THE civil service recruitment procedure in Sarawak must be free of discrimination, says Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing (GPS-Dudong).
He claimed to have received feedback from the people, including Dayaks, Bidayuh, Melanau, Chinese and others, who felt that they had been denied equal opportunities when applying for jobs and had failed their job applications due to discrimination.
As such, he stressed that the issue of discrimination and unfairness impacts the government seriously and must be seriously investigated.
“Civil servants in many agencies are known to consist only of people from specific ethnicities, and many, especially among the younger generation, feel this is unfair.
“Do not let the people continue to be annoyed or unhappy with the government. Or worse, accuse the government of being racist against certain groups of people.
“I stress that it is important to maintain harmony and unity in Sarawak,” he said during the fourth day of the 19th Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) session on yesterday (Nov 24).
On the same note, he said that even if people are fortunate enough to be hired into the public service, many confront difficulties that prevent them from advancing in their careers.
He said some who have served in the system feel that because they do not know how to please their superiors, they are also left out of promotions.
On the other hand, he added, they see their colleagues who can curry favour with their superiors getting special attention and being able to move up to higher ranks.
“Many say that they have worked hard for half their lives but have never been appreciated for their good work performance.
“All these factors result in hard-working people becoming disappointed with the government system and dragging down the entire government sector.
“I hope that the authorities involved will take a serious look at the system’s issues and limitations, and work on instilling the concept of ‘diversity, harmony, win-win, and common prosperity,’ rather than allowing a small group of people to undermine Sarawak’s unity and harmony,” he said.
Meanwhile, he added that there are other issues that have been frequently raised by the public in general that could be exploited to erode support for Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).
He said the Yayasan Sarawak Board of Directors is not inclusive and dominated by a single race without many Dayaks, Chinese, or other non-Malays being appointed.
As such, he said that many state civil servants are not supportive of GPS, with some known to campaign on social media to their followers, especially rural people, to vote for opposition parties.
