4 Public Administration in Southeast Asia

the above patron-client and family-kinship relations did not develop in Hong Kong.2 Whatever personal network relations existed among the later rapidly increasing migrant Chinese population, this culture did not affect or threaten rule by the Hong Kong civil service over the colony until the early 1970s, when, as described below, it successfully adopted a range of to ensure the dominance of its “Weberian” principles. Hong Kong is very much an exception to the general pattern in this part of the world.

While network ties are an important feature, other norms are present, too, which often further support client-patron relations. In the Philippines, Reyes notes that such cultural values as “amor propio” (self-respect), “delicadeza” (propriety), “hiya (shame), “utang na loob” (debt of gratitude), and “pakikisama” (friendship or familial ties) affect bureaucratic behavior and the exercise of official functions. Superimposed on these values are such accepted norms of behavior as social acceptance, respect for authority/elders, and the influence of religion. These can result in the avoidance of disagreement and confrontation, thereby upholding close relations. As in Chinese culture, harmony and conflict avoidance reign high as accepted personal and interpersonal norms that also sustain close relations. “In spite of a hundred and fi fty years of British rule, to a large extent Hong Kong Chinese subscribe to a Confucian world view,”3 which promote these. The norms that support network and close personal relations are many and deep. The colonial legacy, discussed below, is an overlay on these traditional values, rather than vice versa.

Common bonds that promote trust and further cooperation and alliances exist in all cultures, whether they are based on client-patron or kinship relations, or as in the West, support among those with common educational experience (e.g., Ivy League schools) or business connections. Familiarity breeds trust, which is the basis of all relations. The challenge in all cultures is to ensure that such “special relationships” serve rightful and proper public purposes, and do not become foremost a means of exclusion and self-enrichment. In the West, for example, cozy lobbying relations have many negative features, while at the same time strong efforts are underway to use closer relations in the service of “collaborative governance.” The matter is one of balance, recognizing and restraining the darker side of human motives, while bringing forth the positive. The ties in Southeast Asia also provide for experiences of essential humanity and connectedness that few people would be willing to give up entirely and that are often seen as lacking in the West. In all countries, the task is to contain these darker manifestations of cultural patterns, and to shape fundamental human motives in the service of public purpose.

1.3 Colonial Legacies

Latin legacies are found in Macao (Portuguese) and the Philippines (Spanish), while Anglo legacies are found in Malaysia, Hong Kong (both British), and the Philippines (American). Authors note numerous consequences of their colonial legacies that continue to affect public administration today. In general, authors describe colonial administrations as seeking to extract value from their territories, while having little commitment to their development beyond what is needed

2Additionally, Burns notes that, “the readiness of civil servants to accept orders from their superiors is ‘largely attributable to conventional Chinese attitudes of respect for authority and avoidance of conflict.’” This may be a secondary factor that facilitates acceptance of these cultural norms.

3In Public Administration in East Asia, the impact of Confucian values is more deeply examined. A certain overlap exists, such as attending to the needs of one’s superior as an important, if not penultimate priority. However, few authors mention this in Southeast Asia, and in East Asia there is also the strong, expected reciprocation by superiors to show great consideration and understanding for a subordinate’s effort and circumstances.

©2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Public Administration in Southeast Asia: An Overview 5

to profit from them. Additionally, the Spanish conquest of the Philippines had the motive to propagate Christianity, and its American occupation in the early twentieth century also had the self-proclaimed objective to prepare it for independence. Regardless of these purposes, the colonial legacy often endures in the administrative cultures and practices that were established.

1.3.1 British Colonial Legacy

The British colonial legacy in Malaysia and Hong Kong continues to be evident in three ways:

(i) the molding of civil service culture that is based on merit; (ii) a reluctant but nonetheless certain provision of infrastructure (transportation, schools, sanitation); and (iii) population policies for economic advantage that have racial elements and which, in the case of Malaysia, lead to enduring racial tension and confl ict.

As regards the first aspect, the British legacy in civil culture is undoubtedly strong. In both Hong Kong and Malaysia, the white, British senior managers upheld high values of ethics and professionalism. Chin states: “many of the white officers who served in Malaya were highly experienced, some having served in British colonies in Africa and the Indian subcontinent. Some were recruited directly from British Universities. The Malay Administrative Service (MAS) were generally corrupt-free and there was a strong respect for administrative law.” The legacy or professionalism and merit continues at lower levels of the service where Manaf notes that “for some posts, applicants are required to sit for tests relevant to the skills and capacity required to perform the job effectively. Thus, the emphasis... is based on merit, rather than political considerations or nepotism.” However, as described further, political neutrality is no longer a feature at the higher echelons.

The culture of professionalism in Hong Kong’s administrative culture continues today. Burns states that today’s administrative values in Hong Kong include “hierarchical loyalty, efficiency, meritocracy, and political neutrality,” although the latter has recently begun to change at the higher levels. He notes that, “compliance is reinforced by strict adherence to bureaucratic rules and regulations and an incentive system that highly values promotion.” Efficiency, meritocracy, and timeliness continue to be strong features in these cultures. The strength of commitment to these values set them apart from the bureaucracies of other cultures in Asia.4 Such values may also be found in other former British colonies like Singapore and even the United States.5

Second, infrastructure investments were made. Chin states: “The MAS believed in developing the Malayan economy, thus schools (mostly manned by missionaries), hospitals, roads, airports and other infrastructure, were built. The belief was that a strong Malayan economy will contribute to the home country and the British Empire.” Likewise, Lee notes that for Hong Kong, “while the indigenous population numbered only in the thousands in 1841 before the British takeover, by 1911, the population had grown to over 450,000. Such a rapid increase in population naturally brought about demand for public services... and problems such as public sanitation required the

4Anecdotally, the Hong Kong and Malaysian authors in this volume were the fi rst to complete their chapters, by far!

5Professionalism and meritocracy, however, should not be confused with the absence of corruption. As Burns notes: “In Hong Kong until 1997 the civil service managed itself almost entirely on its own: it determined its own selection procedures, disciplinary codes, performance standards and pay levels and benefits – a civil servants’ dream one might suppose. For decades these arrangements were rubber-stamped by an appointed colonial legislature. The result was, at least initially, systemic corruption on a grand scale that existed until the public would tolerate it no longer and then compensation packages that have become among the highest in the world.”

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Public Administration in Southeast Asia: An Overview 7

colonies such as South Africa, India, and the Unites States, all of which continue to struggle with the politics of racial integration and healing today. The United States is no exception, where consequential forms of racial discrimination and profiling continue to affect social attitudes and economic practices. Singapore, another former British colony and not discussed here, also experienced racial riots and strong tensions in its early birth; racial tensions are minor today, but not negligible and some separation still exists. Indeed, race relations are also tense in Britain itself. How well countries address the racial challenge of the British legacy varies. Racial divides seem to be a British legacy in many of its former colonies.

1.3.2 Latin Legacy

Authors are clearly negative about the impact of Spanish and Portuguese legacies on administrative culture in, respectively, the Philippines and Macao. Reyes notes that the Philippines was a colony of Spain for over 300 years until a successful revolution in 1896, when it declared independence on June 12, 1898. During this time, the administrative system was built on the framework of serving private interests with the “practical objective of increasing the royal estate through tributes, monopolies, fees and fines.” Appointments were also made on the basis of sale of public offices. A functionary would thus consider his purchase of office as an investment that needed to be recouped as quickly as possible and at a profit; public office was seen as a business venture. These positions were reserved for Spanish nationals while the natives—the indios, as they were called— occupied the lowest rung in the administrative hierarchy, as headmen of the villages.

The administrative system that these practices spawned brought about two attitudes among the bureaucrats—outright indifference and lack of commitment to public office. They are succinctly expressed in the Spanish phrases, “no se haga novedad,” or do not commit or introduce any innovations on royal prescriptions, and “obedezco pero no cumplo,” or I obey but do not enforce or comply. The Spanish colonial period ended in 1898, but there is ample evidence that these attitudes of rent seeking and inefficiency became very deeply ingrained, and in the poverty of the post-war period, civil servants engaged in such widespread rent-seeking behavior, using public office to support their families and private interests in ways that involved corruption and incompetence.6 Even today, “such negative traits as refusal to initiate innovations (no se haga novedad) or weak or indecisive compliance of rules (obedezco pero no cumplo) continue to impair Philippine bureaucracy, though not as rampant as during the colonial era.” Of course, the culture of the modern Philippine civil service includes other elements, too, such as commitment to merit and fitness described below, but the Latin legacy endures.

Macao was governed by Portugal for over 400 years.7 Bolong writes, “In Macao Government, the public administration has been heavily influenced by its Portuguese administrative culture, which has its own merits of easiness and relaxation, but lacks discipline and formalization as

6As Reyes states, at the beginning of the Philippine Independence in 1946, “The system ill-equipped… and also inept, incompetent and corrupt, with the war time habits of complacency and indifference overpowering the

spirit of patriotic zeal.”

7The Portuguese tried to return sovereignty to the PRC. However, the Chinese government was apprehensive that the status of Hong Kong might be affected if she reincorporated Macao without resolving the Hong Kong problem with the British. Therefore, the PRC decided to resume sovereignty of Macao after resolution of the Hong Kong problem and allowed the Portuguese to continue to “administrate” Macao until 1999. It seems that the Spanish were not very concerned about losing the Philippines to the United States either in 1899. In both instances, the colonial, Latin masters had ceased considering their colonies as being a worthwhile investment or endeavor.

©2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC