KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman wants the civil service in Sabah to strive to be the best among their peers in the country.
“Don’t be complacent and take things for granted. Instead we should strive to do better and be the best in Malaysia,” Musa said when delivering his keynote address at the gathering of state and federal civil servants here yesterday.
Musa pointed out that the civil service in Sabah have performed their job well and this has been proven through the recognition given by the Auditor General’s office.
“It is imperative that we maintain our good record achieved in the past 13 years. The state government’s financial management has received recognition from the Auditor General’s office and nine of Sabah government’s departments also received four stars rating.
“All this is possible because of the civil servants’ commitment towards work and achieving success. We in Sabah have the talent and potential which just needs to be polished in order for us to shine,” he stressed.
Musa also said that it is important for civil servants to carry out their duties with full integrity, sincerity and honesty.
Civil servants, especially the front liners have important roles to play, especially in disseminating information and explaining to the people about government policies and programs.
They must inform the people of the truth about the situation and scenarios in the state as well as country so that the peace and harmony which is our pillar of strength will be maintained, Musa said adding that what the state government is doing now is not only for this generation but also for their future generations.
“Everyone in the civil service has a role to play in contributing to the state’s development and remember, everyone plays an equal part… all of you are important because without you, the government cannot function,” he stressed.
Musa pointed out that of late, several issues such as the increase in prices of goods, GST and racial harmony have been troubling the people.
On the prices of goods, Musa who is also Sabah Finance Minister said that a Cabinet committee has been set up to monitor the situation which has been made worse by unscrupulous entrepreneurs who take the opportunity to indiscriminately increase the prices of their goods.
The situation was made worse by middlemen who take advantage of the situation, he said and advised the people to be prudent in their savings.
He was also of the opinion that the Opposition was painting a different picture about the GST which will be imposed in 2015 as it was really not as bad as it was made out to be.
“Malaysia is only imposing six per cent GST on certain goods, rest assured that GST will not be imposed on food and basic necessities so do not fall for talks that everything will be taxed. The Barisan Nasional (BN) government is one that is concerned about the people and will not implement anything that will burden them unnecessarily,” he stressed.
Musa also reminded elected representatives in Sabah to always go down to the ground to serve their constituents and not only during election time.
Elected representatives must work hard so that the aspirations of the people are met and to do that, they need the support as well as cooperation of the civil service, he said.