Unless there is a significant improvement in the delivery service of the civil service, the question of a salary increase for them should not be an issue. In fact, the senior civil servants who receive handsome salaries and perks should be held accountable. They do not represent 'role models' nor do they command the respect of the rank and file.

I had the privilege of meeting a senior civil servant prior to his retirement. I shared with him two ideas which I believe could transform the delivery service. The first is to ensure that all correspondence is acknowledged with a reference number. This means that civil servants should be taught to write letters. With the present level of incompetence, I believe this should be a starting point for civil service training.

The second was for the civil service to establish a ' telephone hotline'. This would enable the rakyat to seek the assistance of such a hotline service to inquire about progress relating to the issues concerned. Only one who knows what it means to travel and meet civil servants - be they in Kuala Lumpur or Putrajaya - can understand the value of such services.

I have the personal experience of having sent repeated reminders month after month and yet not securing a reply but rather finding that I have offended some incompetent civil servants. It took a complaint to the Public Complaints Bureau to even have things moving. Some issues dragged on for over three years. The real state is not only bad but really bad.

We talk big about an 'e-government' but let us start with such basics as acknowledging letters and getting the telephone back on the hook. Try and call an officer at the immigration department, the ministry of finance or the prime minister's department and you can appreciate the difficulties.

A 20 percent change here will make an 80 percent difference to the delivery efficiency of the civil service. When this happens then we can talk about a pay rise. Otherwise we will continue to face repeated responses that the officer 'is away at a meeting', 'having tea' or 'out of the office'. It is time that accountability and respect is brought back into the civil service.