THE familiar motto on civil servants’ obedience, “Saya Yang Menurut Perintah” (SYMP), or “I Follow Orders”, may soon be replaced with a slogan emphasising pride and a sense of duty.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Putrajaya is mulling replacing SYMP with “Saya Yang Menjalankan Tugas” (I Carry Out My Duty) when signing official letters.

Asked about the matter during a town-hall meeting with 3,400 administrative and diplomatic (PTD) officers in Putrajaya today, he said: “Yes, it can be done.”

The 93-year old leader said he will bring back the slogan “Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah” (Clean, Efficient and Trustworthy), popularised during his first turn as prime minister.

“Bersih – we cannot succeed if we are not ‘clean’. Cekap – it means we do something repeatedly till we are good at it. Amanah – this is important because we should never take what does not belong to us. This was why the slogan was introduced,” said Dr Mahathir.

He warned PTD officers to keep their “nafsu”, or “desires”, in check, and to be logical when going about government business.

“The conflict is always there. (If you do) things according to your temptations, or by pandering to emotions, it will only bring disaster.

“(You may) think it is beneficial now, but it is not in the long term.”

He gave as an example civil servants with the power to approve contracts delaying doing so, leveraging their position by asking for things in exchange for approval being given.

“If we follow our ‘nafsu’, we delay the approval.

“They purposely delay it to get something out of it. In this case, ‘nafsu’ wins, and logic loses.

“This will be costly to the country. Costs will increase when corruption is introduced into the equation.” – August 15, 2018.