Why SO FEW NON-MALAYS in the public service - Ramon Navaratnam

It is encouraging that the Public Service Commission(PSC) will now study the reasons for the poor number of applications from Non Bumiputras for public and civil service jobs.

I would like to congratulate the new Chairman of the PSC Tan Sri Mahmood Adam for his prestigious appointment and for taking this constructive initiative to institute a Study which has been long overdue , so soon he assumed duty on May 31st .

He has said that out of the 1.1 million applicants for government posts , Chinese and Indians made up only 5% ! He stated that this big difference in the application ratio has been the trend since 2009. However I believe that this has been a steady decline in this application ratio for a long time since even 1970 .

I would also ask my former colleague Tan Sri Mahmood to please check on the accuracy of this ratio and declining trend as many Non Bumi applications could have been excluded in compiling the statistics I hope that these statistics will be made public , as the Civil Service List is no longer published .

WHY?

The PSC should be more transparent and address the common questions raised by the public. For instance , why would Non Malays not want to apply to join the public service ?

The PSC thinks that it could be because of the lack of awareness about civil service jobs or that it is not attractive enough for them. But how can they be unaware of civil service jobs when these jobs are presumably advertised widely ? And today , after so many generous salary improvements and attractive terms of service , the civil service is pretty well paid and even pampered at some levels ?

Furthermore with so many unemployed graduates , why would they not apply for government jobs ? Could it be because they feel , at there is no point in applying for government jobs , after repeated rejections ? After all Govt jobs offer unique experiences which can stand them in good stead , if they want to join the private sector later in their career ?

Monopolized

Actually I believe that there are strong perceptions among many Non Bumis that the Public Service is monopolised by the Bumis and that it is meant mainly for them . Non Bumis hear about the low recruitment rates for Non Bumis and the poorer prospects of promotions for Non Bumis . They believe that even when they are promoted , the promotion posts are not the more attractive nor professionally satisfying jobs .

Having been a former senior civil servant , I am therefore very interested in maintaining the high standards of the public service, which is the` tulang balakang `or backbone of the whole Government administration. The above comments are therefore my sincere feedback to the PSC for their study to improve the public service to more effectively respond to our Prime Minister's call , to serve the People First and to Perform now .

But I hope that the PSC Study will be undertaken by an Independent Panel which would include all major stake holders in a balanced manner , to have greater public credibility and acceptability .

The recruitment into the public service in the past when I joined the service , was based on a Ratio of 4 Bumis to 1 Non Bumi . That reasonable ratio is now no more . Hence we see a vastly dominated Bumi public service which could in time lose its Malaysian character . This would reduce its ability to empathetically serve a more sophisticated multiracial and multi religious society in the future

I would also request the Government to re-introduce the former ethnic ratios for recruitment into the public service , including the teaching profession. Then the unbalanced ethnic composition of the present public service will be rectified , resulting in greater national unity and peace and stability in our beloved country

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam is  Chairman Asli Center of Public Policy Studies