PUTRAJAYA: The civil service reform does not acknowledge those who are "lazy" and with weak performance, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said the small group of non-performing civil servants had tarnished the image of the majority, undermining the reform that the government strives to achieve.
"If we want to elevate the civil service and become more efficient, we reward not based on age and length of service," he said in his keynote speech at the townhall session with the Malaysian Administrative and Diplomatic Service Association (PPTD) at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre today.
He said the culture of corruption and old mindset in public administration must be curbed.
Anwar, who is finance minister, also urged civil servants to be more effective and efficient in implementing government policies and decisions.
"I sometimes feel 'suffocated'. I'm supposedly slower but I'm
sometimes faster than 40-year-olds.
"Hence, whenever there is a cabinet's decision conveyed by the chief secretary to the government, secretaries-general, we will not succeed if we're stuck in the old ways."
He said if civil servants felt that the cabinet's decisions were unwise, they should give their input to the government, especially on new policies.
Citing Penang, he said there were 2,000 hardcore poor people despite being a developed state with high income.
"With investments in tens of billion ringgit, Penang is among the highest-income states.
"I told the chief minister that I want this to be resolved this month as we have the capabilities."
Present were Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali, Public Service Department director-general Datuk Sri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz and PPTD president Datuk Seri Isham Ishak.
