IN my first draft, I was in favour of a four-day work week. I had a few words of advice for the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public Service (Cuepacs).

But after lunch, I read a news report quoting Cuepacs as saying the study on the four-day work week is irrelevant and useless.

It said the government should prioritise matters that benefit workers, especially the welfare of civil servants rather than matters that are not suitable to be implemented just yet.

I fully support the Cuepacs president.

So, my draft was useless and I had to rewrite.

The Public Service Department had set up a special team to study it following requests from “various parties”.

What surprises me is the various parties did not include the main stakeholder, that is, Cuepacs. An earlier survey confirmed that 62% of Malaysians preferred flexibility over a four-day work week.

These various parties must have been more powerful than Cuepacs.

I am worried by this episode. And am sure most Malaysians too. The director-general could have easily quoted the survey and check with Cuepacs on their stand on this matter in response to the “various parties”.

For Covid-19, we have many guidelines. But how about issues like this? Why was Cuepacs not consulted? Was it not them who asked for it?

I am worried and troubled on how our civil service machinery functions.

Only a month ago, we heard a former chief secretary to the government received a monthly advisory fee of RM30,000 for about two years but did nothing for 1Malaysia Development Bhd and after retirement, RM10,000 monthly for more than two years. A chief secretary is supposed to support the prime minister, administration of the civil service, state protocol and Islamic affairs.

Just look at the Auditor-General reports. In 2020, non-compliance with financial management resulted in issues of irregular payments amounting to RM1.3 billion, loss of public funds of RM11 million, and a waste of about RM9 million to the government.

The government machineries are clearly wasting taxpayers’ money.

There were calls for introduction of an ombudsman to contain these issues. It was supposed to come into operation in the first quarter of 2020. The continued political instability resulted in delays. In September last year, the prime minister announced that an Ombudsman Bill would be tabled this year.

It remains outstanding.

I trust the public service can be more dynamic and citizen-centric with high performance and integrity in improving governance, upholding accountability and transparency in government administration.

Incidentally, in lieu of an ombudsman, we have a Public Complaints Bureau, established in 1971 but it is not independent as it is an agency under the Prime Minister’s Department.

What baffles me, was that in 2013, the government decided to have all government agencies establish and operate a specialised unit to manage integrity issues. The ministry’s Integrity Unit was formed and its core functions were as provided under Service Circular No. 6 of 2013.

Whatever happened to it? Now we want a four-day work week when the main beneficiary is against it?

What say you… – July 5, 2022.

* Saleh Mohammed reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.