CIVIL servants can now use social media as a tool to criticise the government, because it has proven effective in drawing the government’s attention, Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng said today.

Lim was referring to the recent incident involving a mathematics teacher Mohd Fadli Mohamed Salleh, who claimed on his Facebook page that he would be fired or demoted for complaining that the syllabus was inappropriate for students.

Fadli, known as Cikgu Fadli, had initially complained about high class sizes, the number of subjects taught, as well as students having to carry heavy bags to school.

He said he had complained to his district and state education departments, but they took no action so he highlighted his concerns on social media.

“Now other civil servants can emulate Cikgu Fadli by using social media to criticise the authorities. Maybe this is a more effective and fastest way to gain feedback from government departments,” Lim said in a statement today.

He added that Cikgu Fadli had raised an issue that has been problem for some time.

He added so many people had raised a variety of weaknesses in government institutions but to date no concrete solution has been achieved.

“If we look at this issue carefully, there are many aspects of our country’s system that need immediate reform, from health to welfare, to the police.

“Every year, the public is told that the government studies and discusses problems, but in the end, there are no conclusive efforts to correct them.”

“Ministers come and go, so do directors, but the performance of our government is still at a very worrying level,” he said.

Meanwhile, Lim accused Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Education Minister Mohd Radzi Jidin of only wanting to hear Cikgu Fadli out because the election is around the corner.

“Both are scrambling to hear Cikgu Fadli’s views on how to improve the education system in primary schools only after he went viral on Facebook.

“Over the past years, many letters have been sent by teachers all over the country asking for reform but unfortunately these complaints are ignored,” he added.

Yesterday, Radzi said education services disciplinary board would announce a decision on Fadli today.

Yesterday, Education director-general Pkharuddin Ghazali said that the disciplinary board was scheduled to meet the following day after receiving Fadli’s written response on Friday.

Pkharuddin said giving Fadli a show cause letter did not necessarily mean that the board intended to punish him. – October 18, 2022.