| 4. In which ways is the initiative creative and innovative?
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SPLN implementation will be led by Ministry of Foreign Affair (KLN) as SPLN Accounting Office. Whereas all the government agencies abroad will become SPLN’s Responsibility Centre (PTJ) irrespective on which ministry/department they belongs to. As long as PTJ is located abroad, they are subjected SPLN Accounting Office. This move is in conjunction with resolution stated in General Circular Vol. 2 Year 2009, Government of Malaysia Administrative System (SPKM). SPKM mention that all relevant aspects of management of Malaysian Representative and government agencies abroad is centralized under the management of Chancery (Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
SPLN maiden implementation began in July 2013 with 3 pilot locations i.e. Jakarta, Singapore and New Delhi. Training was conducted by system vendor. This inaugural pilot implementation was in accordance with the spirit of Blue Ocean Strategy. Besides, JANM and KLN officers, representatives from all relevant ministries/department had also participated in assistance to SPLN users at those 3 locations. The presence of officers from all relevant ministries/department is parallel with the effort to promote better understanding and experience in preparation for the next roll-out period.
Initially, the implementation of SPLN was set to replace the old manually operated Imprest 3/12 system. It means all payments to overseas payee to be made through Telegraphic Transfers (TT) from Malaysia. However, pilot implementation yielded valuable case scenario that the presence of Imprest 3/12 system is inevitable as to address domestic issues at certain countries. There are payments need to paid by cheque such as utilities, lack of confidence among payees towards their banking system and also tax imposed on TT from overseas by the government. In due respect of those domestic issues, the roll out plan was temporarily put on halt as to make way for further development of totally new electronic Imprest 3/12.
The newly-developed Imprest 3/12 system was designed in line with the SPLN characteristics although its operational protocol remains status quo. This additional development on SPLN was duly completed in February 2013. SPLN roll out recommenced in March 2013 and it will take 2 years to complete the plan. Details of the plan are as follows:
Details 2013 2014 Total
No. of PTJ 98 56 154
No. of locations 58 48 106
No. of countries 39 45 84*
*2 years of implementation for India due to differences in 4 location
Below are statistical data on roll out performance as at 30 November 2013
Details Target Achievement Percentage
No. of PTJ 98 90 92%
No. of locations 58 53 91%
No. of countries 39 36 92%
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| 5. Who implemented the initiative and what is the size of the population affected by this initiative?
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SPLN is being implemented in accordance to the spirit of Blue Ocean Strategy. Officers from relevant ministries/departments are also participating in assistance to SPLN user at the pilot/roll-out location abroad. JANM has also moved into collaborative efforts and financial resources with the above-mentioned 8 ministries/department in term of input for system modification/enhancement, testing and hence providing officer during the implementation on each roll-out location. This strategic collaborative effort has yielded exceptional public service delivery system especially to our stakeholders abroad.
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| 6. How was the strategy implemented and what resources were mobilized?
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Financially, total amount spent on development of SPLN system application per se was RM630,000. Whereas, the remaining initial cost paid for hardware and software related cost such as server, Oracle support and license was around RM1,850,000. As of to date, JANM has spent RM1,790,000 for roll-out exercise to respective PTJ abroad which includes in situ training and travel-related cost for JANM’s trainer. SPLN’s server actively in operation for 24 hours and 7 days a week. Thus, it requires consistent maintenance and support service because it cannot afford downtime consequently jeopardize PTJ’s operation abroad. On average, yearly maintenance and support service is about RM695,000. This implementation cost of SPLN project is solely being financed by internal fund of Federal Government of Malaysia.
On technical aspect, SPLN project involve collaborative efforts between JANM, system vendor and 8 ministries/departments throughout development stage in term of input for system modification/enhancement and testing. SPLN project management being done internally, hence it does not implicate material additional of human resource cost.
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| 7. Who were the stakeholders involved in the design of the initiative and in its implementation?
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Development cost saving
SPLN was developed based modifications of Sistem Perakaunan Standad Kerajaan Negeri (SPEKS). It has been effectively used by 11 state governments and it was fully developed using local content. Furthermore, the basic system architecture of SPEKS is suitable to be adapted in SPLN. Therefore, its only requires minimum modification in order to function effectively. Hence, development cost is relatively low compared to totally new development design from scratch.
Daily update of accounting transaction
Under SPLN all overseas accounting transactions are updated on real time basis at SPLN server, transaction for the day will then be updated to GFMAS server. This has ultimately solved previous accounting anomaly of inaccurate financial report due to 2 months accounting delay particularly at year-end accounting period.
Automatic calculation on gain or loss on foreign exchange
Administratively, government employs single monthly rate of currency exchange based on rate published by Central Bank. Those rates are duly updated into SPLN for the purpose of translating payment vouchers or collection from foreign currencies to MYR for consolidation at SPLN Accounting Office. Gain or loss on foreign currency is the difference between JANM monthly and daily market spot rate. It occurs when MYR is reconverted to foreign currency using daily market spot rate for payment to overseas payee via Telegraphic Transfers. Prior to SPLN, the calculation of gain or loss on forex were done manually. With SPLN, this utterly tedious and time consuming work has been duly taken over by the system.
Promote effective cash management
Under SPLN environment, on average more than 50 percent of payments to overseas payees are made through Telegraphic Transfer from Malaysia. Consequently, the level of dependency towards Imprest 3/12 has become less significant. Now the earlier intention to reduce monies floating abroad has come into reality subject to further study. Monies brought home can be optimized to generate income, thus promote effective cash management.
Simplification of work processes
Single point entry concept in SPLN has eliminated non value added activities such as duplication of work. For instance, approved payment vouchers/receipt will simultaneously update respective reports in the system such as cash book, allocation details etc.. These reports can be generated at any time with no frequent limit. Consequently, this will reduce the work load and promote better quality and productivity.
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| 8. What were the most successful outputs and why was the initiative effective?
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SPLN operations span across different continent and time zone. It has produced great challenge especially for operational and technical support to user from different continent and time zone throughout the world. For that reason, JANM as system provider has developed additional online user support platform which is operational for 24 hours and 7 days a week.
E-helpdesk serves as mechanism or platform of interaction between system provider and end-user abroad where user can log any problem via online. This web-based system is used as monitoring and supporting tool for any occurrence of technical or operational issues at the respective locations. The design of the system is based on sharing of problems where previously reported problems/issues are kept in the system for future references.
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| 9. What were the main obstacles encountered and how were they overcome?
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Originally, SPLN was set to replace manually operated Imprest 3/12 and all payment must be made through TT from Malaysia. However, pilot implementation at first 3 locations found that there were circumstances that SPLN initial operational model was not workable. Because there were instances where payments via TT not possible due to domestic issues such as banking restriction, payment culture and also operational-related differences. Users abroad demanded that Imprest 3/12 system should remain status quo. This had put roll out plan on halt as SPLN needs further development of electronic Imprest 3/12 as solution of countries’ indigenous issues. Development was completed in February 2013 and roll-out exercise resume in March 2013.
Currently, SPLN viability depends on network capacity and capability at implementation locations abroad. This is another obstacle that can jeopardize the implementation effort. Therefore, series of network testing had been conducted to evaluate internet accessibility between PTJs abroad and KLN’s server in Putrajaya. Generally, the evaluation suggested SPLN accessibility has not been compromised.
So far apart from the issue above, there have been no genuine obstacles faced during the implementation. Generally, most of the users abroad lauded JANM move to implement SPLN especially with newly in-built electronic Imprest 3/12. In fact, this is the kind of system that they have been waiting for. The only major challenge is to convince them that SPLN will assist them become more efficient and effective in their job. Therefore, effective change management strategy from JANM and relevant ministries/department is vital to ensure SPLN’s success.
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