Malaysia: downsizing the civil service would risk upsetting voters

http://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2013/oct/19/malaysia-downsizing-civil-service

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Malaysia: PM won't risk downsizing bloated civil service

Although Malaysia faces a possible credit rating downgrade prime minister Najib Razak will take care not to upset the country's majority ethnic group – Malays – by downsizing the civil service when he presents the annual budget this month.

Malays dominate the civil service, which has jobs for life and cheap access to loans. Its wage bill accounts for a third of total spending.

After a contentious victory last May, Najib may be concerned that his party, the United Malays National Organisation, will jettison him before the end of his term.

US: IMF chief calls for stability after deal reached on fiscal policy

Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, appealed for the US to get its finances in order after the Republicans and Democrats reached a deal on Wednesday 16 October, halting the threat of debt default.

Hundreds of thousands of federal employees returned to work after a government shutdown which lasted 16 days.

"We've got to get out of the habit of governing by crisis," said Lagarde. "It will be essential to reduce uncertainty surrounding the conduct of fiscal policy by raising the debt limit in a more durable manner."

The World Bank was also relieved that the global economy had "dodged a potential catastrophe".

Bermuda: civil service head to retire

The head of the civil service Donald Scott will retire at the end of November after a 27-year career in public service. Since 2010 he has been chief policy advisor to the premier.

He said: "I have had a full career of some 34 years and I have enjoyed it.

"The public sector is often the butt of harsh jokes in many countries including Bermuda. The truth is that there are many honest, talented, dedicated, hard-working and loyal people who choose to work in the public sector because they have a passion for public service.

"I believe that the majority of our public sector workers have these qualities and I consider that they will continue to give excellent service to Bermuda."

China: applications to the civil service open, but there are fewer jobs

The 2014 public service exam was opened to applicants on Wednesday 16 October. There are 1,000 fewer job openings within the civil service for 2014 than for 2013.

Civil servants have one of the most popular jobs in China, because they are stable, respectable and with good welfare benefits.

Figures from the State Administration of Civil Service showed more than 13,000 applicants passed the qualification assessment on Wednesday, twice the number for the first day of applications last year.

India: thriving civil service foundations were built by the British

Guardian journalist Ian Jack argues that the Indian civil service is one of the better legacies of empire.

He writes: "The Indian administrative service together with the Indian foreign service used to attract (and arguably still does) the brightest from each generation. It owes its structure to the British India civil service, which administered the country as a colonial possession from 1858 until 1947 through the district-officer system, in which a young Briton, public school and Oxbridge educated, passed a highly competitive examination and after some tuition in Indian languages and customs.

"Lloyd George called it 'the steel frame on which the whole structure of our government and of our administration in India rests,' and the IAS has kept the steel frame pretty much intact."

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