We refer to the Malaysiakini report Cuepacs worried about gender imbalance in civil service .

The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) is disturbed by the statement made by Cuepacs Secretary-General Ahmad Shah Mohd Zin regarding the number of women in the civil service. We reject discrimination in any form, be it gender, religious or racial discrimination.

Ideas recognises the immense contribution of women to our nation's development. We applaud Shahrizat Abdul Jalil's response to Ahmad Shah's statement, as well the government's commitment to empower women via the her ministry of women, family and community development.

When Tunku Abdul Rahman declared in the Proclamation of Independence that this nation ‘shall be forever a sovereign democratic and independent state founded upon the principles of liberty and justice’, we can be sure he had a dream of a country that does not discriminate against its own citizens on any basis.

Any suggestion that there should be discrimination against women in favour of men or vice versa, is completely against our Bapa Kemerdekaan’s vision of a country based on ‘liberty and justice’.

Ideas believes employers should maintain a recruitment system that is blind to gender, race or religion. There should be no attempts at social engineering by selecting one group over another as Ahmad Shah seems to be suggesting.

The writer is chief executive, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas).