Chief Secretary Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar today urged civil servants to stop using jargon or complex language when explaining issues or government policies to regular Malaysians.
He said the practice was stymying the dissemination of key information to the masses, leaving the intended target audience unable to understand policies or issues.
He cited explanations of the expanded sales and service tax (SST) as an example, saying these were not done well and had led to gaps in communication, Harian Metro reported.
He urged civil servants to improve their communication methods so that members of society, especially those at the lower-income levels, could understand key issues.
“As we manage communicating with the various groups, we need to practise clear communication in the civil service. In my meetings, I have already said that we should use language that is easy to understand, instead of ‘bahasa Putrajaya‘.
“I want to reprimand the ministries concerning the SST. It’s like we’re explaining the (expanded SST) to professors, top government officials, or someone who has a background in finance.
“But 85% of the people out there want to hear your explanation like you’re speaking to regular folk,” he was quoted as saying.
Shamsul also ordered the corporate communications unit of each government ministry and agency to improve their communications methods, taking into account the differences between reaching older and younger audiences.
