Public Administration and Personnel: In the Case of Cambodia

Sothearith Im, Ohio University

Introduction

Public administration and public personnel are the key factors contributing to the success of all government affairs. It is not clear if a public administration system plays a more important role than the public personnel in making the government perform successfully and whether the development of human capital or the establishment of a workable government system should be prioritized. In a controversial debate, some argue that a good system makes people work effectively and efficiently, whereas a bad system spoils the public personnel and gives people in the established system an opportunity to commit unethical practices such as corruption and other types of briberies. By contrast, some said the system is established by people; therefore, development of human capital should be prioritized.

In reality, public administration and public personnel are interdependent like the chicken and egg debate. Both the administrative system and public personnel development should be prioritized and improved step by step. In a broader sense, an administrative system can be compared to a road, public personnel or bureaucrats to a driver, and a country to a vehicle. How fast the vehicle can reach its destination depends on how skillful the driver drives, and how good the road is. Although the vehicle is brand new, if it is driven by an unskillful driver on a road that is in bad condition, the brand new vehicle can be wrecked and broken and might not reach its destination as fast as expected. Likewise, the country can be fast developed if it is rich in skilled and well-trained bureaucrats, who work in an established workable system of government. For instance, Japan, which has been facing a lot of natural disasters and has no significant natural resources, has become one of the world’s leading industrialized countries. This is due to the fact that it is rich in capable and competent human capital and administrative efficiency and productivity for national economic development.

In this sense, Cambodia, a small country considerably rich in natural resources and a favorable geographical location with no noticeable natural disaster, has been facing political and economic crises. The crises are undoubtedly caused by a three-decade civil war. The civil war, in fact, did not severely ruin Cambodia’s natural resources, but it ruined its public infrastructure, administrative system and crippled its human capital. Cambodia’s natural resources such as forests, fishes, and germ mines, etc. were severely destroyed by the corrupt system and mismanagement of the current government. Because of the unfeasibility and inefficiency of the established administrative system and the lack of human capital, Cambodia must pay special attention to reforming its public administration and improving its public personnel skills so that it can cope with the current trends of economic development. This paper, therefore, aims to illustrate the importance of administrative reform and how administrative systems and public personnel are interdependent and help drive the Cambodian vehicle to its destination successfully in a timely manner.

Why administrative reform?

According to United Nations (1983), public administrative reforms are defined as "specially designed efforts to induce fundamental changes in public administration system through system-wide reforms or through measures for the improvement of one or more of its key elements, such as administrative structures, personnel and processes" (as cited in Liou 1999, p. 9). In general, if the established administrative system worked very well to respond to the national economic development and meet citizens' needs, the reform would not be put into place. The purpose of administrative reform is, in general, to improve efficiency and effectiveness of bureaucratic performance, public accountability, policy responsiveness, anticorruption measures, and to make bureaucracy more responsive to citizens’ needs and aspirations. Furthermore, according to Caiden (1991), the aim of administrative reform is to improve governmental performance and the administrative system through the advancement of technology, management, administrative innovations, and on-going enhancement of administrative capabilities. The administrative reforms not only provide the necessary infrastructure, systems and attitudes required to implement national development program successfully, but also creates an atmosphere that promotes quality and productivity (Siddiquee, 2002). Similarly, Razin (2004) points out that the objectives for reform usually refer to any one or more of "(1) efficiency and effectiveness in the provision of services and infrastructure; (2) rational and sustainable land use and economic development; (3) local democracy and citizen participation; (4) social justice; and (5) good governance” (p. 624). Being aware of the importance of administration reform, every country in the Southeast Asian Region has reformed its administrative system to realize a free-market economy development (Haque, 2004).

In Cambodia in particular, public administration is often accused of corruption, inefficiency, lack of accountability, and nepotism. To avoid this accusation, the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) acknowledges the importance of the administrative reform in improving its unworkable administrative system. Therefore, in August 2004, the RGC stressed in the draft National Program for Administrative Reform that a competent and transparent public administration is able to provide high quality services to Cambodia people (Gardner, 2004, p.1). In order to reform successfully, nature of problems should be identified so that right, feasible solutions can be reached.

Nature of the Problems

In Cambodia, the administrative system has been crippled by the rapid change of the economic system. After the 1993-UN sponsored general election, democracy and a new system of free-market economy were put into place in Cambodia, where the established administrative system and working culture of public personnel were still purely socialist. Cambodia immediately changed its economic system from a command economy, in which competition with state enterprises was not allowed, to a free-market economy, which is full of competition. The immediate change resulted in the chaotic and unworkable system of the current government. This is due to the fact that the whole government system including rules of laws, law enforcement, administrative system, and its public personnel were not ready and incapable of coping with this rapid change. That is why the system continuously generates uncountable problems. The followings are the major problems having been faced by Cambodia.

The Cambodian public sector is excessive. In this term of government, there are over 200 appointed politicians working as governors, deputy governors, mayors and deputy majors in 24 provinces and municipalities (Everyday News, 2005). This expansion has been strongly criticized by opposition parties, NGOs, and civil societies. There are many bureaucrats who have nothing to do because either they are unqualified or they don’t want to do anything due to inadequate salary. Because of inadequate salary, some bureaucrats have a few jobs in the government so that they can have more money. Many people show up only on paid days. Recently, in order to solve the political conflict on power sharing, the RGC has increased the number of ministries, agencies, and positions for political appointees from parties in the coalition government. This makes the public sector even bigger. Therefore, Cambodian public administration reform is urgently needed.

Corruption in the Cambodian public sector is one of the most well-known issues nationally and internationally. According to Liou, (1999a), during the economic transition and development process, the most common problem is generally the issue of bureaucratic unethical and corruptive behaviors. Likewise, most Cambodian public bureaucrats from the street level to the elite level possess corruptive behaviors. The system of government makes bureaucrats become opportunists because this loose, chaotic system provides the bureaucrats who are working in the system with opportunities to corrupt without being punished; instead, they live happy lives on the corrupt money. Therefore, this is an obstacle for administrative reform because these bureaucrats and politicians might not be willing to reform or change the system which benefits them.

Low salaries and no anticorruption laws are major causes of corruption in the Cambodian public sector. According to Im (2005), corruption can be minimized if bureaucrats have adequate salaries, and if strict measures on corruption are taken. Although Cambodia is known as one of the most corrupt nations on earth, and although Prime Minister Hun Sen recently has announced a war against corruption, no corrupt individual has yet been brought to justice. Furthermore, corrupt system encourages distrust among bureaucrats as well as among the whole population and investors. They are always doubtful that those people who implement a certain program will have opportunity to have extra benefits. Nowadays, corruption becomes culture in the Cambodian society. For instance, the most common series of questions Cambodians in the countryside ask their guests are “What is your job?”, “How much is your monthly salary?”, and “Can you earn extra?” The last question refers to corrupt earnings.

In addition, Cambodian public administration is inefficient in delivering public goods and responding to the needs of its citizens. This is due to the fact that most important bureaucrats strongly attach themselves to a political party and tend to follow party lines instead of serving the interest of the people (Im, 2005). Furthermore, according to Jamil (2002), in most developing countries, bureaucrats often consider people as ‘subjects’ who are expected to show obedient behavior to administrators. This attitude pattern is also common amongst Cambodian bureaucrats. The purchase of positions has been also common at senior levels, which clearly shows that bureaucrats who would hold the costly positions intended, through various unethical commitments, to get back the money they had spent.

Most Cambodian bureaucrats and appointed politicians either possess inadequate educational background, or are assigned to hold positions which do not fit their specialization. Most job allocations are done based on degree of political loyalty, seniority or contributions to a political party, but not on skills, specialization, or pre-work experience. Therefore, lack of professionalism within the Cambodian public sector is another major problem. In addition, due to an inadequate salary offered by the RGC, many skilled, capable bureaucrats have been attracted by jobs and offers at NGOs or international organizations.

Government Responses to the Problems

Significant conditions for successful economic development and reform, to mention a few, are "socio-political stability, a flexible, pragmatic, and longitudinal approach, the integration of government and market, and institutional development" (Liou, 1999a, p. 6). The RGC has also realized these significant conditions. The efforts of the RGC should be acknowledged because the RGC has been committed to reforming its system step by step. For instance, at the National Conference on Administration Reforms at Intercontinental Hotel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on August 25, 2004, Hun Sen assured his audience, including donor organizations and countries, that Cambodia has no choice but to move forward with all reforms, and only “a strong commitment to follow the paths of in-depth and broader reforms will help transforming Cambodia into a nation with peace, stability, progress, prosperity, and a country with freely and openly development, well integrated into regional and world communities”. (Hun Sen, 2004, p. 1). He also emphasizes that the current RGC is the government of employment, equity and efficiency. These points show that the RGC is ready for the reform.

The RGC’s efforts to reform its public administration are crucial in implementing its rectangular strategy[1]. The RGC’s strategic approach has been centered on three building blocks: rationalizing civil service structure and the number of employees, strengthening civil service management, and increasing civil service salaries. The RGC seems to realize the problems and address the solutions to the problem addressed in the previous section. For instance, according to Hun Sen (2002), to improve administrative efficiency and effectiveness, the RGC has been implementing an extensive village and commune-based program of decentralization and deconcentration. A National Committee to Support Communes has also been established to carry out the Law on Commune Administration and decentralization policies. According to Gardner (2004), the Commune Administration Law in early 2001 and election of Commune Councils in 2002 not only helps bring people closer to decisions that affect their lives, but also enables locally elected officials to be accountable to people that they serve. This is one of the great successes of the RGC. Furthermore, with the financial support from the World Bank, the RGC has also succeeded in demobilizing and downsizing significant numbers of its overwhelming inactive soldiers. According to Mathews (2005), as a post-conflict country, Cambodia has done very well to its society. In terms of bureaucratic freedom of expression, Cambodia is better than some countries in the region. In this sense, in the latest Index of Economic Freedom published by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal, Cambodia was termed “mostly free” and ranked 63 out of more than 155 countries, which is higher than Thailand in the same category at 71, while Vietnam at 137 was "mostly unfree" and Laos at 150 was "repressed" (Mathews, 2005, p.1). Therefore, these efforts of the RGC should be acknowledgeable.

Recommendation

In general, in order to involve the government in the market economy and to cope with the change of economic development, public and private institutions should be restructured accordingly. The needs for the reduction of bureaucratic corruption, social inequalities, and political influence during the development and transition process are very obvious; and promotion of professional efficiency and ethical values and norms is also crucial (Liou, 1999a). According to the RGC’s rectangular strategy, the RGC also considers these factors crucial for reforming its administrative system. However, the RGC has not yet proved if it is able to fulfill them.

Furthermore, like other Eastern European countries, it is acknowledged that the chaotic system of the RGC was caused by the rapid change in economic development, and Cambodia was not ready for this change. Liou (1999b) compared the reformed experience between China and the former socialist countries, especially Easter European countries, by pointing out that the success of Chinese administrative reform is owing to the gradual reform approach and stable environment. This successful approach should be taken into consideration and set as an example for Cambodian administration reforms.

Although the RGC has fulfilled some of its promises, such as military demobilization and decentralization, there are many other things left unfulfilled. Rectangular strategy proposed by the RGC sounds very good, but it does not guarantee if it can be implemented successfully. Because the RGC has faced many problems, the RGC is obliged to fulfill many tasks to improve the existing chaotic system of its administration, but the following factors might be feasible solutions, in short as well as long-term, to the major problems identified in the previous section.

Because the current Cambodian administration is too big, the government should downsize its public sector. Downsizing the public sector is crucial to reduce the government expenses on unnecessary public employees and to improve capability of the government in delivering public goods to its citizens. According to Ku (1994), Japan was very successful in its administration reform by focusing on downsizing and streamlining government in order to promote administrative efficiency and productivity for national economic development, and at the same time Japanese government promotes the private sector which helps generate employment. Because of the successful downsizing of the public sector, Japanese government is considered the smallest amongst industrialized nations. Japanese government has reduced its bureaucracy by 270,000 by limiting the number of established Secretariats and Bureaus to 128 since 1989 (Moon and Ingraham, 1998, p. 86). Likewise, President Chun of South Korea also successfully downsized the Korean public sector by cutting the total number of staff and positions of his government in 1981 by 46,489 (p. 89). Therefore, if Cambodia can integrate its ministries and downsize its public personnel as well as appointed politicians, Cambodia will be able to save those unnecessary expenses. With the money saved from downsizing the public sector, public personnel’s salary can be raised, quality of service can be improved and corruption can be minimized.

In addition, corruption can be minimized if the public servants possess ethical values. It is obvious that every individual government employee plays an important role in promoting the government’s reputation because a government is made up of all levels of employees, who are also known as, according to Kakabadse, et al. 2003, servants of government, servants of the law, and servants of the public. On Saturday, October 30, 2004 for the first time as Cambodia's new monarch, King Norodom Sihamoni addressed his nation pledging to be a "faithful servant" of the people and promising that “a king is not the master of the country or of the people, [but] a king is a servant of the motherland and the people…. To all the beloved people, through all my life, I will be a faithful servant to all the people, I will always be with the people to share the happiness and suffering” (As cited in CNN News, 2004). Through this message, the King acts as a role model for an ethical and honest public figure and trustworthy individual.

Furthermore, Feldheim and Wang (2004) point out that a primary strategy in creating ethical institutions is through moral leadership. Haggard and Webb (1993); Rondinelli and Montgomer (1990); and Summers and Thomas (1993), also emphasize that in order to assure the success of economic development, an efficient and ethical administrative system is needed to develop and implement development policies and programs; reforming the public sector to overcome unethical and inefficient bureaucratic dysfunctions and problems is also indispensable (As cited in Liou, 1999a). Oftentimes, it is necessary for government institutions to establish ethical standards for its employees. In the United Sates, according to Mitchell (1999), the U.S. Office of Government Ethics issued booklets in August 1992 to its federal employees. The booklets contain principles and rules of ethical conduct for government employees. The ethics dilemma in public service has been addressed by the guidelines, which is an attempt by the U.S. government to regulate the ethical conduct of its employees. Because bureaucrats are drivers of the nations, the ethical bureaucrats make an honest government, which can serve its citizens efficiently and effectively. Therefore, if all bureaucrats possess ethical values, corruption can be minimized and administrative system can be efficient.

In the same context, an example can be drawn from the success of Malaysian administrative reform. In the 1980s, Malaysia introduced several innovative programs such as “punch clock system, name tag, code of ethics in the public service, clean, efficient and trustworthy concept, manual office procedure, desk file, quality control circles and productivity measurement program and leadership by example" (Siddiquee, 2002, p. 109), to instill positive work ethics among public personnel and alter system management and behavioral patterns. Through this program, Malaysia has been self-sufficient and moved itself forward to be one of the industrialized nations in Asia. Therefore, Cambodia needs to reform its administrative system because the current system has generated unethical and corrupt bureaucrats, and these bureaucrats in return worsen the system. If the RGC does not hurry to fix this unworkable system on time, the system as well as unethical bureaucrats, who generated by the system, will naturally spoil and worsen the whole society. According to Ma (1999), administrative reform not only helps produce men of efficiency, but also helps accomplish more to produce men of ethics in order to establish an honest government.

Premier Lien Chan of Taiwan in 1995 launched an Administrative Renovation Program which had a number of elements: a drive against corruption and a program to instill a new public service ethic; staff reduction and administrative rationalization; financial management improvements and expenditure restraint; and service delivery improvements in relations with citizens (Cheung, 2002). Likewise, the rectangular strategy of the RGC is also important to move Cambodia forward to a self-sufficient nation if it is successfully implemented. Therefore, the RGC’s efforts and commitment in implementing its reform policy should be highly encouraged.

Another factor that significantly contributes to the administrative efficiency is professionalism. In Malaysia, professionalism is a key aim, including attempts to inculcate a stronger ethic of public service through the 1979 “Excellence in Civil Service” program (Painter, 2004). Max Weber proposed an “ideal type” of bureaucracy in order to achieve administrative efficiency. The components of his “ideal type” of bureaucracy are specialization of labor, impersonal rules, and employment and promotion based on merit. Based on this principle, China has implemented its administrative reform successfully. According to Ma (1999), one of the first steps the Chinese government made was staffing the public administrative apparatus with technically competent professionals rather than politically loyal cadres. Young cadres with better education were promoted to replace the old, revolutionary cadres who possess inadequate education and who were persuaded to retire. As a result, a new generation of bureaucratic technocrats began to take over public offices. According to Moon and Ingraham (1998), China has established education institutes within various levels of the government and has promoted courses on administrative science. The course introduces the western model of public administration and management skills, including performance-based management, reward systems, and merit-based management. Furthermore, the Chinese government also hired experts from the west and spent some thousands of dollars to send their potential public officials abroad, especially to the U.S. to expose and learn administrative skills. This is a very good example for the RGC to follow. It is acknowledged that Cambodia has established the Royal School of Administration for its current and perspective government officials, but the recruitment process is seen not to be transparent and the course curriculum is not practical. Most students admitted to this school are already strongly attached to political parties, which undoubtedly they will serve political interests rather than the interests of the people.

Furthermore, bureaucrats should not be influenced by politics, which is usually the case in Cambodia. A clear policy should be established. China has established clear goals and directions for its future administration. The directions are to establish objective administrative processes, to clarify the activities of professional administrators, to strengthen the legal mechanism in public administration, and to gradually separate public administration from the Party (Moon and Ingraham, 1998). Like those in other former socialist countries, Cambodian bureaucrats are strongly attached to politics, which creates administrative inefficiency, inequality, and unaccountability. As above mentioned, even China, one of the world’s oldest socialist countries, acknowledges the importance of separation of bureaucracy and politics and has been trying to separate its public administration from political party. China, a socialist country, was able to do this, so it would seem that Cambodia, a democratic country, could do it as well. In fact, Cambodia has already been trying to do it through decentralization. According to Moon and Ingraham (1998), decentralization is likely to be a core part of current administration reform efforts. The decentralization engenders expansion of local autonomy by “dividing roles between central and local governments, delegating administrative authority to local governments, strengthening the financial independence of local governments, establishing an independent local administrative system and establishing legal settings for local autonomy” (Moon and Ingraham, 1998, p. 87). However, most of Cambodian bureaucrats either at street levels or higher levels are strongly influenced by political parties. This needs to be improved.

Conclusion

The commitment, motivation, and capability of public personnel are crucial for the public service delivery and fulfilling responsibilities and successfully implementing development plans (Siddiquee, 2002). Without a workable system, the skilled, committed public personnel cannot deliver public service efficiently. In return, without ethical, skilled, committed bureaucrats, the administrative system cannot function properly. It is obvious that the administrative system and public personnel plays a very important role in driving a country to its preferable destination. In the case of Cambodia, the RGC has been trying very hard to improve its system, but the RGC’s efforts do not seem to pay and do not generate any significant result. The reason might be because no senior officer in the current government has a clean hand or is corruption-free to reform this system. In general, as the Cambodian saying goes if we are not clean, we cannot change others, because if we point a finger at somebody, three fingers point back at us. So, we might be three times as bad. Therefore, since current Cambodian politicians and senior bureaucrats are not clean or corruption-free, they might not be able to reform the chaotic system successfully. In order to reform this chaotic system successfully, Cambodia needs clean, knowledgeable outsider bureaucrats, who are not in the established chaotic system, with support from those old, revolutionary folks, who were already in the established chaotic system. Without support from those folks, the new, clean outsider bureaucrats will not be able to do anything and will be rejected by the system.

Changing this situation is a long-term proposition and time consuming. The step by step approach, which has already been implemented successfully in China, will work, and although it might take a human generation to successfully reform the Cambodian administrative system, waiting any longer is not a good idea. Of course, Cambodia, which has been crippled by its three-decade civil war, can be compared to a person who has just recovered from a serious illness, who cannot walk straight without support from others, but Cambodian people should be optimistic about this reform and development. The recent reaction of the RGC against corrupt individuals in the judiciary sector is a good sign for the system reform. It shows that the government’s top leaders, who have been suspected to be deeply involved in corruption, are willing to fight against corruption and willing to make the society change. If the government keeps this intention and tradition, the hope for the reform success is on the way, and the change can be made in the near future.

Endnote

[1]Rectangular strategy is an integrated structure of interlocking rectangles established by the Royal Government of Cambodia for reforming its administration reform. The core of the rectangular strategy is good governance, focused at four reform areas: (1) anti-corruption, (2) legal and judicial reform, (3) public administration, and (4) reform of the armed forces. For more information visit http://www.car.gov.kh/hunsen/rectangular%20strategy.htm

References

Caiden, Gerald E (1991). Administrative Reform Comes of Age. New York: Walter de Gruyter.

Cheung, Anthony B. L. (2002). Government Reinvention in Taiwan: Administrative Modernisation and Regime Transition. In Anthony Cheung and Ian Scott (eds). Governance and Public Sector Reform in Asia, p. 90-116. London: Curzon.

CNN World (2004, October 31). Cambodia's King 'Faithful Servant'. Retried November 16, 2004, from http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/10/29/cambodia.newking.ap/

Everyday News. (2005, March 01). [The Number of Appointed Officers in Provinces and Municipalities Increases]. Retrieved March 12, 2005 from http://www.everyday.com.kh

Feldheim, Marry Ann., & Wang, Xiaohu. (2004). Ethic and Public Trust: Results from a National Survey. Public Integrity, 6 (1), p. 63-75.

Gardner, Gouglas (2004, September 10). Public Administration and Decentralisation Reforms: Remarks on behalf of the Donor Community by UNDP Resident Representative & UN coordinator at Pre-CG Meeting in Phnom Penh.

Hague, Shamsul M. (2004). Reforming Public Administration in Southeast Asia: Trends and Impacts. Public Organization Review: A Global Journal, 4, p. 361-371.

Hun, Sen. (2002, June 20). Opening Address at the Cambodia Consultative Group Meeting in Phnom Penh.

Hun, Sen. (2004, August 25). National Strategic Development Plan 2006-2010. Council for Administrative Reform. Retrieved March 13, 2005 from http://www.car.gov.kh/hunsen/administrative%20reform%20aug%2025%202004.htm

Im, Sothearith. (2005, February 21). Administrative Ethics and Public Trust: The Case of Cambodian Public Administration. Kohsantepheap Daily Online. Retrieved March 12, 2005 from

http://www.kohsantepheapdaily.com.kh/society/sothearith21_02.htm

Jamil, Ishtiaq. (2002). Administrative Culture in Bangladesh: Tensions between Tradition and Modernity. International Review of Sociology–Revue Internationale de Sociologie, 12(1), p. 93-125.

Kakabadse, Andrew, Korac-Kakabadse, Nada, and Kouzmin, Alexander. (2003). Ethics, Values and Behaviours: Comparison of Three Case Studies Examining the Paucity of Leadership in Government. Public Administration, 81(3), 477-508.

Ku, T. (1994). The Implications of Small Services to National Economic Development: A Case Study of the Japanese Government. In Burns, J. (ed.) Asian Civil Service Systems: Improving Efficiency and Productivity. p. 129–151. Singapore: Times Academic Press.

Liou, Kutsai Tom. (1998). Policy and Managerial Issues in National and Local Economic Development. In Kuotsai Tom Liou (ed.) Handbook of Economic Development. p. 1-20. New York: Marcel Dekker.

Liou, Kuotsai Tom. (1999a). Administrative Reform and Economic Development: Concepts, Issues, and the National Experience. Policy Studies Review, 16(2), p. 1-18.

Liou, Kuotsai Tom. (1999b). Strategies and Lessons of China's Post-Mao Economic Development. Policy Studies Review, 16(1), p. 183-208.

Ma, Stephen K. (1999, Summer). Man of Efficiency and Man of Ethics: Can China’s Administrative Reform Produce Both for Her Economic Development?. Policy Studies Review, 16(2), p. 133-146.

Mathews Verghese (2005, March 17). Cambodian political road show. Asian Times Online. Retrieved March 17, 2005 from http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/GC17Ae02.html

Mitchell, Charles E. (1999). Violating the Public Trust: The Ethical and Moral Obligations of Government Officials. Public Personnel Management, 28 (1), p. 27-38.

Moon, Myung-Jae, and Ingraham, Patricia (1998). Shaping Administrative Reform and Governance: An Examination of the Political Nexus Triads in Three Asian Countries. Governance: An International Journal of Policy and Administration, 11(1), p. 77-100.

Painter, Martin (2004). The Politics of Administrative Reform in East and Southeast Asia: From Gridlock to Continuous Self-Improvement? Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions, 17 (3), p. 361-386.

Razin, Eran. (2004). Needs and Impediments for Local Government Reform: Lessons from Israel. Journal of Urban Affairs, 26(5), p. 623-640.

Siddiquee, Noore Alam. (2002, June). Administrative Reform in Malaysia: Recent Trends and Developments. Asian Journal of Political Science, 10(1), p. 105-130.