MELAKA: The extremely low number of Chinese in the civil service constitutes a flaw in the government, says Chan Ming Kai, political secretary to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

More Chinese are encouraged to join the civil service, said Chan, adding that only 40% of the 15,000 Chinese applicants were eligible for interviews last year.

All applications were processed based on a fair policy, he said.

Sin Chew Daily, in its editorial, said Chinese make up 22.6% of the country’s population, but only 6.62% of Chinese Malaysians are civil servants.

Chan also said the government would require to have a civil workforce comprising all ethnic groups to offer different views when it comes to policy drafting.

One of the reasons Chinese are not successful in their applications is that they do not follow up after filing their applications, Chan explained.

Some are not recruited due to technical issues, applicants not pressing the “submit” button after filling the online form and others.

Chan attended a campaign to encourage more Chinese Malaysians to join the civil service at the hall of Melaka Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Melaka Raya on Sunday night.

The campaign received overwhelming response from the public, and the hall was packed with parents and young people who had come to listen to Chinese civil servants based in Public Services Commission, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Royal Malaysian Customs Department and the Immigration Department sharing their work experiences.

Melaka was the first stop for the campaign tour, jointly organized by the Prime Minister’s political secretary office, Melaka Chinese Assembly Hall, Melaka Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Melaka Chinese Education Progressive Association, a strategy study committee under Hua Zong, Tindak Komuniti Inklusif Melaka and Media Chinese International Limited.

Based on the feedback, majority of Chinese applicants were afraid to express themselves during the interviews, Chan said.

The applicants were not only required to have academic qualifications but must also be capable of expressing themselves, he said.

One of the speakers, Shirley Tan Sok Kit from Public Services Commission, said while the Chinese applicants may score A+ in SPM Malay, they are not able to express themselves fluently in the language.

“Some candidates are unable to express themselves in complete sentences; this is one of the reasons they are not shortlisted for interviews,” she explained.

Applicants who pass the interview will be shortlisted, and those who fail can continue to apply, she said.

“An applicant can actually call up to enquire why he or she is not shortlisted after the interview. However, no Chinese applicants have done this.

“Applicants from other ethnic groups are more proactive, and will call to find out the reasons for not being shortlisted,” she said.

Tan also said candidates unable to attend job interviews scheduled by the Public Services Commission can inform the commission, or their applications would be recorded as rejection in the status update.

She also said the commission would not blacklist candidates unable to turn up for the interviews.