Positive vibes from Government

BY NOW we should realise that solving major issues like plummeting morale, unproductiveness and rising crime means investing in a major cultural change.

Inefficient public service has a trickle-down effect, undermining productivity and even affecting how we deal with crime. Too much time gets wasted in long, tedious, demeaning bureaucratic procedures that demoralise the public and produce no results.

Two stories in last week’s news sparked hope that we might be recognising a shift in government thinking about how to create the cultural changes we need.

The first story reported that the Ministry of Public Administration is working with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Advisory Services Ltd to develop a remote-work policy for civil servants.

The second is a government anti-crime music initiative – the Call to Order project, which sparked mixed reactions. Both plans are positive steps in the right direction to change the way we think about public service and the culture of crime.

The Ministry of Public Administration’s desire to develop remote-work opportunities for public servants is more than an attempt to modernise. Adopting this initiative would boost public servants’ morale and increase productivity.

Remote-work initiatives mean less time wasted in traffic and better motivated, more pleasant and more efficient workers – all behaviours needed to keep the perk of working from home. Parents would have more time to spend with children who aren’t in school. The social benefits for these children would be immeasurable. Workers would be more productive because they are not worn out from long daily commutes, and the climate will benefit from fewer cars on the road.

A press release from the ministry said the policy is expected to be completed by December 2024. Hopefully, this is not one of those pie-in-the sky studies that ends up collecting dust on a shelf. Hopefully, the idea will trickle down to private businesses too. It shouldn’t take much thought for us to make this leap. It’s important that we adapt to this high-tech age.

The other story that caught my eye was the Call to Order project, inspired by a local reggae song, The Call by Isasha, Mr King, Ziggy Rankin, Prophet Benjamin and King David. In this admirable collaborative effort singers call for an end to gang violence.

This initiative encourages young people from eight-24 to record videos singing lyrics they have written to the instrumental version of The Call. The winner will have his or her song recorded.

Those who find this project a soft approach to crime, and advocate more police cars and police guns to fight this problem, fail to understand that the most effective crime-fighting weapon is a cultural shift away from confrontation, which hasn’t produced the results we want.

One opposition MP’s puzzling reaction to this musical initiative was, “I don’t think we could sing our way out of crime."

No, we can’t, but we can make crime less appealing, encourage education, hard work and cultural participation as viable alternatives. I have seen how reading, the prison debate teams, skill-based learning programmes and music turned around many young men I taught in prison.

Projects that encourage a social and cultural shift can make a positive impact. There are many young men and women in our country who don’t have the social and cultural support or the opportunities that the privileged have. They need positive reinforcement, creative opportunities and platforms to express their thoughts and feelings.

We need to resist the temptation to criticise and support alternative ways to tackle problems. Ziggy Rankin’s response to negative comments about The Call are telling. He said, “It wasn't surprising to me that (negative) comments were made. I think naysayers were supposed to do that, just to stay in character.”

We certainly do have a penchant for criticism and righteous indignation when we should be taking action.

I also agree with Ziggy Rankin’s comment that “music is a very, very powerful thing.” He said he and certain gang leaders used music to calm volatile places. In one of my prison debates about the influence of music, inmates spoke about how music is also used to provoke anger in poor youths.

You’re right, Ziggy Rankin, when you said, “It don't make sense everybody sit back and saying, ‘Music wouldn't do this (create a positive vibe). We have to try, and we have to make the effort. It’s about action over words. There is nothing to lose by trying.”

Ziggy Rankin is right. Taking chances can certainly pay off.