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Right from the beginning I felt something was not right about this SBPA. They way it was rushed, inadequate information given to government servants and short time period for signing made me to wonder whether the whole thing was a scam. Let’s go back and see what was announced in Budget 2012 http://www.treasury.gov.my/pdf/bajet/ub12.pdf in September 2011. At Page 24 and 25, a small announcement was made about SBPA. However what was made clear at that point of time was that there will be 7-13% pay adjustment with bigger annual increments of between RM80-320/year. The pay scale will be made as a single tier system and the maximum pay will be much more than SSM.

Then there was a total silence from JPA untill December 2011. Suddenly a circular was issued to all government servants to sign up for SBPA without proper explanation and without showing the pay scale. Stakeholders were never involved in the discussion! Most of the briefings given were inadequate and many civil servants were left in the dark. CUEPACS came into the picture and asked all civil servants not to sign the offer letter. Subsequently, the pay scale was released and woolah, a total mass was noted. The higher you are the better the pay adjustment. Civil servants with JUSA got 100% pay hike( about RM 6000-8000) and people at lower category like Staff nurses etc were getting only RM 70 pay rise. Attendants /Drivers were given RM 1-2 pay rise!! It was a total mess and I was not sure what actually happened as it was not in accordance to the Budget 2012 statement by the PM. I have 2 theories:

1) The JPA high-ranking officers decided to take all and push through the huge pay hike for themselves ( most PTD officers are usually U48 and above) when the election was around the corner. It is the best time to “black mail” the government . Basically, playing PM’s back. This statement in Malaysian Insider “However, the latest move raises questions about the internal processes within those in charge of the pay review and the Cabinet’s competency to digest beyond the headline figures presented to it when the entire wage scheme was being structured.The decision to scrap the SBPA is likely to also affect PSD director-general Datuk Seri Abu Bakar Abdullah’s chances of becoming the next Chief Secretary” http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/government-scraps-civil-service-pay-revamp/ was interesting to note!

OR

2) The whole SBPA thing was a scam and an election gimmick? Announce huge pay hike, put on hold till March 2012 and call for an election in March 2012. So, the government servants got no choice but to vote the current government in order for SBPA to be implemented. Subsequently, after the election, PM comes up and say that SBPA is cancelled due to objections and only certain amount of pay rise will be given. Everyone knew that the election was initially planned for March but postponed due to the NFC scandal etc.

If indeed the SBPA was genuine, this will be one of the biggest flip-flop PM Najib has ever done since he became PM ! Anyway, I feel the current pay rise is reasonable and nondicriminatory.  So, with that, there will be some changes to my earlier post https://pagalavan.com/2012/03/01/for-future-doctors-government-doctors-salary/ . The HO salary will be almost the same but the U54 basic salary will be around RM 6000 and not RM 7110.