We are being treated as outcasts at work, claim 52 axed Intan students

A spokesman says the letters from Intan had portrayed the group of 52 ‘as being morally poor throughout the eight-month course’ they attended to become senior government officers. (Facebook pic)

GEORGE TOWN: Fifty-two civil servants who were let go by the National Institute of Public Administration (Intan) midway through their course about a month ago claim their lives have changed dramatically for the worse since returning to work.

They said they were given different jobs upon returning to their workplaces and that some had been placed in “cold storage”. The contract officers among them have lost their jobs.

A civil servant, claiming to be a spokesman for the group, told FMT that their sudden dismissal had affected them at their workplace, to the extent that they are being regarded as “outcasts” and are being treated like “ex-convicts”.

He said when they returned to their jobs, they were reassigned to different duties and some were even put in “cold storage”, as their superiors “awaited further instructions” on what to do with them.

“The situation is comparable to a convict who has been recently freed and is looking for a new life. And as employers, many would have second thoughts about giving a job to an ‘ex-convict’,” he said.

The 52, who were on a sabbatical leve with 86 others at Intan to pursue a course to become administrative and diplomatic (PTD) officers were let go for failing to meet passing grades in their “personality” component on Nov 30.

The spokesman said the letters from Intan had portrayed the group of 52 “as being morally poor throughout the eight-month course”.

He asked why they were being punished further by such action at their workplaces when they had already been “degraded” by the termination letters for the course.

He claimed many of them had turned down promotions while undergoing the course at Intan.

He said some of the 52, who were contract officers, were now unemployed. This was because contract officers wanting to study in Intan have to quit their jobs first, he said.

This, he claimed, had resulted in many of these former contract officers suffering from bouts of depression.

“This hasty, unfair dismissal has changed the lives of these officers. The outcome of the termination has impacted them negatively.

“The government service has been infamously known for its inefficiency. With such slow or no response at all from Intan, its image has been tarnished.”

The 52 have appealed to Intan to reconsider their position favourably.

These officers were scheduled to graduate on Feb 7, 2019. They had already covered 80% of the course, with only three modules left to go, when they received the letters on Nov 30 informing them that they had failed to meet the passing grade in the personality (“sahsiah”) component for commitment and discipline.

They alleged that Intan pushed the passing grade for the component from B to A- just a few days before they were told to leave.

The Public Service Department, which runs Intan, has yet to respond to FMT’s queries for comment on the matter. -FMT