Is Malaysia’s Bodek Culture Unique?

Murray Hunter of Euroasiareview argued cogently (7 September 2021) about Malaysia’s bodek culture. He viewed the heart of the problem as the practice of excessive servility to gain favour from superiors – bodek.

Former Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi, identified it and tried to fix it. He and Najib tried to overcome the problem through the Government Transformation Programme.

According to Murray, bodekship is the greatest single organisational dysfunction within Malaysia’s civil service. It compromises quality and integrity of management along with protection against corruption. He cites five reasons against the bodeking culture:

(i)      Cover for corruption

Loyal employees under the patronage of superiors usually follow directions. This enables tenders to be manipulated, purchasing procedures skilfully by-passed, and using budget allocations at the leader’s prerogative without accountability.

(ii)     Misinformation

Government reports, presentations and proposals are prepared and written to put issues in a most positive light. Most reports and presentations focus on providing glossy projections to hide reality. Statistics are routinely skewed, with the national poverty rate grossly under-estimated by bureaucrats for many years to make the government look good at eradicating poverty. 

(iii)     Wastage of time and resources

Too much time and too many resources are put into creating events, program launches, and openings to glorify and please superiors. These events take teams a long time to plan for no other reason than pleasing a senior civil servant. Premises rental, equipment hiring, food catering, printing, and buying special uniforms all drain public money. 

iv)     Destroying productivity and creativity

The energy and emotion put into continually placating superiors is draining. The cultural norm that officers won’t contradict their superiors, and the difficulty in putting up new ideas when superiors already have an agenda, suppresses the diversity of ideas within the civil service. The culture of silence is embedded in students at schools, where they are deterred from asking questions. 

(v)      Destroying the notion of teambuilding

Such practices destroy morale and motivation within many departments and agencies within the civil service. Placating superiors leads to internal stress which manifests in ulcers, stomach complaints, and even cancers. This is an area that has been gravely neglected in research and treatment. 

 

So, is Murray correct? No, it is not a unique phenomenon to Malaysia or its civil service. I am not advocating it. But it is practised in GLCs, PLCs and SMEs, depending on its culture and leader. It is also practised in the U.S., U.K., China, Japan, India or Indonesia. It is prevalent in many cultures and societies that have feudal- hierarchical features.

Former President Trump loved bodeking. In fact, anyone not able to do so in the Republican Party will feel his wrath or displeasure. The same in China, Japan or India.

It is a phenomenon we all need to move away from if creativity, integrity, transparency and accountability are to be valued. The effort is huge, and it starts with the leader – be it the PM or President.

So, laying blame on the Malaysian civil service alone is not a fair proposition – we are all part of the problem. Perhaps Mr. Murray needs to view a re-run of ‘Yes Minister’ to fully appreciate how bodeking can be an art!

We, nevertheless, need to set higher standards for our politicians, civil servants and corporate leaders if we are to progress with maruah.

Source: https://myeidos.com

Reference:

Malaysia’s Bodek Culture: Ailment Compromises Integrity of Public Administration – Analysis, Murray Hunter, September 7, 2021(https://www.eurasiareview.com)