As 2013 prepares to draw its curtains, many of us will feel the need to reflect on the days that have passed us by. We conjure images in our minds of what we have done, life events that we were a part of, what made us happy or sad, and more often that not, we ponder on what we have achieved and who we have become.
Last month, I celebrated another passing year of my life. And I feel really thankful to be where I am today. Despite the challenges (that my mom tells me "only makes life all that more exciting!"), I'm still pursuing my interest and curiosity in this field, experiencing the best that all my worlds have to offer, and getting this feeling that I am not the exact same person who I used to be.
Last month, I celebrated another passing year of my life. And I feel really thankful to be where I am today. Despite the challenges (that my mom tells me "only makes life all that more exciting!"), I'm still pursuing my interest and curiosity in this field, experiencing the best that all my worlds have to offer, and getting this feeling that I am not the exact same person who I used to be.
When I think back to
who I was a year ago and consider who I am now, I realise that somehow I have changed. And it is a reality
that I accept with open arms because they say that change can be a good thing.
The world as we see it is also undergoing change, and it is happening at a rapid pace. As Arjen
E.J. Wals and Peter Blaze Corcoran (2012) describes, “We live in turbulent
times, our world is changing at accelerating speed. Information is everywhere,
but wisdom appears in short supply when trying to address key inter-related
challenges of our time such as; runaway climate change, the loss of
biodiversity, the depletion of natural resources, the on-going homogenization
of culture, and rising inequity”.
From my learning, I have picked up on the reoccurring notion
that to survive in the long run, to be sustainable, and to achieve progress we
must learn to adapt ourselves to new environments that bring new challenges.
Failure to do so could lead to the deterioration of our livelihood and
ultimately, the death of us.
Thinking along these lines, I have noticed the critical and
increasingly frequent use of the synonymous words “change”, “transformation”,
and “revolution”. Along with their derivatives, these words have been found in
many of the concepts and slogans we see in popular use today, which may
indicate a growing realization of their importance in the growth and
development process. More often than not, they are accompanied by the word
“action” that functions to turn the dream into the reality.
Sustainable development is also a concept that highlights
the urgent need for change in working together to achieve the right balance
between social progress, economic growth and environmental protection. It is
stated in the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development
Report, Our Common Future (1987):
“Attempts to maintain social and ecological stability
through old approaches to development and environment protection will increase
instability. Security must be sought through change.”
These changes would be required not only of political and
legal institutional frameworks, but even more crucially a change in mindsets,
behaviors, and attitudes. To achieve sustainability, we would need a change in
culture and models of governance.
The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, for example, is a framework that was created to encourage behaviour change in consumers in order to help establish and nurture more sustainable lifestyles. According to Unilever, the Five Levers for Change are as follows:
- Make it understood. Do people know about the behaviour? Do they believe it’s relevant to them? This lever raises awareness and encourages acceptance.
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| Source: www.csrwire.com |
- Make it easy. Do people know what to do and feel confident doing it? Can they see it fitting into their lives? This lever establishes convenience and confidence.
- Make it desirable. Will doing this new behaviour fit with their actual or aspirational self-image? Does it fit with how they relate to others or want to? This lever is about ‘self and society’ because humans are social animals.
- Make it rewarding. Do people know when they’re doing the behaviour ‘right’? Do they get some sort of reward for doing it? This lever demonstrates the proof and payoff.
- Make it a habit. Once people have made a change, what can we do to help them keep doing it? This lever is about reinforcing and reminding.
Malaysia: A Nation in Transition and Transformation
In efforts to realize its goal of becoming a high-income,
developed nation that is sustainable and inclusive, Malaysia is a country that
has undergone social, economic, and environmental changes throughout its
history. And much like the world as stated above, it has done so at
accelerating speed. Vision 2020 outlines Malaysia’s dream of the near future:
“By the year 2020, Malaysia can be a united nation, with
a confident Malaysian society, infused by strong moral and ethical values,
living in a society that is democratic, liberal and tolerant, caring,
economically just and equitable, progressive and prosperous, and in full
possession of an economy that is competitive, dynamic, robust and resilient” (Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, 1991).
However, at the time when Vision 2020 was conceived, the
dimensions of the challenges that Malaysia faced was different and many aspects
of it has changed as the country experienced the effects of globalization,
climate change, demographic transformation, and changes in socio-political
scenarios, among others.
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| Source: nitc.mosti.gov.my |
In response to the pressing needs and demands of the people,
the Government implemented a “Government Transformation Programme” known as the
GTP. Under the Prime Minister’s Department, the Performance Management and Delivery Unit or PEMANDU – a Malay word for
“driver”, describes it as:
“an ambitious, broad-based programme of change to fundamentally
transform the Government into an efficient and rakyat-centred institution”.
The GTP began its second phase in 2013 (as GTP 2.0), which PEMANDU explains:
"aims
to further deepen and enhance the transformative initiatives initiated in the
first phase. GTP 2.0 expands and enhances GTP 1.0 initiatives that have proven
to be effective, and introduces new initiatives that further expand the nexus
of change".
Accompanying the GTP is the Economic Transformation Programme or ETP, along with other similar transformation programmes in the pipeline. With every
year that passes, the Government reviews the progress of the programmes and
introduces necessary changes that are in line with the changing needs of the
rakyat.
At the core of the Malaysian Government is its Public
Service and civil servants. They are the Government’s planners, enforcers and
enablers – tasked with facilitating the evolving national agenda and advising
political leaders in formulating and implementing public policies. The Public
Sector in Malaysia forms an integral part of the Government’s transformation
agenda. Today, its most important responsibility is to introduce and
effectively implement programmes and policies that are in line with the Government’s
strategic plan of action, which seeks to transform the country.
Under the GTP, for example, part of its strategic plan
involves identifying and addressing National Key Result Areas (NKRAs).
According to PEMANDU, the NKRAs “were not deemed priority areas arbitrarily,
but the result of various surveys, opinion polls and dialogues conducted with
the rakyat. Each NKRA is led by a Cabinet Minister who is ultimately
responsible to the Prime Minister for the successes and shortfalls of the
NKRA's key performance indicator”.
Other than taking action on public issues highlighted
through the NKRAs, such as reducing crime, fighting corruption, and improving
student outcomes, the Malaysian Government also appears to be making changes in
the way it communicates with citizens. The internet, and more recently social
media, has especially been utilized to connect the Government directly to its
stakeholders.
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| Source: www.mstar.com.my |
Tan Sri Dr. Ali Hamsa, Chief Secretary to the Government of
Malaysia noted:
“The Malaysian government has adapted well to
the Internet and social media age, as all ministries. A majority of government
agencies at all levels of government, namely federal agencies, state agencies
and the local authorities have either Facebook, Twitter or blog accounts linked
to their websites and portals. As of June 2013, there are a total of 755 agency
Facebook and Twitter accounts, and this is envisaged to increase in the near
future.”
He also pointed out how the Government may benefit from
participating in online social media through engaging and collaborating with
the rakyat: “social networks can be utilised as a platform to reach out to
the people and to engage with them. This can be done by adapting government
procedures and communication strategies to embrace the use of social media
networks to collaborate and elicit their support and feedback with regard to
our plans, policies and programmes. By this, we can aspire to be more
transparent in our decision-making and formulation of policies”. (Investvine.com, 2013)
Change Relentlessly
In its attempt to help the Government change and transform
Malaysia in the course of the country’s development, the Public Service is also
taking steps to change and transform itself. According to the New Straits Times
(2013), Tan Sri Mohamad Zabidi Zainal, Director-General of Malaysia’s Public
Service Department, explained:
"We are transforming the civil service to boost
efficiency and serve the public. Public expectations are different today as
they demand better service from us”.
(Read the first edition of JPA Transform here - articles are in Malay and English)
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| Source: news.asiaone.com |
The transformation of its Public Service is inevitable if
Malaysia is seeking to effectively deliver quality services to the rakyat.
Change or transformation in this regard is essential in building the people’s
trust in public institutions, fostering better communication, collaboration,
and consistency among and between Ministries, divisions, and departments, overcoming
the challenges in attracting talent to the Government, producing “crème de la
crème” crops of civil servants, and reforming the Government as a whole to become
one that is more resilient in changing times.
“We must put the rakyat’s needs at hand, and must transform
and equip ourselves with the necessary skills, knowledge and expertise to keep
up with the changing times. If not, we will become irrelevant and not be in
tune with the ever-increasing and changing expectations and demands of society,
and the world at large”, says Tan Sri Dr. Ali Hamsa.
This process of change would of course require time,
commitment, determination, and a whole lot of cooperation. But as Bob Marley
put it, “if you don’t start somewhere, you’re gonna go nowhere”.
Be a Hummingbird
While I think that institutional change could be enforced by
authorities through laws and policy reforms, the desire and willingness to
change has to ultimately come from within each and every one of us i.e. the
citizens.
Last week, one of the most influential and greatest leaders
in human history, Nelson Mandela, passed away. He inspired many through his
brave actions and eloquent words of wisdom. He once said, “Everyone can rise
above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate
about what they do”.
I am reminded of a moment that took place over lunchtime at
Imperial College. A friend and colleague of mine said something along these
lines: “A country is the way it is because its people want it or allow it to be
that way”.
My first reaction was to think of how unfair it was to simplify the reason for a country’s fate, without considering other factors
such as economic forces, colonial history, social inequalities, climate change,
and many others that one could come up with and analyse without end. I was
about to contest his statement, but instead I stopped myself and began to think. It’s
true that there so are many injustices in this world and in many cases, people
don’t feel that they are free enough, strong enough, rich enough, smart enough
or capable enough to determine the fate of their nation.
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| Source: www.shifthappens.com |
However, we often forget that the change can start from within us too. Changes that may seem small but are significant in essence can already begin in one’s own heart and mind, then in the household,
then in the neighbourhood, then the larger community, the city, the state, the
country, the region, the world, and who knows where else beyond that.
At the end of this month, we will be ushering in another new
year that will bring with it new obstacles and new possibilities. And I’m
pretty sure that we will be seeing a new series of changes as well.
If successful, efforts
to transform in Malaysia may lead to improved citizen livelihoods and
sustainable progress of the nation. But change for the better needs to start
somewhere, whether in public, private, or third sectors, or simply in
individuals like you and I. As Rumi,
one of my favorite poets, reminds us:
“You are not just a drop in the ocean. You are the mighty ocean in the drop”.
“You are not just a drop in the ocean. You are the mighty ocean in the drop”.
I share with you below a small and inspiring tale that tells us how we can contribute to making a difference in the world, no matter how small, powerless, or insignificant we may feel. This is a story of the little hummingbird as told by Wangari Maathai (RIP), who founded the Green Belt Movement:
We are constantly being bombarded by problems that
we face and sometimes we can get completely overwhelmed. The story of
the hummingbird is about this HUGE forest being consumed by a fire.
All the
animals in the forest come out and they are transfixed as they watch the fire
burning. They feel very overwhelmed and powerless. Except for this little
hummingbird.
It says: “I’m going to do something about the fire!” So it flies
to the nearest stream, takes a drop of water, he puts it on the fire and goes
up and down, up and down, up and down, as fast as it can!
In the meantime all
the other animals, much bigger animals like the elephant with a big trunk who
could bring much more water, they are standing there helpless and they are
saying to the hummingbird:
“What do you think you can do? You are too little!
This fire is too big! Your wings are too little and your beak is so small, you
can only bring a small drop of water at the time.”
But, as they continued to
discourage him, he danced without wasting any time, and tells them: “I am doing
the best I can.”
And that, to me, is what all of us should do. We should
always feel like a hummingbird. I may feel insignificant, but I certainly don’t
want to be like the animals watching as the planet goes down the drain. I will
be a hummingbird. I will do the best I can.
