A Civil Servant Was Finally Fired After Missing Work For More Than 2,000 Days

When speaking at the launch of the Education Ministry's Integrity Day yesterday, 14 November, Mahdzir referred to a case involving an employee of the ministry who was dismissed after being absent from work for 2,002 days. That's almost five and a half years! 

"It's an incident that happened in a rural school and we're still not sure what was the problem to the point that the employee did not turn up for work for more than 2,000 days. 

"The headmaster had to persuade the individual for years... I'm not saying it's a teacher, maybe it was a clerk or even a lab assistant," he said, refusing to elaborate, as reported by Astro Awani. 

"Kita ambil kira isu penjawat awam di kawasan pedalaman seperti terpaksa menaiki bot selama 6 jam, menaiki kereta selama 2 jam dan kemudian berjalan kaki selama 4 jam dan saya tidak kata itu masalah yang dihadapi mereka (Sometimes, some of them have to go through a six-hour boat ride, and then a two-hour drive and finally walk for about four hours to get to the schools... but I'm not saying that's the problem they're going through)," he explained. 

Out of the 3,450 offenses recorded under under the Education Ministry, Mahdzir said that 1,912 (55.4%) of it were cases of absenteeism. 

Some of the common excuses given by civil servants for being absent from work are family problems, debt issues, and daily chores. 

He advised civil servants to deal with the problems, and if need be, refer to the counselling department under the ministry to ensure that they are not absent from work with no valid reason.