- 6 days ago
With the Government Procurement Bill 2025 passed by 125 votes, Malaysia has taken a major step toward strengthening how public money is managed. Next comes the Right to Information (RTI) law, which Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has pledged to table by the end of 2025.
RTI is more than a legal reform. It is a framework that could help citizens, journalists and businesses access data on how decisions are made, contracts are awarded and funds are spent — the foundation for genuine public accountability.
As Sabah heads to the polls on 29 November, RTI is not yet in force, but the debate around it highlights a bigger question: how ready are we to build an election and governance culture where transparency is the default, not the exception?
Featuring Dato Dr Punitha Silivarajoo, Deputy Director General, (Policy & Development) BHEUU, and Pushpan Murugiah, CEO, C4 Center.
RTI is more than a legal reform. It is a framework that could help citizens, journalists and businesses access data on how decisions are made, contracts are awarded and funds are spent — the foundation for genuine public accountability.
As Sabah heads to the polls on 29 November, RTI is not yet in force, but the debate around it highlights a bigger question: how ready are we to build an election and governance culture where transparency is the default, not the exception?
Featuring Dato Dr Punitha Silivarajoo, Deputy Director General, (Policy & Development) BHEUU, and Pushpan Murugiah, CEO, C4 Center.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to Nyaga Spotlight with me, Tamina Kaosji.
00:12Nyaga Spotlight takes us through the week in economic analysis and future affairs.
00:16Now, today on future affairs, the spotlight falls on the right to information and governance reform.
00:22Malaysia's transparency agenda is entering a new phase.
00:26The Government Procurement Bill 2025 was passed in Parliament with 125 votes in favor,
00:31introducing for the first time real penalties for rule-breaking, including ministers.
00:36Now, attention shifts to the next reform on the table, a right to information law,
00:40which Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says will be tabled by the end of this year.
00:45Together, these two laws could reshape how public funds are managed.
00:49Transparent procurement means predictable systems for investors, fairer competition for businesses.
00:54Now, RTI, right to information, can take that even further, giving citizens, media and companies
01:01the legal right to request data, tender information and policy documents.
01:07Meanwhile, as Sabah prepares for its state election on November the 29th,
01:11the relevance of these reforms becomes even clearer.
01:15While RTI will not govern elections, it can help shape the environment around them,
01:20giving citizens, media and businesses a legal way to ask how public money is used,
01:26how contracts are awarded and how decisions are made during politically sensitive periods.
01:31The question now is how Malaysia can design an RTI law that works in practice,
01:36one that strengthens trust, supports efficient administration and builds a governance culture
01:41where openness is the norm, not the exception.
01:44Welcoming to the studios for this key discussion,
01:47that's the Dr. Punita Silivaraju, Deputy Director General for Policy and Development
01:51at the Legal Affairs Division, the Prime Minister's Department, also known as Bayou,
01:56and Pushpan Murugia, CEO for the C4 Centre.
02:00Good morning.
02:01Thank you so much to both of you for making time for this crucial discussion.
02:04How are you both doing?
02:05Good.
02:05Very well.
02:06Fantastic.
02:07Dr. Punita, so perhaps we can launch straight into the discussion
02:11by, of course, referring back to some of the very fast-paced achievements
02:16that have come forth as legislation that is passed,
02:20but a lot of work that has gone behind the scenes.
02:23So we have the newly passed Procurement Bill.
02:25And from the government's perspective now,
02:27would you mind sharing with us how a future RTI or right to information law
02:32can help support this overall ecosystem,
02:35which the Madani administration is not just reimagining,
02:39but also building in real time.
02:42It's a brick-by-brick process, right?
02:44Thank you so much, Tamina, for having me here
02:49to give you a little bit about our freedom of information legislation
02:54that I hope will be coming up soon.
02:57Next year we are looking at that.
02:59Well, first thing, if you look at the government procurement legislation itself,
03:04it's definitely one step forward for the government.
03:07It's a very progressive move, I would say.
03:11And it's also very important to look at how,
03:13it's very interesting actually to look at how government procurement
03:16is tied very closely with RTI,
03:19with what you've rightfully mentioned, the freedom of information.
03:22And it's important to actually couple both of these legislations and initiatives.
03:28And we could see that, you know, currently without a freedom of information,
03:32you know, if the public wants any information and proper procurement,
03:36it's a bit difficult for them to get that information.
03:38That's correct.
03:39They'll have to probably wait and wait and may not get the information.
03:42And sometimes they couldn't even get it because it's official secrets to a certain extent.
03:47Now, with the RTI, with the freedom of information legislation,
03:51it makes it much easier for them.
03:53They can actually put a request for information.
03:55And if it is within the confines of the law,
03:59and if it's within, you know, subject to the exemptions,
04:02the statutory exemptions themselves,
04:04then they'll be able to get the information.
04:06So this is, to me, I think that's a progressive move for the government of the day.
04:11It's also very, it also, of course, enhances transparency, accountability,
04:16because at the end of the day,
04:17the people can actually scrutinize procurement information.
04:21And I think many of us want that.
04:24So that is something that is on the table right now.
04:26Especially in 2025, right?
04:28Exactly.
04:28Which brings me to the perfect segue to asking Pushpandan, of course.
04:32Civil society has, of course, been calling upon RTI for many years.
04:36But now that we also have tangible movement from the policy side,
04:40let's talk about how both government and civil society can further collaborate
04:44to ensure that it will ultimately be something utterly practical,
04:49building trust on both sides moving forward.
04:52Yeah, thanks for having me.
04:54So I think the first thing I want to contextualise
04:56is what we are facing now at this point in time.
04:58We first need to acknowledge there is a massive trust deficit
05:02that has been built up between the government and the public.
05:06So I think there is a need to find ways to reduce that
05:10and ensure that there is some form of trust building as processed as well.
05:14But in order to have that working togetherness, moving forward together,
05:19we also need to identify the situation where the culture that exists at this point in time.
05:25Government, departments and bureaucracy have a paternalistic view of information in that context.
05:31Where society, we view it as information that is held on behalf.
05:35So in order for us to work together,
05:37there has to be a shift in understanding what information means.
05:40For example, information in the public domain belongs to the public,
05:44but it's held by the government bureaucrats as perhaps a trustee or custodian.
05:51So when that mindset can be shifted or there's a better understanding of the role of information,
05:56I think that will help ease that working together in terms of getting a better regime of access to information.
06:04Now, the other part also I think is there is a need to have the mindset that you need to, by default, publish information.
06:15That creates a situation where, okay, fine, information is out there.
06:20Let's work together by using that information to expose corruption, expose wrongdoing.
06:24So that gets both sides to work together towards a common goal.
06:28And I think just to raise a point as well, we have been working closely with Bayou.
06:33And I think Bayou has been quite progressive in getting the input of stakeholders and CSOs
06:39to try to formulate a very strong framework to build a nice regime.
06:46And I think that is also an example of how CSOs play together with the government departments to formulate good strategies.
06:53I think the other aspect that we can contribute is how we can be a part of a component that deals with the monitoring
07:00and evaluation of the outcome itself so it can be better progress further as well.
07:06And RTI, of course, in essence, it ought to be a service improvement tool.
07:11So drawing from that, Dr. Panita, you had, of course, gone lightly into the fact that public procurement is one of the areas of greatest interest
07:20to help contextualize it, especially for the audience.
07:23Tell us a little more about the very rigorous and in-depth stakeholder consultations that have also gone into building this framework that has led us to here today.
07:33Okay, thank you.
07:33So I think if you look at the current, the law, the legislation on government procurement,
07:41I think it already has an inbuilt governance mechanism already inbuilt in the legislation.
07:47You have procurement, you have the establishment of a procurement board, you have controlling officers,
07:54you have procurement officers, you also have an appeals board, for example, appeals mechanism or review mechanism.
08:01So I think there's a lot of work put into the procurement legislation itself.
08:07But tying it very nicely with the freedom of information is actually very interesting,
08:14because at the end of the day, number one, there is information that can be delivered to the public.
08:22For example, SOPs, for example, procurement SOPs, you know, standard operating procedures, legislation,
08:28I would say regulations, you may have subsidiary legislations, you may have legislations that are linked with procurement.
08:35These are things that the people need to know.
08:37And for the business itself, this is very important.
08:40And for us to come to that point, as you rightfully mentioned, we had engagement.
08:46I mean, I think for freedom of information, we started way back in 2019.
08:51That's right.
08:52So much effort.
08:53I think you personally were also involved with us.
08:56We actually went down to the grassroots.
08:59We actually wanted to know what the problems were.
09:03Initially, as civil servants, many of us were very skeptical with it.
09:06And I think many civil servants are also very skeptical about, you know, FOI right now,
09:12you know, because they don't really know what FOI is.
09:14They don't know that freedom of information is your right.
09:18You know, it's the right of the public.
09:20So they need to know that first.
09:22So a lot of examples, we met a lot of commissioners from overseas, you know,
09:29right to information commissioners from many countries who actually shared the experiences with us.
09:35So these are all the things that we brought in.
09:39And finally, we worked very closely with academicians, with CSOs, Pushpans team as well.
09:44And a lot of information was gathered.
09:47And that brought us to the final policy, which was approved by the cabinet and the drafting of the bill.
09:53And even at the point of drafting the bill, we engaged the CSOs, academicians.
09:58Everyone was involved.
09:59We have we had a pro tem committee that was approved by cabinet.
10:04And the pro tem committee worked very closely with the government.
10:07We had other government agencies as well, especially the CGSO, who is in charge of the Official Secrets Act.
10:13We worked very closely to come up with a good bill.
10:16So what can we expect soon.
10:19Absolutely.
10:19So expecting that soon also means that RTI can hopefully operationalize the type of parameters and common standards which the procurement bill has put into place.
10:30Thanks, Pushpans.
10:30Pushpans, from your experience also monitoring public spending, what type of procurement information could then realistically be shared early on in the RTI system?
10:40Okay, Tamina, I have to maybe depart a little bit, maybe to contextualize the Procurement Act.
10:46Please do.
10:46I do think that there is a progressive movement to have an Act that governs procurement.
10:53But we, the CFO, have got a stand that says that the procurement, I think, is inadequate at this point in time.
11:00And there's a lot of things that need to be put in place in order for it to be truly effective.
11:04But moving to your question, I think it's important for us to distinguish the setting within the public procurement framework.
11:11We always misunderstand that public procurement deals with tender process.
11:16It's always limited to that.
11:18In actual fact, procurement has got bigger modalities where it deals with G2G arrangements, public partnerships, PFIs.
11:27These are all different kinds of modalities that very often do not fall within the ambit of a framework of a Government Procurement Act.
11:36So in that context, if you want to say that RTI plays a role, then yes, because we can look at it as a mechanism to demand accountability and transparency in these modalities.
11:49But when it comes to public procurement itself, I think it should be a fine distinction where public procurement should have its own governance,
11:58its own transparency nature or position that allows for the public to be able to access the information.
12:04Now, what does it mean to be accessible?
12:07Simple.
12:08Things like contract value, who are the participants, who are the specifications.
12:15And I think there also shouldn't be a distinction between defense procurement and normal procurement.
12:21Very often the argument is, oh, it's a national defense, national interest issue, security issues.
12:28So you need to demark the...
12:30Harmonizing that.
12:31Bushman, as well as Dato, thank you so much for the conversation so far.
12:34We take a quick break.
12:35Don't go anywhere.
12:36We'll be right back with the rest of the interview.
12:38Welcome back to Niagara Spotlight, still with me, Tamina Kaujian.
13:01Today, of course, the focus is all on transparency and governance mechanisms leading up more towards it.
13:06Pushman, let's get started off by diving deep into the political funding and election confidence.
13:13Now, of course, the talk of the town is the upcoming Sabah state elections taking place later this month.
13:19There is public interest, of course, in how money moves during election periods.
13:24Let's talk about how RTI, if designed well, can also increase confidence in political funding related matters.
13:32OK. It's an interesting question you ask because we are trying to, I would say, trying to fit RTI into a bigger framework.
13:41Because if you look at political funding, it's actually a topic that's on its own that needs a particular act to regulate the whole situation.
13:51Because, as we know, the biggest rationale for grand corruption along these years has always been the need to stock up money to look at election issues.
14:04I mean, that's one of the arguments.
14:08So in that context, how can RTI play a role?
14:11So I think first you need to remark whether political financing needs an act, which I think is important to regulate that industry by itself.
14:18RTI, even if you want to extend that scope of RTI, could extend the stage that, OK, you need to disclose who are your donors, what amount you're getting from corporates.
14:30Because that actually helps you to distinguish between state expenditure, campaign activities, right?
14:35But I want to clarify one thing.
14:37Sure.
14:37You need to understand RTI purpose is the fact that it goes back to information.
14:42It's information held by the government on our behalf.
14:45So whether political party information or donation information falls within that ambit of government held information,
14:54that's where you need to be very careful how to bring them together.
14:57So I would suggest we need to have a separate topic on how to engage that topic in political financing
15:04and how RTI should be able to play a role where the public needs information that's held by the government on our behalf.
15:11Exactly.
15:11Public sector environment around elections.
15:15Dr. Benita, elections also, they often involve these very fast snap decisions and many agencies working all at once.
15:23So what type of built-in safeguards could help a future RTI function very smoothly during ongoing election periods
15:31so that the process feels fair, balanced, and most importantly, manageable for everyone involved?
15:37OK, well, I think firstly, I think the key word here is procedural fairness.
15:42It's very important.
15:43And for us to have some procedural guardrails wherever it's necessary.
15:49First thing is for us to ensure that there is disclosure where there is required.
15:56So we always encourage proactive disclosure when it comes to freedom of information.
16:02So if you have information that you can disclose, that will be proactive disclosure.
16:06You do not have to wait for a request.
16:08So when it's an election, if there's any information, you can actually disclose.
16:12That's relevant.
16:12Yeah, it's pertinent.
16:13You don't have to wait for a request because that will take time.
16:16So if you could just disclose such information, then you can do it.
16:20Secondly is I think there are many information, very preliminary information that people may want to know during elections,
16:28especially on those people who are contesting in certain constituencies, for example,
16:32about the person, you know, those who are contesting, about their assets, about their expenditures,
16:40about their political funding, you know, donations, what donations they've received, who they've received from.
16:45We don't have an act, as Pushman Rifley mentioned, which is in the works right now at Bayou as well.
16:52So these are things that people may want to know.
16:55Tax disclosure, for example, things like this that they may want to know, you know,
17:00especially when they're going to make certain decisions.
17:02So when it comes to freedom of information, it is very important for the FOI officers to actually work within the time.
17:11The time has to be timely. You know, you cannot take your own sweet time.
17:15You have to do it quickly. And whatever requests for information, for example, has to be done without any influence.
17:25It has to be done independently and done well. So that's very important.
17:29And also all these SOPs and, you know, procedures for freedom of information or right to information with reference to election information
17:38has to be done prior to any elections, prior to a state election or, you know, the general election.
17:46All that should be dealt with much earlier so that it makes everything very smooth.
17:51Exactly. And I think what's most important is, as you said, those holding the information also,
17:55the custodianship part of it also needs to involve a perspective on is this relevant for the public to know?
18:02Let's release that rather than just wait on it.
18:05Now, moving closer into oversight implementation as well as capacity.
18:11Once again, Dato, I'd like to ask about the fact that many countries that have RTI laws,
18:15they also then appoint an independent body to help guide implementation, handle the appeals,
18:21so that the agencies at the core of it are not overly burdened.
18:25Would that be something along the pathways that Malaysia is imagining the eventual rollout and model?
18:32Yeah, sure. Definitely. I think we have worked very closely with the Pro Tem Committee, as I mentioned earlier,
18:39our Pro Tem Committee, which was established about a few months ago.
18:44And we've actually worked on the freedom of information law legislation for Malaysia.
18:50So one of the pertinent issues that we've discussed is actually an oversight body for Malaysia
18:56with reference to freedom of information.
18:59So it is an entire process that we need to look at.
19:02Firstly, we're talking about FOI officers.
19:07So every agency, for example, needs to have their freedom of information officers
19:10so that they are accessible to the public.
19:12So the public will have to, can just walk into a particular agency
19:16and if you feel that you want this information, then you just have to put a request.
19:20So there are certain procedures that we put in place.
19:23For example, you'll have to respond to the public within three days, for example, within three days.
19:29And then you have to tell them that we've received, thank you very much,
19:32we will get back to you within this time.
19:34And if it's an emergency request, there is a time span for that as well.
19:37So if you are not happy with, you know, if there is a denial, for example,
19:42if the FOI officer comes back to you and say that we can't give you this information,
19:48then he has to quote what is the reason behind the denial.
19:51That is also embedded in the law itself.
19:54And if you're not happy, then there will be an internal review that you can put up for.
19:58And after the internal review, you can go up to the tribunal for an appeal.
20:01So we have that entire mechanism put in place.
20:05So all that is handled by the oversight body.
20:07Absolutely. Now, perhaps just a little insight on harmonizing subnational laws,
20:14such as what we have in Salango as well as Penang,
20:17together with the potential upcoming federal RTI.
20:20How will that be managed?
20:22We have engaged with the two states.
20:26I think we've learned a lot from them,
20:28especially when we're coming to look at our federal law itself.
20:32I think we've actually taken into consideration all the challenges, for example.
20:36So that's one thing that we need to look at.
20:38Second, of course, is existing laws.
20:42For example, you have the OSA and then you also have the Penal Code,
20:47Section 203A, which penalizes civil servants for any disclosure.
20:51So these are things that we need to harmonize.
20:53We need to look at how you need to make amendments because they need to coexist.
20:56We can't get rid of OSA.
20:59So they will coexist.
21:01Coexistence, all right, for now.
21:03Pushpan, so once a potential RTI law is in place,
21:06what early signs would point towards the fact that it is indeed working in a manner
21:12that supports government systems instead of creating extra tension or burdens,
21:18administratively or otherwise?
21:20I think the best indicator would be the fact that if the government departments are willing,
21:27by default, giving out information.
21:29So when you put information out there, it's already out there.
21:32So it reduces the element of coming, asking for information and having to go through the whole process,
21:37you know, what's the reason, can't, yes or no.
21:40So if information is put out there, I think it actually helps us reduce tension.
21:45And it's an indication of the fact that there is a change in mindset that information is supposed to be shared.
21:51They're only a custodian and we should be allowing the public to have access to information.
21:55Now, the other thing that will have a good indicator is the fact that there will be better or more in terms of trying to digitize information.
22:05There is an initiative to do that, but a lot of information in the government domain is not digitised.
22:11So for RTI to actually work moving forward, you need that to be also a priority.
22:17So those indicators will actually help us say that there is a phase where it's moving forward progressively.
22:22And I think that's important for us to monitor as well.
22:25Exactly. Now, of course, early success indicators could, of course, include response time, compliance for whatever the parameters are.
22:32Now, just perhaps a quick rapid fire before we look towards closing out everything.
22:38If we, let's say, look one year ahead, Dato, what would you consider maybe a meaningful point for RTI legislation in Malaysia?
22:47I think this is actually a major reform for us.
22:53As I mentioned, we started this in 2019.
22:56And this is a very big reform under the Medani government.
22:59And it is also a very important milestone in terms of public service delivery, not only for, of course, for the civil servants.
23:08It's a big reform for us and also for the public, something that you can look out for.
23:12So I think in a year's time, once we roll out the FOI legislation, what is important is response, a consistency in response.
23:21How do we respond to the public with reference to requests for information?
23:26How do we deal with exemptions?
23:28You know, when we want to deny an information, for example, how do you deal with the exemptions within the law itself?
23:34So how do you appeal?
23:37How do they deal with the appeal?
23:39How do they deal with exemptions within exemptions?
23:42Public interest test, the harm test.
23:44These are all very interesting, very intricate stuff that we need to look at.
23:48And that would be important elements that we will look at within this one year period after the rollout, I would say.
23:52Thank you for that, Dato.
23:54And Pushpan, in closing, just a quick insight into how exactly you feel government, together, of course, with the support of media and then civil society, can actually work together to build this culture of information sharing.
24:07I think maybe the best thing is you need to encourage the philosophy of people knowing the business of government.
24:15They have to have an interest in what's happening with their money, with their government, and that itself will give them an interest to use tools available to extract information.
24:25But I always go back to the idea that information should be publicly available unless there is a harm justification.
24:31So, for me, the outcome that I'd like to see moving forward is that there is public interest to use the tools, especially civil society, to use the tools to actually get accountability and transparency.
24:43And also, I want to see the shift in the cultural dimension where bureaucrats now understand that they are custodians, they are holding on trust on behalf of the people, and that we need to share that information for the betterment of the country.
24:58Well put, indeed.
24:59Thank you very much, Dato, Dr. Podita, together with Pushpan.
25:02Well, transparency ultimately is an economic instrument as much as it is a governance ideal.
25:06We hope this helps shed light a little more on the right to information and the entire ecosystem surrounding it.
25:12I'm Tamina Kousji, signing off for now.
25:15Here's to a productive week ahead.
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