PUTRAJAYA, May 6 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim wants the Immigration Department to operate as a solid team with sincere intentions to bring about change and to put an end to inappropriate practices, aligning with the concept of a Madani nation.
Anwar, who is also finance minister, said that law-abiding and well-behaved immigration officers need to come together to rectify and improve the weaknesses of a small number of personnel whose actions may have tarnished the department’s good image and reputation.
“I would like to thank the entire Immigration family because I know that the secretary-general of the Home Ministry Datuk Ruji Ubi, and the director-general of Immigration Datuk Ruslin Jusoh, are indeed working together with the Immigration family to take the necessary steps to rectify existing weaknesses.
“These weaknesses exist in all departments. In the Cabinet, I always remind ministers that there are high expectations because this government is a government of reform, a Madani government, a government that must undergo a paradigm shift and cannot remain as it was before,” he said at the Immigration Department’s Aidilfitri do here today.
Also present were his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and his deputy, Datuk Seri Shamsul Anuar Nasarah, as well as Ruslin.
Anwar said immigration personnel need to accept criticism with an open heart and remain committed to providing the best service.
“Whatever we do, no matter how good, must be improved. How do we measure whether it’s good or not? It’s not just based on last year’s performance, but on what’s currently happening.
“That’s why I sometimes reprimand and push you. The higher your post, the more you will be criticised,” he said.
The prime minister said the same goes in the government because he, along with the rest of his Cabinet, always strives to cleanse and save the country, despite often being criticised by certain parties.
“So I want you all to understand this...it’s not that I want to scold you all the time, we want to improve.
“I see us as one team, even though there are different parties, there’s Umno, DAP, PKR, Gabungan Parti Sarawak, and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah, but I don’t think they represent other parties outside, they are representing the government, we are one team,” he said. — Bernama
