Talk on Public Administration System

Abdul Qadir delivering his talk

The Institute of Management and Leadership Development (IMLD) and the Centre for Economic Studies (CES) co-organised a talk titled “Public Administration System in Malaysia” on 27 June 2018 at Kampar Campus.

The invited speaker for the talk was Penang State Health Department Chief of Finance Section Abdul Qadir Siddiq. The speaker is also the Principal Assistant Director for Service Division of the Public Service Department (JPA) and is the State Director for Penang State Immigration Department. Also present at the talk were IMLD Director Prof Dr Cheng Ming Yu, Faculty of Business and Finance Dean Dr Au Yong Hui Nee, CES Chairperson Dr Foo Chuan Chew, postgraduate students from the Guangxi University for Nationalities (GUN) and participants.

With the aim to equip participants with the fundamental knowledge, structures and functions of public administration in Malaysia, the speaker gave an overview of the “Parliamentary Democracy versus Constitutional Monarchy”, “Doctrine of Separation of Power” and “Overview of Governmental Structure”.

He first explained the history of Malaysia Public Administration and the transformation of the administration from the time the Malay Rulers were ruling over the Malay Kingdoms, to being under the British Residential System and finally when Malaya gained its independence.

He went on to explain the three branches of government, which were Executive, Legislative and Judiciary. He explained that the Executive consists of the Cabinet, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and other Ministers, while the Legislative consists of the Parliament, Senate (Dewan Negara), the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat) and the members of the parliament. He also explained that the judiciary will look into matters relating to the courts and judges. Participants also learnt about the role of Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, as stated in Article 32, 3, 39, and 41.

Abdul Qadir also provided insights on the functions of the House of Representatives, which functions to propose legislation through draft known as a “bill”. He explained the bills must be passed by both the Senate and House of Representatives, before it is sent to the King for royal assent. For the Senate, he explained that it is the upper house of the Parliament of Malaysia and functions to review legislation that has been passed by the House of Representatives. According to the speaker, if the Senate rejects the bill, it can only delay the bill passage by a maximum of a year before it is sent to the King. The speaker also had the opportunity to introduce the 2018 Cabinet of Malaysia.

Participants also benefited from the talk when postgraduate students from GUN provided an overview of the public administration system in China, which also led to an interactive Q&A session. The talk ended with a souvenir presentation to Abdul Qadir by Dr Au Yong. 

 Front row, from left: Dr Foo, Prof Cheng, Abdul Qadir, Dr Au Yong and staff with the participants 

Dr Au Yong (centre) presenting a token of appreciation to Abdul Qadir (right) while Dr Foo looks on