I am appalled, and angry, upon learning the quality of public service has deteriorated badly after reading a letter by Al Khattab entitled ‘The smart ones don’t belong to gov’t service’ published in Malaysiakini last week.

I feel sorry for the public servants who are going through such a bad experience, and nevertheless wish them to stay strong and motivated.

Meanwhile, I strongly urge the top guns in the civil service to investigate and take necessary action against those who lead the government agencies and messed up the system.

As someone who was in the public service for 33 years till my retirement seven years ago, I took pride in the service, and always wanted the best brains to join the government sector.

All around the world, the public service is key the national progress where only the most talented ones are qualified to serve. When I joined the service in the 70s, the ‘creme de la creme’ from all races were mostly attracted to work with the government.

We were given various training not only to sharpen our knowledge and skills in our respective areas, but also on protocols and manners. Most importantly, we were given training on leadership qualities.

While we were trained to take orders as junior officers, we were encouraged to give ideas and communicate on important matters to ensure that things were done correctly. We were taught that mistakes have always been costly; and therefore, we were sought for views and opinions by our superiors.

Throughout my career, I had great admiration for my bosses especially for their skills and talents. All my bosses knew the subject matter well, and apart from that, they had great interpersonal skills. These qualities are vital for bosses in order to gain respect and trust from employees. Those who understand management, particularly on human resources, would understand what motivate employees.

Employees comes in various categories and level of skills with different requirements for different job scopes. Smart employees must be led by smarter superiors; and there is a stark contrast in managing young staff who graduated with cum-laude from top-notch universities compared to those who are hired for unskilled jobs.

Brains do not work from nine to five

Brains do not work nine to five and ideas may come during odd hours of the day. The ideas must be kept flowing freely, and not forced to come out between 9am to 5pm as our brain doesn’t work that way.

Communication and ideas should not be controlled. Gen Y doesn’t act or think in the same manners with baby boomers or even Gen X.

Therefore, when I found out there is a government agency under the Transport Ministry that doesn’t even allow its staff to send email to ‘all staff’ for fear of staff speaking up, I believe the management of this particular organisation has not acted in the right manner. This is also not in line with the government ICT and communication policy.

The only thing that came to my mind is the superiors in this particular organisation are not ready, or not at par with their own talented staff - whom they are supposed to groom instead. If this is allowed to continue, I’m not surprised that the smarter ones would stay away from the public service.

Bosses must allow a two-way communication process. Failure to do that will only paint negative picture of the bosses capabilities, especially in carrying out the duty and managing talents.

Dictating to smart employees is totally a no-no. Bosses must always be creative in managing the staff. Most likely, the smart employees are not the type who can fill up forms, sit at their work station or dress in a certain manner. If they have those traits, just give them some leeway as to win them, and they will deliver.

Learn how Google or multinational companies handle their staff. Too many procedures and bureaucracy would create unfavourable work environment, and over a long period, even the best brain would stop thinking.

The failure of public service is last thing I would like to hear. The public service is run on taxpayers’ money.

Therefore, I would urge the highest authority in the Transport Ministry to investigate those involved in formulating such ridiculous policy to be taken action for their incompetency in running (and embarassing!) a government agency.

On the same note, I would like to urge the chief secretary to the government, Dr Ali Hamsa, to revamp the Malaysian civil service in order to attract the best brains for the best performance.

Only the right policy and implementation would help to bring back the image of civil service and gain public trust. The public service must be made accountable for their failure to met the outcome (for example, eradicating poverty or reducing road accidents) instead of merely meeting the KPIs.

Not allowing staff to send email ‘to all’ and not rewarding them based on merit are two examples of how the whole civil service can be made catastrophic!