Public servant mania reflects lack of innovation
- Source: Global Times
- [02:17 October 26 2009]
- Comments
Fan Jin Passing the Imperial Examination, the story of a Ming Dynasty (1368 –1644) intellectual who went nuts after having passed the civil service exam following years of failure, satirized ancient China's talent-choking system.
Hundreds of years later, the fever for becoming a public servant does not seem to have subsided.
As of Saturday, 1.35 million people have registered and qualified for this year's national public servant examination. Thousands of candidates are competing for some of the most coveted positions.
The Internet is full of tips on scoring high, giving a good interview and choosing well among different government agencies.
Since ancient times, the esteem attached to public service has made it an attractive path for young people. Job security, a result of insufficient internal appraisals to sift out the unqualified, stands out in contrast with the uncertainty in other sectors today, not to mention the benefits some civil servants receive.
While young people today have many more career options than Fan Jin, the pervasive zeal for public service is a troubling sign that the willingness to take a risk and try something new, not just a set career path, has not been widely embraced by the young generation in China.
Instead, stability has become the top concern, and landing a government job has become a feat that young graduates can proudly show off.
Government agencies need to recruit talented people, no doubt about it, since senior government officials come from their ranks. It also cannot be denied that a certain number of competent candidates are truly thinking of committing themselves to serving the public.
But most candidates choose to work for the government with an eye on stability. That does not bode well for creating a capable and devoted public servant system, which is crucial in improving government efficiency.
Worst, well-educated young people, the cream of any country's talent pool, are competing for public servant positions just when the Chinese government is trying hard to cultivate innovation.
The spirit of creativity has to be carefully nourished by offering incentives and encouraged by promoting the right role models. Young people currently look up to government officials more than they do to entrepreners. These are among the factors driving fresh graduates to seek government jobs.
A simple desire for the job security of working for the government harms both creativity and government performance.
