KUALA LUMPUR: Health Ministry (MOH) secretary-general Datuk Seri Suriani Ahmad urged civil servants to put themselves in the “shoes” of the public to understand and empathise with the challenges faced by the people to provide the best possible services.
She stated that MOH has outlined three initiatives to make public services more accessible: bringing specialised services closer to the people, delivering safe, innovative, and high-quality healthcare services, and offering alternative service delivery methods.
“As civil servants, our philosophy or guide to democratising the public service is to always think as a citizen first because our daily task is to solve the people’s problems,“ she said.
Suriani was speaking as a panel member at the ‘Merakyatkan Perkhidmatan Awam’ forum at the Two Years of the MADANI Government Programme (2TM) and the 2024 National Convention on Public Service Reform at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre here today.
She added that making public services more accessible is not a new effort but is being intensified to ensure greater visibility that is both effective and efficient.
She highlighted several examples of MOH’s efforts to democratise healthcare services, such as the flying doctor service for areas inaccessible by road, the school clinic outreach programme, and the deployment of health officers and nurses to underserved communities.
Meanwhile, another panelist at the forum, Ministry of Education (MOE) secretary-general Datuk Ruji Ubi, said the ministry’s three main stakeholders in democratising the public service are students, teachers, and parents.
“The MOE and its leadership are actively working to ensure that children eligible for Year One enrollment are registered and attend school. Additionally, efforts are being made to comprehensively and holistically address the issue of students registered for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) actually sit for the examination,” he said.
Previously, the MOE announced that over 10,000 SPM 2023 candidates did not sit for the examination despite having registered.
The two-day convention, which began today, is in conjunction with the 2TM programme.
