The government will be rewarding civil servants with a bonus of half month salary or at least RM1,000 for this year. Half the bonus will be paid in October and the other in November, said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"I hope the bonus will be able to meet expenses for the coming festivals as well help those with school-going children, when schools reopens,"said Mahathir, who is also the Finance Minister.

"The government is concerned about the income of its officers and staff. As such, if its financial position permits, the Government can consider a salary increase for the civil service," he added to a chorus of applause from members of Parliament.

The last salary revision was implemented in 1995. The government further increased the basic salary by 10 percent in 2000. Mahathir said two years after the last revision, the government has decided to increase salaries next year by another 10 percent.

"This increase is possible given a higher government revenue as a result of economic growth and the government's prudent financial management," he said.

"We hope this bonus payment and the salary increase together with the abolition of the limit on bonus payment by the private sector will contribute towards increasing the purchasing power of majority of the rakyat .

'Efforts doubled'

"I hope that this will encourage us to double our efforts towards increasing productivity and thereby, contribute towards the growth of the economy".

Mahathir also proposed that medical officers in the public sector be given an increase in overtime allowances from 25 percent to 50 percent effective from this month. This increase, he said, was expected to motivate officers burdened with additional work and to minimise wage differentials between government officers and those in the private sector.

Meanwhile, the annual gratuity rate of the Malaysian Armed Forces, Royal Malaysian Police and Civil Defence, will be increased from RM400 to RM 520, an increase of 30 percent.

Specialist grant for volunteers in the officer's grade in the armed forces, which has not been revised since 1958, will also be increased by 100 percent, from RM150 to RM300 annually, said Mahathir.

For those in other ranks, he added, the increase will be from RM100 and RM75 to RM200, effective Oct 1. Mahathir said the nation needed the dedication of all civil servants and there was no need to resort to armed struggle.

"Our struggle is more of attaining economic achievements and upholding the nation's sovereignty," he said.