BN SIDELINED NATIVE CHRISTIANS?

PENAMPANG : State Reform Party (Star) Wanita Chief, Melanie Annol (second left), said there had been increasing reports and claims that both the Federal Government and State Government had willfully sidelined native Christians in job opportunities and promotions in public service and government-linked bodies in Sabah.

In support of Star leader Daniel John Jambun's yesterday call on authorities and politicians to stop harrasing Christians in Malaysia, she said the victimisation is very real and alarming but that Christians had chosen to keep it to themselves until now.

"I would like to direct the world attention to this systematic racial discrimination against native Christians especially the Kadazandusun - Murut groups, the original people in Sabah, whereby they were supposed to be as dominant but had been willfuly left behind and sidelined by the ruling Barisan Nasional in almost every spectrum of opportunity in government offices," she said in a statement here today.

Annol who is also Star head for Penampang, claimed that in some cases of new recruitment of staff, certain departments were taking in only Muslim applicants and no Christian applicant, no matter how good were they, were hired.

"There had been reports where the entire intake of staff were always Muslims and only one or two from the Kadazandusun natives managed to get in, even that were because they were Muslim Kadazandusuns. I stand proud to be able to highlight this discrimination now before it gets out of hand and as we look ahead to seek a fair treatment from a fairer government.

"What i am saying is the truth happening in Sabah which we never envisaged it to be like this bad. The late Tun Mustapha Harun and Tun Fuad Stephens must be cringing from their graves seeing the unbelievable now is happening to Sabah," she stressed.

Annol also pointed out that even in institution of higher learning like Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) one can see the overwhelming 'imbalance' in term of opportunity for the Christian natives staff.

"I don't believe that race and religion were not a criteria when the authority recruit or promote officers in their departments. It just defy logic that now Kadazandusun Christians found themselves very hard to get employment in public services and those once inside found it even more difficult to get promotion.

"In UMS i only see two prominent Kadazandusun names that are of Prof Felix Tongkul and Prof Marcus Jopony among the most senior officers," she said outlining the rest based on what was printed in the university's book for its recent convocation weeks ago.

She said according to latest record all the top seven officials of UMS are from one community. Currently the vice-chancellor is Prof Mohd Harun Abdullah, three Deputy Vice Chancellors Prof Shariff Abdul Kadir Shariff Omang, Prof Shahril Yusof, and Associate Prof Kasim Md Mansur, Regisrar Datuk Abdullah Mohd Said, Bursar Rizal Othman and Chief Librarian Dayang Rukiah Awang Amit.

The 32-member UMS Senate are all from the same community except for one Indian, one Chinese and Dr Jopony and Dr Tongkul.

In Yayasan Sabah too, the natives Christians experience the same thing, she alleged.

"There even cases where long-serving Kadazandusun officers remained in their division two position while new intake without experience had climbed the ladder faster to become the bosses.

"In some cases in statutory bodies, the people there just created positions for themselves. You can even find some politicians from particular community occupying certain duplicating positions in government bodies for reasons best known to the ruling party," Annol further charged.

She also claimed that job opportunities meant for locals had been for the past 10 years being taken by Malayans especially in the Federal departments and statutory bodies as well as Federal-linked companies.

"Just look at the police department, education sector, FELCRA, RISDA, Immigration, National Registration Department, Road Transport Department, and so on. Even police constables and kindergarten teachers are from Peninsular, what happen to our local boys and girls who come out in thousands from school every year ?" she lamented adding that one can see those manning roadblocks everywhere are Malayan police.