Official Opening Ceremony of the 35th Malaysia-Singapore Public Service Games and the 4th Joint Programme for Malaysia and Singapore Public Sector Leaders 2012

Bismillahir rahmanir rahim

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakaatuh

And a very good morning

His Excellency Mr. Peter Ong
Head of Civil Service, Singapore

Colleagues

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First and foremost, on behalf of my colleagues from the Malaysian delegation, allow me to express my utmost appreciation and gratitude to Mr. Peter Ong, and the Government of Singapore for the very warm hospitality extended to us, as always.

2. This year we are into the 35th Public Service Games and the 4th Joint Seminar for the Malaysian and Singaporean Public Sector Leaders.  I do hope that the interactions will allow personal friendships to grow.  And we must create more opportunities for our two countries to work together on projects that will benefit our Public Service and our respective nations.
Ladies and Gentlemen,

3. We in Malaysia are very happy with the current positive atmosphere and outlook for even closer relations with Singapore.  The win-win solution to what used to be a long-standing issue relating to the 1990 Points of Agreement on Malayan Railway Land in Singapore, in particular, has yielded a positive atmosphere in the relationship between our 2 countries.  It has also paved the way for new initiatives to augment cooperation across the Causeway.  In this context, Malaysia will continue to work closely with Singapore to generate more mutually beneficial collaborations.

4. There is strong optimism in Malaysia and Singapore that the relationship between our two countries will continue to grow from strength to strength towards closer partnership. The clear commitments demonstrated our 2 prime ministers; YAB Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Hj Abdul Razak and the Hon. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to strengthening this relationship further have been well-received.   Both countries have engaged in various mutually beneficial cooperation, particularly under the auspices of the Joint Ministerial Committee on Iskandar Malaysia (JMCIM).  This positive development has been complemented by the on-going efforts aimed at establishing an ASEAN Community by 2015.

5. During the recent Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat on 5 January 2012, the leaders of both countries agreed to expand the scope of JMCIM to include industrial cooperation as well as to look into new areas of cooperation namely education, telecommunications, airport and aviation services.

6. The Civil Service has also taken the cue from the aspirations of our leaders for Government agencies from both countries to continue to have regular interactions under various existing bilateral mechanisms, among others, in the fields of environment, education and agriculture. Besides these, the Armed Forces of both countries regularly conduct joint exercises while members of our Police Force have been working closely on matters related to crime.

7. Indeed, such cooperation is a manifestation of the significant role of the Civil Service of Malaysia and Singapore in assisting our respective Governments to not only bring socio-economic progress to our people but also in supporting the good bilateral relations between our two countries.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

8. In Malaysia, the Civil Service is tasked to be the driving force behind the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) in gearing our country towards a developed high-income nation by the year 2020. The Civil Service has put itself at the forefront and assumes a vital role in the implementation of these transformation programmes. We have tailored our services to the needs of this new landscape.

9. Under the GTP and ETP, we have achieved significant improvements in various sectors with respect to the National Key Result Areas (NKRA) and the National Key Economic Areas (NKEA). Some of these achievements include the recognition of Malaysia as the safest country in Southeast Asia and the 19th in the world in the Global Peace Index (GPI) Report for 2011. Besides that, Malaysia has also improved its ranking in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Report 2011, from 23rd to 18th spot and in the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Index 2011-2012, from 26th to 21st spot and we can work closer with Singapore to improve this.

10. The emerging complex challenges and opportunities point to the need for the public sector to better understand the environment that requires the civil service to be flexible and adaptable while maintaining its focus on the long term goals.  We must be sensitive to the changes in global trends and strive to ensure an efficient and effective delivery system that is able to meet the growing demands of our citizens.  We are more than ready to collaborate, cooperate and exchange views with our Singapore counterparts in sharing best practices to further enhance delivery of services.  And I am sure we can learn a lot from Singapore.

11. In this regard, the annual Public Service Games and the Joint Seminar Programme serve as a good platform for us to maintain and nurture the existing ties between our two countries.  This would certainly strengthen the synergy created by our two public services with the ultimate view of bringing the bilateral relations of our two countries to an even higher level.

On that note, I thank you.