Malaysia Stands Good Chance Of Winning CAPAM Presidency

By Norshazlina Nor'azman KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's solid track record in managing an efficient public service administration is likely to work in its favour in its bid to secure the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM) presidency this year. The election is set to be held during the CAPAM general members meeting and board of directors meeting Saturday, on the eve of the CAPAM biennial conference, to be held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre from Oct 19 to 21. The current CAPAM president is Malta's Permanent Secretary, European Affairs, Paul Zahra, while Chief Secretary to the Government Dr Ali Hamsa holds the post of vice-president. Malaysia is one of the founders of CAPAM and it was, in fact, former Chief Secretary to the Government, Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid, who had mooted the formation of such an association. Ahmad Sarji had also served as CAPAM's first vice-president in 1994 when the association was formed, before being elected as its second president two years later. VOTING PROCESS On the election process, Dr Salmah Ishak, who is attached to CAPAM 2014's main secretariat, said voting will be carried out by the association's members. She said 561 of CAPAM's members are from Malaysia and they will participate in the voting Saturday. She could not, however, state how many members from the other Commonwealth nations would be involved in the voting. "Only voters who had registered themselves before July 17 are eligible to vote," she told Bernama Friday, adding that CAPAM has two types of membership, individual and institutional. When asked who the contenders for the CAPAM presidency are besides Dr Ali, Salmah said she did not have any information on this. "Usually it is CAPAM's Board of Directors which decides on who should contest for the post... this was the process at the CAPAM conference in New Delhi, India, in 2012," she added. MALAYSIA A ROLE MODEL Ali appears to have a good chance of being nominated and elected as CAPAM president, as its executive director and chief executive officer Gay Hamilton had applauded Malaysia's public service administration as a good example for other Commonwealth countries to replicate. She said Malaysia's integrated and continuous reform process has shown positive improvements over the decades. Hamilton said Malaysia's progress over the years has certainly put the country in the forefront of very interesting public service changes. On the areas in which Malaysia has excelled that can be emulated by other Commonwealth members, Hamilton specifically pointed out to the single point of contact centre or 1Malaysia One Call Centre (1MOCC), as an "impressive model". The 1MOCC was launched under the 1Malaysia programme and designed by Prime Minister Najib Razak. It is no secret that Malaysia is eyeing the top CAPAM post as Ali himself had told a press conference recently that the nation is keen to share with others its transformation success as well as its best practices in the civil service. He said a number of Commonwealth countries are looking up to Malaysia as they are impressed with its capability in the field of government management. He said they have also expressed an interest in studying some of Malaysia's public administration and management models. "Malaysia is advanced in some areas, such as the fast and efficient process for renewing passports. It takes about an hour to renew a passport here while it takes about two weeks in other countries," he said. VAST EXPERIENCE Ali, 59, who was appointed Chief Secretary to the Government in June 2012, joined the civil service in 1981 and has served in various capacities before being appointed Director-General of the Public Private Partnership Unit in the Prime Minister's Department in April 2009. Ali is also Chair of the Malaysian Integrity Institute, co-Chair of the Special Taskforce to Facilitate Business (PEMUDAH) and Deputy Chairman of Johor Corporation. He also spearheads the National Blue Ocean Strategy initiatives, a multi-ministry and multi-agency collaborative effort in line with the national transformation agenda. CAPAM 2014 is being organised in collaboration with the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU) and Commonwealth Secretariat. Themed "Public Service Transformation: A New Conversation", CAPAM 2014 is expected to be opened by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Sunday. -- BERNAMA