Civil servants were told by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today that the people expect more from them, for they are no longer passive onlookers - they know their rights and are prepared to actively seek their fulfillment.

NONE Civil servants as custodians of the people, Muhyiddin said, should increase their productivity to render quick and efficient service, as well as be more responsive in giving quality output.

"Today's society is more knowledgeable and well-informed, for the people interact with one another. The role of civil servants has increased as the people expect, and demand, better services, especially in infrastructure, education, health and a peaceful environment.

"The people want to take part in the decision-making process and do not want to be left out. This is the challenge facing the public service, to render a more efficient and effective service," he said.

Muhyiddin said the people were scrutinising and always evaluating the performance of the bureaucracy.

"We cannot remain complacent as this will result in the people viewing the public sector negatively, which will be interpreted as not relevant to the development of the country," he said.

Muhyiddin said this when officiating the 16th Public Service Conference with the theme "People First, Performance Now: The Public Service Response", at the National Institute of Public Administration in Kuala Lumpur.

  Watch rising cost of living

Muhyiddin said while the government is actively pursuing improvements to the National Key Result Area (NKRA), they have to also watch the side-effects of the rising cost of living on the people.

The government has included monitoring the rising costs as another NKRA move to further reduce the gap between the rich and the poor.

Pointing out that the public sector is the government's front liner in interacting with the people in resolving the rising cost of living, he said: "They have to implement effective and efficient action to (alleviate the burden).

 "There are various programs organised by the government including the 1Malaysia shop, 1Malaysia clinic, 1Malaysia Housing and 1Malaysia Citizens Welfare programme. These programmes would be successfully implemented, if the civil servants understand the people's needs," he said.

The deputy premier said the civil servants should also deliver a message of hope to the people.

He said this is not an option for the civil servants, but a clarion call for them to accept the mission and responsibility, in order to fulfill the people's aspirations.

The message the civil servants ought to deliver, Muhyiddin said is that the government is working towards improving people's lives and, secondly the people's role in changing the way they think and behave, to achieve national transformation.

Muhyiddin said that civil servants should also be creative and innovative.

 "They have to double their efforts to improve the delivery system, acquire new skills and equip themselves with new knowledge to ensure a rise in productivity," he said.

The deputy prime minister also touched on crime, saying the index had dropped by 9.6 percent between Janaury and June this year as compared with the same period last year.

 "Street crimes have seen a reduction of 41.6 percent with 11,299 cases between January to June, compared with 19,364 in 2009," he said.

"Public transformation had seen a rise in 15.7 percent of people taking rail related transport," he noted.

Also present was Chief secretary to the government Mohd Sidek Hassan and Director-General of Public Services Department Abu Bakar Abdullah.