CIVIL SERVANTS SEEK WORK, LIFE BALANCE
PM also listens to views on one-stream school system, ageing society
AREQUEST by civil servants for a work-life balance without being tied down to the office has caught the attention of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Najib assured his administration would look into the aspiration, which was discussed during a National Tansformation 2050 (TN50) dialogue session here yesterday.
Many participants from the floor suggested and supported a work-life balance with flexible working days within maximum hours to boost productivity in the public sector.
Calls were also made for women to work from home so that they could focus on their family and earn money at the same time.
Najib said accurate decisions were key to ensure Malaysia could become a top-20 nation by 2050.
He said he welcomed the views and suggestions, including having a one-stream school system to promote unity among the people during the dialogue session moderated by Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa.
“But, this is a sensitive issue and a political land mine because Malaysia has a vernacular school system.”
Najib said if the suggestion to have a one-stream school system was adopted, it must be done by ensuring the school would have strong elective language subjects in Mandarin, Tamil and Arabic, including having a multiracial teaching staff.
“This is how I envision it,” said Najib, stressing that no decision had been made on the proposal to have a one-stream school.
Other views shared were to encourage low-income civil servants to be involved in entrepreneurship, to equip defence and medical services with high technology, to boost support systems for disabled civil servants and to address Malaysia’s aging society by 2050.
Najib said much had been done to improve the public transportation system with the first phase of the Mass Rapid Transit projects scheduled to be ready by next month.
“We have taken note of the need to have a good public transportation system as what you all have suggested.”
On a lighter note, he thanked the 1,300 civil servants present for being civil without any slapping incident, evoking laughter from the floor.
Earlier, Najib said the government was responsible to prepare Malaysians to face drastic changes as the nation strove to become one of the top 20 nations by 2050.
“Drastic changes are inevitable. If we fail to realise this, we will become victims to changes.
“There are many instances of what can happen if we are not ready to address changes.”
He said there must be a quantum leap in Malaysia’s growth to cope with the drastic changes.
Najib said he wanted to hear creative and innovative solutions from the floor.
“We must push ourselves to the limit and even beyond the limit. We must always look for creative solutions,” he said, citing the success of the Urban Transformation Centre.