PUTRAJAYA, Oct 3 — It is unfair to compare the number of public servants in Malaysia with that of other countries as the definition of public servants in this country is bound by the Federal Constitution, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

He said the definition in this country covered the health services sector like doctors and nurses, the security forces such as the armed forces and police, and educators including teachers.

"Some of the other countries do not count in employees in the health, security and education sectors as public servants,” he said in his speech at the15th Civil Service Premier Message Gathering (MAPPA) held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre, today.

MAPPA is an annual event where the prime minister delivers his message to public servants in various service sectors at the federal, state, local government and government-linked company levels.

Najib said the government felt hurt and angry when certain quarters, particularly the opposition, accused the country’s civil service as being a "bloated civil service”, that is, exceeding the number in other countries.

"If they (opposition) are in power, with arrogance, they would want to reduce by half the number of civil servants.

"The opposition could even go to the extent of labelling civil servants and giving negative perceptions, besides callously describing the civil service as inefficient, earning ‘gaji buta’ (salary for not doing anything), and in the extreme, the opposition leaders are willing to insult civil servants by calling them ‘kucing kurap’,” he said.

According to Najib, in the government institution, the civil service is the major public service machinery in delivering and implementing all the policies and initiatives of the political master of the day.

He said there were perceptions or thinking that there was separation, that the political master of the day had nothing to do with the civil service, as some would say that the political master might come and go, but the civil service remained the same.

 "Contrarily, the government which is formed from members of the administration is actually the hierarchical link with the public service, where the government determines the national administration policy, and as directed, that policy must be implemented by the civil service effectively for the good of the country.”

He said the public service sector was mature and civil enough in handling the matter and in facing such aspersions as they deeply understood that the two could not be separated. "Members of the administration and the civil service are inseparable, like the proverbial ‘ibarat aur dengan tebing’ (like the bamboo and river bank),” he added.

Therefore, Najib said, when certain quarters or the opposition insulted or slandered civil servants, those nasty words were directed at the whole government and vice versa.

"Hence, we should be grateful for the benefits that we are enjoying and not allow this country to fall into their (opposition) hands as they do not appreciate the toil and contributions of the civil servants.

"If the allegations that civil servants in this country are inefficient, how could it be possible for these civil servants to have given the best services to the public through the Urban Transformation Centres and Rural Transformation Centres? These are game changers in public service delivery and recognised by the World Bank as the best government administration model in the world which could save up to RM2 billion in government expenditure.

"If previously it took up to 10 working days to renew a passport, now it takes only one hour, compared to three weeks in the United Kingdom and Australia. In fact, the online passport renewal is now going through the test period. This is what is called innovation in the transformation of the government’s service delivery system,” he said. — Bernama