Civil service reforms

The "iron rice bowl", as a catchphrase for a job in a State-owned enterprise or institution, has become history with the transition of the country's economy from a planned one to a market one. But many who apply for a civil servant's job are still obsessed with the idea that a position in a government department will provide a life-long security of everything.

Yet, the fact that about 15,000 civil servants have been disciplined and some even dismissed every year on average in the past decade indicates that the iron-rice-bowl mindset is still prevalent among those who intend to idle their days away on a civil servant's position, while enjoying a better-than-average salary and welfare packages.

Sources from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security reveal that regulations on the dismissal and resignation of civil servants are in the pipeline and will quite probably be released and adopted by the end of this year.