PUTRAJAYA: The government is entrusted with preparing Malaysians to face drastic changes as the country strives to become among the top 20 nations by 2050.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, speaking at the National Transformation 2050 (TN50) dialogue session with civil servants today, said changes must be embraced in order for progress to happen.
“Drastic changes are inevitable. If we fail to realise this, we will become victims to changes.
“There are many instances of what can happen if we are not ready to address changes," the prime minister told around 1,300 civil servants attending the TN50 dialogue session.
Najib said Malaysia's growth must be a quantum leap and not incremental to cope with the drastic changes.
Najib said he also wished to hear creative and innovative solutions from the floor.
“We must push ourselves to the limit and even beyond the limit. We must always look for creative solutions," he said, citing the success of the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) as an example.
Najib said civil servants should not only become regulators but facilitators too.
Meanwhile, during the dialogue session, civil servants pointed out to the PM the importance of having a work-life balance.
They want the government to consider implementing a flexible system in the public service, with maximum working hours set for government workers.
"We want to serve the people, but at the same time we want to have quality time with our family.
"We believe that with a balanced life, productivity will surely increase among civil servants.
"It is our hope that in the next 30 years, civil servants will be able to work flexible hours or days and at the same time, allowed to work within certain stipulated hours," said one of the participants.
Other suggestions raised included allowing women to work from home, encouraging lower-income civil servants to be involved in entrepreneurship; purchasing high tech defence and medical services and having better support system for disabled civil servants.
The dialogue session, moderated by Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Ali Hamsa, ended at 10.45am.