Poor command of English leaves graduates jobless – senator

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PENAMPANG: A good command of the English language could help graduates to secure employments, especially in the private sector, said MCA Penampang chief Senator Datuk Paul Kong Sing Chu.

Speaking at the division’s annual general meeting on Saturday, Kong pointed out that there are more than 40,000 unemployed graduates currently in the country and some have been jobless for more than three years.

One of the reasons why they could not secure jobs is their bad command of English while another is that their qualification does not meet the market requirement, thus making them not marketable, he said.

Kong cited an experience of his senior lawyer friend had with a graduate from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) who had responded to a vacancy advertisement.

“He told me that about three years ago, his legal firm advertised an officer position. There was an UMS fresh graduate who came for the interview. My friend rejected her after a very short interview because of her poor command of the English language.

“Recently, he again advertised the similar position in his firm. Once again this same lady came for interview, but this time she has obtained a Master’s degree. Due to her poor command of the English language, my friend rejected her again,” he said.

To this end, there was a need to ensure that these graduates were equipped with the necessary skills so that they could be taken after graduating.

Kong also told the delegates that the coming 13th General Election will be the biggest test and challenge MCA would ever face because if the outcome of the poll was worse than what the party had achieved during the 2008 General Election, then the party will have to forgo 11,695 various junior and senior positions in government as the decision had been made and endorsed by the Central Committee recently.

Kong reminded the delegates that the Sarawak state election results, had shown that the vast majority of the urban electorates were very unhappy with the BN government, and therefore did not support BN.

“From the results of the 2008 General Election, as had happened in the Peninsula Malaysia, it is easy for us to come to a conclusion, that the vast majority of the urban electorates throughout the country do not support BN anymore,” he lamented.

According to Kong, the impending general election would be a ‘do or die’ battle for MCA because if it was to be abandoned by the people, the party may face possible closure.

“As for the state seat of Kapayan which is under our division’s jurisdiction, I hope the central leadership will take heed of the resolution passed and adopted by our division, which is the next candidate must come from among one of the leaders from our division. If the central leadership decides otherwise, then it will not go down well with us,” he stressed.

He also urged MCA Penampang members to work as a united team to ensure that Barisan Nasioanl (BN) remain victorious in the Kapayan constituency.

Touching on another issue, Kong said that the government of the day is bearing the brunt of the people’s anger and frustration with the inflation pressure they are facing.

“Our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s 1Malaysia concept which promotes ‘People First, Performance Now’ must be able to stand the test and challenges. In promoting People First, all the policies and programmes carried out by the government must have the people’s welfare and benefit as priority, not just as a slogan,” he stressed.

Another issue of contention that Kong spoke about was the awarding of the Public Services Department’s scholarship to qualified students who had passed their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) with flying colours.

As the number of high achievers increased yearly, many had been left out, he said, adding that for last year alone, there were 9,239 students who have scored straight As in all their subjects taken.

“Perhaps in order to avoid similar situation from happening again, I urge and hope that the government will consider awarding future JPA scholarships to only top STPM students. By doing so, many excellent SPM students will be encouraged to stay back in the country to study for the STPM. As STPM has been well known to be the toughest pre-university examination, the straight As STPM students will be acknowledged to be the real excellent students,” he said.