KUALA LUMPUR — The quality of government delivery is ultimately a leadership issue rather than a lack of professionalism among civil servants, Entrepreneur, Development and Cooperatives Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong said.
Sim said about 90% of civil servants were professional and genuinely wanted to perform their duties well, but stronger leadership was needed to drive reforms and improve efficiency across government agencies.
Speaking in the latest episode of Trick Lama, a podcast co-hosted by Big Boom Media Group Chief Executive Officer Datuk Zainul Arifin, Group Editor-in-Chief Terence Fernandez and Group Executive Director Datuk “Rocky” Ahiruddin Attan, Sim said his experience across four ministries had convinced him that leadership was the key factor in improving government delivery.
In the current administration, he has been deputy minister of finance II and minister of human resources prior to his current post. From 2018 to 2020, he was deputy minister of youth and sports.
“My experience is that 90% of civil servants are professional. They want to do their work well,” he said.
“You cannot discount that in every sector, in every field, including politics, especially in politics, you have bad apples. But the overwhelming majority of civil servants want to do their job with professionalism.
“So, where is the difference? The difference is in the leadership,” he said on the podcast that discussed, among other topics, public accusations against the government over the slow pace of certain reforms.
Sim said reforms could not be achieved simply by imposing targets on civil servants without giving them room to adapt to new expectations.
He said this was particularly important at the Entrepreneurial Development and Cooperatives Ministry (KUSKOP), which has about 15,000 civil servants and staff across 10 agencies.
“When I came in, the first thing I (thought) was how do I ensure these 15,000 people who have their own experience, who have their own expertise, who have their own knowledge and biases, 10 different agencies, different departments, different units with their own mission–how do I govern them to focus on one thing, to focus on one mission together?” he said.
Sim said he adopted what he described as a “CEO mentality” to improve effectiveness and efficiency, while recognising that government agencies could not simply be operated in the same way as private companies.
“I come in like, I always say, the CEO mentality, SME CEO, to make sure (there is) effectiveness, efficiency. But I think we need to give people the breathing space as well. It’s not easy,” he said.
“This is not a private company. I know many people would think that you should run the government like a private company. Yes and no.
“Because a private company is profit. Government also has to think about development, has to think about the people, welfare.”
Sim said his approach was instead to set clear targets that would gradually change the mindset and culture within government agencies.
“The target that we set changes the mindset, changes the culture within the ministry.
“And I tell you, sometimes it’s very funny. People ask me, ‘How come can do now, last time cannot?’ Some(times) the reason is as simple as, because no one asked to.”
He said the government had to recognise that reform was a gradual process, particularly when dealing with large organisations and thousands of civil servants.
“I don’t want to just go in and within the first six months, you know, tighten everyone’s noose and say you must do it, get it done,” he said.
Sim said the government’s responsibility was to keep pushing for improvements while allowing agencies and their staff time to adjust.
He added that reform should not be viewed as a one-off exercise, and new ministers would have to build on the work of their predecessors.
“The laws that we make, the reforms that we have done, it may not be enough. And new ministers will probably need to come and improve upon what we have done.
“But we have drawn the line and said, and we have announced and declared to the world, it is possible. Doing better is possible.” – August 24, 2026