Civil Servants Must Step-up To Meet People's Expectations, Says PM

PUTRAJAYA, July 10 (Bernama) –- It is imperative for civil servants to be more creative and innovative to meet the people's expectations which are becoming more complex and varied, urged Prime Minister Najib Razak. He described the civil service as the pillar on which the country's policies were implemented, in order to achieve a high-income developed nation status by 2020. The current environment was a far cry from a time not too long ago and it demanded solid cooperation and commitment from every level of the administration, he emphasised. "We're faced with Malaysians who have hopes and expectations which are not like before, and these changes are a result of our having provided wide access and increasing opportunities for education. It may also be a case of too much exposure to information," he said during a speech at the Civil Service Perdana Dialogue. As people tasked with the administration, civil servants have no other choice but to be ramped up to deliver more effective and faster service. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister said Malaysia should be grateful, as the economic environment in Europe was uncertain, which was not the case here. "Everywhere the Deputy Prime Minister (Muhyiddin Yassin) and I go, additional allocations are requested," he said, adding the construction sector kept growing and showed no signs of slowing down. "But we must be realistic. For example, we need foreign investments and if there's a global economic crisis the pipeline for new investments will dry up," he said. Najib said despite Malaysia's many successes, the nation had a long way to go and he believed civil servants still had room for improvement, which he felt should be a multiple-leap change. He added that this was the reason for his constant urging and challenges, including towards himself, to come up with more creative and innovative ideas to bring about real improvement and not just conduct 'business as usual'. Najib elaborated that while at one time priorities were basic needs such as roads, water and electricity supply, now demands were more varied including prevention of crime, freedom, better services and so on. He went on to say, as the government, the administration cannot offer mere rhetorics but provide clear and tangible assistance to its people such as 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M), 1Malaysia People's Shop (KR1M), 1Malaysia Clinic and many others. He added that at the same time the government could not spend unwisely but do so on a careful budget. "If we want to increase spending, we need to create wealth first," he said. More than 500 civil servants nationwide attended the dialogue organised by the Razak School of Government, Civil Service Department and Prime Minister's Department. The dialogue was aimed at providing a platform to ensure the Malaysian civil service becomes the forefront for the rapid transformation taking place presently. -- BERNAMA