In March 2019, Cuepacs (Congress of Union of Employees in the Public and Civil Services Malaysians) released a statement saying that more than 400, 000 civil servants (or 20-30%) experience emotional stress, with a number of them needing psychiatric treatment. This was quickly followed by a press conference by the Public Service Department disputing the claim and casting doubt on the validity of the data.
However, the numbers cited by Cuepacs that 25-30% of civil servants are stressed seems reasonable given that the National Health and Comorbidity Survey in 2015 found that 29% of Malaysian adults have poor mental health. In addition The latest study by AIA Vitality conducted with 11000 Malaysian workers found that 50% of workers experience negative work related stress.
There is sufficient data that many Malaysians experience poor mental health and that poor mental health is costly on the economy (absenteeism, presenteeism, turnover), not to mention the social and psychological effects.
We hope that organizations like CUEPACS and PSD can work together and focus on create mentally healthy workplaces and ensure that effective mental health resources are available to civil servants.
