Govt pay rise: public to judge civil servants

PUTRAJAYA (from The Star 23 May, 2007): It is for the public to judge whether the performance of civil servants will rise in tandem with their pay increase, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan said.

He said the public would be able to e-mail their judgment directly to him at sidek@pmo.gov.my and he promised to read them.

“I may not reply to each one. I will however forward the e-mails to my officers and the related ministries and departments for follow-up action,” he said.

He was speaking to reporters here a day after the Government announced huge pay increases for civil servants.

Mohd Sidek said he had empowered his officers to carry out the follow-up actions.

He said the public, as the main customers of the Government’s services, should exercise their rights in demanding better work quality and more productivity from civil servants.

“In fact, we have been improving all the time and implementing various measures to enhance our performance and delivery system,” he said.

He said civil servants “formed a good crop of people” but there must be monitoring and enforcement across the board to ensure work was done promptly and policies were implemented.

On whether he expected a drastic change in line with the “drastic pay” increase, Mohd Sidek said he would expect civil servants to be motivated by it.

“We have been making changes before the announcement and we will continue to do so,” he said, adding that Cuepacs had given the assurance that its members would work harder.

He said he would not be directing civil servants who were working second jobs to make ends meet to give up their part-time work.

Asked if there would be more recruitment drive now that the pay packet for management posts have become more attractive, Mohd Sidek said government appointments were carried out based on requirement.

However, he said he could expect a better crop of candidates in the future.