How (Dis)honest Is Our Government?

Non-Malays are just not interested in government jobs - Public Services DG, 25th Dec 2007

The DG said the Government had never condoned sympathy or discrimination when hiring new staff, including those at the Diplomatic and Administration level.

Here is a reply from a non-Malay in The Star, 27 Dec 2007:

I REFER to your report 'Few non-Malays applying, says PSD' (The Star, Dec 25).

I am Malaysian Chinese who graduated with the Bachelor of Public Management (previously known as Public Administration) with Honours from Universiti Utara Malaysia, Kedah, many years ago.

I studied among others, Politics and Government in Malaysia, Public Policy and Fiscal Policy and Analysis. Actually, this course is to groom administrative and diplomatic officers for the Government.

Ironically, I can never be one, although I would like to serve the government. The reason is I failed in the first-level exam conducted by the Public Services Department (PSD).

Over the years, I sat for so many exams in Putrajaya. To my disappointment, each ended in failure though I do not know which paper I failed.

Our PSD director-general Tan Sri Ismail Adam mentioned that the hiring process is based on merit or academic qualifications. I strongly doubt it. Mind you, I was one of the top students in my course. I was in the Dean’s List for four out of six semesters.

If that was not enough, I also hold a master's degree and a diploma. As time went by, I lost my interest to serve the government because the hiring system failed me – time and again.

AU YEONG HOW,
Kuala Lumpur.

JR: I think Au Yeong How is definitely over-qualified to be a government servant. Putting him in government service would definitely make the majority (with very poor acedemic qualifications) inside look very bad indeed. He would also have to be promoted to a high post and this will be highly improper as he belongs to the minority race. As much as PM Abdullah would like to digress, I think Au's letter clearly shows how discriminative our public service is.

If academic qualifications are indeed important our public service positions will be filled by minority races and I am sure the forces that are will not allow this to happen as they will lose their rice bowl. If PM Abdullah is not convinced (the public definitely isn't) he has only to look at the racial composition of our foreign service and explain to us why it is filled with staff from only a single race.