Civil Service in Malaysia

The civil service in Malaysia is pivotal around Article 132 of the Constitution of Malaysia which stipulates that the public service shall consists of the Federal and State General Public Service, the Joint Public Services, the Education Service, the Judiciary and the Legal Service and the Armed Forces.

For all intents and purpose, Statutory Bodies and the Local Authorities are also considered as parts of the Public Service. This is because both these autonomous bodies resemble the Public Service in many respects since they adopt the procedures of the Public Service pertaining to appointments, terms and conditions of service and the remuneration system. Besides that, their officers and staff also receive pension and other retirement benefits similar to the employees in the Public Service.

However, with the implementation of the separation concept under the New Remuneration System which became effective on 1 January 1993, several public sector agencies were given the freedom to institute their own policies and procedures. These agencies, whose activities were akin to that of businesses and were in good financial stead, were allowed to determine their own policies and procedures pertaining to appointments, terms and conditions of service.

The current civil service was created in the 1950s but trace its lineage to the 1700s:

After Malaysia's independence in 1957, the current service was created.

Public agencies are agencies in the Public Service at the Federal, State and the Local Government levels. Federal agencies consist of Ministries, Federal Departments and Federal Statutory Bodies. Each ministry is headed by a Minister and assisted by deputy minister(s) and the chief executive officer that is known as the Secretary General. The Prime Minister's Department is also a ministry. Typically there will be a number of departments and possibly one or more statutory bodies as well under a ministry. Head of departments are given the title Director General.

Head of statutory bodies are called chairman while the chief executive officer who is a civil servant is called the General Manager. There are statutory bodies headed by the executive chairman who also functions as the General Manager as is the case in the Employees Provident Fund.

State Agencies consist of state departments, state statutory bodies and local governments (City, Municipal and District Councils).

The term Public Service does not include special institutions like the Judiciary, Public Service Commissions, the Election Commission and like institutions whose members are appointed by the King. Nevertheless, the organisations providing support or secretarial services to these institutions are public agencies whose officers and staff are from the Public Service. The Public Service also excludes off-budget agencies which are formed under the Companies Act or the Society Act and do not follow policies and procedures of personnel management in the public sector.

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