The Ministry of Economy in Putra Jaya will soon be vacant at the top with the resignation of Rafizi Ramli. With parts of the Ministry of Economy’s functions and responsibilities already moved across to the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economy is basically just a shell now, looking for responsibilities and functions to undertake.
This is perhaps the time for the Ministry of Economy to be modelled along the lines of the US Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, as its popularly known. The Ministry of Economy could become a very important one for the government focusing on reform.
The original objective of DOGE in the US, led by billionaire Elon Musk was to find savings of one trillion Dollars, off the government budget. Many within the Trump administration hope that DOGE will greatly exceed this figure and help weed out mass corruption, reducing US public debt. In Malaysia public debt now exceeds 65% of GDP and is still rising.
DOGE has proven itself to be a very effective tool to weed out corruption and reduce government debt. Other countries are considering making such a move in their own countries. Malaysia could be at the forefront in this innovation of public administration. DOGE can work in Malaysia.
The question is would Malaysia benefit from such a program? If so, what would the Malaysian members of DOGE find when they began examining government in Malaysia?
Civil Service
If DOGE employees walked into almost any government office, within 1.7 million person civil service after 8.00AM, they would find no one there. Many government employees would be out eating their breakfast.
The loss of productivity from people not on the job is staggering. People having breakfast, going out for coffee, picking up their kids, and doing errands, all during government working hours.
DOGE employees might happen to visit an office where there was a major announcement and launch. Hundred of millions of Ringgit are spent on such launches that preach to captive audiences of government employees. Most of it is just unnecessary ‘Syok Sendiri” wastage.
When DOGE employees start looking at government suppliers, things get interesting. Nerds like Elon Musk employs might find that many suppliers that provide goods and services, or consultancy to government are owned by proxies for employees or family members. Or, those government officers who select suppliers find payments in their accounts, or gifts that equate to a percentage of the contracts they give out to firms.
The MACC sometimes catch the small ‘ikan bilis’, to keep their figures high, but the DOGE teams might be able to catch big time operators.
Budget
The biggest scams come through the budgets. This is where the art of kleptocracy is at its best. Cronyism is a fine art in Malaysia. It takes years of planning and procedure to place crony projects through the budgetary system, so spending on such projects become a necessity. Plans will go to the Economic Planning Unit, which will need to be convinced a project is deserving of funding. Just proving projects are worthy is a scam in itself, where grants are given to ‘consultants’ of millions of Ringgit to prove the project is worthy of support. Once the documentation is ready, the project goes to budget, where money is allocated, and the contractor in mind, wins the tender and gets the money. Most of these projects after buildings have been built and the money spent become ‘white elephants’.
This is how the elite kleptocrats get richer in Malaysia, while the taxpayers get poorer. There is a massive redistribution of national wealth going on here. Basically, the modus operandi of budgets is that the government borrows money so the rich get richer and the people pay for the debt created through taxes and inflation. It all looks good because GDP goes up, covered by debt on the other side of the ledger.
Every year government debt repayments just keep on getting larger.
It doesn’t take a DOGE expert to see these types of projects.
The GLCs
At last DOGE gets to the government linked companies (GLCs). There are so many of them and only a handful are profitable, if even solvent. Every GLC has its own story, and corruption won’t be too far away.
Perhaps DOGE just closes those which are making losses immediately. Then they can go and investigate the outrageous salaries, allowances, benefits, and luxurious overseas trips senior managers and directors receive.
If DOGE points a ‘meritocracy’ meter at GLC boards, they might think that their equipment is damaged, because the needle wont move. All these fat cats are blessed by public monies, paid for by the people.
Religious bureaucracy
The religious bureaucracy is a great place to waste money with all sorts of ‘divinity led’ KPIs. Divinity, piousness, and devotion costs money in Malaysia. There must be billions for DOGE to find here.
Bumiputera handouts
Bumiputera handouts to Malaysian are what USAID was to the United States. Most of it a scam to enrichen the elites, who are already rich. House discounts to the rich, education scholarships to children of the elite, grants to elite businesses, and through in the occasional monopoly, uncompetitive contract, and concession. DOGE will have a field day. All these benefits are given out to the rich, while those in need cannot benefit from them.
DOGE was formed by a real disruptor. Someone who wants to change the United States for the betterments of the people. One day Malaysia, may be lucky enough to have such a person. Malaysia would benefit from its own DOGE.
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The current PM was elected in the hope that he was a disruptor. Sadly, this is now a crushing disappointment. You are right, the Malaysian government, not just the current administration, is constructed as a major criminal enterprise. It would take a DOGE team to set things right, or at least get things moving in the right direction. As we all know this idea would be laughably dismissed by the government and anyone making such a suggestion would be arrested or disappeared.