For almost a decade now, beginning with the Reformasi Movement spearheaded by Parti KeAdilan, we have been inundated with all manner of transformation programmes worked out by government planners during their brainstorming sessions called ‘laboratories’ – all for the primary purpose of improving the government’s delivery system and thus laying a firm foundation of good governance to meet the challenges of the decades after 2020.
Federal civil service
It appears that one of the areas for improvement is the entry to the federal civil service for ethnic groups in Sarawak and Sabah.
According to the press boys Tun Zaki, chairman of the special commission to look into the transformation of the civil service, gave out these figures: some 80 per cent of civil servants in Peninsula Malaysia are Malays while the other 20 per cent are Chinese and Indians. The actual size of the service was not disclosed then and there. A mere 2 per cent goes to Dayak officers of all categories, but the actual number is unknown at the time of writing.
In the absence of any study of reasons why there are so few Dayaks in the federal service, one can only surmise: language problems, if nothing else. I remember reading about Dr Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana who complained about entry of Africans into the civil service – those who had university degrees were not accepted because they had no experience and those with experience had no degrees. This was in 1950s and it happened in far away Ghana but we are different. Are we?
After Tun Zaki had met with federal officers in Kuching last week, he had some idea about a solution that he was going to recommend to the government for consideration: the applicants from minority groups here “could possibly be taken in on a slightly lower qualification”.
Little did he expect, however, that his statement has irked many people here. Some understand the message behind the statement to mean that Dayak applicants would not be good enough for the federal civil service, hence the necessity to lower the standards of entry. This is an insult to the well qualified Dayaks! Others consider that the waiver of some standard requirements for fresh recruits would adversely affect the efficiency of the civil service as a whole. To a simple mind, this kind of reasoning is hard to understand: how is it possible for the quality of the federal civil service to be compromised by the recruitment of a few Dayaks at every intake once in blue moon?
I think Tun Zaki meant well when he promised to recommend to the government to relax strict terms of recruitment into the federal service for ethnic applicants from Sabah and Sarawak. If we believe that there are many Dayak boys and girls, university graduates among them, who have been applying for jobs but have not been successful, we begin to see Tun Zaki’s point to accommodate these people. Among them may have been those whose applications were turned down. Perhaps, there is a second chance for them before they work away from the state.
Think of these boys and girls; if they could somehow be accommodated to fill vacancies in the federal service, I would not deny them the jobs. If they are less qualified according to strict terms of entry but if in the opinion of the Public Service Commission or the recruiting agency, they have the potential to succeed while in service, give them a place in the civil service. They can be trained to be good and efficient officers. There are various training courses that they can undergo while there.
Malay and Native privileges
After all, there must have been a good reason why the framers of the federal constitution saw it fit to write down the privileges for the natives of Sabah and Sarawak into Article 153 of the constitution, and Article 39 of the Sarawak constitution if not for the purpose of lowering strict requirements into the civil service. The Malays in the Peninsula have been using these privileges, some even regarding them as rights, for the past 55 years, to good effect. See how they have progressed and how they dominate the civil service.
I hope Tun Zaki would not be discouraged by the adverse reactions to his recent statement. Instead we hope that he will prove his critics wrong by meaning what he said in Kuching last week. Next time the federal service commission receives any application for job in any category from a Dayak with the necessary qualification, albeit slightly less cemerlang, do consider such application in the light of the promise by Tun Zaki, otherwise the PSC will lose credibility in the eyes of the public. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. I would add that next time there is a promotion exercise, promote those Dayaks now in service if and when they are due for promotion. The Public Commission would lose its credibility if by some reason the Dayak candidate is skipped over in favour of another candidate. Promotion on the basis of race at this stage of the service could compromise the quality of the civil service, not at the recruitment stage.
Not the end of the world
I would encourage any Dayak with the basic qualification to apply for a job in the federal service and if offered the job do it well. And prove that you can be as productive as any body else, given the chance.
However, for those who have problem with Bahasa Melayu and thereby are not accepted for that reason alone, that’s not the end of the world. Do something else. Bejalai is an answer. For those Dayak students in the Chinese schools, study Mandarin hard. There lies your opportunity to work outside government service, even overseas. As you know, we ought to thank those Chinese leaders who are setting up independent Chinese schools in Kuantan and possibly here in Sarawak as well. This is where those children of the Dayak and other Natives who are studying in the Chinese schools have a niche in future.
Importance of Mandarin to Dayak students
Mandarin is a useful language to know. I know of a couple of cases where it is practicable. When I was in Singapore in November last year, I bumped into a boy from my hometown who is a chef in a restaurant because he speaks and writes Mandarin. In Kuching, a relative of mine secured a job easily in a firm where his Bahasa Malaysia is not as practical as his knowledge of his Mandarin. These are isolated examples, may be, but those parents who send their children to Chinese- medium schools have chosen the right place for knowledge – indeed, as the Malay saying goes Tuntutlah ilmu sehinggalah ke negeri Cina (Seek knowledge even in the farthest corner of the world). Negeri Cina is right here.
Do something positive
I have heard people grumbling about lack of jobs in the public sector and, when in service, of lack of prospects for promotion. It’s time to stop sulking. Leave the job of fighting for your rights to your favourite politicians. Vote for the right one. But it will take a long time for them to be able to help every one; they have many other commitments. Those with the required knowledge try to get work in any of the projects under SCORE. Again, if there is company run by China’s Chinese, your knowledge of Mandarin may be handy there.
Blessing in disguise
In this connection, call it coincidence or something strange, the current tiff between the Ministry of Education and the United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia (UCSCAM) over the establishment of an independent Chinese school in Kuantan is a blessing in disguise for the Bumiputra students in Chinese schools because the Chinese education groups are likely to get what they want or most of it. My hunch.
Language, any language, is important as a tool of knowledge and a means of communication. I went to Malay classes at Madrasah to study Malay; Jawi that I learnt at Bumiputra school at Lundu was not good enough for the Senior Cambridge examinations in 1958.
Was my Malay useful for service with the Ministry of Sarawak Affairs seven years later? Yes, absolutely.
Though English was spoken in the Peninsula, the written communication from office to office was done in Bahasa Malaysia which is in fact Malay.
So do not shelf Bahasa Melayu, not only because it is the national language but it is a useful language as such, in government service, in company service or self-employment service (business); knowledge of this language is important to modern Malaysians.
Do you still want to apply for a job in the federal service?
Good luck.
Otherwise, don’t worry. There is life after government job.