Workshop

Workshop of Serving the Rakyat with Efficiency and Excellence

Last week, from 6 to 7 June 2018, ARK (Akademi Keadilan) conducted a workshop entitled ''Serving the Rakyat with Efficiency and Excellence''. It was held at the Swiss Garden Hotel in Kuala Lumpur and was attended by 50 people. The workshop was conducted to provide tips, training and guidance to PKR's new Members of Parliament and State Assemblies, who were elected in the recent General Elections. Other participants included the elected representatives' special officers, as well as managers and staff of their Service Centres. The first session was conducted by YB Chang Lih Kang, two-term State Assemblyman for Teja and recently elected as Member of Parliament for Tanjong Malim. His session was entitled, ''Serving with the Right Attitude''. He gave advice on suitable behaviour and etiquette as an elected representative and reminded the participants to always be humble, hardworking and sincere in serving the people. The second session was by Dr. Abdul Rahim Ghouse, a mentor from Invoke. His presentation was entitled, ''Serving with the Right Mind''. He provided insight on Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's approach to serving the people. He also shared his experience working with Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, President of PKR, since she became Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia. His stories were to guide the participants to be able to fulfill their new roles by being creative and innovative, with a suitable framing of their minds.

After a break for Zuhur prayers, we continued with a session by YB Fuziah Salleh, ARK Founder and Member of Parliament for Kuantan, entitled ''Start with the End in Mind: Engineering Your KPI''. In her session, she covered the various roles and responsibilities of elected representatives, from engaging with constituents, to tackling problems on the ground, to debating policy in Parliment. She also explained in detail the Key Performance Indicators to be used as a benchmark to assess effectiveness as an elected representative. The final session was conducted by YB Rodziah Ismail, former EXCO for Selangor State government and current State Assemblywoman for Batu Tiga. Her session was entitled, ''Service Excellence: Setting Up Your Service Centre''. She shared her experience on opening a service centre and operating it smoothly. She explained the differences of being an elected representative in a state where Pakatan Harapan formed the State Government, compared to states where Pakatan Harapan representatives are part of the opposition. She also explained the various government agencies which needed to be engaged to ensure the rakyat's needs could be met and their problems could be overcome. Upon the conclusion of the program, the response from the participants who attended was very positive. They obtained many insights on their new roles and understood better the overall expectations for elected representatives. They also received guidance and valuable advice on how to fulfill their duties in serving the rakyat, from running a service centre to changing policies in the State Assembly and Parliament.