Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

We deserve better services from civil servants: Yeow

Posted: 29 Oct 2011 06:29 PM PDT

Yeow said the 600,000 civil servants in the country had drawn more than RM14bn in retirement benefits and another RM54.5bn in pensions over the past ten years. A total of RM170m in retirement benefits and another RM800m in pensions were disbursed to the country's civil servants in 2010 alone. There are currently 1.2 million civil servants in the country, about 17,000 of them retiring each year.

Translated by DOMINIC LOH, Sin Chew Daily exclusive

You may not be aware that our civil servants are actually very much loaded with money. As taxpayers, we therefore ought to demand better services from these people, and there is no way we should connive with indolence in the public sector.

During an exclusive interview with Sin Chew Daily, the Public Service Department post-service division chief Datuk Yeow Chin Kiong said public servants were not only entitled to their monthly salaries, they could also claim their monthly pensions after their retirement all the way until their deaths, after which their families not only could get RM3,000 of condolence money, but their spouses could continue to enjoy their pensions.

"If the monthly salaries of civil servants are what they are entitled to, the pensions paid to them after their retirement should be considered a kind of 'gift' from the government. In other words, we can say that taxpayers are financially supporting our civil servants life-long."

He told Sin Chew Daily civil servants were also entitled to all kinds of tax-exempted allowances including unlimited overtime pays.

As if that is not enough, Yeow said the civil servants, along with their parents, spouses and children, could also enjoy free medical attention at government hospitals, and such benefits would be extended to them beyond their retirement.

He said if certain medicines were not available in government establishments, civil servants could visit private clinics or hospitals for the prescribed drugs and claim from the government.

He pointed out that civil servants did not have to make EPF contributions while government would offer them 4% p.a. of low-interest loans for house purchase. Besides, he said they also did not require medical cards from insurance companies like ordinary people.

"Since civil servants are provided such handsome incomes and perks, Malaysians should demand better quality of services from them when visiting government departments.

"We always complain that their attitudes are undesirable, not knowing that we are actually conniving with their indolence."

Yeow said Malaysians should lodge a complaint to the authorities if they discovered that some of the public servants were not performing up to the mark, adding that civil servants would lose all their benefits if they were dismissed because of their poor performances.

He emphasised that the public had the right to demand better services from even people like senior government officials, MPs and Cabinet ministers.

RM65.5bn paid to civil servants in ten years

Retirement benefits are one-off sums paid to public servants upon retirement while pensions are monthly sums paid to them after retirement, which will be adjusted in accordance with increments in the public sector.

Civil servants include also members of parliament, ministers, deputy ministers and judges, although the retirement benefits and pensions they are entitled to are calculated in different ways.

He told Sin Chew Daily that the government had to fork out a sum of pensions equivalent to 2% of the country's GDP to retired civil servants every year.

He pointed out that Malaysia's pension system was actually inherited from the British, whereas in many other countries, there are things similar to our EPF but no pensions in the public sector.

He highlighted the fact that corruption in the public sector was particularly rife in countries without the pension system, adding that our pension system to a certain extent had a dampening effect on public sector corruption.

He said civil servants could choose from either EPF or pensions. If they choose the latter, they have to ensure that they perform up to the requirement, as they will lose all their benefits if they are removed from office due to indiscipline or poor performances.

As a result, he said the pension system could help keep these civil servants in good attitudes and work performances, and the public had the responsibility of monitoring their performances.

When asked about the effects of raising public sector retirement age to 60, as proposed in the 2012 Budget, Yeow said this would indirectly help reduce the government's financial burden.

There are currently 1.2 million civil servants in the country, about 17,000 of them retiring each year.

Najib Likely to Announce Election Date During Umno Assembly

Posted: 29 Oct 2011 06:19 PM PDT

To be sure of winning though, Umno must reassure rural and less well off Malay voters that they can continue to depend on government assistance and positive discrimination, while recovering support from urban Malays and the Chinese and Indian minorities who favor economic and political reform.

by Haider Yutim, Malaysian Digest

"Sarawak assembly should be the last big one before national snap polls later in the year," reported Asia Sentinel. This was written four months ago – back then when many people predicted that national elections will happen by the end of this year. How do Malaysians know that the General Election is approaching? The answer is simple – when the tell-tale signs go viral.

What are the tell-tale signs one might ask. When a middle-aged prime minister appears in public on a bicycle clad in a T-shirt and cycling helmet, and showing up in a concert, it is reasonable to assume that an election is in the offing.

However, the prime minister said nothing about an early poll when he donned his cycling gear at a rally in an opposition-held state of Penang last month. But any doubt that an election is likely within months disappeared with Najib's tabling of the national Budget which appears to be aimed at shoring up the economy and Barisan Nasional's core support in the public sector as well as the Malay voters.

Budget 2012 certainly gave the rakyat a foretaste of the goodies that we will be receiving in the run-up to the 13th general election which many believe will be held within the first quarter of next year. The stock market is not looking so bright and the looming recession seems to motivate the government to give out more good news to Malaysians.

Most of these goodies mostly impact the civil servants which make up a huge percentage of the Malaysian populace. The Government will continue to prioritize the concerns of the rakyat in its strategic initiatives in year 2012 through the implementation of its Economic Transformation Program (ETP), Government Transformation Program (GTP) and 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP).

With the strategies and programs planned under Budget 2012, the Government expects to register a 5% - 6% expansion in the country's economy next year. As the government recognizes that the skills of the labor force, or human capital, is an important component in the production function of the economy, efforts have been made to develop it.

The Political Transformation Program (PTP) introduced recently will witness major changes in legislation to enable Malaysia to become a modern, progressive and, at the same time, a functional democracy. To complement this, the government will introduce several other transformation programs. All these will culminate into the National Transformation Policy or DTN, effective from 2011 to 2020.

State Visit

The meet-the-people programs at various states were carried out by Najib so that he could listen to the problems of the people.

"Our intention is not to hold ceremonial functions, but to listen to the people's problems, their issues on the ground and grouses," said Najib.

The nationwide road trip by the top two leaders of the country which began in March is expected to bring about changes which would affect the lives of the average Malaysians. Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said it is in line with Najib's commitment for a political transformation and in line with the government's 'People First, Performance Now' agenda.

"We are looking at national issues. There would be hopefully announcements at that particular time when they go down. We are looking at issue solving and announcements that affect the state.

"We will be looking specifically at issues covering the parliaments and state assemblies and the people's representatives," he said after a meeting of the steering committee on the tour.

Time Frame Factor

A strong win in election would give Najib, who took office in April 2009, the political mandate to break through resistance to reform from sections of the Malay majority who fear their rights are under threat. Najib has pledged pro-market economic reforms to lure lagging foreign investment and turn around his ailing coalition.

He has tried to woo the alienated ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities who abandoned the ruling coalition in the last election in 2008, leading to its unprecedented losses, but there are few signs that he can win them back.

Holding back would give him and Umno machinery time to rebuild minority support and implement reforms such as the GST, fuel subsidy cuts and further market liberalization while managing any potential backlash. Government's popularity has improved following a series of economic and civil liberties reform initiatives, including the proposed repeal of laws allowing indefinite detention without trial. Policing in a modern and open society requires laws to be repealed, amended and a new framework formulated to strike a balance between national security and individuals' rights. Policing philosophy introduced during the insurgency is no longer relevant.

To be sure of winning though, Umno must reassure rural and less well off Malay voters that they can continue to depend on government assistance and positive discrimination, while recovering support from urban Malays and the Chinese and Indian minorities who favor economic and political reform.

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Ahad, 30 Oktober 2011