Minister says all races get fair shot at joining civil service

 

The Public Services Commission received a total of 1,279,494 applications to join the civil service last year, of whom 20,762 were appointed.

PETALING JAYA: Based on the breakdown of civil servant hopefuls called for interviews and those eventually hired last year, all ethnicities were given a fair chance at joining the civil service, according to Armizan Ali.

The special functions minister said the Public Services Commission (PSC) received a total of 1,279,494 applications to join the civil service last year.

In terms of Malay candidates, there were 952,300 applicants but only 64,813 were interviewed and 16,126 were eventually hired. This meant that 24.9% of Malay candidates interviewed were hired.

In comparison, 3,672 Indian candidates out of 38,005 applicants were interviewed, with 991 (27% of interviewees) later appointed.

A total of 1,014 (26.5% of interviewees) Chinese candidates joined the civil service after 3,833 of the 15,806 applicants were interviewed.

“If you consider the matter from the aspect of opportunity to be appointed after being interviewed, the proportion in terms of ethnicity is nearly the same, namely 24.9% Malay, 26.5% Chinese and 27% Indian,” he said in a written Dewan Rakyat reply.

Armizan said this reflected how all Malaysians, regardless of race, had an equal shot at joining the public service.

“For the PSC, the method of hiring and appointing federal civil servants is transparent and based on the merit and competency of candidates.

“There is no quota set for a certain race for civil service posts. All Malaysians, including minorities, have equal opportunities and are in an open and fair competition to be considered (for these posts).”

Of the over 120,000 candidates called for interviews by the commission last year, only 88,897 had attended the interview while 20,762 candidates were eventually appointed.

The 20,762 appointed comprise 16,126 Malays (or 77.7% of the total appointed), 1,014 Chinese (4.9%), 991 Indians (4.8%), 1,199 Sabah Bumiputeras (5.8%), 887 Sarawak Bumiputeras (4.3%), 45 Orang Asli (0.2%) and 500 from other races (2.4%).

Armizan was replying to S Kesavan (PH-Sungai Siput) who asked about the government’s efforts to increase the intake of Indian civil servants to reflect the population in the country.

Kesavan said the government’s Human Resource Management Information System stated that Indians made up just 4.15% of civil servants, while the community composed about 7% of Malaysia’s demographic. - FMT