KUCHING, Feb 15 — Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen today alleged that the lop-sided racial composition in Sarawak civil service is due to an unfair employment intake procedure adopted by the state government.
He urged the Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg to ensure that there is an equal opportunity for advancement if he wants other ethnic groups to join the state civil service.
“If we look at the high-ranking officers in the civil service in the state, for example, there is a clear disproportionate representation of races in the state civil service,” he said in a statement.
He said both the ratios of the Chinese and the Dayak representations in the civil service are much less compared to their population in the state.
He claimed that the state government under various political parties has perpetrated this racially imbalanced civil service since the formation of Malaysia 60 years ago.
“It is therefore welcoming to hear the premier speaking of attracting more Chinese to join the civil service, recently.
“However, it is hoped that such words are not mere lip service and that the premier will walk the talk,” Chong, who is also the Stampin Member of Parliament, said.
He said more efforts must be made to attract more Dayaks into the civil service and ensure that they are given a fair chance of promotion in the service.
Chong also urged the state government to make public the present racial composition of the civil service at all different grades.
He said he had submitted a question to the Sarawak Legislative Assembly for the premier to answer during question time in the previous sitting, but it was rejected by the Speaker on grounds that it was touching on a sensitive matter.
He said if the state government continues to adopt such a secretive approach in the matter, then the problem of imbalanced composition in the state civil service will not be rectified.
He also asked the state government if it wants to implement a recent proposal made by Works Minister and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) secretary-general Datuk Sri Alexander Nanta Linggi to set ethnic-based quotas for jobs in Sarawak civil service.
Recently, the Sarawak premier claimed that low pay deterred Chinese youth with Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) from applying for jobs in the state civil service.
He said they would join if the offer, in terms of remuneration, was high, despite the state government’s recognition of the UEC.
Abang Johari said this is one of the problems that the state government will have to solve to attract more Chinese youth to state civil service jobs.
