They took the challenge in their stride and provided various ICT related services and shorter transaction time. This is especially visible in the payment mechanism.
MEPS, single windows and payment gateways are now fundamental in the government approach to provide transparent, efficient and innovative transactions as propagated in the e-government initiative.
What about the private sector? Shouldn’t it be subject to the same process?
Analysing the yearly competitive index by the World Economic Federation for The Global Information Technology Report 2010–11, we find the criteria that brought Malaysia’s ranking down yearly are readiness and usage components by the business sector.
Malaysia dropped from 27th spot to 28th. And in the Global Competitiveness Report, Malaysia dropped from 24 to 26. The public sector’s readiness and usage components attained much better ranking.
Let me quote some recent encounters with the private sector for a house purchase. From the lawyers in charge at both ends of the dealings to the insurers and the developers, it was a very disappointing and painstaking exercise.
Every step was ambiguous and costly, and timeframes were not clearly specified. The lawyers were merely doing administrative tasks, stamping and delivery, but the bill was astounding. And seeking a discount was out of the question.
Their focus was only on processes and procedures, a legal requirement, but not of convenience to the purchaser. The purchaser has to be alert to any hidden clauses as they only deal with standard clauses.
For the banks, they still remit money through bank drafts rather than online due to legal constraints. All this is time consuming and translates to more cost to the purchasers.
From years of experience and learning from the many consultants managing projects, I find they will first use management jargon. Then they introduce processes and procedures to inculcate rules and regulations. Something simple now becomes tedious and costly.
For the country to move forward and enjoy a better living environment, both the public and private sectors must work hand-in-hand to bring efficiency and convenience to the public.
This can indirectly bring about better international ranking, including an elevation in the competitive index of any global agency.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Gayah Gulam
Quelle/Source: The Malaysia Star, 04.05.2011
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