Civil servants advised against involvement in rally

Civil servants are advised not to be involved in the rally scheduled to be held tomorrow at the Merdeka Stadium in the federal capital, said Chief Secretary to the Government Datuk Seri Dr Ali Hamsa.

He said this was because it was learnt that the rally was organised by a political party and as usual, civil servants should not be involved.

He disclosed this after the launching of the 'Membaca 1Malaysia: Bacalah Manjaku' programme at Hospital Putrajaya, here today.

Earlier in his speech, Ali said the government would initiate the reading campaign continuously, and beginning this year, the reading campaign would be implemented in a more effective manner in order to achieve the motive of the campaign.

"It is learnt that Malaysians read between eight and 12 books annually, but the quantity of reading materials alone is inadequate, the move to educate the community to read and analyse the information obtained must be carried out simultaneously," he said.

Hospital Putrajaya is the fifth hospital to introduce the programme since it was first launched in 2008 at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital.