Fuming Mad!
The question one must ask is: Why did the JPA do what they did? It cannot be mere stupidity since this is not the first such salary revision initiated since the days of Mahathir.
Mahathir saw it fit to have civil service salaries revised from time to time. He did away with the royal commissions when he distastefully showed his abhorrence to particularly the generous Ibrahim Ali report. So, he clamped down any salary revisions that he thought was inequitable.
So, given such a history for revising public service salaries successfully from then on, what went wrong this time around?
To say the government is embarrassed is an understatement. I do not believe the JPA chief is out of touch or thinking only about fattening the wallets of the top apex post holders. Something is indeed amiss.
Let me speculate a little bit. We all love conspiracy theories, don’t we?
My first postulate is that it was directed by the executive. Working backwards with some form of approved budget ceiling and structure in principle, JPA with its sister agencies particularly the Treasury and the PMO started putting in the details. Sadly, the devils were in the details. Whatever they did, there was either too much money to be expended or some segment benefited more than others. As the deadline approached, after informing the political masters of their quandary, they decided to reward only the top echelons of the civil service with the top receiving the lion’s share. RM36,000 and above for 26 Premier post incumbents was just ‘inviting murder’! The minimum pay-rise is RM5,000 for these civil service demigods. That the AG and the Chief secretary should receive basic salaries above RM60,000 monthly was national pillage! Even the Jade Emperor in the high heavens would be seriously distraught. Morality just got thrown out of the window.
Interestingly, the civil service umbrella union, CUEPACS, was not consulted or given the true and complete picture of the new salary scheme. Then, they religiously, pushed the scheme for implementation. Those with fat salary offers, numbering about 2,000-immediately signed the option papers. The others were forced and practically shoved to sign the papers,with little information given. When CUEPACS saw the wide salary disparity in the new scheme between the top and bottom-rung civil servants, they went ballistic!. Imagine only a miserable RM1.70 increase for drivers! I believe all those below the 54 grade got a disproportionate or raw deal. An impasse occurred and it was to be expected. Big time fumble, Mr. Chief Secretary!! Tsk!! Tsk!!
The second postulate is that JPA did a good job by being equitable; using the time- tested policy where those at the bottom rungs were given greater percentage increases while the upper echelons received lower percentages which effectively add more ringgits to their pay-slip. However, I believed, the government could not stomach such a huge salary bill. So, back to the cutting room and as the date-line approached, the JPA committee needs to do magic. So, they conjured a policy recommendation and sought approval from the political masters on their scheme; perhaps telling them that this will help bring Malaysia beyond the middle income trap. A good place to start was the civil service, beginning with the
wunderbar 26 Premier posts with Santa Claus salaries! The private sector will surely follow suit,they might have possibly spun. I guess the political masters were convinced somewhat,albeit reluctantly, but were willing to
test the waters and await the response from the public servants.
The rest is history. It must have shamed the PM no end that he had to do repair work immediately even before ‘the new car comes out from the show-room”. I think PM is just too gentlemanly as Shakespeare puts it, “too full of the milk of human kindness.” In other countries, heads would have rolled particularly that of the Chief Secretary and the JPA chief.
A 1.4 million vote-bank for the government is at stake. You cannot aggrieve civil servants because they can really put a nail into a political coffin. That also includes the strategic postal votes when army personnel and police are involved. Most people do not forget easily; much less, are forgiving. They will remember the slogan when it impacts upon them. The
"Rakyat First, Performance Now" slogan just got brow-beaten!
So, what is the cost of this remedial work? From RM2.6 billion to implement the flawed scheme, an additional RM2 billion (77% increase) is now required to make happy faces in the civil service. The pensioners must also be appeased. So, remember them as well!
Will the revised scheme be really 'satisficing' to the civil servants?
It better be.
If there are still major segments of the civil service that feel left out after this new revision,there could be unseen repercussions and backwash effects when the next General elections take place. So, the earlier a more equitable scheme gets implemented, the better.
Otherwise, holding the General election soon will surely be another
tsunami disaster for the BN.
This is one bad call, JPA!
