A secure job
By Soong Phui Jee
We used to say in the past that working in bank is a secure job but nowadays, working in government sectors is even better.
During an exclusive interview with the Sin Chew Daily, Public Services Department pensions division director Datuk Yeow Chin Kiong had disclosed many unknown stories and data, including civil servants are receiving a lifelong support from taxpayers, they enjoy many subsidies and are not taxed, their spouses will continue to enjoy pensions if they pass away and a total of RM65.5 billion has been distributed to 600,000 retired civil servants over the past 10 years as wang ehsan and pensions.
After the country has paid so much to the 1.29 million civil servants to eliminate their worries, have the public be rewarded?
Undeniably, the government has been committed to enhancing the productivity and efficiency in public services since the administration of Tun Abdullah Badawi.
For example, the establishment of the Special Task Force to Facilitate Business (Pemudah) and the adoption of electronic support system to simplify the application procedures for business licenses, while the efficiency of the Immigration Department of Malaysia has also been enhanced in which applicants will be able to get their passports processed within an hour after payment is done.
However, accelerating the processing of documents is an improvement in amount while in terms of quality, there is still room for improvement. For example, the 2010 Auditor-General's Report has revealed many drawbacks, including fraud and waste of public funds. It shows that education and guidance are required to improve spirit.
I have experienced two incidents which can explain the quality of services depends on the mentality of civil servants.
I have recently received an email from the Inland Revenue Board (IRB), notifying me that my tax refunded has been debited into my account.
In the past, when I once called to make a claim, the official told me to bring along some required documents and they would decide whether it was refundable after reviewing the case. This year, however, I have received the tax refunded within a few months, proving that the enhancement of services depends on human efforts.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has also announced recently that the IRB will now have to pay a compensation of 2% on the amount of tax refunded if it is late in refunding taxpayers who overpaid.
Other government agencies should apply the same regulations to strengthen the sense of responsibility of officials.
The second incident took place when I went to an Immigration office to renew my passport. Unfortunately, the services were interrupted due to computer system failures.
No notice about the computer failures was seen, neither an announcement was made, leaving the people to wait and wonder when the services would be restored.
I believe that many people had taken a day leave for passport renewal and the officials should handle it flexibly. They could let the people take a number first or make an appointment to avoid wasting their time, instead of doing nothing.
Yeow was right. The public should not connive lazy civil servants. They must lodge a complaint to the authorities.
However, could we lodge a complaint against the IRB to the Public Complaints Bureau (PCB)? I am afraid that the PCB might not accept such a small complaint since the officials were not lazy, but only not flexible enough.
However, such trivial matters have actually affected the public's impression of civil services, causing us to think that the attitude of civil servants is poor.
Why did they forget to smile when the services were interrupted? It seems like there is still a very long way to go for civil servants to change the stereotype.
We used to say in the past that working in bank is a secure job but nowadays, working in government sectors is even better.
During an exclusive interview with the Sin Chew Daily, Public Services Department pensions division director Datuk Yeow Chin Kiong had disclosed many unknown stories and data, including civil servants are receiving a lifelong support from taxpayers, they enjoy many subsidies and are not taxed, their spouses will continue to enjoy pensions if they pass away and a total of RM65.5 billion has been distributed to 600,000 retired civil servants over the past 10 years as wang ehsan and pensions.
After the country has paid so much to the 1.29 million civil servants to eliminate their worries, have the public be rewarded?
Undeniably, the government has been committed to enhancing the productivity and efficiency in public services since the administration of Tun Abdullah Badawi.
For example, the establishment of the Special Task Force to Facilitate Business (Pemudah) and the adoption of electronic support system to simplify the application procedures for business licenses, while the efficiency of the Immigration Department of Malaysia has also been enhanced in which applicants will be able to get their passports processed within an hour after payment is done.
However, accelerating the processing of documents is an improvement in amount while in terms of quality, there is still room for improvement. For example, the 2010 Auditor-General's Report has revealed many drawbacks, including fraud and waste of public funds. It shows that education and guidance are required to improve spirit.
I have experienced two incidents which can explain the quality of services depends on the mentality of civil servants.
I have recently received an email from the Inland Revenue Board (IRB), notifying me that my tax refunded has been debited into my account.
In the past, when I once called to make a claim, the official told me to bring along some required documents and they would decide whether it was refundable after reviewing the case. This year, however, I have received the tax refunded within a few months, proving that the enhancement of services depends on human efforts.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has also announced recently that the IRB will now have to pay a compensation of 2% on the amount of tax refunded if it is late in refunding taxpayers who overpaid.
Other government agencies should apply the same regulations to strengthen the sense of responsibility of officials.
The second incident took place when I went to an Immigration office to renew my passport. Unfortunately, the services were interrupted due to computer system failures.
No notice about the computer failures was seen, neither an announcement was made, leaving the people to wait and wonder when the services would be restored.
I believe that many people had taken a day leave for passport renewal and the officials should handle it flexibly. They could let the people take a number first or make an appointment to avoid wasting their time, instead of doing nothing.
Yeow was right. The public should not connive lazy civil servants. They must lodge a complaint to the authorities.
However, could we lodge a complaint against the IRB to the Public Complaints Bureau (PCB)? I am afraid that the PCB might not accept such a small complaint since the officials were not lazy, but only not flexible enough.
However, such trivial matters have actually affected the public's impression of civil services, causing us to think that the attitude of civil servants is poor.
Why did they forget to smile when the services were interrupted? It seems like there is still a very long way to go for civil servants to change the stereotype.
