Dear Editors,
Your article by one Sheryl Choo claims that all civil servants are "lazy" and are "jiakliaobis". Sorry but I know quite a few civil servants and they're neither "lazy" nor "jiakliao bi". I don't know who you have been hanging out with Sheryl Choo but those civil servants I know work their socks off and they earn a pittance compared to what others earn in a private corporation.
Sheryl conveniently forgets that the reason why Singaporeans can enjoy efficient and convenient services like utilities, neighbourhood municipal services, security, education and defence is because we have these 82,000 civil servants working daily in the background ensuring everything runs smoothly. Unlike Sheryl who has so much time to complain and rant about our "lazy" civil servants, our civil servants do not have that luxury.
After work, they are just like you and me, making a living and trying to improve the lives of their families and loved ones. Civil servants are humans. They also face financial problems, have bills to pay and try their best to put food on the table. This $500 is something extra and it is good for them. Why be so sore and fault them for having an extra $500 in their pockets? Please grow up and make better arguments.
If you want the $500 so bad, why don't you join the civil service? Maybe after you join and experience it first hand, you can tell Singaporeans whether it is indeed such a relax and cushy job for "lazy" people as you put it. It is a thankless job. If you don't have the gumption to join the civil service, next time think before you speak or hold your peace and give some respect to these unsung heroes who make Singapore tick.
Ronald Goh
A.S.S. Contributor