Police officers put the badge on every morning, not knowing for sure if they’ll come home at night to take it off.
– Tom Cotton, US senator
Our police force is mostly made up of Malays and that is a fact. But of late, the powers that be have indicated they want to change that soon.
There are genuine signs that the force wants people of other races to sign up so that no one racial group is left out of the task of safeguarding and protecting society.
I think it is going to be a Herculean task to recruit more non-Bumiputeras, the Chinese in particular, as being part of the police force is not a priority among the non-Malays.
In what is seen as an unprecedented move, police will lower the acceptance criteria to entice more non-Malays to sign up as constables. Datuk Seri Ramli Din, the federal police management director, said a special 14-day recruitment exercise from March 18 will be conducted nationwide in the hope of increasing the non-Bumiputera composition of the force.
Why is it difficult for the force to woo the Chinese and Indians? This has been the pressing question by the recruiters. I will give my reasons in the later part of my column but let’s hear from Ramli Din first.
He thinks one of the “obvious reasons” why many non-Malays “fail to qualify is because they don’t have at least two SPM credits, including for Bahasa Malaysia”.
“In this special intake, the applicants are only required to have one credit in any of the SPM subjects to be eligible for the constable position. However, in this special intake we are giving them a chance to re-sit for the Bahasa Malaysia SPM paper and get a credit in it, within the first six years of joining the force,” he says.
And if after six years they do not obtain a credit, they will have to kiss the force bye-bye.
The Malaysian police force is overwhelmingly Bumiputera — almost 80 percent. Indians make up only 2.9 percent or 3,422, Chinese 1.66 percent (1,959) and 16.06 percent of others (18,929).
While I have to admit that many non-Bumiputeras do not have credit in Bahasa Malaysia and therefore do not qualify for even the rank and file of the constable’s post, I do not think the move to set aside the credit requirement is going to attract the non-Malays in numbers. Well, perhaps a few will sign up, and that’s about it.
It is wrong to say that Chinese or Indians are no longer joining the force. There are still those who see the force as a means to put a decent meal on the table, but the numbers are shrinking because the force is seen as providing limited opportunities. Low salary is a put off and promotional opportunities are seen as race-based rather than on merit.
Now, which parents want their children to work in a place where they would not have a bright future?
Also, many Chinese — and Indians — have the (mistaken) perception that those who enrol in the force will be bullied and mistreated due to their skin colour.
Chinese don’t look at government service, what more the police force, as a career worth pursuing. From young they have been taught to go into business and make money than to serve the nation.
No, I am not insinuating that they aren’t patriotic, just that their priority is towards money.
And given that generally the Chinese community have higher education levels and will probably only be interested in taking up higher positions, there is this perception that Bumiputera rank and file staff might not be happy to take orders from their non-Bumiputera superiors.
Some also have a notion that a career in the armed forces is too restrictive or prescriptive in that there’s not much room for them to display their talents.
Several years ago, a friend from Sibu left the police force after hardly 10 years. He was 36 when he left.
“Fortunately, I left when I still could. Let’s say it was a blessing. I plucked enough courage to leave despite my parents’ advice to stay on for at least a few more years.
“The salary was next to s**t. I worked my heart out and I was bypassed for numerous promotions. Maybe I would have been promoted if I had stayed on, but I have no regrets.”
Many non-Malays still have the perception that joining the police force or the armed forces is the lowest position for anybody to be in.
They also believe that no matter how hard they slog their hearts out, promotion is limited for the non-Malays as there is no quota. Most promotions are seen to go to the Bumiputeras and non-Bumiputeras have to wait for the senior non-Bumiputeras to retire, and only then would there be vacancies, with several of them waiting in line to fill up the position.
Anyway, I hope the latest drive by the police force to get more non-Bumiputeras will be met with some success.
Good luck.
