THE civil servants in Malaysia still believe that Malay and Islamic sentiments are threatened, while their misunderstanding of the concept of Madani Malaysia is not helping the government of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, said Ilham Centre executive director Muhamad Hisommudin Bakar.Being ‘trapped’ meant the civil service was still supporting the Perikatan Nasional (PN) and thinking the rule of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was better than Anwar’s.Hisommudin pointed out that the findings were obtained through research involving 200 civil servants from the six states that had their state elections this month who were interviewed in depth regarding their sentiments, according to news portal Berita Harian.
They include teachers, police, military and administrative officers.“I interviewed 60 of them, and they admitted that they were comfortable with Muhyiddin’s leadership who was seen defending the Malays and Islam.“Civil servants felt they were trusted by the government at that time, without controversy or the perception of being disturbed in the performance of their duties,” he added.On the other hand, under the Anwar administration, the civil servants were ‘offended’ by accusations of corruption, for example. Some even saw some Pakatan Harapan (PH) ministers as incompetent which contributed to the deficit of support for the unity government.While not mentioning any ministers by name, the Ilham Centre director said the officers thought a minister involved in the security of the country should not have better decorum. He noted that they should be leaders with ‘golden mouths’, not ministers who issued statements randomly.Their discontent with the PH rule also stems from what is now described as a black memory from the first stint of the PH administration in 2018.Five years ago, statements from leaders within the PH administration who aimed to decrease the civil servant count and were perceived to jeopardise the positions of Malays and Muslims continued to cast a shadow over the public service officers.“Civil servants felt insecure then until they were in Muhyiddin’s administration after the fall of the PH government in 2020,” Hisommudin further added. – Aug 27, 2023
