KUALA LUMPUR – The quality of services provided by civil servants must improve in tandem with the recently announced pay rise, economists and policy analysts said.
Economist Dr Geoffrey Williams said the salary adjustment was a deserved move, noting that it benefits frontline workers such as teachers, nurses, firefighters, police officers and social service personnel, not just administrative staff in Putrajaya.
“The pay increase is deserved, but it must come with improved work performance,” he told Scoop.
Senior analyst and consultant at Global Asia Consulting, Samirul Ariff Othman, echoed the view, saying the salary hike would only be justified if it leads to better service delivery and cleaner governance.
“Pay for performance, not pay for presence. Increments and bonuses should be tied to service standards such as turnaround times, complaint resolution, audit outcomes and project delivery milestones,” he said.
Samirul added that public services must be fully digitised end to end, with clear performance indicators made public.
“Each agency should publish a simple dashboard showing waiting times, backlogs, procurement cycle times and satisfaction levels,” he said.
He also called for broader reforms to improve service quality, including the use of open contracting data, stricter enforcement of conflict-of-interest declarations, tighter vendor screening and real consequences for leakages and misconduct.
Samirul said rebuilding specialised “elite craft” roles such as data analysis, policy evaluation, project management, cyber security and trade negotiation was also crucial, with proper career pathways needed to retain talent within the public sector.
At the same time, he stressed the importance of a strong integrity framework, including an ombudsman, freedom of information laws and an independent prosecution function, which could reshape incentives and behaviour across the civil service.
On Monday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced a salary increase for civil servants in his New Year’s message.
Anwar said the pay rise was based on fairness rather than pressure, adding that the responsibilities of civil servants have expanded over the years while wages have not kept pace.– January 6, 2026