Chow Kon Yeow: 曹观友

The government is in a quandary. A total of 333,719 Malays applied last year to work in the civil service and it is impossible for the government to meet the rising expectations.

Finally only 13,378 were appointed as civil servants. There is not much different the year earlier. A total of 316,563 Malays applied for civil service positions but only 13,104 were appointed.

This may be a problem for the government to meet the expectations of the Malays job seekers especially those who graduated from local universities. There are 60,000 to 70,000 unemployed Malay graduates today and the government is finding it difficult to find suitable jobs to place all of them.

I have pointed out on Monday’s blog that there are 1.1 million civil servants and it is growing at 14 percent annually despite the privatization programme the last two decades.

It is going to be a big problem for the government in the coming years as vacancies in the civil service would not be able to grow as fast as our population growth.

The 2005 statistics are as follows:

No. of Applicants Number appointed

Malays 331,719 13,378

Chinese 6,599 922

India 9,826 887

Others 59,567 1,844

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker for providing me a new table. I am more comfortable now and hope can take part in debates more easily.”

This was uttered by Karpal Singh when he started his speech when debating the amendment bill on the Legal Profession Act yesterday morning.

Karpal is now moving around in a wheelchair after the unexpected road accident. A special table was made last year and placed next to Fong Po Kuan’s seat as it was impossible to place the wheelchair in Karpal’s original seat, next to Kit Siang, at the front row.

However, the table was not very suitable as several ushers need to tilt it to accommodate Karpal’s wheelchair.

This session, a new table was custom-made to make it easier for Karpal to be seated. He can now control the use of the microphone placed on the table.

Karpal was in his element yesterday and today. He gave a full speech questioning why certain lawyers are still on the Rolls of Advocates and Solicitors.

He did not leave lawyers D.J Vijandran, M. Kayveas and Muhammad Shafie Abdullah at peace. He also asked about the special privileges given to Cherie Blaire when she appeared in Putrajaya for the Metramac case.

Today, he was engaged in intense debate with Nazri over why Section 46(1) (b) and (c) should be removed from the Act. (The prohibition on MPs, Assemblymen, local councilors and trade unionists from holding positions in the Bar Council)

In fact, Karpal was still speaking on other clauses of the amendment bill when he was stopped to make way for the emergency motion on Palestine to be debated. He will have to continue his speech tomorrow morning.

It is good seeing Karpal giving his best.

Malaysia’s `Obsolete’ Race Quotas are Paring Growth, Anwar Says
July 4 (Bloomberg) — Malaysia should stop giving preferential treatment to its ethnic Malay majority, former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim said, arguing the affirmative action policy deters foreign and local investors.

Ethnic Malays, or Bumiputras, which literally means “sons of the soil,'’ get easier access to housing, education and government jobs under the 35-year-old New Economic Policy, aimed at protecting their interests relative to the Chinese and Indian minorities.

“We must be prepared to shift from this obsolete thinking,'’ Anwar, 58, an opposition leader who was fired as deputy prime minister in 1998, said in a June 29 interview in Kuala Lumpur. “It is important for us to think anew, discard the discriminatory practices of this new economic policy and use this to propel growth for all Malaysians.'’

Affirmative action has lifted wealth among Bumiputras, who account for 65 percent of the population, and diffused tensions between them and the 25 percent of Malaysians who are ethnic Chinese and comprise the wealthiest segment of the population. Still, critics say the system discriminates against minorities and even hampers progress by creating a sense of entitlement that stifles initiative among ethnic Malays.

“If somebody has to park foreign direct investment, this sort of policy would clearly be viewed as a negative rather than a positive factor in helping to make that decision,'’ said Joseph Tan, an economist at Standard Chartered Plc in Singapore. “What they are hoping to see, moving forward, is a liberalization of such policies.'’ (more…)