PETALING JAYA: Few Chinese are interested to be civil servants, and this is the main reason for the low number of Chinese in the civil service, said Chan Ming Kai, political secretary to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Chinese should discard the belief that they are unable to become civil servants or that the vacancies have been allocated to certain people, he said ahead of the first campaign to encourage more Chinese Malaysians to join the civil service to be held in Melaka this coming Sunday.

A similar campaign will be held subsequently in Kuantan on March 16.

During these events, ethnic Chinese civil servants will share their job experiences with people keen to join the civil service.

Jointly organized by the office of the Prime Minister’s political secretary and Media Chinese International Limited, the campaign will also be held in Petaling Jaya, Segamat, Muar, Johor Bahru, Pontian, Kluang, Ipoh, Taiping, Teluk Intan, Butterworth and Kangar.

Dates and venues of the events will be announced later.

Chan said it takes a long time to increase the number of Chinese civil servants, probably about 20 years, to see the impact of decent Chinese representation in the government.

“If we do nothing, the situation will be worse,” he said.

Based on the intake of civil servants by the Public Services Commission, a total of 17,386 Chinese Malaysians applied for the positions and 4,285 were shortlisted for interviews.

Of the 4,285 applicants, 3,708 candidates turned up for interviews and 1,634 were eventually recruited, he said.

The recruitment rate for shortlisted Chinese applicants was 44.1%, slightly lower than that for the Indians at 44.2%, but significantly higher than the recruitment rate for the Malays at 13.8%, Chan said.

“Judging from the figures, the number of Chinese who have applied to become civil servants is low although the recruitment rate is relatively high.”

Currently, the highest position held by a Chinese in the government department is Deputy Secretary-General of Women, Family and Community Development Ministry Chua Choon Hwa.

Former Penang Police Chief Datuk Khaw Kok Chin, who has just been promoted to Director of Bukit Aman Narcotics Crime Investigation Department, is another Chinese holding a senior public office.

Chan said Anwar raised the issue of the low number of Chinese Malaysians in the civil service in the cabinet. Hence he started the campaign to encourage more Chinese Malaysians to become civil servants.

Last year, Chan completed a campaign to recruit more Chinese to join the police.