By Kalsom Taib Published by Kalsom Taib Publishing 396 pages
THIS NARRATIVE ABOUT Datuk Shafee Yahaya, former Anti Corruption Agency (ACA) chief who assumed the position from June 16, 1994 to September 11, 1998, written by his wife, Datin Kalsom Taib, relates the story of an ordinary civil servant who began his career as assistant district officer (ADO) of Kuala Langat, then as private secretary to Tun Abdul Razak and Datuk Hussein Onn, followed by a long service in the National Security Council. He subsequently served in the National Housing Department and the Public Service Department before becoming head of the ACA four years before his retirement.
Shafee’s beginnings in the Caledonian Estate in Seberang Perai is typical of many Malay and Indian professionals who had the benefit of good education and careers that merged with the growing elite group of Malaysia’s upper middle classes. According to Kalsom, Shafee did not wish to write about himself because it would have been the biography of an ordinary civil servant, but she chose to write the book to spell out some truths of public governance – integrity, honesty and transparency.
This book portrays a man as embodying these qualities. A wife of course may not be objective but Kalsom relates her husband’s modus operandi in public administration and through this we come to view his role and status as a civil servant – responsible to a public office within a system of public governance devoid of party politics. Although headed by politicians elected into power, these political maestros generally seek professional advice from director-generals and policy advice from secretary-generals. There is a clear line separating the public and the political, and both coexist for the sake of greater efficiency and expediency.
