Civil service should embody 6 philosophies, says PM

PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak has outlined six philosophies that the civil service should embody for the realisation of the National Transformation 2050 (TN50).
The six philosophies relate to the framework of 'Manhaj Maqasid Syariah'; 2017 as year of delivery; principles of loyalty and allegiance; a work culture 'beyond the norm'; the fourth industrial revolution and digital economy; and par excellence worldly life and afterlife.
Addressing more than 5,000 civil servants at the 15th Civil Service Premier Assembly here today, he said in order for the civil service to move forward in the quest for a brighter and superior civilisation, it could not merely remain nostalgic and rely on past performance.
He said the first philosophy was instrumental in building the Malaysian nation; more so would it be in the next 30 years towards TN50.
"For six decades, the civil service has been moving on the same track with the government earning Malaysia recognition as a progressive and dynamic Islamic nation based on Maqasid Syariah and the principles of Wasatiyyah or moderation, the Federal Constitution, solid national ideology and visionary government leadership," he said.
He added that the Maqasid Syariah was aimed at benefiting the people in tandem with the government’s capability subject to three levels of priority.

Najib said the three levels were dha-tu-riyat or basic necessities; ha-jiy-yat, which is related to general needs and requirements, and thirdly, tah-si-niyat or comfort and ease in life.
He said all the policies, efforts and approaches had been fruitful as proven by the State of the Global Islamic Economy 2016/2017 report by Thomson Reuters which placed Malaysia first among 73 countries in the world.
According to him, Malaysia was also recognised as "the best developed ecosystem for Islamic finance in the world", with the country's Employees Provident Fund (EPF) reported to have the largest Islamic Savings Plan in the world.
Under the philosophy of 2017 as the year of delivery, Najib said the civil service should be invaluable to the people and ensure that all planned projects, initiatives and aid reached the latter.
"Otherwise, every plan and policy that the government had formulated would be pointless, including the budgets that had been allocated; all because of misdelivery, the government’s goals will come to nought,” he said.

Najib said in strengthening and empowering the civil service, the focus must be on people and inclusivity with the participation of the communities, and par excellence work culture and services, as well as noble values to uphold organisational integrity.
"I urge civil servants in doing their job, not to stay silenced or be involved in ‘turf management’ with an adamance that ‘it’s our right’, ‘others cannot interfere’, or ‘I don’t care’, which would only hamper bureaucracy and lead to hardship for the people,” he said.
On the principles of loyalty and allegiance, he said they were very crucial in leadership and organisation.
"With such principles in the civil service, the organisation which is the backbone of the government will be disciplined and smooth,” he said.
The prime minister cited the great Muslim scholar Ibn Khaldun, who he said was not only concerned with civilisation but also studied the importance of loyalty in professional governance.
Najib said Ibn Khaldun also held that those who possessed a high sense of loyalty were even willing to sacrifice their lives in carrying out missions entrusted to them.
On the culture of working beyond the norm for extraordinary returns, he said it included celebrating new ideas and constantly making improvements to achieve results aside from setting a standard for oneself besides enhancing competency and value so as not to remain merely a village hero, but rather a systematic and competitive global achiever.
"The government also wants civil servants to endeavour training themselves to multitask, acquire multi-skills and be multi-talented, culturalise creativity and innovativity, able to contribute to a work culture of high productivity, high value, high thinking, high skills, as well as highly motivated to work hard to achieve success for the country,” he said.
Civil servants, he said, “must transform to be more efficient, breaking the traditional boundaries, to go beyond the usual achievements, and more importantly, we must always raise the bar high and continue to keep the bar high to create more success stories for Malaysia."
On the future, Najib said the fifth philosophy, that is, the fourth industrial revolution and digital economy would see “massive structural change” and bring with it disruptive technology and breakthroughs.

Najib said by then the country would be all about smart existence such as smart energy, smart mobility, smart healthcare, smart infrastructure, smart governance and smart citizens.
Nonetheless, he said, there had been concerns that various sectors and areas of work would no longer exist and instead taken over by the latest technologies such as artificial intelligence and automation.
“To this end, the government has a vision that goes far beyond, taking seriously, current developments and striving to take proactive steps in addressing the issues, venturing into 'Digital Economy' which is considered as the industry of the future.
"This is where as a government, we must use digital technology to heighten the quality of our service delivery,” he said.
From today, he said, civil servants would not just work hard as they did, but every task would be catalysed with the application of digital technology such as in renewal of licences, road tax, passports through MyEG system, where even police reports could be lodged online.
Najib said the sixth philosophy and guideline for the civil service in TN50 was to drive Malaysia towards becoming a developed nation that had achieved the meaning of Al-Falah or par excellence worldly and afterlife success as preached by the Quran.
"The fact is, no one knows what the shape and face of the world in general and Malaysia in particular, would be, come 2050.
"But Allah loves that his servants planned for the future and are working in full confidence to realise them, rather than do nothing just depending on situation and luck," he said.
He also urged civil servants to plan effective strategies “from now on” in preparation for the phases of change to achieve the TN50 target.
Najib noted that Malaysia aimed to become a high income advanced economy in 2020; its economic and trade value to be two trillion ringgit in 2025; the Fourth Industrial Revolution to begin to have a significant impact in 2030; a competitive country with virtually zero defect in 2040; and a superior civilisation listed in the group of 20 most advanced and best countries in the world.
"What is important is that talents in the present generation and those to be unearthed in future generations of the civil service must be guided and honed not only with worldly skills, but universal and Islamic values, so that when 2050 arrives, Malaysia would have achieved a state of advancement capable of fulfilling the demands of the worldly and afterlife,” he said.
Meanwhile, the prime minister also launched the TN50 Basic Philosophy book which according to him, was not a complete manual, but a philosophy compilation from TN50 series of dialogues over the past year.
"I would like the TN50 Philosophies to continue to be dynamically debated and deliberated, and become the cornerstone for the country's roadmap, as is the 1Malaysia vision," Najib said. — Bernama