USING an elbow crutch, Mohd Fuzi Desa made his way gingerly when he was called to receive the Excellent Service Award for civil servants from Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow at the award presentation ceremony at Bertam Resort in Kepala Batas yesterday.
The 58-year-old driver wore a wide smile as Chow, accompanied by State Secretary Datuk Mohd Sayuthi Bakar, came down from the stage to present him with the certificate of appreciation for his services.
Knowing the difficulty that a few of the OKU (physically challenged) recipients had to climb up the stage to receive their awards, Chow made it easier for them by coming down from the stage himself.
A total of 309 civil servants from 21 state government departments and three state statutory bodies were picked for the awards.
“I’m just glad to receive the award. It’s an appreciation for my services,” said Mohd Fuzi, who is attached to the Central Seberang Perai (SPT) Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) in Bukit Mertajam.
“Bacterial infection caused the loss of part of my right leg; first my toes and then in February 2020, I got my leg amputated from below the right knee.
“But I am grateful that I can still walk and am able to work as a driver. I use my left leg to take care of the brake and the right prosthetic leg to operate the accelerator.”
This was the second time Mohd Fuzi had bagged the excellent service award since 2009.
He even had the honour of being the driver for the late Penang governor Tun Dr Hamdan Sheikh Tahir for about 10 years from 1993 and a short spell for Hamdan’s successor Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas.
Subsequently, he worked at the Land and Mines Office, and later at the Botanic Gardens before being transferred to DID in 2018 until now.
“It was a pleasure working for Tun Dr Hamdan. He was an absolutely nice person. You know, I never had an off day during the festive seasons when I worked for him because he always had functions to attend during Hari Raya, Deepavali, Christmas and Chinese New Year.
“But I did not mind because it was part and parcel of my work as a driver.”
Another OKU recipient, M. Jayshree, 36, was also rejoicing yesterday. Standing at only 123cm tall, the Penang Public Library librarian from Seberang Jaya felt 10 feet tall when she received the award from Chow.
“One thing that I am very happy about is the opportunity to meet my Chief Minister. He is humble and you can see a lot of development taking place in Penang under his leadership,” said Jayshree, who also won the award for the second time after a lapse of 10 years.
Jayshree is married to Thinesh Manickam, a 35-year-old software engineer, and they have two children, aged six and three. All of them are also diminutive in size.
For Jayshree’s colleague, Ahmad Zaini Effandy Mat Yusop, it was also the second time he got the award since working at the Penang Public Library Corporation in 2008.
He said he fully agreed with Chow that civil servants should quickly adapt to technological changes to serve the people better and not fall behind.
“At the library, I will of course work harder to improve the service for our customers, try to improve the existing infrastructure in addition to having good internet access,” he said, attributing his award to his team.
Nuar Rizal Kamarudin, an assistant administrative officer at the state Finance Department, said he was touched to receive the award this year.
“After 15 years of serving at the federal and state levels, this is the first time I have received the award. I want to express my gratitude to the state government for the award and will continue to improve the quality of service in this state,” said Rizal, who has been serving in Penang since 2016.
Muhammad Fadzli Mat Esa, the Penghulu in the south Seberang Perai Land and District office, was also a first-time award winner since becoming a civil servant in 2009.
“I have, however, won an excellent service award at the Federal level in 2014.
“Of course, I am happy to get the award again.
“As a civil servant, I welcome the people’s desire or suggestion for us to continue improving the quality of our services.
“There are many challenges at the community level I face as a headman. As the headman, I must take up the challenges and solve them to the best of my ability,” Muhammad Fadzli stressed.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Muhamad Amir Irsyad Omar