The mystery of including policing in your job

Every job that one gets in the job market has a job description and a job scope.

To be excellent at a job, one only needs to fulfill their job description and job scope.

Hence it is a mystery why some, including in the civil service, are adding descriptions such as moral policing, fashion policing and language policing in their work when that isn’t why they are there in the first place.

The latest case that is under the media spotlight took place at the Immigration Department in UTC Komtar in Penang where an elderly Chinese lady was denied her passport renewal simply on the basis that she was not fluent in Bahasa Malaysia. You can see the report here.

Immigration and language policing, seriously.

When did language policing become the job description of the Immigration Department? As far as most are aware, the Immigration Department is involved in managing movement of people at authorised entrance and exit points and issue passport, visa and travel permits.

These are the type of civil servants who smear the good name of the departments.

Another interesting thing is certain group of people were supporting the language policing done by this errant immigration officers.

It is somewhat weird as they are in the dark over the role of the immigration department.

It is situations like these that lead to the growth of Little Napoleons within a department and an increase in bureaucratic red tape.

This then affects the nation’s competitiveness in conducting business since the departments are part of the compulsory bureaucracy that must be dealt with.

On that note, civil servant does not get any extra bonuses for their extra policing work.

With regards to the above case involving the immigration, it is insufficient to just announce that those implicated are being reprimanded.

State clearly the punishment and justify your actions.