Malaysia’s major public sector union has called for a more “digital literate” bureaucracy, saying it can expedite the delivery of services and reduce waiting times in Government offices.
Secretary-General of the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (CUEPACS), Abdul Rahman Mohd Nordin said digitalisation had increased efficiency in many Government Agencies in the past.
“One good example is the process of applying or renewing passports at the Immigration Department,” Mr Rahman said.
“Through digitalisation, we have brought down the time to get the passports done from two months previously to within a day now.”
He said more public services could be digitalised, and with digitally-competent Public Servants at the helm “our service delivery will be more efficient and effective”.
Mr Rahman was commenting on the 12th Malaysia Plan target for every Public Servant to be digitally literate by 2025.
The Secretary-General also urged the Government to hire more technical and vocational education and training graduates as they could naturally adapt to a digital working environment.
Also on CUEPACS’ agenda was the retention of work-from-home arrangements for eligible Public Servants, such as those with administrative duties and graphic designers.
“The Government should provide notebooks instead of desktop computers for Civil Servants so they can bring the devices home if they need to work from home. Some office systems should also be integrated into the notebook devices so that Civil Servants can work remotely to handle urgent matters,” Mr Rahman said.
“Maintaining work-from-home will save the Government water and electricity costs, with fewer people utilising these amenities at the office,” he said.
Kuala Lumpur, 30 September 2021
