Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa
PUTRAJAYA: The government has yet to decide on issuing a specific circular on the ‘Pokemon Go’ game for civil servants on duty, said Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa.
He pointed out that civil servants were not allowed to play any game including those online during working hours.
“We wait … We will look at its impact,” he told reporters when asked whether the government would issue a circular on ‘Pokemon Go’.
Ali was approached by the media after attending the Asian Productivity Organisation (APO) International Conference on Public Sector Productivity, here yesterday.
The reality game based on location and developed by Niantic Incorporation of Nintendo USA first entered Malaysia last Saturday and had received various public reaction.
Earlier, Federal Territory Mufti Datuk Dr Zulkifli Mohamad al-Bakri said the character Pokemon and the Pokemon Go game application were forbidden for Muslims based on the factors of ‘maslahah’ (interest) and harmful factors.
The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, was also reported to have said that the application of the virtual game would be forbidden if it was found to have any gambling elements and spying which jeopardised national security.
In his speech at the event, Ali said it was vital for the public sector to measure its performance against the efficiency of resource utilisation.
“The higher the level of efficiency in government regulations, procedures and delivery of services, the higher is its contribution to spur growth, prosperity and social progress,” he said.
“Last year, public sector spending accounted for nearly 14 per cent of Malaysia’s GDP and employed almost 11.5 per cent of the total work force. The performance of the sector has a significant impact in facilitating the overall productivitiy of the country,” he added.
Ali told the conference that the Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) and Public Service Department (PSD) were conducting a pilot study to measure public service productivity, which aimed at identifying inputs that could be used for budget allocation and assessment of government programmes.
Three main sectors namely education, healthcare and security were selected for the pilot project based on their high expenditure on emoluments, he said.
The study adopted the methodologies of the United Kingdom Office for National Statistics and the Australian Government Productivity Commission (AGPC) to measure productivity and performance.
“However, it was found that measuring outcomes in government services poses the challenge of estimating actual productivity. There is room for improvement on the adopted methodology,” he said, adding that Malaysia would conduct a follow-up study this year which would focus more on incorporating quality aspects into the measurement. — Bernama