Another piece that may be worth reading to understand what is happening:
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| Deep state means different things to different people but one cannot underestimate its potency |
Whether in Malaysia or elsewhere, the concept of the 'deep state' is a frequent topic of discussion. While definitions vary, for the sake of this article, I define it simply: civil servants acting incongruently with their ministers. This explains why the uninformed are often left wondering why ministers say one thing, yet we observe actions that completely contradict their words.
When Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took over the reins of government from his toxic predecessor in 2003, the same venom spewed out against Pak Lah against the fifth prime minister was attempting to topple Pak Lah, despite his big mandate won in the 2003 general election.
To most Malaysians, the support for Barisan Nasional returned but Mahathir’s loyalists did everything they could to topple Abdullah Badawi. This had been the same modus operandi used against Tunku Abdul Rahman Petra Al-Haj aka Bapa Malaysia.
Abdullah Badawi had won big after he took over the premiership from Mahathir. Coming from Camp B of Umno, his approaches to reform and openness were several notches above Mahathir’s, but his civil service modernization was, however, shortlived. History records how his grand political ambitions were repeatedly thwarted, dragged down, and ultimately sabotaged by an entrenched, indifferent bureaucracy—he called them the notorious “Little Napoleons.”
Fast forward to today, and history is repeating itself under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s Kerajaan Madani. Despite high-profile policy shifts, political announcements, and promises of systemic reform, ordinary citizens continue to run headfirst into the brick wall of administrative resistance. The political leadership changes, but the administrative culture remains stubbornly static, undermining reform efforts from within.
Several glaring examples illustrate how civil servants continue to operate on their own terms, seemingly insulated from executive directives and public accountability:
1. Arbitrary Gatekeeping at JPN: The Case of Encik Chan
When Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail explicitly clarified that simple, conversational spoken Malay would be sufficient for citizenship language assessments, it was welcomed as a pragmatic and humane directive. Yet, civil servants on the ground continued to act as rogue gatekeepers.
A stark case in point involves a 70-year-old senior citizen, Encik Chan, who has spent his entire life living and contributing to Malaysia’s economy. During his citizenship application process, National Registration Department (JPN) officers completely ignored the Minister’s guidelines, saying that the directives never reached them. Instead, they subjected the elderly man to an outrageous demand: writing a 3-page essay in Malay and identifying the present Yang di-Pertuan Agong—an absurd hurdle designed to intimidate and fail him. How can someone who has called Malaysia home for seven decades still be denied naturalisation due to the whimsical cruelty of frontline officers? (Read more about this frustrating account at Come to Senses).
2. Bureaucratic Bottlenecks in Subsidy Redistribution
Policy intentions at the top mean nothing if the treasury mechanics stall at the bottom. When Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Fuziah Salleh brought the urgent issue of target-group fuel subsidies to the attention of the Ministry of Finance (MOF) on behalf of Kasih Segamat and several other charitable organisations, it should have been expedited.
Instead, these welfare-oriented entities—which serve vulnerable communities overlooked by policy planners—have been trapped in bureaucratic limbo. Subsidy applications remain frozen at the Treasury (Perbendaharaan) level for over a year.
While ministers preach efficiency and targeted assistance, bureaucratic paralysis prevents funds from reaching the very charities keeping underprivileged Malaysians afloat.
3. Local Council Stonewalling: The MPS Streetlight Saga
Nowhere is this administrative indifference felt more acutely by this writer than at the local council level. When citizens bring pressingly urgent complaints to local authorities—problems that directly impact safety and daily living—they are routinely met with a wall of excuses. Rather than solving problems, officers often do the exact opposite of what is proposed.
Consider a recent incident involving the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS). When I personally raised a request to repair a hazardous streetlight that was already tilted backwards, the MPS Director of Engineering nonchalantly claimed it would take “four weeks” to fix. It was only after being firmly reprimanded and reminded that the Mayor of Petaling Jaya (MBPJ) gave an immediate "zero-delay" standard response for similar public hazards that the timeline changed.
This reveals a troubling reality: standard operating procedures are often treated as arbitrary tools to delay work rather than benchmarks for public service.
This is another well-known example where road repairs are done half-heartedly, where a section of road may be patched but the adjacent stretch remained in its original condition when it could have been done in one go.
No difference when you compare to the way Kuala Lumpur City Hall attended to the complaints about potholes here. Half the road is repaired; the other half is left unattended.
The Urgent Need for Administrative Accountability
Under Pak Lah, the failure to rein in bureaucratic lethargy led to widespread public disillusionment and political stagnation.
Today, the Madani government faces the exact same trap. Political leaders can announce all the progressive policies they want, but if civil servants are allowed to ignore ministerial directives, stall welfare approvals, and stonewall local council complaints, it is the government of the day that bears the blame.
If the Madani administration wishes to avoid Pak Lah’s fate, it must move beyond political rhetoric and implement real, enforceable civil service accountability. Intervention and disciplinary actions are necessary, and both the Chief Secretary to the Federal Government and the Director-General of Public Services Department have to step up their vigilance to protect the civil service from further decline.
The "Little Napoleons" must be held answerable to the people they are hired to serve—before the rakyat lose faith entirely in the administration. Civil servants are supposed to be apolitical to serve the government of the day. The country’s progress cannot be stalled by people who may appear friendly to ministers but doing just the opposite when dealing with the ordinary citizens. Read this.
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