PENAMPANG : State Reform
Party (Star) Wanita Chief, Melanie Annol, said there had been increasing
reports and claims that both the Federal Government and State Government had
willfully sidelined native Christians in job opportunities and promotions in
public service and government-linked bodies in Sabah.
In support of Star leader
Daniel John Jambun's yesterday call on authorities and politicians to stop
harrasing Christians in Malaysia, she said the victimisation is very real and
alarming but that Christians had chosen to keep it to themselves until now.
"I would like to direct
the world attention to this systematic racial discrimination against native
Christians especially the Kadazandusun - Murut groups, the original people in
Sabah, whereby they were supposed to be as dominant but had been willfuly left
behind and sidelined by the ruling Barisan Nasional in almost every spectrum of
opportunity in government offices," she said in a statement here today.
Annol who is also Star head
for Penampang, claimed that in some cases of new recruitment of staff, certain
departments were taking in only Muslim applicants and no Christian applicant,
no matter how good were they, were hired.
"There had been reports
where the entire intake of staff were always Muslims and only one or two from
the Kadazandusun natives managed to get in, even that were because they were
Muslim Kadazandusuns. I stand proud to be able to highlight this discrimination
now before it gets out of hand and as we look ahead to seek a fair treatment
from a fairer government.
"What i am saying is
the truth happening in Sabah which we never envisaged it to be like this bad.
The late Tun Mustapha Harun and Tun Fuad Stephens must be cringing from their
graves seeing the unbelievable now is happening to Sabah," she stressed.
Annol also pointed out that
even in institution of higher learning like Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) one
can see the overwhelming 'imbalance' in term of opportunity for the Christian
natives staff.
"I don't believe that
race and religion were not a criteria when the authority recruit or promote
officers in their departments. It just defy logic that now Kadazandusun
Christians found themselves very hard to get employment in public services and
those once inside found it even more difficult to get promotion.
"In UMS i only see two
prominent Kadazandusun names that are of Prof Felix Tongkul and Prof Marcus
Jopony among the most senior officers," she said outlining the rest based
on what was printed in the university's book for its recent convocation weeks
ago.
She said according to latest
record all the top seven officials of UMS are from one community. Currently the
vice-chancellor is Prof Mohd Harun Abdullah, three Deputy Vice Chancellors Prof
Shariff Abdul Kadir Shariff Omang, Prof Shahril Yusof, and Associate Prof Kasim
Md Mansur, Regisrar Datuk Abdullah Mohd Said, Bursar Rizal Othman and Chief
Librarian Dayang Rukiah Awang Amit.
The 32-member UMS Senate are
all from the same community except for one Indian, one Chinese and Dr Jopony
and Dr Tongkul.
In Yayasan Sabah too, the
natives Christians experience the same thing, she alleged.
"There even cases where
long-serving Kadazandusun officers remained in their division two position
while new intake without experience had climbed the ladder faster to become the
bosses.
"In some cases in
statutory bodies, the people there just created positions for themselves. You
can even find some politicians from particular community occupying certain
duplicating positions in government bodies for reasons best known to the ruling
party," Annol further charged.
She also claimed that job
opportunities meant for locals had been for the past 10 years being taken by Malayans
especially in the Federal departments and statutory bodies as well as
Federal-linked companies.
"Just look at the
police department, education sector, FELCRA, RISDA, Immigration, National
Registration Department, Road Transport Department, and so on. Even police
constables and kindergarten teachers are from Peninsular, what happen to our
local boys and girls who come out in thousands from school every year ?"
she lamented adding that one can see those manning roadblocks everywhere are
Malayan police.
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