Call To Upgrade Our Civil Service
By Za'im Zaini

Bandar Seri Begawan - The Civil Service needs to benchmark itself against better or the best public services in the regional and international, context in its quest for continuous excellence.

This was stated by Public Services Director-General Dato Paduka Awg Haji Saifon bin Haji Awang Besar, in a press statement to the media following the conclusion of the four-day EROPA seminar 2006 at the International Convention Centre (I CC) yesterday.

The director-general added, "His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister's Office, in his sabda, alluded a redefinition of the role of the public service as a major facilitator of socio-economic development and the key factor in providing a conducive environment for investment and growth.

"To this effect HRH believes that it is necessary for the Civil Service to be updated with the latest developments in public administration to remain relevant and up-to-date with the needs of an ever demanding public.

"This seminar has provided a forum for us all to remain updated on the advancements in globalisation and how we can achieve that competitive edge in benchmarking ourselves against best practises in our continuous strive towards excellence in public service delivery," he added.

The Crown Prince also reiterated the importance of good governance that includes elements of public accountability, transparency, stronger codes of ethics for holders of public offices, the preventionof corruption, best work practises, institutional human capacity building and the development of information technology.

The director-general also spoke of Deputy Minister at the Prime Minister's Office Dato Seri Paduka Eusoff Agaki's keynote address, which touched on the reformation of the roles of the Civil Service from a traditional role of being a service provider to a facilitating role, thinker and moderniser.

Dato PadukaAwg Haji Saifon stated "The Civil Service is encountering challenges in terms of the growth of culture of complacency and mindset of locals, which is resistant to change. This hinders growth in any organisation."

"To overcome these problems, various efforts and initiatives have been undertaken to innovate and improve Brunei Darussalam's Civil Service.

"This includes reviewing the personal performance appraisal system, competency based management initiatives, the development of strategic thinking and planning, the call for wider private sector privatisation in accelerating growth, raising the level of ICT literacy and introduction human resources development programmes," he said.

Chairing the event were Dato PadukaAwg Haji Saifon - in his capacity as chairman of the organising committee; Civil Service Institute Director Haji Junaidi Haji Omar, and Special Grade Administrative Officer Haji Rosli Pehin Dato Hj Md Salleh.

The four-day event brought together about 300 government officials, administrators, experts and academics from member countries in their efforts and commitment to uphold EROPA's desire to achieve development through information, experience-sharing and the dissemination of best practises.

This event saw 43 speakers presenting their papers on the various sub themes of their expertise. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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