KUCHING, March 9: Sarawakians only hold four per cent of high posts in the federal civil service and Sabahans comprising even less, registering not up to three per cent.
The statistics were unveiled in a statement by Stampin MP Chong Chieng Jen who had on March 7, received an answer from Prime Minister Dato Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to a question he submitted in Parliament.
Chong had inquired about the number of civil servants holding the rank of Grade 54 and above and a breakdown of the respective states which these civil servants are from.
The findings led him to conclude that 59 years after the formation of Malaysia, there exists a gross disproportion in the senior positions in civil service held by Sabahans and Sarawakians compared to their counterparts from West Malaysians.
He said excluding the police and armed forces, there were a total of 25,947 individuals in the civil service holding the rank of Grade 54 with Sarawakians taking up 4.01 per cent or 1,040 posts while Sabahans accounted for 747 posts or 2.88 per cent.
In a statement today, Chong listed the number of officers with Grade 54 rank in accordance to each West Malaysian state, Sarawak and Sabah, as stated below:
| STATE OF ORIGIN | Number of officers with Grade 54 and Above | Percentage |
| Kelantan | 4,443 | 17.12% |
| Perak | 3,018 | 11.63% |
| Johor | 2,854 | 11.00% |
| Kedah | 2,359 | 9.09% |
| Terengganu | 1,875 | 7.23% |
| Selangor | 1,858 | 7.16% |
| W.P. Kuala Lumpur | 1,781 | 6.86% |
| Pulau Pinang | 1,585 | 6.11% |
| Negeri Sembilan | 1,318 | 5.08% |
| Melaka | 1,207 | 4.65% |
| Pahang | 1,153 | 4.44% |
| Sarawak | 1,040 | 4.01% |
| Sabah | 747 | 2.88% |
| Perlis | 361 | 1.39% |
| Luar Negara | 340 | 1.31% |
| W.P. Labuan | 8 | 0.03% |
| TOTAL | 25,947 | 100.00% |
According to the census conducted in 2020, the total population of Malaysia was 32.37 million. Sarawak’s population was 2.90 million (9 per cent of the total population) and that of Sabah was 3.88 million (12 per cent of the total population).
“With a population which constitute 9.0 per cent of the country’s total population, Sarawakians only constitutes 4.01 per cent of the total number of civil servants holding the positions of Grade 54 and above in the country.
“And for Sabah, even worse, with 12 per cent of the total population of the country, Sabahan only constitutes 2.88 per cent of the total number of civil servants holding positions of Grade 54 and above.
“This is gross disproportion and great injustice to us from Sabah and Sarawak.”
The Sarawak Democratic Action Party chief questioned whether Sabahan and Sarawakians are generally inferior and unfit for these senior positions in the civil service or whether there is some systemic discrimination in the Public Service Department which has sidelined Sarawakians and Sabahans all these years.
He pointed out that Sarawak ruling coalition Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and its predecessor, the Sarawak Barisan Nasional were part of the federal government for the past 59 years with the exception of the 22 months under a Pakatan Harapan government.
“How could they allow such injustice and disproportionality to be perpetrated for so long? Why is it that this was never brought up or even mentioned by the GPS government when GPS claims that it is now the kingmaker of the federal government?
“In fact, the GPS should make it its top priority to rectify such imbalance within the civil service, instead of embarking on the agenda of changing the title of ‘Chief Minister’ to ‘Premier’,” said Chong.
He said the imbalance in the civil service is the rakyat’s problem, whereas the title ‘Chief Minister’ or ‘Premier’ is merely to satisfy the ego of certain personalities, not resolve the problem of the people.
He asserted the implication and effect of insufficient Sarawakians in the ranks of Grade 54 and above is not only a matter of less career opportunities for Sarawakians, but it affects the implementation of federal government policies across the country.
Those holding Grade 54 and above wield huge power in government, because they are mostly heads of departments or those holding important decision-making positions in government departments.
As such, Chong said, they are in fact the de facto policy-makers and implementers. By having less than proportionate representation in these positions, “it is no wonder that the interests and rights of Sarawak and Sabah are consistently and constantly being disregarded”.
Following that, he demanded Ismail Sabri answer two questions in the latter’s winding up speech, where the first was whether there is a plan on the part of the federal government to right the wrong by increasing the number of Sabahan and Sarawakians government servants of Grade 54 and above so that the number is proportionate to the population of the two territories in the federation and if so, what the plan is and the timeline for the plan to be implemented. — DayakDaily
