http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysi...try-study-shows

Malaysia Malaysian employers practise racial bigotry, study showsBy Debra Chong
Assistant News EditorNov 02, 2012 KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — Malaysian employers tend to favour Chinese job applicants over their Malay counterparts, a recent university study has shown, indicating racial discrimination underscores the hiring process in the private sector labour market.

In their joint research, Universiti Malaya (UM) senior lecturer in development studies Dr Lee Hwok Aun and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) research fellow Dr Muhammed Abdul Khalid found that fresh Chinese graduates are more likely to be called for a job interview based on their resumes compared to Malays.


File photo of a Workers’ Day rally in Kuala Lumpur. Two academics found that there is racial discrimination in the hiring process based on an experiment they had conducted.“Our findings suggest that employers are generally predisposed favourably towards Chinese, substantially due to compatibility factors and unobservable qualities not revealed in job applications, and are more selective towards Malays, which results in fewer but considerably qualified applicants getting callbacks,” the duo stated in an abstract of their seminar paper being presented at UM today.

The two academics said they had conducted a field experiment by sending made-up resumes of fresh Malay and Chinese graduates to real job advertisements.

From their research, Lee and Muhammed Abdul found that while both Malay and Chinese graduates who listed Chinese-language proficiency and stated that they graduated from a certain university were likely to increase their chances to be called for an interview, yet employers — especially those that were Chinese-controlled or foreign-run — were significantly inclined to pick the Chinese applicant.They noted that the racial discrimination was sharper in engineering jobs than in the accounting or finance sector.

They also found that in the engineering industry, Malays were most likely to be rejected by foreign-controlled companies, followed by Malay-controlled companies and lastly Chinese-controlled firms.However, they said their data does not directly show the motif of the racial discrimination in the hiring process based on the experiment they had conducted.

Lee and Muhammed Abdul are presenting their paper, titled “Does race matter in getting an interview? A field experiment of hiring discrimination in Peninsular Malaysia”, at UM’s Economics and Administration Faculty at 10am.

Malaysia’s mushrooming local higher education institutions churned out a total 184,581 graduates last year, according to the latest statistics released on the Higher Education Ministry’s website. Of that figure, 44,391 people or 24 per cent are unemployed. The Najib administration has set aside some RM500 million in its Budget 2013 to spend on jobless youths to make them marketable.

Human rights group Proham — formed by influential former members of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia and the Police Commission — has been urging Putrajaya to ratify the UN International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 1969 (ICERD), which it suggests will be a positive step to resolve the existing racial bigotry in the country than sweeping it under the carpet.

Its chairman Tan Sri Simon Sipaun stressed that racial discrimination was a form of human rights violation that triggers a “brain drain” situation and stands in the way of Malaysia’s progress in today’s competitive world.

“There are no less than 1.5 million Malaysians with tertiary education who have left the country,” he said in a statement two days ago, adding that it “stunts meritocracy”.

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DID THIS NEWS SURPRISE YOU?

Nope.

It is pretty common nowadays especially in china man company with exception to most MNC which practize meritocracy!

This post has been edited by you90: Jan 9 2013, 10:06 AM

No, I wasn't surprised at all.

Show this article to our beloved Education Minister

What for ? he is leaving his seat soon once GE happened, then it will be a new guy from god knows which party/PR or BN, and he too will sit there for how long ?

This post has been edited by EnergyAnalyst: Jan 9 2013, 11:43 AM

I happen to believe, ah moi now get their own wang.

Hmmm... the article seems to suggest that Malays are discriminated against in the private sector but paradoxically more Chinese migrate out of Malaysia than Malays. If Chinese is so much favored upon then they wouldnt try to leave the country en masse...

My 2 cents

1) Top performing Malays are the most highly sought after and the most highly paid in many industries. Why?

[a]Scarcity of good quality Malay employees.
[ Because many private companies in Malaysia are not excactly private, they either have customers that are linked to the public sector or are heavily owned by EPF/PNB etc. So Malays are highly preferrable in situations that you need to deal with the public sector people.
[c] There is an explicit quota for Malays to be hired. Of course they would want to hire the best Malays to fill the quota.

I've been rejected for a job purely because they needed a Malay headcount to fill the job. So... can't help it.

2) There are many above average Chinese. For many reasons, the quality of the graduates on average are of better quality. This might be arguable but at least based on what I see in various companies - from MNC to chinaman. Our team tried to hire Malay as much as possible. Honestly. It was better for our business. But it wasn't easy. Our team now has 50% Malay and these are really highly sought after peopl in the industry.

3) On the issue of discrimination... I think one of the problems is that there are too many fresh graduates now and too few jobs that grad think are suitable. There's a misalignment in what market needs and what market is producing now. Hence, good jobs are scarce. People who don't make the cut feel bitter about it. It is easy to resolve that discrimination was main reason why one couldnt get a job. While this might be true for some cases, I'm sure some chinese bosses would as much as possible construct a chinese only team. But, the same could be said for the other races as well. This is not unique to Malaysia. I see a banking team in Singapore (foreign name) trying to construct a team that is filled only by Indians too. Many would think that they discriminate agaisnt the local Chinese in SG. But in fact, it's because the indians are willing to work much harder, are smart and are willing to accept a smaller pay package. So, when jobs are scarce. Companies can afford to pay less and hire more above average candidates in general regardless of race. Many average candidates will feel discriminatd against.

4) Try not to be average... The fresh graduates in Malaysia has a lot of work to do to catch up with their peers, i.e.. Singaporean. No point comparing against other aseans countries with much lower labor cost. If you work hard enough, get a good degree, a set of good results, have good English proficiency and a good attitude, you won't have to worry about being discriminated by 1 or 2 companies because of your skin color. Many others will want to hire you.

I've seen so many appalling CVs and coverletters, you won't believe it. Example 1: CV with 1/4 of it filled with a name in 36 sized fonts, example 2: cover letter that started with which hospital she was being delivered, example 3: CV and cover letter that come in power point format.... Most of them are from Malay candidates unfortunately. But that being said, there are more Malay fresh graduate applicants. It's a pity that their Universities haven't taught them simple skills to apply for jobs. These universities didnt even expose them to channels in which they could get some tips. Some were not even aware that English is the common language in a workplace and hence asked for interviews to be conducted in Malay.

5) On our education system and other policies that are set based on racial criteria... sigh. It's been around for ages and must be addressed one day. I believe equality means that everyone should deserve the same rights not dependable on their race. But these policy changes will take a long time to sort out. As individuals, you can vote or join the politics to express your views or leave the country in the long run. In the meantime, work on the other areas in which you can improve on if you decide to stay and fight for a job in Malaysia.

I truely hope for a 1Malaysia someday. A great concept by Mckinsey but being misused nowadays. Egalitarianism brings prosperity and peace.

The study actually show foreign own companies, MNCs actually prefer chinese too jsut like chinaman

Nope, been there. My wife have the same experience.

i also have heard certain MNC managed by malay favoring malays candidates, wheres the research on that? must all be chinese issue now?

I like fletcherwind's thought. It is not a coincidence that govt of malaysia hence needs to in addition to employ 10% of the workforce have to tasked itself in creating a lot of PLCs, either bought in using Khazanah, PNB, EPF, etc. or greate a long list of GLCs. Else? how majority of the workforce will be employed and how unemployment rate can be controlled.

While it is great way to ensure employment since private companies couldn't care less. How long can this go on as Malaysia has already been criticised of being too involved in Economy. But I think we have no choice, and it can still work as western free market system has shown to be increasingly flawed while Asian unique blend of country management is showing its merits as all hope now rests in ASIA: China, India, SEA

This post has been edited by EnergyAnalyst: Jan 9 2013, 12:16 PM

EnergyAnalyst,

Until the whole "House of Cards" collapses in one shot, then, some people should wonder is that really better?? Keep people PROTECTED for 40+ years so that when the protection collapses in one shot, they are INCAPABLE of survival.

We will find out soon enough. The end is near.

Dreamer

manaadajpeg

scenario oni happen in SME business.

Await in anticipation...when the end comes, it can only mean a new beginning...of something wonderful, painful but wonderful, phoenix rise from ashes?

Good, because SME is the pulse of our economy and will ring true for many other countries too

Yes, I'm surprise!

Nova80 is a good reader, I grant him that!

lol, wat to do, too many "special uni" out there for "bumi"

Yaloh napoli26,

uni is the stepping stone, u have to have it first
-going though the motion-before job placement take place. and with the sheer size of the majority, u need to increase the uni placement hence more special uni,

Kalau tidak, macam mana?