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Mid-Term Review of Eighth Malaysia Plan should spell out strategy to reverse the plunge in non-Malay ratio in public service from 29.7 per cent Chinese and 9.8 Indians in 1980 to 8.2 per cent Chinese and 5.2 Indians in 2003 - which is not because Chinese and Indians do not want government jobs but because of unfair civil service recruitment policies Speech - Paya Terubong DAP Anniversary Dinner by Lim Kit Siang (Penang, Saturday): DAP rejects the explanation by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Kamsiyah Yeop when replying to the DAP MP for Batu Gajah Fong Po Kuan in Parliament on Monday that the Chinese do not want government jobs as reason for the sharp drop of non-Malay civil servants from 29.7 per cent Chinese and 9.8 Indians in 1980 to 8.2 per cent Chinese and 5.2 Indians in 2003. The plunge in non-Malay ratio in public service, which fall far short of the Chinese and Indian population share of 24% and 8% respectively,  is not because Chinese and Indians do not want government jobs but because of unfair civil service recruitment policies.  Three decades ago, the Barisan Nasional government initiated the 20-year New Economic Policy  (NEP) followed by a 10-year  National Development Policy to restructure the Malaysian society with the two-prong objectives  to eradicate poverty and to end the identification of race with occupation The statistics are most shocking and a far cry from the early years of the NEP.  For instance, the Fifth Malaysia Plan 1986-1990 gave the following ethnic breakdown of the public service for 1980 and 1985, which when compared to the figures given in Parliament on Monday, produce a most astounding contrast in the following:  Ethnic breakdown in government service         1980 1985 2003 Bumiputera 59.1    61.7    83.7 Chinese 29.7      27.1      8.2 Indians 9.8     10.0      5.2 Others 1.4         1.2        3.3     The  shocking revelation of the sharp drop in non-Malay ratio in the public service, from 29.7 per cent Chinese and 9.8 Indians in 1980 to 8.2 per cent Chinese and 5.2 Indians in 2003, violates  the Second Outline Perspective Plan (OPP) 1990-2000 targets of 25.3% Chinese and 8.2% Indians in 1990 and 26.3% Chinese and 9% Indians in 2000 - targets which were approved by Parliament in June 1991:   Government Service by ethnic group     (Second Outline Perspective Plan 1991-2000)     1990 2000 Bumiputera 65.9 64.4 Chinese 25.3 26.3 Indians 8.2 9.0 Others  0.6 0.3                                                                   The mid-term review of the Eighth Malaysia Plan which will be presented by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in Parliament on Thursday – his last parliamentary function as Prime Minister – should spell out the strategy to  reverse the plunge of the non-Malay ratio in the civil service to  ensure that civil service employment reflect the ethnic composition of the population.  Furthermore, the Mid-Term Review of the Eighth Malaysia Plan should also give a specific report on the targets for ethnic ratios of the  civil service employment of the Third Outline Perspective Plan 2001-1010, and how the shortfalls arising from the plunge of the non-Malay ratios in the civil service could be rectified in the mid-term review of the Eighth Malaysia Plan by 2005. (25/10/2003) * Lim Kit Siang, DAP National Chairman