Mahathir’s ‘my way’ hobbled the civil service, says ex-official

[superadmin]

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia still has a good civil service, but corruption within the public sector has increased over the years, says retired top official.

Ramon Navaratnam disputed the view of former diplomat Dennis Ignatius that Dr Mahathir Mohamad caused a rot to set in after becoming prime minister in 1981. Navaratnam said Ignatius’s view was “exaggeration… hyperbole” but acknowledged that there is no hiding from many of the other claims Ignatius made in his book Paradise Lost: Mahathir & The End of Hope.

The three prime ministers before Mahathir – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Abdul Razak Hussein and Hussein Onn – knew how to work with the civil service and did not interfere but gave civil servants independence of thought and action, and space to carry out their work, Navaratnam said.

Mahathir did not share those qualities and was suspicious of civil servants and their loyalty towards him, adding that Mahathir “generally thought that he knew more than anyone”.

“Public support and respect for the civil service has declined, and so it just limped along… all because Mahathir wanted it his way,” Navaratnam said.

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