The government idea for a five-day working week for the civil service and the reinstatement of the cost-of-living allowance are very good ideas. Most Malaysians will support this especially those with the government.

But this also will create more problems for other working individuals. For the majority of the people, Saturday was the only day they had for dealing with government agencies. Now that the Saturday is taken away, we will have to take leave each time we have to attend to a government- related matter.

But I have a possible solution to the problem. Apart from their normal working hours from 8.15am to 4pm, perhaps the civil service could implement another shift from say, 5pm to 10.30pm two times a week during weekdays.

With this, they can deliver better service to the people of Malaysia. I would suggest the same for the banks and all customer-orientated companies as well

The government should remember that we, the people, were the ones who elected them to protect and serve us. Not the other way around. The people should not be at the mercy of the government. Decisions made by the government should be in harmony with the needs of the people.