Pelantikan Mohd Khusrin sebagai SUK Selangor belum muktamad: MB

Berita Harian

SHAH ALAM: Pelantikan Datuk Mohd Khusrin Munawi sebagai sebagai Setiausaha Kerajaan Negeri Selangor (SUK) yang baru berkuat kuasa 1 Januari depan seperti diumumkan Ketua Setiausaha Negara (KSN) pagi ini, belum lagi muktamad.

Dalam satu kenyataan dari Pejabat Menteri Besar Selangor sebentar tadi berkata, Menteri Besar, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim akan mengadap Sultan Selangor, Rabu ini berhubung tiga nama yang dihantar sebelum ini.

Pagi ini, Setiausaha Negara Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan dalam satu kenyataan mengumumkan Mohd Khusrin, 54, yang kini Pengarah Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (JAIS) menggantikan Datuk Ramli Mahmud, 56, yang menamatkan perkhidmatan pada 31 Disember ini.
Menurut Mohd Sidek, Mohd Khusrin, berkelulusan ijazah Sarjana Muda Ekonomi dalam bidang Pengurusan Perniagaan, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, pernah menyandang jawatan Yang Dipertua Majlis Daerah Kajang dan Yang Dipertua Majlis Daerah Kuala Langat.

Ramli, yang sebelum ini menjadi Datuk Bandar Shah Alam dan Yang Dipertua Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya, telah berkhidmat dalam perkhidmatan awam selama 31 tahun.

Tempat Mohd Khusrin di Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor akan diambil alih oleh Pegawai Daerah Sabak Bernam Marzuki Hussin, 56, juga mulai 1 Januari.

Mohd Sidek berkata, pelantikan Mohd Khusrin dan Marzuki sudah mendapat perkenan Sultan Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.

Report politicians who seek favours, civil servants told

By Sarban Singh, TheStar

SEREMBAN: Civil servants must report to their superiors in writing if they are asked “favours” by politicians and the well-connected in the awarding of government contracts.
The directive covers recommendations of sila timbangkan (please consider), disokong dengan kuat (strongly recommended) and saya tiada halangan (no objections) made in all forms – written, spoken, email, telephone call or SMS – for contracts, permits, licences, citizenship and scholarship awards.

Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Sidek Hassan, who made this clear in a recent circular, stressed that all decisions must be based on merit.

“Recommendations made by politicians or influential people should not in any way influence the decisions of the Government. We have come up with a comprehensive set of rules to check this because civil servants are often caught in a bind with requests or recommendations from politicians and influential people,” he stated in the circular.

Sidek said any recommendation received in writing must be attached to the application file.

“If the favour is sought verbally, then the details of this communication, such as time and date, must be written and attached with the particular application,” he said, adding that once this was done, the civil servant concerned must report it in writing to his superior for further instructions.

If the civil servant is unable to do so for any particular reason, then he or she should report the matter to the government agency concerned.

“If the favour sought or recommendation made is related to a government contract, the matter should be reported to the Finance Ministry.

“If it is regarding permits or licences, then it should be referred to the relevant agencies,” he said, adding that if the favour sought was connected to a corruption or abuse of power case, the civil servant must report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

Cuepacs president Omar Osman said the directive was timely to prevent the abuse of power.

“Although most decisions are made based on provisions of the law, it is better to have such a rule so that there will be more transparency,” he said.

Omar said on the other hand, there were also civil servants who were active in politics and had easy access to politicians and could easily seek favours and recommendations from them.

“There are cases where civil servants had themselves obtained recommendations from ministers or Members of Parliament for scholarships and places in university for their children.

“Some even ask recommendations to get promotions. When this happens, it becomes a disadvantage to those who are not well connected,” he added.

A PRESIDENT, A QUEEN and TWO PMs

From Blog

According to The Nut Graph, studies by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development that reveal that Malaysia has the highest civil servants-to-population ratio in the Asia Pacific. Then, DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua said Malaysia had a bloated civil service - Malaysia’s ratio was 4.68%, compared to Indonesia’s 1.79%, Korea’s 1.85% and Thailand’s 2.06% all of which have less than half our ratio.

Last week, MP Liew Chin Tong revealed in his blog, that the Prime Minister’s Department’s allocation for 2010 is a whopping RM12 billion, not RM4 billion as some people may have perceived it to be. That's a lot of money! Like many Malaysians, I wondered why that department is NOT tightening the belt like what the rest of us are doing in the light of subsidy cuts and warnings of imminent bankruptcy by 2019.

Based on MP Liew's blog, I have summarized a few astounding facts:

A. Staff size of the PMD

Year: 1981
PM: TDM
Staff size: 4,414 staff in the PMD

TWENTY YEARS LATER

Year: 2001
PM: TDM
Staff size: 9,673 ( this is an increase of 119.14% after TWENTY YEARS)

Year: 2003
PM: Badawi
Staff size: 21,045 in 2003 (this is an increase of 117.564% in TWO YEARS)

Year : 2009
PM: PM Najib Razak
Satff Size: 25,332 (this is an increase of 20.37% over 6 years)

Year 2010
PM: PM Najib
Staff size: 43,544 people (this is an increase of 71.893% in ONE YEAR!!!!)

After that mathematical exercise, I decided to compare the budgets of our PM with that of the US President , Singapore PM and the Queen of England.

I was quite amazed that the information is readily available in the net.

Bekas KSN: KM tak sepatutnya gaduh

Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang, Lim Guan Eng, sepatutnya tidak bergaduh dengan Pegawai Kemajuan Negeri (SDO) Pulau Pinang Nik Ali Mat Yunus di khalayak umum, menurut Persatuan Alumni Pegawai Tadbir dan Diplomatik (PTD) di Kuala Lumpur hari ini.

Presiden persatuan itu Tan Sri Sallehuddin Mohamed berkata prosedur yang baik untuk Lim ialah dengan melaporkan kepada Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam (JPA) atau Ketua Setiausaha Negara (KSN) jika beliau tidak berpuas hati dengan pencapaian pegawai berkenaan dan memintanya untuk dipindahkan.

Sallehuddin, yang juga bekas KSN, berkata: "Kita percaya bahawa SDO itu, sebagai seorang pegawai awam yang sangat kanan, memang menyedari sepenuhnya kod etika perkhidmatan awam yang baik.

"Dalam kes ini, beliau mestilah dengan sangat marah di khalayak awam berikutan dengan kekecewaan yang sangat dan provokasi yang dilaporkan dalam akhbar."

Sallehuddin berkata persatuan itu memandang berat pergaduhan antara Ketua Menteri dan SDO Pulau Pinang yang dilaporkan dalam akhbar sejak seminggu lalu.

Beliau mengulas ketegangan antara Lim dan Nik Ali di mana Ketua Menteri itu didakwa telah membuat beberapa kenyataan mengkritik SDO tersebut berhubung antara lain isu perlombongan pasir di Balik Pulau.

"Sebagai kakitangan yang telah bersara yang telah berkhidmat pada kadar lebih 30 tahun dalam perkhidmatan awam dan sesetengah telah menjawat jawatan tertinggi dalam sektor awam, kita tahu bahawa ada prosedur dan prinsip tingkah laku kakitangan awam yang perlu dipatuhi.

"Salah satu prinsip ialah kakitangan awam diharap memberikan khidmatnya dengan kerajaan pada masa itu, dengan mana-mana parti politik yang berkuasa.

"Sehubungan itu, dalam konteks situasi di Pulau Pinang, adalah menjadi tanggungjawab semua kakitangan awam, termasuk pegawai persekutuan, di sana untuk berkhidmat dengan kerajaan negeri," katanya

- Bernama

Guan Eng takes on the Chief Secretary

By Clara Chooi, The Malaysian Insider
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng accused Chief Secretary to the Government, Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, today of preferring to defend his “little Napoleons” instead of upholding the integrity of the civil service.

Lim mocked the country’s top civil servant for speaking up for Penang State Development Officer (SDO) Nik Ali Mat Yunus, and challenged Mohd Sidek to admit if he planned on ending his career protecting “little Napoleons like Nik Ali”.

“Is the Chief Secretary going to end his career in a year’s time by defending these little Napoleons? Or will he defend the civil service, as a professional public administrative body?” he told a press conference in Penang this afternoon.

The DAP secretary-general claimed that the state had “suffered in silence” for the past two years with Nik Ali’s uncooperative ways and would continue to do so.

“Since the Chief Secretary does not want to replace him, then the status quo is maintained,” he said.

He claimed he had attempted to meet with Mohd Sidek a few months ago to discuss Nik Ali’s behaviour but the meeting had been cancelled.

“I tried but I failed. A few months back, an appointment was made but he cancelled it at the last minute even though I was in Kuala Lumpur.

“No new date was fixed,” he said.

Lim expressed disappointment at Mohd Sidek’s apparent readiness to support Nik Ali’s use of words like “biadap” (insolent) and “dayus” (coward) on a chief minister.

The spat between Nik Ali and Lim originated from Pulau Betong assemblyman Muhamad Farid Saad’s claims last week that illegal sand excavation was taking place at a plot in Kampung Kenanga, which had been earmarked for a government polytechnic.

Lim had responded to the allegation by saying that the state would not be able to probe the matter as Nik Ali had not been cooperative.

The accusation escalated into a verbal war between Nik Ali and Lim with the federal officer retaliating by calling Lim “insolent, uncivilised and a coward” during an Umno function.

Since then, other leaders including DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, and Mohd Sidek himself, have joined the fray, turning the spat into an all out battle between the civil service and the DAP.

Gaji 600,000 kakitangan awam disemak

Berita Harian

KUCHING: Kira-kira 600,000 kakitangan awam dalam Kumpulan Sokongan Satu dan Dua dijangka akan menerima durian runtuh apabila kerajaan difahamkan sedia menyemak tangga gaji mereka bagi membolehkan pendapatan melebihi RM40,000 setahun.

Presiden Kongres Kesatuan Pekerja Dalam Perkhidmatan Awam (Cuepacs), Omar Osman, berkata berdasarkan Model Baru Ekonomi (MEB), kerajaan menetapkan pendapatan rakyat di negara perlu melepasi AS$15,000 (RM48,000) dan sebagai permulaan semakan gaji kakitangan dilakukan.
Katanya, semakan ini membabitkan cadangan penghapusan kelayakan akademik Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) atau Sijil Rendah Pelajaran (SRP) berikutan ia dinaikkan kepada sekurang-kurangnya Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM).
“Ini bermakna kakitangan Kumpulan Sokongan Satu dan Dua seperti pemandu, pembantu tadbir rendah, tukang masak, atendan haiwan, penolong jururawat akan menikmati kenaikan gaji sekali ganda atau sekurang-kurangnya RM1,500.

“Mereka yang mahu menyertai perkhidmatan awam selepas ini perlu memastikan memiliki kelayakan sekurang-kurangnya SPM seperti diperkenalkan polis baru-baru ini melalui skim pengstrukturan mereka,” katanya ketika ditemui di sini, semalam

RM900 hingga RM7,500 bagi guru cemerlang

Timbalan Perdana Menteri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin hari ini mengumumkan ganjaran kewangan bersempena sambutan Hari Guru hari ini kepada pengetua, guru besar dan guru yang berjaya melonjakkan prestasi sekolah masing-masing.

Muhyiddin berkata mereka yang mencapai sasaran Indeks Petunjuk Prestasi (KPI) Kementerian Pelajaran yang ditetapkan bakal mendapat imbuhan wang tunai antara RM900 hingga RM7,500 mulai tahun ini.

"Selaras dengan konsep mengutamakan pencapaian dan keberhasilan, tawaran baru ini, ganjaran kewangan akan diberikan kepada pengetua, guru besar dan guru-guru yang berjaya melonjakkan prestasi sekolah masing-masing melepasi Skor Komposit 92 peratus bagi sekolah menengah dan 84 peratus bagi sekolah rendah.

"Pengetua dan guru besar yang mencapai sasaran KPI ini akan menerima ganjaran kewangan sebanyak RM7,500, lima peratus guru-guru (terbaik) sekolah berkenaan pula, iaitu berdasarkan tahap penilaian prestasi tahunan mereka, akan menerima RM1,800 dan guru-guru selebihnya lagi akan menerima RM900," katanya kepada pemberita selepas merasmikan sambutan Hari Guru Peringkat kebangsaan di Universiti Malaysia Pahang, di Kuantan hari ini.

Beliau yang juga Menteri Pelajaran berkata ganjaran kewangan itu merupakan satu suntikan baru kepada guru-guru untuk bekerja dengan gigih lagi bagi meningkatkan prestasi sekolah dan keberhasilan pelajar.

Muhyiddin berkata ganjaran kewangan itu tidak terbatas hanya sekali sahaja untuk setiap sekolah: "Kalau sekolah itu meneruskan usahanya untuk tahun berikutnya, ia akan dapat lagi ganjaran itu,".

Beliau berkata ganjaran kewangan itu akan diteruskan setiap tahun dan bagi tahun ini, pencapaian setiap sekolah akan dinilai selepas keputusan peperiksaan, sebelum ganjaran itu diberikan kepada mereka yang layak.

Terdahulu ketika berucap pada majlis berkenaan, Muhyidin turut mengumumkan beberapa inisiatif lain kepada golongan pendidik.

Antaranya, Lembaga Kenaikan Pangkat Perkhidmatan Pendidikan (LKPPP) telah meluluskan sebanyak 25,269 kenaikan pangkat bagi pegawai Perkhidmatan Pendidikan Siswazah (PPPS) dan Pegawai Perkhidmatan Pendidikan Lepasan Diploma atau bukan siswazah sehingga April 2010 ini.

"Untuk mempercepatkan proses kenaikan pangkat, Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam juga telah bersetuju supaya kenaikan pangkat berdasarkan tempoh perkhidmatan Gred DG44 dan DG48 bagi Pegawai Perkhidmatan Siswazah akan dilaksanakan Kementerian Pelajaran," kata Muhyiddin.

MS MS NHBeliau berkata Pegawai Perkhidmatan Siswazah yang memperoleh ijazah doktor falsafah juga akan menikmati kenaikan satu gred sekiranya memenuhi kriteria dan syarat yang akan ditetapkan Kementerian Pelajaran.

Selain itu, Muhyiddin berkata kerajaan juga sedang menimbangkan pelaksanaan beberapa inisiatif kenaikan pangkat berasaskan pencapaian yang lebih baik kepada mereka yang benar-benar menunjukkan kebolehan.

Ditanya mengenai syor yang dibuat oleh Jawatankuasa Khas Mengkaji Beban Tugas Guru, Muhyiddin berkata beberapa syor jawatankuasa berkenaan yang dipengerusikan Ketua Pengarah Pelajaran Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom, akan dilaksanakan secepat mungkin.

"Beberapa perkara yang saya sebutkan (dalam ucapan) akan dilaksanakan seberapa segera, itu antara sebahagian daripada perkara yang dikenalpasti jawatankuasa berkenaan," kata Muhyiddin.

Antara syor yang dikemukakan jwatankuasa berkenaan yang akan dilaksanakan segera antaranya, mengurangkan bilangan jawatankuasa di peringkat sekolah kepada jumlah yang lebih wajar.

"Pada masa ini terdapat sekolah yang mempunyai hampir 40 jawatankuasa dalam bidang pengurusan dan pentadbiran, kurikulum, hal ehwal murid dan kebersihan, keceriaan, keselamatan dan sebagainya.

"Pengecilan jumlah jawatankuasa akan dapat mengurangkan bebanan guru dan dapat memberi peluang kepada mereka untuk menumpukan perhatian kepada tugas hakiki," katan Muhyiddin.

Syor lain ialah mengkaji bilangan peperiksaan di sekolah dan ujian di peringkat sekolah yang dilihat terlalu banyak, menyusun semula tugas-tugas perkeranian di sekolah dan penyediaan kurusus-kursus yang bersesuaian untuk golongan pendidik.

Turut hadir Menteri Besar Pahang Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob, Timbalan Menteri Pelajaran, Datuk Ir Wee Ka Siong dan Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi.

- Bernama

Whistleblower gets show-cause letter

By Ding Jo-Ann
dingjoann@thenutgraph.com

PETALING JAYA, 13 May 2010: A doctor who went public with serious allegations of mismanagement and cronyism in an Orang Asli hospital in Gombak has continued to be targeted for her outspokenness.

Dr Selva Vathany Kanapathi Pillai told The Nut Graph she received a show-cause letter from the Jabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli (JHEOA) last month.

"The JHEOA asked me to explain why I took part in a Bar Council press conference without my department head Dr Saaiah Abdullah's permission," Dr Selva said in a phone interview.

"The letter said that if I did not reply with an adequate explanation, action would be taken against me."

The Bar Council press conference was held on 11 Feb 2010 to highlight Dr Selva's complaints about the Gombak hospital. It raised issues such as the high rate of malnutrition among Orang Asli children, and the use of hospital facilities by non-Orang Asli patients. This was despite the fact that the hospital was specifically set up to improve Orang Asli health.

The Bar Council had also called on the hospital to be placed under the purview of the Health Ministry instead of the Rural and Regional Development Ministry, which is currently the case.

Dr Selva was also present when Orang Asli representatives handed in a memorandum to the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) on 16 March, complaining about poor services at the hospital.

JHEOA pressure

Dr Selva had earlier told The Nut Graph how she was sidelined by the hospital's management due to her raising of mismanagement issues.

Dr Selva (Courtesy of Bar Council)Shortly after she sent a formal complaint letter to the Health Ministry in late 2009, she was told she was to be transferred to Kedah.

"I am not under JHEOA's authority anymore because of my transfer. I am now directly under the Health Ministry," said Dr Selva.

"It doesn't make sense that I am sent a show-cause letter by the very department and people that I have been making complaints about."

Dr Selva was unable to supply The Nut Graph with a copy of the JHEOA letter as it was marked "sulit".

Dr Selva said the show-cause letter had also asked her to give an explanation about why she had participated in a demonstration in front of the Gombak hospital on 24 Feb 2010.

"I wasn't even at the hospital on the day of the demonstration," Dr Selva said. "I was already preparing to leave because of my transfer to Kedah."

The Nut Graph previously tried to reach JHEOA director-general Datuk Mohd Sani Mistam for comment on issues affecting the hospital, but was told he was away till 17 May. Requests for his deputy, Nisra Nisran Asra Ramlan, to respond were also in vain.

No resolution

Dr Selva is vexed that despite the recent attention the Gombak Hospital has been receiving, the authorities are focusing on issuing show-cause letters instead of dealing with the malnutrition issue among Orang Asli children.

"There is already a comprehensive Health Ministry food-basket programme in place. It is not just for the 'hardcore poor', as claimed by JHEOA's director-general, but for all malnourished children," said Dr Selva.

Under the programme, underweight children receive monthly food baskets from the Health Ministry. The children are monitored until they fall within the recommended weight for their age.

Joseph Entulu Belaun (Source:
parlimen.gov.my) On 17 April 2010, The Malay Mail reported that Rural and Regional Development Deputy Minister Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun had refuted Dr Selva's claims in Parliament.

He stated that a thorough investigation had been carried out, which showed that there was no truth to her statements.

"In short, she is lying," the deputy minister reportedly said.

Dr Selva, however, pointed out that the Rural and Regional Development Ministry was not the appropriate body to investigate her claims. "They are not medical practitioners, nor do they have expertise on medical ethics or medical management," she said.

"I have full faith that the Health Ministry would be able to conduct a fair and transparent investigation through the Malaysian Medical Council."

She added, however, that if concrete steps were not taken to improve the situation, she would not hesitate to raise the matter with international organisations such the World Health Organisation.

K'tangan awam naik gaji antara elemen MEB

Menaikkan gaji sejuta kakitangan awam di negara ini menjadi antara elemen utama bagi menjayakan Model Ekonomi Baru (MEB) kata Timbalan Menteri Kewangan Senator Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussein.

Beliau berkata langkah itu bagi memastikan hasrat MEB untuk menjadikan rakyat di negara ini daripada golongan berpendapatan sederhana kepada rakyat berpendapatan tinggi.

"Langkah ini pernah dilaksanakan di Singapura beberapa tahun dahulu yang bertujuan untuk meningkatkan produktiviti sektor awam sekaligus menjamin pelaksanaan pembangunan yang cemerlang.

"Singapura telah menetapkan pendapatan gaji sektor awam yang tinggi dan selesa sehingga mereka berjaya meningkatkan prestasi ekonomi melalui peningkatan motivasi pekerja.

"Maka penjawat awam di negara tidak boleh diabaikan," katanya ketika berucap merasmikan majlis penutupan mesyuarat agung tiga tahunan Kesatuan Perkhidmatan Teknik Semenanjung Malaysia cawangan Kelantan di sini hari ini.

Awang Adek berkata kerajaan akan mengambil langkah tertentu bagi memastikan gaji para pekerja dinaikkan selaras dengan matlamat Model Ekonomi Baru (MEB) untuk menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara maju yang berpendapatan tinggi.

Beliau berkata, secara purata kini 80 peratus rakyat di negara ini memperoleh pendapatan RM21,000 setahun dan dengan pelaksanaan MEB itu, kerajaan berhasrat untuk meningkatkan pendapatan rakyatnya kepada RM45,000 setahun.

- Bernama

'Common to pick envoys without diplomatic background'

NSTP

KUALA LUMPUR: Appointments of politicians and non-career diplomats as Malaysian envoys are a common practice.

Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Senator A. Kohilan Pillay said the selection of envoys without diplomatic background was common in the foreign service.

"This is based on their talents, merits and a good track record, with Wisma Putra confident that non-career diplomats appointed as envoys can deliver," he told the New Straits Times.

Asked how selections were made, he said envoys were drafted from among the most talented and best suited for such foreign postings.

"It is also based on their overall performance and achievements over the past 10 to 15 years. If their service to the people has been good, then they can perform."

Kohilan said non-diplomats appointed as ambassadors and high commissioners were usually specialists in certain areas.

An envoy's term is on a contract of between three and four years, with the possibility of extension if they deliver. He added that besides politicians, non-career diplomats also included lecturers.

Kohilan was asked to comment on the appointment of former chief of defence forces, Gen (R) Tan Sri Dr Abdul Aziz Zainal as ambassador to France.

Aziz and three others received their instruments of appointment from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong at Istana Negara on Thursday.

A politician who is currently serving as an ambassador is Datuk Seri Dr Jamaludin Jarjis, who is Malaysian ambassador to the United States.

Since its establishment, Wisma Putra has had the services of such personalities as Tan Sri Daniel Tajem, Datuk John Nuek and Tan Sri Jamil Johari (from Sarawak), and Tan Sri Thomas Jayasooria and Tun Fuad Stephens (from Sabah) either as ambassadors or high commissioners.

Former ambassador Datuk Deva Mohd Ridzam said, however, it was not advisable for non-career diplomats to be appointed envoys as there was a tendency for them to fall short of expectations.

"Without years of being in the rough and tumble of diplomacy from bottom up, there is a tendency for non-career diplomats to be hesitant, halting and lacking punch and bite in interactions with clients."

He said diplomacy was a profession which required specialised knowledge and skills and years of experience.

"For a career ambassador, his constituency is the nation and the government as a whole, so to speak.

"He is not partisan or beholden to any interest or individual."