Don’t show off your riches, leaders told
(FMT) – Some civil servants live beyond their means because they try to live it up like people above them, says Ramon Navaratnam.
A former senior civil servant has condemned ostentation among the country’s top leaders, saying their showy lifestyle can be blamed for financial indiscipline among civil servants.
Speaking to FMT, Ramon Navaratnam said the high incidence of bankruptcy among civil servants could be attributed to their desire to attain a standard of living beyond their means.
Leaders should lead by example, he said. “If the leaders are accustomed to a high standard of living, then the people below them will ask, ‘Why can’t I emulate them?’ If civil servants don’t live within their means, they will become indebted and may turn corrupt.”
Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said disclosed that the number of civil servants who went bankrupt last year rose by 13.9% from 2015.
She said there were 3,276 bankruptcy cases in the civil service between 2013 and 2016.
