MALACCA: Disciplinary action will be taken against civil servants who are found to take part in Red Shirts and Bersih gathering this Saturday.
Chief Secretary to the Government, Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa said the civil service department will seek a report from relevant authorities to determine if any civil servants had joined the gatherings.
"Our stand remains the same. We have rules that must be adhered to and those found joining street rallies will have action taken against them," he told a press conference at the Civil Service Innovation Award in Malacca International Trade Centre here today.
Earlier today, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar warned rallygoers to follow laws or actions would be taken against them.
Khalid said police had "enough personnel to ensure security" during the rallies.
On Nov 19, both Bersih and the Red Shirts have planned to stage protests near Dataran Merdeka.
Present at today's event were Public Service Department (PSD) director-general Tan Sri Mohamad Zabidi Zainal, Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (Mampu) director-general Datuk Seri Zainal Rahim Seman.
Malacca state secretary Datuk Seri Naim Abu Bakar and National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN) director Datuk Dr Mazlan Yusoff also attended the award ceremony.
Earlier, Ali said the culture of creativeness and innovation must be applied among civil servants to provide better services to citizens.
He added that it was important for civil servants to be more responsive towards citizens' needs and wants in view of today's globalisation.
"Providing service is different today compared to years gone by.
"Citizens can take to the social media to raise issues and it is the responsibilities of civil servants to adapt to such changes and be more responsive in attending to the issues raised by the people to better achieve their expectations," he said.
He added that low-cost innovative ideas should be generated to help implement the National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) projects as aspired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
"The Urban Transformation Centre under NBOS is a good example of creating low cost, high-impact, fast and sustainable project.
"It made use of existing buildings without erecting new buildings which has helped safe the government's expenses by RM1.5 billion," he added.
He said more than 90 initiatives have been implemented since NBOS was introduced in 2009 and this include other initiatives in collaboration with police and army.