SRI AMAN: A total of 347 civil servants from 11 state government agencies and seven federal government agenices in Sri Aman Division received the Pingat Perkhidmatan Setia (PPS) award at Sri Aman Civic Centre last Thursday. The medals were presented by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi (Dr) Abang Johari who, in his officiating speech, said the implementation of the Digital Economy requires civil servants to always equip themselves with relevant knowledge.
“The action is necessary so that civil servants can become a person with innovative and creative ideas, prioritising quality and productivity as well as high integrity in parallel with the implementation of projects pertaining to Digital Economy.
“It also allows civil servants to be prepared and being able to familiarise themself with the changes that will take place in the state later, “ he said. Abang Johari said this in his speech in conjunction with the PPS 2018 medals presentation ceremony for Sri Aman Division.
In addition, he also called on civil servants to carry out their duties by practising noble values such as trust, honesty and integrity in parallel with their roles as an agent bridging the government and the people.
“In ensuring public service to continue gaining the trust of the people, civil servants must always maintain a high personality value when performing the responsibilities entrusted to them.
“However, trust and noble values should be done through governance which is clean, efficient and trustworthy to support the transparent and fair administration culture in the state,” said Abang Johari.
Also present were the State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani; Assistant Minister of Community Wellbeing Datuk Francis Harden Hollis; Sarawak Public Service Commission Chairman Datu Abdul Ghafur Shariff and Chief Minister’s Department of Human Resources Unit Director Datu William Patrick Nyigor. PPS was introduced in the modern administration of Sarawak at the time of Brooke’s reign with its original name ‘Long Service Decoration ‘.
However, the Long Service Decoration name has been changed to ‘Long Service Badge ‘ in the British colonial era in the 1950s before the name was changed to the Pingat Perkhidmatan Lama beginning from 1963.
However the time-shifting factor has caused the Pingat Perkhidmatan Lama name to be changed to PPS on May 24, 1996 in accordance with the instructions provided in Circular Letter (Bil.Perj. 19/96). To qualify for the PPS, a civil servant must have a permanent ranking in the Sarawak Public Service, serving for 20 years continuously or 25 years of outstanding, excellent service and gets support from the head of department.
