Decentralisation or Recentralisation? Trends in local government in Malaysia

Local government in Malaysia occupies the third and lowest level after federal and state governments. Under the Malaysian federal constitution (paragraphs 4 and 5 of the Ninth Schedule), local government is the responsibility of the states, but the federal government also exercises considerable power and influence over local government, especially in peninsular Malaysia. The dynamic of the Malaysian federal system is such that it has shifted the balance of power to the centre.Local government accounts for only 1% of GDP. There are 144 local authorities divided into cities (major administrative and commercial centres), municipalities (other urban areas), and districts (chiefly rural areas). Executive powers rest with the Mayor (cities) or President, supported and/or overseen by a system of committees. Currently, local councils in Malaysia are not elected: councillors are appointed by the state government for 3-year terms (with the option of re-appointment) and in most cases come from the ruling coalition

Local government in a transforming society : formal harmony, informal discord

"An inaugural lecture delivered at the University of Malaya on 15 September 2006"

Transforming central-local government relations and decentralization: A study on China and selected ASEAN nations

Transformation and reforms in central administration are often influenced by external and domestic factors such as economic growth, human resources, foreign trade and natural assets.Central government needs to adjust to changing circumstances which necessitates assessing its relationship with its sub-national governments. Decentralization becomes a pivotal issue as central governments re-look at the dynamics of their relationship with state and local governments.This study on several ASEAN nations indicates that political centralization is strong as central governments tend to control their sub-national governments. The consolation for these sub-national governments however, is when a nation has economic wealth and increasing growth; then central-local government relations will be enhanced and administrative decentralization is possible

Power shift and administrative reforms - governments in transition.

It is evident that administrative reforms are undertaken by many countries in the world today and in fact, administrative change appears to be a constant factor in regimes that desire to reform their social, political and economic systems. Normally, reform initiatives are regarded as necessary for organizations that want to adapt to the changing environment and to be able to expand and cope with increasing activities and global challenges. Nevertheless, strategies for reform initiatives will differ between sectors and also between nations as each country tries to handle reform in accordance with the country?s administrative traditions, political and cultural nuances and level of economic development. The process of reform may involve a particular sector or administration of the government or an entire level of the government such as the local government. The main characteristic of administrative reform is normally projected in attempts to decentralize powers and autonomy to lower levels of government. It connotes importance that such transition of powers is supposedly significant to the unification and development of a nation. This is especially so, as some studies have shown, where the shift of power to local government has created a series of hierarchically ordered units of administration at some of the lowest levels of government. The implication is a movement of power from the centre and may determine the scope of decentralization, nonetheless it involves a transition process that ultimately may change the characteristics of power structure of the different levels of government

Education and Research via the Open University Malaysia (OUM) – An Opportunity for Local Government

In this era, the provision of education and dissemination of research-based knowledge need not be restricted to conventional methods such as classroom settings and face-to-face interactions. Advancements in communications via improved technologies enable people from all over the world to seek knowledge to support their needs, conduct global research via teleconferencing, and study at their own pace wherever they are and according to their level of ability. Naturally governments, too, are aware of this flexibility to increase their effectiveness and improve the capacity of their staff

Education and Research via the Open University Malaysia : An Opportunity for Local Government

In this era, the provision of education and dissemination of research-based knowledge need not be restricted to conventional methods such as classroom settings and face-to-face interactions. Advancements in communications via improved technologies enable people from all over the world to seek knowledge to support their needs, conduct global research via teleconferencing, and study at their own pace wherever they are and according to their level of ability. Naturally governments, too, are aware of this flexibility to increase their effectiveness and improve the capacity of their staff. In this context, local government can move towards a more knowledge-intensive and professional entity that can deliver its services more efficiently to the public through open and distance learning. This is especially so for local government in Malaysia where the employees of local authorities may be located in various parts of the country and training via open and distance learning means increased access and flexibility in a combination of work and education without the hassle of having to attend training at a fixed locality. Generally, the Malaysian public is aware of the need for a better quality of life and this has impacted on the services provided by local authorities, which have to be developed and upgraded according to their target groups. Hence local government has to ensure that its workforce is given the support to enhance the quality and relevance of people's skills. However, using only conventional and existing educational structures may limit the effectiveness and increase the cost of training local government staff. Meanwhile, the Malaysian government is supporting the use of relevant technology to promote innovation and cooperation between departments to upgrade public facilities and services, exchange information, and enhance the skills of employees

Patient Satisfaction as an Indicator of Service Quality in Malaysian Public Hospitals

The main aim of the paper is to provide an empirical analysis on patient satisfaction as n indicator of service quality in Malaysian public hospitals. Self‐administered questionnaires ere administered to patients by convenience sampling. Two sets of questionnaires were ed, one for inpatient and another one set for outpatient. Selection of hospitals was made cording to states in Peninsular Malaysia. 23 hospitals covering all state level hospitals, the ational Referral Centre and selected district hospitals were chosen as respondent hospitals. wo dimensions of service quality emerged, namely clinical and physical dimension of rvice. Both outpatient and inpatient were found to be more satisfied with clinical di- ension of service than physical dimension. For outpatient satisfaction, there was positive orrelation between waiting time and patient satisfaction. Patient satisfaction was also found be higher in the smaller district hospitals than in the larger state hospitals. For clinical mension of service, patients were satisfied with the services of doctors and nurses, while r physical dimension of service, patients were satisfied with the cleanliness of the cilities. The ability of the research to be conducted by random sampling was inhibited by e reluctance of patients to cooperate, which led to the use of convenience sampling. udies have also shown that patients are reluctant to express their feelings on services pro- ded by their caregivers. The study provides primary data for a nationwide study on patient tisfaction in Malaysian public hospitals, for both inpatient and outpatient. (Authors' abstract

The Role of Political Elites in the Development of New Villages in Malaysia

Political elites comprise a small group that has power and influence over the “others” in society. Basically, political elites play an important role in the decision-making process of the community. New Villages in Malaysia are influenced by political elites who are the representatives of the village community.These political elites are members of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), a coalition party of the ruling political party.MCA's political elite play an important role in safeguarding the welfare and affairs of the New Village residents.New Villages refer to a Chinese New Village which is a re-settlement site set up during the Communist emergency period of British rule in Malaysia in the mid-1950s.The role of the MCA's political elite has helped to create the New Village Master Plan 2005 which serves as a guide and reference to the Federal Government and the State Government in the development of New Villages.However, limited provisions and unclear policies have resulted in New Villages facing a multitude of problems and have frustrated development in New Villages especially in tandem with the requirements of national development. The residents of New Villages are neglected, and many are experiencing social and economic problems. The paper evaluates these problems with reference to the role of local leaders and development objectives for New Villages in the context of national goals

Questionnaire design and data analysis: An alternative approach in student evaluation of teaching (SET)

Student evaluation of teaching (SET) has been widely used in institutions of learning to assess teaching effectiveness. However, most of the SET questionnaires are designed by “experts” without taking students’ view into consideration. Besides that, the traditional approach in SET analysis is to obtain a global rating as a measurement of teaching effectiveness based on the average or mean scores of the items of SET. This paper identifies the weaknesses of the traditional approach in SET questionnaire development and data analysis. It then describes an alternative approach to SET items development which involved students- collaboration. The paper also describes the establishment of various scoring matrices for the measurement of overall teaching effectiveness as well as teaching effectiveness from three different domains, namely: knowledge, pedagogical skills and attitud