The Malaysian Insight

THE Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry appears to be one of the ministries affected by poor working relationship between the minister and senior civil servants as until last Friday, it has not had a single post-cabinet briefing in 2019 for officials.

A source told The Malaysian Insight that it is the usual practice for ministries to hold post-cabinet meetings weekly but this has not happened in the Tourism Ministry since late last year.

A ministry source said this had more to do with the poor working relationship between Minister Mohammadin Ketapi and senior officials, despite speculation of a “deep state” within the civil service.

Mohammadin did chair post-cabinet meetings last year but The Malaysian Insight learnt he was not able to work with former secretary-general, Isham Ishak, who was transferred to the ministry in January.

Last month, Isham was transferred to the Transport Ministry.

With Isham gone, Mohammadin chaired the ministry’s first post-cabinet meeting for the year on November29.

The Malaysian Insight is still trying to get comments from Mohammadin.

In this ministry’s case, the source said no rules were broken by not holding regular post-cabinet meetings.

“There is no express provision that a ministry must hold a post-cabinet briefing (for its ministry officials) after the cabinet meeting,” the source said.

It does, however, show the inability of some first-time ministers to get a handle on working with civil servants even after more than a year of being in government.

The Malaysian Insight previously reported different views on a “deep state” within the civil service and alleged sabotage by those still loyal to the previous administration.

While some ministers have blamed the deep state for scuttling a few of Putrajaya’s plans, it is not clear if there is an organised body acting in concert to frustrate Pakatan Harapan, or if it is individual civil servants who have not adapted to new, and in most cases, inexperienced ministers.

The cabinet is understood to have discussed concerns about the deep state, while moves to address it have been made with the transfer of several secretaries-general and senior officials.

Isham was on the transfer list along with a few other top officials from other ministries.

The source said it’s not uncommon for secretaries-general to make decisions on their own without referring to a minister.

There are numerous “little things” that do not need a minister’s permission and on which the secretary-general can decide, including the implementation of some programmes.

“It has been the practice that as long as the departments and agencies under the ministry operate smoothly, having a post-cabinet meeting or not, is not so important,” said the source.

The official added that tourism statistics for Malaysia have been positive, with arrivals and spending on the increase in general, and could be even better if not for the transboundary smoke this year.

Recently, Mohammadin found himself in the dark over some tourism events, such as an exhibition of Egyptian pharaoh artefacts to be held in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2020.

Initially, he said he had no clue over such plans, and later clarified that the government had approved it after all. – December 6, 2019.