Let's discuss and not make a fuss

Malaysian Business, Nov 16, 2005 by A Kadir Jasin

But on Nov 3, the New Straits Times (NST) reported that `nearly 60,000 Malaysian graduates are unemployed'. It quoted Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr Fong Chan Onn.

The figure surfaced in a survey conducted by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Prime Minister's Department. The survey that started on Sept 24 saw 59,250 graduates signing up for jobs.

The profile of the unemployed graduates should send out some very alarming signals to the government. It confirmed a recent assertion by Puteri Umno head, Datuk Noraini Ahmad, that most of her movement's members were unemployed.

According to the NST report, the majority of the unemployed graduates - 71% of those surveyed - were female. They were mostly Malays and 81% of them had attended government universities. They generally majored in business studies and information technology (IT).

They came from poor families with a monthly household income of less than RM1,000 (61% of respondents) and 80% of them had attended university by borrowing from the National Higher Education Fund.

The EPU cited three main reasons for their inability to secure employment - lack of experience, poor command of the English language and lack of communication skills, and courses undertaken which were irrelevant to the available jobs.

We can't squarely blame employers if they are not keen on employing too many female graduates. They have to maintain some kind of ratio for productivity reasons. The business and IT sectors, which are controlled by non-Bumiputeras, require an adequate command of the English language and communication skills.

With the government no longer monitoring the racial composition of private sector employment, there is no longer the compulsion to maintain ethnic ratio. Gone are the days when Umno Youth championed Bumiputera employment in the private sector.

Whether it is tersurat (written) or tersirat (unwritten), as some Umn Youth big shots have been arguing lately, some form of policy or another that stresses on growth with distribution should be brought back.

Alienating the majority, whether intentionally or otherwise, cannot be good for a multi-racial country like ours. Kuala Lumpur burned in 1969. Paris is burning today. We cannot leave an issue as important as employment to chance.

E-mail: akadirjasin@beritapub.com.my. Besides Malaysia Business, Kadir also contributes to local Bahasa Malaysia and English newspapers.