Govt should push for more racially balanced civil service - Kok

There should be a strong commitment from Putrajaya to push for a more racially balanced civil service to better reflect the spirit of Keluarga Malaysia, a slogan introduced by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, said Seputeh MP Teresa Kok.

In a statement today, the DAP lawmaker said the government must have the political will to include non-bumiputeras in the civil service, which bumiputras have dominated since the inception of the New Economic Policy in 1970.

Kok said that Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abd Latiff Ahmad’s parliamentary response that 90 percent of civil servants are bumiputras was just a confirmation of what many people think.

“He said that top officers above Grade 56 in all the services comprised 82 percent bumiputeras. These are the secretaries-general, deputy secretaries-general, directors-general and deputy directors-general, among others.

“It’s mind-blogging that he says that the Public Services Commission does not practise any quota system when selecting civil servants and that only the best are recruited. I am not sure if he knows what he was talking about when he said all Malaysians have equal opportunity,” she said.

Kok said that most non-bumiputeras in the civil service are in the teaching and health services, while there are very few in all other government units.

She said the country needs to seriously consider having a more representative civil service with better racial composition to reflect the nation’s push for Keluarga Malaysia.

“The call for Keluarga Malaysia must go beyond mere lip service. It just cannot be tokenism anymore. Malaysia has grown as a nation together, comprising all races.

“The present Malaysian civil service is predominantly Malay. The higher the service group, the higher its domination by Malays. All other racial groups, including non-Malay bumiputera, are under-represented in varying degrees,” she said.

Race is not everything

Kok said the low number of non-Malays applying to join the government, salary structure, and widespread perception of unequal chances in recruitment and career advancement are among the factors causing a less representative civil service.

“This had also demoralised many non-bumiputera civil servants as they have been denied promotion due to their race and religions.

“While I am not calling for absolute meritocracy as a little tweaking is still needed despite five decades of positive discrimination, having the right person at the right place would enhance our civil service. Race should not be the be-all and end-all when selecting or promoting civil servants,” she said.

Kok added that more inclusiveness was important for making Malaysia attractive to investors, especially in the current borderless world.

“While I know it cannot be done overnight, the motion to make the civil service better represented and more efficient must start now.

“There must be adequate political will by whoever the government is to have more non-bumiputeras in the civil service,” she said.

Statistics from the Prime Minister’s Department on July 5 revealed that non-bumiputeras are underrepresented in the civil service.

It shows 79.02 percent of civil servants - not including police and military - ranked Grade 56 and below are Malays. Natives of Sabah and Sarawak made up five percent of the civil service, respectively, followed by the Orang Asli from Peninsular Malaysia.

Collectively, bumiputeras made up 89.23 percent of civil servants who are Grade 56 and below.

This is disproportionately higher than the 69.6 percent estimate of the bumiputera population reported by the Population and Housing Census 2020. - Mkini