'Next thing you know, the government will start telling all civil servants what they can eat or not eat and what clothes they can wear or not wear.'
PSD orders civil servants not to attend rally
Sarajun Hoda: What happened to the guarantee of free association and expression in our constitution? Does this mean people in the civil services cannot have these freedoms? Their opinions, thinking and beliefs must be controlled?
Isn't neutrality and impartiality in the public service only when serving the people - that's what they are paid for, not who they must associate with and support. What kind of moral policing is this?
Doesn't the Public Service Department (PSD) chief know the difference between civil services and the BN government? Serve the government in power, but what about the personal freedom and rights of those in civil service? Do they belong to the BN government, too?
Why is neutrality and impartiality in the public service not practised when it comes to public properties, state assets, machineries, state media, police, judiciary, Attorney-General's Office, Parliament, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Election Commission, etc, misused by BN?
When it come to be used against the opposition, it is okay? What neutrality and impartiality?
Ghkok: A civil servant, as the name implies, is a servant of the people. They are there to serve the people.
Bersih is a movement of the people - a movement to press for free, fair and clean elections. It is a people's movement. It has the support of millions of Malaysians. Therefore, it would be illegitimate and unacceptable to prevent civil servants from attending the rally and participating in the movement. This would be against the wishes of the people and against the principles of ‘civil service'.
It would be even be disrespectful to the Agong who has met with the movement and sanctioned its rally in a stadium.
Ben Hor: Next thing you know, the government will start telling all civil servants what they can eat or not eat and what clothes they can wear or not wear. How can they dictate what these civil servants do, especially during non-working hours?
KSN: I was under the distinct impression that the civil service is fully supportive of Umno and its fixed deposit. Now with these instructions to them, I begin to wonder. Will the civil servants, numbering about 1.2 million, realise that Umno is not good for them and the country and that probably a change of government may be better?
It seems there is an escape clause in the instructions - they cannot attend if the rallies affect security. That means they can attend Bersih rally because they have declared, many times over, that their rally is peaceful.
The civil servants, if they choose to, may attend. You can trust Bersih because it is called by credible groups which will do nothing to jeopardise public security. I cannot, of course, say the same thing about Ibrahim Ali and his Perkasa group.
On your toes: Just look at how the government machinery have tried to stifle, control, hassle and harass Bersih and citizens who want their voices heard. How then can we have any hope that the present election system is free and fair?
Mangodurian: This is wrong and infringing on an individual's right to have an opinion. Working for the government does not equate to being enslaved to the government. Civil servants work for the government, not BN.
That's the problem when we've never had a change of government. BN is the ‘government of the day' that was voted in by the people. A civil servant is a person who is free to vote whoever he chooses.
Not Confused: In order to ensure that it get the support that it feels it should, the government takes away the democratic rights of civil servants to make up their own minds. It is tantamount to a fascist state, where the people are forced to have the same opinions as the government, on pain of being demoted or fired.
It is pathetic in the extreme to see the lengths to which the government is prepared to sink. They will then claim that the turnout for the rally was not high and most people decided to stay at home, ignoring the fact that many did not get the chance to practice their constitutional right. I continue to be acutely embarrassed for all Malaysians.
KJ John: Does the KPPA (PSD director-general) know the difference between being a government servant and being a citizen on weekends?
Surely government servants are not your 'Indonesian maid' whom you put to work even on weekends. My ‘dignity' thesis concluded that human beings can act based on the conscience on matters like this.
The so-called ‘Aku Janji' does not cover their private views, values and way of life. And especially on weekends. Otherwise they have become what two American authors call ‘The Organisational Man'.
Multi Racial: Following Bersih announcement of the July 9 demonstration, the BN government panicked and:
1) Used Perkasa to threaten Malaysians against attending;
2) Used the police to threaten Bersih 2.0 supporters;
3) Used the police to catch some Bersih 2.0 supporters for wearing Bersih 2.0 or yellow T-shirts
4) Used the Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to outlaw Bersih;
5) Used the king to stop Bersih from demonstrating in the streets;
6) Stopped issuing temporary outstation bus permits to prevent outstation Malaysians from coming;
7) Issued a directive to government servants against attending the event;
8) Got Stadium Merdeka not to let Bersih to use it;
9) Etc, etc, etc.
Then come that day, if only a few manage to get into the demo, BN government and their media will say Bersih 2.0 does not have support.
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