THE Malaysian public do not have the best impression of the civil service, with some sharing allegations of their long and frequent break times.
Following the announcement of a salary hike for government servants, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim previously reminded civil servants to improve their work performance or else they could miss out on promotions.
Anwar also announced the Public Service Reform to raise the productivity and efficiency of the country’s public service.
A user on Reddit recently alleged that their colleagues in the civil service take long breaks of two to four hours at a stretch.
@BoatNovel1970 posted on the subReddit forum r/Malaysia that they stopped participating in these break sessions as their daily timetable is “packed” especially outside of work with various hobbies.
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The user also accused them of being “lazy”, according to their claims, drawing from experience of working as a government servant for five years.
Furthermore, the user mentioned that their colleagues will isolate them for not conforming to the workplace routine.
While commenters advised the user to only focus on proving their worth to their boss, they claim that the boss is the one initiating these long breaks.
Many netizens agree with the user’s claims, providing their own experiences of dealing with government servants.
One commenter claimed that their friend working in the government works “no more than six and a half hours a day” with others in several departments allegedly working overtime no more than five times a year.
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On the other hand, others pointed out that certain government departments, such as the healthcare staff in government hospitals are not afforded such long breaks, as well as teachers in public schools.
“I do work in the (government sector), but in health - pharmacy to be exact. We don’t have that lazy culture here. Everyone needs to pull their own weight or else disciplinary action will be taken,” a netizen said.
“Please don’t overgeneralize. I work in education and I see dedicated and self-sacrificing teachers all the time. Honestly, sometimes I feel they get taken advantage of,” another netizen commented.
