All I ask for is honesty

There was an interesting little news that I saw on Brudirect quite a while back under 'other reports' about British policemen moonlighting among others as models and masseurs. More than 1,000 of them reported that they held part time jobs in addition to being a cop, which surprisingly also include them working as florists, hypnotherapists, entertainers, plumbers and caterers. And it's not just the lowly constable doing the extra work and finding that supplementary income but the list also include chief superintendents and two deputy assistant commissioners! Their salaries are not cheap either as salaries start at about BGP27,000 (that's $81,000 our money or about $6,500 a month) up to GBP30,000 ($90,000) after two years' probation and benefits include overtime, free travel in the capital and up to 30 days' annual leave.

Now, I am not sure whether these policemen are doing for the money or for the fun of it but it is quite interesting to know that they are allowed to do so. How about Brunei Civil Servants? The General Orders stated that civil servants are civil servants for the full 24 hours, so technically speaking one cannot not be a civil servant. However there is a clause which allows a Brunei civil servant to apply and to receive income for another job. However that is not automatically granted and depended on what the job is. Civil servants are allowed to apply to open up businesses or work at one but obviously they have to apply to do the PM's Office for permission. It used to drive me crazy as when the rules were relaxed, it was meant to help the lowly paid rank and file but a number of applicants that I had to process were those whose salary are triple or quadruple that of the clerk.

Permission comes with a number of rules and guidelines which include not being allowed to use the official photocopiers for running that business. The difficulty was policing. Many civil servants surprisingly are quite entrepreneurial and managed to run all sort of businesses in the office. But ask them to do it properly outside their scope of work, many would rather not do it. I know of a few who used to be very active running their own little side incomes but now that they have completely retired, they are not as active as they used to be. I am not sure if it the atomosphere in the office that is driving them to run businesses or is it because you like your regular earning and you are only moonlighting or simply because you are younger and therefore need to supplement them. In general, I say, go ahead, all I ask for is a little honesty. Do not abuse your position. Do your work and serve the public. Do not let your business get in the way of serving the public. We are civil servants - we are servants to the public. We are not the lord and masters of the public - remember that.