Cin-Cin, Cai-Cai!

June 28, 2005, NST CINCAI

PM: Discard 'cincai' attitude
By Shahrum Sayuthi, NST

Pak Lah calls all civil servants not to take their duties and deal with problems in a CINCAI way.

Pak Lah wants all civil servants to take their duties seriously and deal with problems with compassion and fairness towards all involved.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, addressed this message in a gathering of civil servants in Kuantan, Pahang.

According to Pak Lah, these were the core principles of positive action applicable to all, including himself.

"It does not matter whether we smile or scream when taking action, as that is just a matter of working style. What is more important is that our decision must be acceptable to all, even if not everyone is going to be happy about it. This advice is not just for all of you as I am also listening to what I say. I don’t want anyone to say I don’t ‘walk the talk’."

Also present at the gathering, held at the Sultan Ahmad Shah Silver Jubilee Hall here, were Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob.

The Prime Minister call on those given the task of handling an organisation not to shirk their duties even if it meant making unpopular decisions.

"It is not a pleasure doing such a thing but this is our work and we cannot avoid responsibilities. It is irresponsible for us not to do what is required of us just for the sake of making everyone happy. As a leader, if we are not willing to do it, we should resign. We might as well go and plant vegetables somewhere so that no one will be angry with us."

Abdullah also told the 1,000 civil servants present to ensure that projects to be implemented must truly benefit the people. "If it turns out that a project is not really necessary, maybe it should be shelved for the time being."

He said government departments and agencies needed to thoroughly assess the impact of every project, and their implementation must meet the needs of the people.

"We must discard the cincai (slapdash) attitude and get to the bottom of things to improve our services to the people."

Abdullah also reminded civil servants to discard their "third-class mentality" and provide quality service in keeping with the first-class infrastructure provided by the Government.

He said they must strive to improve their performance as there was "no such thing as no room for improvement". "You must value-add yourself so that you have the necessary knowledge to improve your work and also observe good values."

Abdullah also stressed the need for civil servants to improve the governance delivery system. "Just imagine yourself in the place of members of the public trying to get your services. It is indeed frustrating to hear about things such as people having to wait for years to get their house ready, or if ready, was not built according to specifications. They have the right to be angry and, in fact, I am also angry about such things."

Abdullah said civil servants should always bear in mind that the Government would have to bear the brunt of the people’s wrath if they had to put up with unsatisfactory services.

"Every day I read of people cursing us politicians and administrators for the bad services they have to endure. That is why I have to keep on reminding everyone to improve their performance."

Will the civil servants take heed of this advice? For 48 years they had been cultured in a colonial environment, accumulated the wealth of habits as described and now, we want them to change? And we now have five days week to change? Change what? Enjoy the weekends lah!