PM Anwar demands better public service efficiency as he aims to run a tight ship

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 3 — In his first address to civil servants in 2025, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has urged all public officials from top to bottom to convene and assess how their respective departments can improve its governance by next week.

He admitted that there are still issues within the civil service that must be straightened out, like leakages and fleeing during working hours.

“We know that to bring about change requires every effort, and every sacrifice be it people on the field, on the border, some are in uniforms, some are not. But all of them have served.

“Every department must ensure that everyone is involved,” he said during the monthly gathering with Prime Minister’s Department’s staff here.

Anwar said he wants the waiting time at government offices to be reduced, citing the example of not taking a whole day to get driving licences renewed.

Nonetheless, Anwar expressed his pride at the lack of major scandals withing the civil service since he took on the role of prime minister.

“Because we go through a transparent tender process, there’s no big scandal that has been revealed in the past two years,” he added.

Additionally, he said Putrajaya plans to provide maximum exposure to its younger staff by providing more training in various sectors such as artificial intelligence, digital and energy transition, among others.

“I want to start to provide maximum exposure to young public officials this year so that in one or two years, we can produce the second line of public officers who not only can fulfil the needs of the public but also have solid training,” he said in his speech.

The prime minister also said he aims for Malaysia to offer the best public service among other developing nations.