Don’t act smart, Perak MB warns civil servants

IPOH: Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir has warned civil servants not to “act smart” following the language blunder that appeared on a notice of the Ipoh Tourist Information Centre (ITIC).

“Don’t act smart. Please refer to the department head first before issuing any notices,” Zambry said.

He said the notice, written in atrocious English, was believed to have been translated using Google Translate by an employee at the centre.

“I was informed that the employee had used the Google Translate application to translate the sentence so that it would look more elegant and (sound more) ‘international’. Although the issue may seem minor, its impact is huge. Let this be a lesson (to all) and should any employee want to issue a notice to the public, please refer to your department head first. Don’t act smart and think that you are great.”

On Monday, it was reported that a New Straits Times reader had taken a photo of the notice that reads: “Sorry for the complimentary, we are closing temporary Saturday 30/12/17 & Sunday 31/12/17 because we had an unexpected problem within with our networking & air conditioner issue. We are sure that we are been operated on 2nd January 2018. TQ”.

Zambry said he had contacted the Ipoh City Council for clarification.

He chided the employee stating that all communications related to official state government affairs should be in Bahasa Malaysia.

In a statement on Monday, Mayor Datuk Zamri Man said if it was negligence (by the employee) without due consideration of the risks placed on the council, a show-cause letter would be issued to the employee. If the employee was found to have committed an offence, a warning letter would be issued, he added.