Tenom MP Noorita Sual said the racial breakdown of the civil service as recently reported showed that the situation was “clearly unfair” and is a great cause for concern.

“As a representative for Sabah bumiputeras, I am gravely upset to know that so few Sabah and Sarawak Bumiputeras hold the highest positions as government officials.

“This clearly gives the impression that there is a flaw in the appointment for these positions in our civil service,” the Sabah DAP vice-chairman said in a statement.

On Tuesday, special functions minister Abd Latiff Ahmad told the Dewan Rakyat that Bumiputeras made up 90% of the civil service.

Of the total 987,322 were Malays, 94,000 Sabah Bumiputeras, 73,190 Chinese, 60,031 Sarawak Bumiputeras, 47,994 Indians, 2,414 Orang Asli and 8,656 others.

As for the top posts (super scale) above the Grade 56 category, 3,300 are Malays, 388 Chinese, 243 Indians, 74 Sabah Bumiputeras, 53 Sarawak Bumiputeras, three Orang Asli, and 42 others.

He said this in a written reply to Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, who had asked for a breakdown of the racial composition of the civil service. She had urged Putrajaya to work on making the civil service more racially-balanced to reflect the spirit of prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s “Keluarga Malaysia” motto.

Noorita said the government must acknowledge this and quickly take comprehensive measures to check the imbalance.

However, Cuepacs, the umbrella body representing unions in the government, hit out at Kok for her claims that the civil service was dominated by Malays.

Its president Adnan Mat said the claims were “baseless” and “inaccurate”, adding that race was never a factor in hiring or promoting civil servants.

Criticising this, Noorita said Adnan, as a civil servant himself and Cuepacs chief, should take a neutral stance on the matter rather than politicising it.

She said it was crucial to have a racially-balanced composition in the civil service to reflect diversity and ensure stability and prosperity in the country.