KUCHING: To improve the participation of the minority population in the police force, the government could consider setting a quota for these groups or provide better incentives for them to join the force.
In saying this, Sarawak Teochew Association second vice-president Datuk Sim Kiang Chiok suggested that the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) set a career and promotion path clearly for those who are interested to join.
“In Sarawak, it would help to also set a quota for Sarawakians to meet Borneonisation in PDRM and other federal civil services (bodies) as agreed in the Malaysian Agreement 1963,” he said when contacted today (Mar 16).
He was commenting on an earlier Bernama interview on Monday (Mar 15), in which Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador said PDRM had been experiencing difficulty in recruiting non-bumiputeras since 2010.
Abdul Hamid revealed that of the total number of 123,000 officers and personnel nationwide, Chinese made up 1.9 percent and Indians three percent, while the Orang Asli recruitment had lessened.
Commenting on this low percentage, Sim, who is also Sarawak Housing and Real Estate Developers’ Association (Sheda) Kuching branch chairman, opined that the issue could be that the other races did not have much confidence in the government giving them fair salary and promotion.
“Much negative perception has been set into the public that other races in the civil service will not be compensated fairly and (will be) easily bypassed for promotion. This has created a lack of trust in our civil service,” he said.
“Nobody would like to work in an organisation that doesn’t reward hard work with promotion and a good career path,” he said, adding that a balanced PDRM workforce would enable effective dealings of the society’s security needs.
