KOTA KINABALU – Civil servants in the country are in need of a new remuneration system that can help them manage the current cost of living, said Datuk Adnan Mat, the president of the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs).
He said the Malaysian Remuneration System (SSM) implemented since 2002 is like an old house, no longer suitable to assist civil servants facing the current cost of living, meet departmental structure and changing work scopes, and evaluate suitable qualifications for any service scheme.
Nonetheless, he said Cuepacs understands the government needs time to finalise a new remuneration system, and therefore urges it to implement added-value elements in the current system, such as higher allowances or other forms of fixed remuneration, to help civil servants affected by the increase in the cost of living.
“We are grateful to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for being concerned with our request, among other things, to increase the salaries of civil servants ahead of the presentation of the budget in October. We express this gratitude with productivity, quality, and integrity in work.
“However, we want a new salary system to replace the SSM, but if the government is not able to afford it at the moment, we request that the government increase the fixed remuneration earlier... if it is possible, to increase salaries this October,” he said.
He was speaking to reporters after the civil servants’ assembly in conjunction with the Cuepacs Madani Merdeka Programme here today.
On August 11, Anwar was reported to have said that the government is trying to increase civil servants’ salaries slightly through the second Madani budget that will be presented in Parliament this October.
The prime minister said it would be a temporary measure until a comprehensive review of the civil servant salary and retirement scheme is completed, which is expected next year. – Bernama, August 18, 2023
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