Penang or Yangon?

Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak or better known as KOMTAR, is the unique symbol of Penang. The majestic building is the tallest building in Penang, which housed the Chief Minister's office and other government departments. KOMTAR was also one of the earliest shopping complex in the state and currently still remains as the hub of public transportation in the island-state.

KOMTAR was built in the mid-80s and remains as one of the tourist attraction in Penang. However, KOMTAR today reflected the image of Yangon rather than George Town. One can easily mistaken that they might have went to Yangon, the capital of Myanmar, instead of Penang.

Level 2 and Level 3 of the complex was crowded with Myanmarese shops - selling Myanmar foods and handicrafts with loud-banging Myanmarese music. Walking along the corridor of the complex, one could easily identify foreign workers, which at times even outnumbered the locals. This leave many Malaysians, particularly Penangites, felt rather unsafe. This kept many wondering why Myanmar workers could obtain license to operate business in Malaysia. What does the authority has to say about this?

To make the matter worse, most of these shops were selling foods and drinks. The processing and cooking of food was done in shoplots with no proper ventilation and piped water. How can this happened in a fast developing country? It looks like the management of the once-prestigious building of Penang have no idea how to deal with these Third-World-Migrant-Workers. The municipal council and local government agencies, which all have offices in KOMTAR, seems to be also unable to tackle the problem.

Perhaps the Chief Minister should also seriously look into this issue as all these nonsenses are happening just a few floors below his office!

Hope for Wisma Putra

I was reading "Servicing the Foreign Service" with joy and hope for Malaysian Foreign Service.

Finally, the ministry is able to recruit its own Foreign Service officers instead of selecting from the pool of Administrative and Diplomatic Officers (PTDs). I view this step as a positive development in rebuilding the Malaysian Foreign Service.

This direct recruitment exercise is certain to solve the problem of shortage in manpower. I can personally testified the seriousness facing this ministry as I once was asked to handle the workload of two Assistant Secretaries. The shortage of manpower has resulted in officers not being able to perform their task efficiently and contributed to consistent overtime. Many thought that government servants clocked out exactly at 5pm, but I have never done so in Wisma Putra. The earliest record I have clocked out was 6pm and the latest being 3am.

This is also a positive step in enabling the truly passionate and aspiring applicants to apply for the position of diplomats. Previously, the applicants have to applied through a common scheme of PTDs and to be posted. The competition was intense and sometimes the most suitable officer might be posted to other ministries rather than Wisma Putra.

Therefore, I certainly see this change to the recruitment policy as a stepping stone for the revamp and rebuilding of Foreign Service in Malaysia. However, I would also like to see further changes to the human resource management within the service, in line with the current development.

Although many people view the job as prestigious and glamorous, nevertheless, officers in the ministry has to faced many uncertainty in life. Malaysian Diplomats do not seems to have the choice in selecting their posting and is expected to be obedient in whatever decision made on them. However, many countries do not practise such policy. For example, Foreign Service officers in Australia and India, will have to apply for posting to overseas mission when there is a vacancy. This separate application process enable the officers to determine and plan their own career, in accordance to their family and personal needs. On the other hand, this also enable the ministry to choose the best candidate for every position and ensure that only the best deserving officer will be posted. The less competent officers will have to stay home and continue to improve themselves.

I take this opportunity to urge my former colleagues to continue striving on towards excellence with great hope that their over-burdened workload will soon be over. Gambateh!