Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia:-
Now, there is real danger of public officials in Malaysia getting a lot poorer.
The Government have removed a huge portion of subsidies from petroleum and its related products. Hence, the cost of petrol and diesel have shot up tremendously. Now, a litre of petrol costs about RM2.70* at the pump, up about forty percent.
This development inevitably lead to succesive rise in prices of other goods. For the record the prices of essential foodstuff have crept up almost silently from last year.
Among the group hit hardest are the lower rung officials. The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Amirsham Aziz, warned that thousands of public officials will have to find additional source of income. If permission to seek additional source of income is not forthcoming, their standard of living will fall further. They will be then grouped into the ‘poor section’ of the soceity.
However, there are conflicting voices even among his cabinet colleagues. Noraini Ahmad, the Assistant Minister for Human Resources, told the press that seeking an additional income for public officials are against the General Order. Under this regulation, a civil servant must not do any moonlighting, even after office hours.
For the past years, it was common knowledge that some lower level civil servants are selling insurance and direct selling after their office hours. Cases like these are more prevalent in big towns and cities. So far it has been tolerated, as long as it did not reduce their productivity.
Times are indeed changing and it will never be the same again. The present turbulence in global economy foretold of a bleak future. Here, in Malaysia public officials, long the envy of private sector workers, are now the new poor. The only buffer against poverty is his salary which will be paid every forthnight, come august this year. *1 USD=RM3.1
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