Najib shares Malaysia's success stories with Perak civil servants
By Mohd Faizal Hassan and Ahmad Erwan Othman
IPOH, March 15 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today engaged in a question-and-answer session with thousands of civil servants from Perak in the fourth edition of his '2018 Budget Programme with Civil Servants' to share the success stories of the country and various government policies.
The Prime Minister arrived at 11.40 am at the Kolej Sains Kesihatan Bersekutu, Tanjung Rambutan, near here and was welcomed by Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir and Perak state secretary Datuk Seri Abdul Puhat Mat Nayan.
Also present were Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin; Second International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan; Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah and state executive councillors.
The civil servants, from various government agencies and government-linked companies, thronged the main hall of the college and filled the tents erected outside as well.
The audience posed questions which were displayed on large screens at the event, the fourth after similar sessions in Kedah, Selangor and Perlis, which also involved fishermen, farmers, youths and students.
Addressing the audience, Najib said the government did not intend to reduce the number of civil servants in the country now at 1.62 million people.
He took a swipe at the political opposition, saying they were often seen to criticise the civil servants with all kinds of allegations.
"They (the opposition) say they want to reduce the number of civil servants; some of them humiliate civil servants by insulting them. Some of them say they want to reduce the number of civil servants by half.
"They do not respect civil servants. For us, civil servants are the important pillars of government. The government will increase the number of civil servants. We have given a special payment of RM1,000 and will give RM500 more soon," he said drawing applause from the audience.
The Prime Minister also touched on the 1Malaysia Public Housing Programme, saying the government planned to sell the estimated 12,000 houses in Perak 30 per cent cheaper.
Najib said he was confident Malaysia would continue to advance with the support of civil servants in the country to be among the top 20 countries of the world.
He also referred to the fake news on the government leadership circulated on social media, and said this was getting worse.
"People will begin to believe the news that is wrong and does not make sense. This is the silly season, all kinds of news will appear.
"Previously, it was about 40,000 Bangladeshi workers entering the country, so much so that some people believed it, became angry and criticised the government," he said.
-- BERNAMA
