IN GOOD MOVE, MAHATHIR MULLS PRIVATIZING PARTS OF MALAYSIA’S MASSIVE CIVIL SERVICE: EITHER WAY THERE’S NO LONGER ANY WORK-TILL-UNTIL-DEATH TYPE OF JOB SECURITY EVEN IN THE GOVT ANYMORE, SO CIVIL SERVANTS SHOULD EMBRACE BID TO AVOID SINKING ALTOGETHER LIKE A GIANT TITANIC

FILE PHOTO - Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks during an interview with Reuters in Putrajaya, Malaysia June 19, 2018. REUTERS/Lai Seng Sin/File Photo

KUALA LUMPUR, — The government will evaluate the feasibility of privatising sections of the civil service, said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Citing a similar drive that led to the corporatisation of Telekom Malaysia (TM) in 1987, he said this would save the jobs of civil servants.

“We will see if they can be moved to other positions, for example in the private sector,” Dr Mahathir told reporters at the Parliament building today.

“When we did that (TM), we moved the workers there. But it is their choice to go or not.

“They could also choose to stay back in the public sector. But they had to accept certain conditions, such as the salary level,” Dr Mahathir said.

Malaysia has over 1.6 million workers as part of its civil service, leading to allegations that the sector was “bloated”.

However, the figure also includes the country’s law enforcement and security personnel as well as public educators, which are customarily not counted as civil servants by other countries.

MALAY MAIL