Civil service a good place to start ‘Keluarga Malaysia’

 

The stated objectives of Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s Keluarga Malaysia have given Malaysians hope that a change towards correcting a decades-old racial imbalance in the public services can happen over a period of time.

The civil service will be a great place to showcase it as the government has absolute control over bureaucrats.

Minister in the prime minister’s department Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad has confirmed in a parliamentary reply what many Malaysians know but may not have fully grasped – the extent of the lop-sided representation of our civil service in a plural nation.

About 90% of the 992,765-strong civil service employees are Bumiputeras. And this does not include members of the police and armed forces. Abdul Latiff said Malays made up 75.95%, Sabah Bumiputeras (7.38%), Chinese (6.9%), Sarawak Bumiputeras (4.7%), Indians (4.15%) and others (0.87%).

The under-representation of some of our communities becomes especially sad these days when the “Keluarga Malaysia” poster flashes at you each time you open any ministry’s website.

Obviously you can’t fault the current government over something that has existed long before, probably as a result of 50 years of social engineering that started in 1971 after the New Economic Policy was implemented.

However, it must keep an eye on the over-enthusiastic little Napoleons who have derailed noble plans for reforms in the past.

The seriousness, or so it seems, of the Keluarga Malaysia concept is also shown in the constant use of the term by all government leaders to start a speech or write official letters, and also signing off with a “Salam Keluarga Malaysia.”

In another emphasis on this concept, the prime minister launched the national unity action plan on Monday that will use five core strategies to steer Keluarga Malaysia to bring about a better understanding of unity in a wider and more inclusive way. They are:

• Preserving the nation’s democratic system based on constitutional monarchy;
• Building a society which appreciates and displays unity;
• Empowerment through a fair and equitable socio-economic model;
• Ensuring openness and tolerance towards differences in religion and cultural tradition; and,
• Building a progressive society through science, technology and innovation.

I am sure anybody in the prime minister’s shoes will face this extremely difficult problem of trying to please the competing interests of every group in our complex society. However, all these programmes mean a lot to marginalised communities who want to make their lives here more relevant and meaningful.

They must be made to feel that here is a leader who is sincere about taking more serious actions to correct the imbalances in the life of Malaysians and make every one of them feel they are being genuinely treated like full citizens.

The government should draw up a plan to make the civil service more representative of the plural Malaysian society. It can be a serious five or even 10-year plan to bring in more non-Bumiputeras into the civil service eventually.

Besides, there are serious questions about the quality of the civil service currently, although many of them are doing their best. It would be in the best interest of the nation to employ more people with quality and merit. Absolute meritocracy is definitely not the ideal solution, but there is still a need to strike a balance.

A more representative civil service will also be viewed as more legitimate and ensure that policies can generate outcomes that benefit all sections of society.

On a broader level, political leaders must put in serious efforts to desensitise questions of race, religion, language and culture. This is the core problem causing us endless tension. Certain political parties are not helping the situation by continuously harping on race and religious supremacy to be in power.

Incidentally, before the New Economic Policy was implemented in 1971, 60.8% of the civil service were Malays, Chinese (20.2%), Indians (17.4%) and others (1.6%).

We all know that parents in a ‘keluarga’ or family endeavour to equalise opportunities for all the children under their care. Yes, they do put in more effort to help the weaker child but it is never at the expense of any other family member. Only then we can proudly call it a happy family. Otherwise, it will end up as a broken and unhappy unit.

I guess if we know a thing is going to improve if left alone, then just let it be. But if we obviously know something is not right and ignore it, it will only get worse in the long run.

Maybe for a start, the education ministry could consider employing more non-Bumiputeras in the ongoing special one-off exercise to recruit 18,000 teachers. I have heard of so many qualified people who applied but were not even called for an interview.

The challenge for this and future governments is to have the political will to right many of the imbalances that our Keluarga Malaysia is facing. Admitting our shortcomings and making the necessary changes is a great start.

During Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s watch, he launched Vision 2020 aimed at creating a Bangsa Malaysia but it failed miserably. Then came Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia that did not unite Malaysia.

For Keluarga Malaysia to succeed, we need inclusive policies that are needs-based. Otherwise we are headed the same way as Vision 2020 and 1Malaysia. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.