Ali striking the gong to mark the official opening of the Sarawak Public Sector Conference 2014 as Morshidi (second right), Yahaya (third right) and others look on. — Photos by Muhammad Rais Sanusi
KUCHING: The Sarawak State Civil Service 2010 to 2020 Action Plan (SCS 10-20 Action Plan) serves as a focused and structured roadmap for the state civil service on its journey of transformation.
Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa expressed his confidence that the transformational initiatives pursued at state level will not only complement the transformation programmes at national level such as the Government Transformation Programme and the Economic Transformation Programme, but also contribute towards Malaysia’s transformation into a high-income developed nation by 2020.
“The SCS 10-20 Action Plan is the first I’ve come across at state level and I would like to congratulate State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Morshidi Abdul Ghani and all members of the state public service for the initiative and commitment shown thus far in formulating and implementing service transformation at state level,” he said when officiating at the Sarawak Public Sector Conference 2014 at a leading hotel here yesterday.
With today’s public sector facing very different challenges from those a decade ago, civil servants had no choice but to change, transform and be innovative in their approach to meet and overcome these challenges, or risk being left behind or becoming obsolete.
“The ‘rakyat’ of today are a discerning and savvy lot who demand fast, efficient and cost-effective services to meet their needs and expectations. At the same time, the advent of social media has forced us to come face-to-face with positive and negative feedback in real-time while at institutional level, we face fiscal constraints that challenge us to do more for the ‘rakyat’ with less resources.
“Hence, we must take the bold step to transform the public sector and aim not for incremental benefits, but significant and sustainable outcomes in the form of enhanced public services, increase in productivity and efficiency, and economic growth,” he stressed.
Ali also encouraged civil servants, regarded as the people who will drive the transformation agenda, to learn from other governments.
“We should study their best practices and improve on them, so in the end, we will not be on par with them, but instead be a step ahead,” he emphasised.
Citing the state civil service’s vision ‘To be a World Class Civil Service’ similar to Canada’s ‘A world-class public service equipped to serve Canada and Canadians now and into the future’, he said there was much benefit for civil servants to study what they had done and where they were at in their implementation.
“This is so that we can learn and compare our experience and identify avenues for further improvement.”
Among those present at the launch of the conference were Morshidi and State Federal Secretary Datuk Mohd Yahaya Basimin.