SINGAPORE: In what may be music to the ears of Malaysia’s civil servants, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that the revised Public Service Remuneration System will be the “best” ever that is introduced in the country.
Mr Anwar added, however, that it will also cost the government and “involves the highest financial implication (Malaysia) has ever seen”.
“But it is not your problem, it is our (government’s) problem to find more money. I want you to know that I do not consider this (remuneration system) a petty or trivial matter,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama on Thursday (Apr 25) at the Malaysian Administrative and Diplomatic Service Association Aidilfitri town hall meeting in Putrajaya.
The Star had previously reported that Mr Anwar is expected to announce improvement proposals – including efforts to increase the net income rate of civil servants – at an upcoming Labour Day assembly. In Malaysia, Labour Day falls on May 1.
The town hall on Thursday was attended by chief secretary to the government Mohd Zuki Ali, director-general of public service Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz as well as over 2,000 administrative and diplomatic officers.
At the town hall, Mr Anwar – who is also Malaysia’s finance minister - said he wanted the top management in public service to ensure that all groups of civil servants benefited from the system.
“In a meeting with the chief secretary to the government, director-general of public service and treasury secretary-general, I said (that) I don’t want one department, one group that feels they are left behind. We want to make a comprehensive review of this remuneration system and I have asked for it to be done together with civil service reform,” he said.
Stressing on the performance of civil servants, Mr Anwar added that recognition or promotion should not be given to those who are lazy or underperforming.
“If we want to raise the dignity of our country, if we want to be more efficient, if we want to value people in terms of their performance, we should not give recognition simply based on their age or length of their service,” he said.
NEED FOR MORE FEMALE LEADERS IN CIVIL SERVICE
At the same town hall, Mr Anwar also reiterated the need to appoint more women as leaders in the civil service, adding that the current representation of women leaders does not reflect the overall 42 per cent female participation in decision-making roles in public service.
“There is certainly not enough (women leaders). Seriously, I have discussed with the chief secretary to the government Mohd Zuki Ali that we should find a way to increase the number of women in positions (such as secretaries-general and directors-general of departments),” said Mr Anwar.
In responding to a query from an officer from the country’s Public Service Department on his approach to address weaknesses in the administrative group, Mr Anwar said there was still room for improvement in governance among them.
“Firstly... it may take time to improve governance, because there’s some weaknesses in governance from top to bottom. We need to push ahead,” he said.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asi...ice-salary-review-women-anwar-ibrahim-4294246
