red tape results from bureaucracy. However, to someone trying to wind their way through the mess created by too much of either the results are still frustrating.”
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
