KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 40,729 positions have been approved this year to be filled in ministries, departments and agencies, said Public Service Department (PSD) director-general Datuk Seri Mohd Shafiq Abdullah.

He said in a statement here today that the posts would cater to the operation of completed facilities and critical services schemes in the health, safety, education and enforcement sectors.

"PSD is always committed to the filling of positions for all ministries, departments and agencies to ensure the delivery of Keluarga Malaysia (Malaysian Family) services is at the optimum and best level, especially when the country is in the transition to endemic phase and national recovery.

"All ministries, departments and agencies must follow the existing eligibility requirements and rules for filling positions that have been approved," he said.

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, Mohd Shafiq said public dress codes at government departments were set to ensure harmony and mutual well-being, which is also in line with the fifth Rukun Negara principle, namely Courtesy and Morality.

"Dress codes are also practised at government departments in Japan, the United Kingdom and Australia as well as ASEAN countries such as the Philippines and Thailand.

"To ensure the delivery of public services to members of Keluarga Malaysia is always relevant, the PSD through department heads will continue to enhance training programmes for counter staff and spread awareness on the existing customer dress codes," he said.

He said this in response to a recent news report regarding the matter, which has caused inconvenience to the public.

Mohd Shafiq also called on the public to use digital platforms to deal with matters involving public services through applications or portals, which is in line with the government's intention to optimise the use of these platforms, adding that this would speed up their access to services as well as reduce bureaucracy.

"Members of Keluarga Malaysia can access end-to-end services through the MyGovernment portal and the Government Online Services Gateway (GOS Gateway)," he said, adding that to date, 389 online service platforms have been developed.

-- BERNAMA