Civil servants must live up to their name
WONG CHUN WAI
February 19, 2006
The Star

WORKS Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu has had enough of it – members of the public who take their complaints on highways and bridges direct to the press instead of to his ministry.  

In an emotional moment, he took out his mobile phone, showed his number to the media, and invited the people to call him directly.  

In two days, he received more than 2,600 SMS although only 200 of them were related to complaints against his ministry.  

Since then he has calmed down, and probably changed his mind over the need to personally handle every complaint from the public.  

But the fact remains that people are fed up of bringing their problems directly to the authorities simply because they feel there would be no follow-up. 

We are happy even if we can get through to a clerk who will listen to us, record our queries or complaints, and refer us to the appropriate department for a real follow-up.  

We don’t need a minister to attend to us. That would be asking for too much.  

The sad thing is that most of us have gone through enough in our dealings with the authorities to be able to write a book about how we are often passed from one person to another, or from one department to another. 

The mentality of a bureaucrat is that the public must write an official complaint to the right person at the right department before action can be taken, if at all. A letter is a form of record. A telephone call or an e-mail would not be encouraged. 

Rightly or wrongly, that is the perception of our bureaucracy. No wonder Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is still stressing on the importance of the delivery system after two years in office. 

Just make a cursory check on the complaints made by the public through the various newspapers. Almost all these complaints get no response from the affected departments. 

It is the job of the public relations officers to respond to these problems highlighted by the public but not many are doing their job.  

The only ones who regularly reply to these queries and complaints are from the Employees Provident Fund and the Internal Revenue Department. 

Last week, I voiced my unhappiness in this column about the numerous potholes along Lebuh Bandar Utama from the Aman Suria area. Following that, the MP for PJ Utara, Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, directed the municipal council to patch up the holes. 

Residents are grateful to Chew who, as an MP, shouldn’t really trouble herself with such matters. But although she got the workers to show up, they did not really do a good job.  

We noticed that they had used poor material to just fill up the holes and we wondered if the regular downpours these past few evenings would wash away all their hard work. 

Well, that’s what has happened. Our temporarily patched-up potholes, sad to say, are now looking more like craters. 

But the point is that prior to Chew stepping in, we had gone through the proper process.  

According to the Bandar Utama Residents Association, they had complained to the council direct.  

I also sent a letter to the Bukit Lanjan Assemblyman Yong Dai Yin, where the road is said to be located, but received no reply. The letter was sent by fax and also couriered to her. 

I am sure there are similar situations elsewhere. Yet, we can be sure that roads will be freshly tarred by the councils come election time. And then we will hear no end of the promises of our politicians promising us another five years of dedicated service. 

I have since sent a letter to the council thanking the officer for the immediate action but pointed out that a quick job just won’t do. As taxpayers, we deserve better service. I am not sure whether there will be a reply. 

Such apathy is not just confined to the local government level but also at state and federal levels.  

The Singapore government expects its officers, at home or abroad, to reply to all letters and e-mail, in particular complaints made through the media, as it is serious about protecting its image. 

Its Foreign Ministry expects its press officers to defend the country’s position and they are required to send rebuttals, with well-researched statistics and arguments. Nothing is too small or too trivial to merit a response. 

But over here, it would not be wrong to suggest that not only are the letters ignored but no follow-up action is taken.  

It is because of such frustrations that Malaysians tend to bring their unhappiness to the media. 

In the age of the Internet, the public must be able to file their complaints through the websites of the various authorities. In turn, these authorities must also ensure that they respond and that their websites are also properly maintained. 

One country, for example, makes it a point to send a reminder to passport holders as the expiry date of their travelling documents approaches.  

That is being efficient. Why can’t we do the same? 

There is really no need to travel to South Africa, Mauritius and Egypt on so-called study tours at our expenses.  

One councillor boasted that he visited more than 10 toilets during his tour, in an effort to justify the trip. Big deal, most of us visit our toilets more than 10 times in two days at home and at the office. 

A colleague some years back decided to test the efficiency of several town councils in the United Kingdom and Australia by sending e-mail to the press officers concerned for information.  

He received immediate responses and in cases where they could not assist, they suggested alternative links and e-mail addresses. 

I dare say that none of our local councils dare to take up this challenge, much less to answer every complaint and query within a stipulated deadline.  

Civil servants, as the name implies, means being civil and being a servant to the public.  

Source: http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?file=/columnists/2006/2/19/onthebeat/13434166&sec=On%20The%20Beat