Minister: Chinese make up 1.71% of civil service applicants

Joseph Entulu says recruitment policy entirely based on merit and competency, with applicants treated fairly irrespective of race, religion and gender.

PETALING JAYA: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Joseph Entulu has revealed that only 1.71% of applicants for government jobs are Chinese with most wanting to be immigration officers, The Borneo Post reported.

As the minister in charge of the Public Services Commission (PSC), Entulu was privy to the data on applications for government jobs and shared the breakdown on the preferred areas of work by the Chinese applicants.

“There is encouraging response from the Chinese community in wanting to serve in the civil service. Based on the PSC data, Chinese applicants made up 26,661 or 1.71% of the total 1,561,206 applications submitted to the PSC portal last year.

“The post of immigration officer was the most sought after, followed by assistant customs superintendent, administrative and diplomatic officer, immigration superintendent, medical officer, training assistant pharmacist, training assistant medical officer and customs superintendent,” he told the Sarawak-based daily yesterday.

Entulu, who is also Selangau MP, also emphasised the basis on which applications are treated by the PSC.

“The recruitment policy practised by PSC is entirely based on merit and competency of the candidates, where all applicants are treated fairly irrespective of race, religion and gender. This means everyone has an equal chance of being considered in this open competition.

“Many interviewees misunderstand the concept of meritocracy. For job placement purposes, meritocracy includes not just academic results but also attitude, grooming and sometimes, even family and personal background,” he was quoted as saying.

He added that the public service will ensure only quality candidates irrespective of race, religion and gender would be recruited to the civil service.

Besides the PSC, Entulu’s portfolio also sees him in charge of the Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (Mampu) and Education Service Commission (ESC).

“With the recruitment policy that is based on merit and candidates’ competency – it provides fair opportunity for all qualified candidates.” -FMT