Anatomy of a Public Servant: Examining the Lifeblood of the Civil Service

About 300 new books hit the bookstores every day. But every now and then a book succeeds in feeling the pulse of modern life and its ambitions. Anatomy of a Public Servant, by Wang Shou-lai, the Head of the Third Department in the Council for Cultural Affairs, is one such book. It succeeds in inspiring, stimulating and changing people with richness and beauty. But it remains to be seen whether the author will succeed in promoting a culture of service among public servants.

What is your impression of government officials? Why do they go strictly by the book and shrink from taking the initiative? Why do they always give the impression of loafing on the job? Why is it that the most academically gifted people in Taiwan turn into mediocre bureaucrats as soon as they get a government job? Are these impressions based on fact? Anatomy of a Public Servant answers these questions with a firm grounding in reality.

This little book makes one smile, shake one's head, and sigh in turns. Seeing it during this fiercely contested election campaign certainly makes people sit up and take notice. One cannot help thinking that if political candidates refrained from criticizing their opponents and other political parties for the two hours it would take them to read this book, they might come to their senses. If self-styled public servants followed Wang Shou-lai's advice and acknowledged others, did the right thing, made government more responsive to the people, served with a smile, and believed that honesty is the best policy, we would all be glad to elect them for life. With such public servants, Taiwan would surely be reborn and become highly competitive again.

Acclaimed writer Bo Yang described Anatomy of a Public Servant as a sort of modern-day Aesop's Fables. The book is a collection of essays that distill Wang Shou-lai's and his colleagues experiences and observations during the 30 years he has spent in government service. Initially published by the United Daily News, these brief but thought-provoking essays were received with enthusiasm by the reading public and have now been reissued in one volume.

The editor divided the book's 58 short essays into four chapters: "Do's and Don'ts in a Government Office," "What Kind of a Boss Are You?", "In Pursuit of Ordinary Excellence," and "Life's Symphony Demands a Time for Pause." In authentic descriptions of people and events, the author invites the reader to experience the world of officialdom. Public servants are certain to find their own experiences described in this book, many of them unhappy. Readers who are unable to understand government officials or have been the victims of official arbitrariness will gain a better understanding of the work, milieu, and psychology of public servants. Wang Shou-lai also shows us that at every level of officialdom, among rookies as well as among the highest-placed officials, there are helpful and conscientious public servants who take their work seriously. We also discover that it is mistaken to tar all government officials with the same brush and assume that all are rotten apples that cling to old routines, are afraid of making decisions, and lack creativity.

This remarkable inside look at the world of public service is poles apart from past satirical exposes of official corruption published under titles such as Officialdom Unmasked, Vignettes from the Late Ching, and Li Zhongwu's classic Thick Face, Black Heart. A generous man, Wang Shou-lai is not interested in pointing fingers. Instead, he confines his discussion to facts and treads carefully when recounting episodes that cause regret. In calling attention to how affairs of government were dealt with by officials, Wang shows consideration for the people involved. But Wang never forgets nor spares praise for public servants who performed their work with a sense of responsibility, no matter how minor the episode or long ago it happened. Time and again, Wang stresses a spirit of public service driven by a self-questioning honesty, self-disciple, love of work, and a philosophy of "not biting the hand that feeds you." Clearly, what motivated Wang to write this book were compassion and good intentions, virtues often forgotten these days.

The reason Anatomy of a Public Servant has been well received is that the author is perceptive and attentive to the smallest details, has clearly read widely, and is well acquainted with sayings, literary sketches, and anecdotes of renowned Chinese and foreign personalities. He handles his materials skillfully and provides his readers with highly informative footnotes written with a light touch. A few examples will suffice to illustrate his style. In the essay "Conflict between the Government Official and his Successor," which begins with a quote from the writings of a Qing-dynasty author, Wang Shou-lai observes that there are three big areas of conflict in Chinese life: between the main wife and the concubine, between the chief examiner and his deputy, and between the former office holder and his successor. In "Respect for One's Work" Wang recalls "Ten Essays on Life," by the great Chinese scholar Qian Mu, which recounts the founding of a magnificent temple on the outskirts of Suzhou and the inspiring story of an old monk who led a life of modest wants and quiet cultivation. In "Can a Hen Become an Eagle?" Wang cites a thought-provoking American educational short film entitled Surmounting the Summit: "Life cannot always go downhill. What's important is to persevere, because every little step brings you closer to the goal."

What Wang Shou-lai treasures most about his book's publication is the affirmation and support he has received from his readers. His most fervent hope is that political leaders and the 600,000-strong army of public servants will "jointly build a culture of public service encompassing the nation's legal system, institutions, and education system, in which public servants are conscientious, impartial, incorruptible and insightful, the talented are given their due, and those in the lower ranks have reason to be satisfied with their jobs." That's what it will take to build the healthy public servant of the 21st century. In recommending this excellent book, we hope that when Wang Shou-lai, who is still in public service, comes to write his next work, we will be able to say that public servants in Taiwan have taken a great leap forward.

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(photo by Hsueh Chi-kuang)

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Book Title: Anatomy of a Public Servant

Author: Wang Shou-lai

Publisher: Unitas Publishing Co.

Date of publication: September 2001

Price: NT$200