Buku Media JPA 2020

AS we move forward towards Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0, everything is going to be digitalised. The changes are fuelled by technological breakthroughs in fields such as artificial intelligence and Internet of Things. This also applies to the civil service as Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin recently announced the implementation of the e-government system which could open a more viable path to the transformation of the public service The idea is in line with the development of technology that will help ease the burden on government servants and help the civil service to be more structured in terms of work process and procedures. In addition to that, it will boost administration operations and increase productivity as well as promote public service effectiveness. As for now, it is likely that around 40% of public services can be done online or digitally and the percentage will only go up in the future. The prime minister has also given assurances that there will be no downsizing of the 1.6 million-strong civil service as a result of the ongoing implementation of the e-government system This assurance is a relief to the government servants as the issue of reducing the size of the civil service is always a worry for them, especially at this difficult period when the whole world is battling the Covid-19 pandemic. “Civil servants can carry out multiple tasks to enhance the delivery of public services,” Muhyiddin said. E-government is a positive milestone and could give vast impact and contribution to the development of the country as a whole Besides the implementation of online services, the government is also looking into optimising the roles of civil servants to increase the effectiveness of government delivery to the rakyat. In regards to that, there were recent media reports quoting Public Service Department director-general Tan Sri Mohd Khairul Adib Abd Rahman as saying that the government is drafting the Human Resources Optimisation policy as a replacement for the Civil Servant Rightsizing Policy. E - govt and civil service Under the new policy, the 1:20 ratio will be used which is one government officer serving 20 people. Even though the role of government officers would also be changed as the country becomes a developed country, there will still be differences in term of services needed in the urban area compared to the rural areas, he said. In a broader sense, it can be clearly said that the role of civil servants is mainly to serve the rakyat and uphold the spirit of berkhidmat untuk negara (serving the country). To sum up, with this new policy, the government will increase the civil servants’ productivity and efficiency while implementing e-government services in line with the technological changes. Wan Nur Madihah Wan Hazahari is a final year student at International Islamic University Malaysia, majoring in English for international communication. 14 October 2020 18