The civil service system is not efficient - there is no penalty for coming to work late as long as you give excuse of 'ambil anak'; or I worked late last night and it's ok to come late; or something similar. The big boss does it, so why not me. And the big boss thinks they are doing a good job too - many have low standards. The bosses are being nice at the expense of government policies - keep everyone happy; especially themselves. When problems arise - then bark, bark, bark or pass the buck!! It's no wonder that many want to join the civil service - citing job security; better benefits etc. But of course there's job security - you don't perform, you don't get fired. Of course there's better benefit - you get paid whether you work or not. Many government personnel complains and say that they are asked to multi-task and feel they are over-worked. Come on -ever work in any other country (or the private sector) and you'll know that the civil service is not over-worked at all. Excuses are made for non productivity - no facilities; no computer; no clerk; no space; etc. etc. etc.....

You can't just wait for the perfect environment. You just got to do it. There's no perfection, just aspiration to perfection. On the flip side, there are those in the civil service who do work hard and are not appreciated. These few good people will be 'victimised' to do more. These ppl don't really complaint; and they truly aspire to do better. Here again the system fails - because where reward is due, they have not been recognized and given. I've once heard that 'the hire and fire' system is not good cause it is not humanitarian and did not consider the issue of social and welfare problems. WELL, governmnet service in Brunei don't hire and fire - and is Brunei NIL of social and welfare problem? NO. Instead we have a civil service with low productivity. I think we should call it the Civil and Charitable Service. There's so much talk about sustainability - how can the civil service be sustainable with poor work ethics; low standards; complacency; and non-competitiveness. In my years in Brunei - I have seen efforts to improve the civil service system.

Complaints about the civil service are not only just NOW or are it anything new; there's been many throughout the years. I believe the government recognizes this but any efforts to improve productivity is just lip service. No one wants to be the 'bad' guy. In Brunei, all are saudara or kawan - (relative and friends) cannot be offended - even if the person in question did do wrong. It's going to be difficult if that mentality persists.

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written by Fatahul'Ain , December 03, 2009

kkkkkkkkkkk

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We have that in common
written by Rurouni , December 03, 2009

Kath, I support your statement. Not all but majority had that same old mentality and mindset... Be it they are low-ranks or high ranks... Friends around me told me to join civil services too many times. But I'm just never convinced with the way I see them trying to persuade me with all the benefits and "relaxed" environment and workload. Imagine joining them for the benefits but no commitments is seriously not what HM's government wants. Again, lets not point fingers at each other or comparing the public or private sectors. Its quite commonsense that anyone can see it...

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written by Fatahul'Ain , December 03, 2009

i've been fed up talking about issues concerning attitude & mentality of our people.to me we've to do 'muhasabah diri' & look at ourselves.i've been doing personal research to see how the attitude & mentality of our people in general.i was very sad as a bruneian to see some of them just dont bother to accept changes.even our religion,ISLAM wants the ummah to change to the best.dont just talk about civil servant.if we want our country to be the best in whatever aspect,please be responsible and committed.nobody is going to change us unless we change ourselves.please teach our generation to be responsible and committed."Tuhan tidak akan ubah nasib satu2 kaum kecuali kaum tersebut ubah nasibnya".so, up to us

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The Root?
written by froggie , December 05, 2009

I definitely agreed on the statement above. But not ALL have the common 'malas tah ku ingau, sama jua gaji tiap2 bulan kana bayar' attitude. I've heard this one line saying that 'First rule of leadership - everything is your fault and learnt to accept it without blaming others'. From my understanding, if the people up there are typical 'ROBOTS' and set a bad example towards its subordinates, then you may wonder WHERE does the root of the problem began? Quite typical I guess, I do not need to elaborate more. BUT from what I've had seen, when it comes to money a.k.a 'GAJI or ALLOWANCE' being put on hold or delayed or worst yet, deducted, then we can see how some typical people make a 'do-or-die' attempt or push their 'EFFORT' more for the sake of some benefits, is that productive?

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