March 13, 2010 17:16 PM
By Normalazwa Jamaludin and Elmi Rizal Elias
PUTRAJAYA, March 13 (Bernama) -- The civil service, which has 1.2 million members, plays a huge role in making sure the government achieve its aspirations.
This is even more so at a time when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has already started the country's massive transformation process based on eight pillars comprising four key thrusts and four complementary values in his administration which will soon celebrate its first anniversary.
The four key thrusts are the 1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now concept, Government Transformation Programme (GTP), New Economic Model (NEM) and the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP).
The four complementary values are: making creativity and innovation a culture, giving importance to speedy action-taking and decision-making process, striving to provide value for money, and giving emphasis to the virtue of integrity.
These eight pillars, mooted by the prime minister, act as a guideline for the civil service in discharging its everyday duties and in achieving the ultimate objective of making Malaysia a high-income nation.
Even more significant is the fact that this idea was spelled out by the prime minister before a gathering of 4,000 civil servants at the 11th Civil Service Convention at Putrajaya International Convention Centre here on Tuesday.
He chose the event as a platform to explain and emphasis the role which the public sector should play in realising the government's aspirations and visions.
1Malaysia is the core philosophy underlying all the policies of the government with the ultimate objective of fostering national unity.
"This has been the ambitions and aspirations of all Malaysians for so long. Whether we like it or not, in a plural country like Malaysia, any form of national ambitions such as striving to achieve a better life for each citizen will remain a pipe dream without national unity.
"It goes without saying that without national unity, there will be no political stability, which is the core of everything," the prime minister said.
The transformation agenda aims to make the government more responsive to the aspirations and heartbeat of the people, which the prime minister aptly demonstrated when he said that the era of government knows best is over and that it should now act as a facilitator.
The third and fourth thrusts, namely the NEM and 10MP, are two economic initiatives to chart the country's direction in the long, medium and short terms.
The four key thrusts and four complementary values are supporting one another.
To acculturate creativity and innovation, civil servants should possess critical and constructive thinking when carrying out their responsibility by seeking creative, innovative and out of the ordinary solutions when confronted with problems.
Having the speed in taking actions and making decisions is also crucial as this can increase the "velocity of money" in the country's economic system.
The value for money approach will prevent wastage and make sure that the government and the people get maximum returns for every ringgit and sen spent.
The prime minister also emphasises on integrity because through such value, Malaysia can become a developed nations not only in terms of economy and technology but also in terms of social, culture, intellectual and spiritual.
Civil servants hail the prime minister's message, with Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan saying all members of the public service should work together to realise the government's aspirations.
He said it was incumbent upon them to enhance their performance and give first priority to the people.
He also said that the prime minister had given his full confidence to the civil service as partners in fulfilling the government's promise and in giving a full commitment to strengthen the government's delivery system.
Malaysian Institute of Integrity president Datuk Dr Mohd Tap Salleh said the eight pillars were achievable through the cooperation and teamwork among members of the civil service and the administration.
He said there was no difference in the objective of the civil servants and members of the administration as the ultimate aim was to help the people.
"We have set in motion steps to realise the country's aspirations. As the prime minister puts it, now is no longer the time for the first gear but third and fourth gear because the challenge in the future will be huge.
"Based on the country's competitiveness level, we are not at the height where we should be," he said.
He said the emphasis by Najib was not only relevant to the public sector but also to the private sector.
"He emphasises that the corporate sector should also roll up their sleeves and move along. There is no difference between the public sector and the private sector as both should move in tandem.
"The year 2020 is only 10 years away and if this is not done, the objectives set out in Vision 2020 will not be achieved," he said.
Cuepacs president Omar Osman described the eight pillars as a comprehensive message which provided a clear guideline for the civil service in charting the country's future.
The move was in line with the government transformation agenda apart from enhancing the image of the civil service in the eyes of the people and spurring the country towards a developed nation status, he said.
Omar said the change in the public service should involve all levels, from top ranking officers to their subordinates.
The transformation, as Mohd Sidek puts it, will bring change to the country's socio-economic landscape in a short period.
The question is, can the civil service keep pace with the prime minister's speed?
There is no doubt in the minds of many who were listening to Najib's more than one-hour address on Tuesday that the government machinery should move equally as fast or else the prime minister's transformation agenda would be stalled.
-- BERNAMA
