# Administrative and Diplomatic Officer

In Malaysia, the Administrative and Diplomatic officers (Malay: Pegawai Tadbir dan Diplomatik or PTD) are civil servants from the Management and Professional groups who hold a university degree and receive training at the National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN). INTAN graduates usually become frontline workers in Malaysia, such as district officers, embassy officers, ambassadors and so on. Graduates who hold at least a bachelor's degree, must obtain a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Management (Malay: Diploma Pascasiswazah Pengurusan Awam or DPA) from INTAN before becoming an officer.

## Duties and responsibilities

The duties of an Administrative and Diplomatic Officer as referred to in the Public Services Commission of Malaysia (SPA) website are:
"Planning, formulating and implementing public policies on human and organizational resource management, financial resources, economy, regional/district/local/land administration and development, social planning and administration, international relations and foreign affairs (including foreign service), national security/resilience and information technology management."

## Appointment requirements

Appointment requirements to become an Administrative and Diplomatic Officer:
* Bachelor's Degree with Honours recognized by the government from local higher education institutions or qualifications recognized as equivalent; [ Starting Salary : RM2,253.00 ] or
* Master's Degree recognized by the government from local higher education institutions or qualifications recognized as equivalent; [ Starting Salary : RM2,564.14 ] or
* Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) recognized by the government from local higher education institutions or qualifications recognized as equivalent; [ Starting Salary : RM2,875.48 ] and
* pass the prescribed examination to enter the Administrative and Diplomatic service;
* attend and pass the Diploma in Public Management course organized by the National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN); and
* possess a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Administration from local higher education institutions or qualifications recognized as equivalent; and
* Candidates for appointment must have a credit in the Malay Language subject at the Malaysian Certificate of Education level or a qualification recognized as equivalent by the government.
For those who want to hold this position, they must apply to the SPA and then must appear for the online examination for Administrative and Diplomatic Officers.

## Online examination

Starting in 2014, the SPA has introduced an online examination system for candidates for Administrative and Diplomatic Officers. With the introduction of this online examination system, more candidates have the opportunity to sit for the examination to fill this position.
Consistent with the introduction of this system, the new question section breakdown has also been composed as follows:
* Section A: General Knowledge
* Section B: Problem Solving Ability
* Section C: Psychometric Test
Candidates are allocated a certain time to answer all sections. The break time between each section is 15 minutes.
On Session 16 May 2019, the SPA has changed the Online Examination Format for Section C from the Psychometric Test to the English Comprehension Test.

## Notable officers

* Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia.
* Shahidan Kassim, 7th Menteri Besar of Perlis.
* Johari Abdul, 11th Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat.
* Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari, 17th Ambassador of Malaysia to Egypt, 11th High Commissioner of Malaysia to Brunei, 1st Ambassador of Malaysia to Qatar.
* Ahmad Badri Mohamad Zahir, Secretary-General of Malaysian Ministry of Finance.
* Ayman Rashdan Wong, winner of Anugerah Buku Negara 2019.