PRESENT POINT POWER

The copy of Budget signed (above) and sealed (below) and ready for tabling on Friday afternoon (1st Sept 2006)

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah paid a customary visit to the Finance Ministry on the night before Budget day and signed the copy before being sealed for his tabling in the Dewan Rayat on Friday afternoon. He checked and was shown around all the accompanying budget documentation that will be available from the Government printers

Meanwhile International Trade and Industry Ministry Secretary-General Tan Sri Mohamed Sidek Hassan has been appointed Chief Secretary to the Government effective Sunday.

PM Visits Ministry To See Final Preparations For Budget 2007; September 01, 2006 00:35 AM

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 31 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Thursday night visited the Finance Ministry here to observe the final preparations for the Budget 2007 presentation Friday.

Abdullah, who is also Finance Minister, arrived at 9.00 pm and was received by Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop. They then proceeded to the 10th Level of the ministry building to monitor the preparations.
The PM accompanied by Dr Ng Yen Yen checked on the Budget publications

Also present were the ministry's deputy ministers, Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen and Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussein and other senior officers.

Abdullah is scheduled to table the Budget 2007 at the Dewan Rakyat Friday afternoon.

During the tour, Abdullah was also accompanied by his daughter Nori, who helped to distribute packets of food to the staff of the ministry and other agencies involved in the Budget 2007 preparation.

Her mother, the late Datin Seri Endon Mahmood, used to do the same during previous Budget preparations.

Mohamed Sidek Is New Chief Secretary To The Government ; August 31, 2006 17:39 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 31 (Bernama) -- International Trade and Industry Ministry Secretary-General Tan Sri Mohamed Sidek Hassan has been appointed Chief Secretary to the Government effective Sunday.

He replaces Tan Sri Samsudin Osman, whose service contract ends on Saturday, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement here Thursday.

The appointment of Mohamed Sidek, 55, has received the consent of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra Jamalullail.

Born in Pekan, Pahang, on June 24 1951, Mohamed Sidek holds a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) degree in Public Administration from Universiti Malaya and a Master of Business Administration from New Hampshire College, United States.

He started his career in the administrative and diplomatic service on April 15 1974 as assistant secretary in the International Trade and Industry Ministry.

He had served as Principal Assistant Director of the Implementation Coordination Unit in the Prime Minister's Department.

Mohamed Sidek has vast experience in the International Trade and Industry Ministry, having served as Malaysia's Trade Commissioner in Sydney, Australia, among others.

He had also served as Deputy Director Policy in the Industrial Development Division, Deputy Director (Operations) in the Policy and Research Division, Minister Counsellor of Economic Affairs at the Malaysian Trade Commissioner's office in Washington, United States, and Director of the Multilateral Relations Division during his tenure with the ministry.

Mohamed Sidek was appointed Deputy Secretary-General of the ministry on Jan 19 2001 and promoted Secretary-General on Oct 24 2004.

"I'm Free", Says Outgoing Chief Secretary To The Govt

By Azman Ujang and Muin Majid

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 31 (Bernama) -- "I'm free," was how Tan Sri Samsudin Osman expressed his relief on the eve of his final day as Chief Secretary to the Government.

"The nation is free from the shackles of colonisation. In my case, I'm free from the duties and responsibilities as Chief Secretary to the Government, in that I no longer carry this burden on my shoulders which will be passed on to my successor," he told Bernama in a farewell Merdeka Day interview at his office here Thursday.

Samsudin, who was appointed as the nation's No. 1 civil servant in April 2001, reached the mandatory retirement age on March 3 the following year but his service was extended on a contract basis thrice, the last one being a six-month extension.

"I have given my best. Whether or not I have lived up to people's expectations is up to them to judge. What I have given to this job is my heart and soul.

"The hours that I spent, the time I spent on the job, thinking, doing.I don't see beyond my job," said Samsudin, 59, who leaves the civil service after 37 years.

Samsudin thanked the government for giving him the opportunity and trust to hold the highest position in the civil service for the last five-and-a-half years.

"But 'Thank You' are two words that don't adequately describe my gratitude to the government," he said in the hour-long interview which took place while he was busy packing up his files and personal belongings strewn all over the office, before clocking out for the last time tomorrow.

Dressed in his trademark white-collared striped blue shirt with a matching blue tie, he said his gratitude went beyond what he had achieved in his career but also he was indebted to the government for his education.

"I mean the government took care of my education from Form Four until Form Six when I was in boarding school. It continued until I entered university with full government scholarship.

"I and my generation feel that obviously we need to get jobs to help our families and secondly to repay the kindness of those who had put us through school and taken care of us," he said in reference to the immense role of the government in his life.

The Johor-born consummate civil servant felt that he had somewhat repaid the government through his long service.

"Although I'm paid a salary, I still feel that giving my heart and soul to the job is part of my effort to repay the government," said Samsudin, who also shared his feelings on what it meant to be Chief Secretary to the Government and Secretary to the Cabinet.

"While being chief secretary -- to tell you the truth -- sometimes I don't even feel that I'm one. It's a job that I have to do and it just happens that people call me Chief Secretary to the Government.

"Frankly speaking, I feel that there's not much glamour to the job. The only thing I know is work that I have to read a lot and do a lot of other tasks. Being Chief Secretary to the Government never goes to my head," he said with humility.

He spoke of the heavy responsibilities of having to juggle the two key posts.

"I have to do a lot of chores to fulfil requests by ministers. It's my job to ensure that everything is in order. I also have to look into things like filling government posts.

It is a very challenging job," he said.

Asked what had been his guiding principles, Samsudin said he strongly believed in giving his best and in being professional always in whatever he did.

This, he said, was driven by his disdain of giving people reasons to criticise his work.

"I'm always guided by that principle to make certain that I do everything to fulfil the needs and to be proper about everything, proper about the way I conduct my business, about the way I deal with people and in the way I do things," he said.

He stressed the importance of doing things according to rules and regulations and wisdom.

He was also asked about yesterday's Cabinet meeting which he attended for the last time as secretary.

Samsudin said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi gave him the opportunity to say his parting shot and also thanked him for his service on behalf of the Cabinet.

On his post-retirement plans, he said he would now devote his time to his job as president of Putrajaya Corporation, the local authority for this federal government administrative hub. "So I'm like the Mayor of Putrajaya," he said in jest.