JOHOR STATE ASSEMBLYMEN OFF TO SCANDANAVIA FOR A HOLIDAY.

Johor State Assemblymen, are a lucky lot. It seems that all the Assemblymen are soon off for a Scandanavian holiday (naturally, it will be labeled “lawatan sambil belajar).

Johor State Opposition Leader, Dr Boo Cheng Hau, writing in his blog today revealed that all 46 Assemblymen have been invited. The holiday tour would cost RM 13,000.00 (Twin sharing) or Rm16,000.00 (Single Room). If all the Assemblymen were to take up the offer it would cost the long suffering Johor taxpayers RM 700,000. However, the Pakatan Rakyat Assemblymen must be commended for they have decided that should any of their Assemblymen were to go on the holiday tour, they shall go using their own money and not the rakyat’s.

Only in December 2009, the Johor Menteri Besar in his Budget speech said that Johor for 2010 will see a deficit budget of RM 1.5 million and administration expenses is projected at RM785.65 million against an estimated reduced income of RM784.15 million. The state’s loan repayment to Federal government for 2010 is RM30.78.

At a time of sluggish economy and despite Johor in the last few years having a deficit budget and a whopping debt, the Johor government sees fit to offer its State Assemblymen an all expenses paid trip to Scandanavia at the rakyat’s expense.

People First and Performance Now, sure rings hollow, well at least in Johor.

Shocking Imbalance In Johor Civil Service

There are only 126 non-Malays out of the 8,372 workforce in the Johor civil service. This startling statistic was revealed by the Johor Menteri Besar Ghani Othman when replying to the written question by Gwee Tong Hian (DAP-Bentayan) during the recent sitting of the Johor state assembly.

According to the menteri besar the racial breakdown of the Johor civil service is as follows:

Malays : 8,244 or 98.47%

Chinese : 10 or 0.12%

Indians : 116 or 1.39%

Others : 2 or 0.02.%

According to the population statistics of Johor from the data of the Johor State Investment Centre, the racial composition of the population of Johor is as follows:

Total population of Johor: 3.17 million ( as at 2006)

Malays/bumiputera : 54 %

Chinese : 33 %

Indians : 6 %

Clearly, judging from the percentages of the Chinese and Indian populations of Johor, the non- Malays are grossly under-represented in the Johor civil service.

The menteri besar in his reply said that the Johor government and the Public Services Commission were committed in their effort towards ensuring that only those who were of quality and with integrity are recruited into the service.

chosen. With a mere 126 non-Malays out of a 8,372 total, the Johor government must be finding it near impossible to find Chinese and Indians with 'quality and integrity' to serve in the Johor civil service. Or is it because of the extraneous and over-stringent prerequisites imposed on Chinese and Indian applicants and thus the 'difficulty'?

In order to attract non-Malays into the Johor civil service, the menteri besar said that the Public Services Commission would take steps to advertise in the Chinese and Tamil-language newspapers.

Rightfully and logically, the Public Services Commission ought to have advertised in the Chinese and Tamil-language papers in the first place if they were genuinely interested in attracting and giving non Malays an opportunity. Further, the Johor government and the Public Services Commission could have worked closely with the MCA, MIC and NGOs in finding suitably qualified Chinese and Indians.

In fact, it would be good to hear from Johor MCA and Johor MIC of what role and what steps they had taken in addressing this gross imbalance in the Johor civil service. May I also propose that if the Johor government and the Public Services Commission are having difficulty in finding Indians to serve in the Johor civil service, they can seek the assistance of the pro-active president of Johor Indian Business Association (Jiba).

I am confident he can easily assist the Johor government and the Public Services Commission. If all efforts fail, I am sure Johor Pakatan Rakyat would be ever willing to assist.

Admittedly, the proximity of Singapore is a lure for many Johoreans to seek employment across the causeway. But I am nevertheless confident that given the opportunity many Chinese and particularly the Indians would want and be willing to work and serve proudly in the Johor civil service.

It is high time the Johor government and the Public Services Commission take proactive and concrete steps to remedy the racial imbalance in the Johor civil service.