Why am I not surprised at Minister in the Prime Minister Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz's propensity to put his foot in his mouth? Yet again we hear this silly comment about non-Malays not being interested to join the civil service.

I cannot speak for the Chinese community, but certainly to the Indians there was nothing greater in life than to join the civil service. Surely Nazri himself would remember that not too long ago, Indians (particularly the Ceylon Tamils) formed the backbone of the civil service.

With the exception of a small trading class, accumulating unnecessary wealth had never been the ambition of the average Indian. Instead he craved for power and prestige. The civil service provided him this opportunity.

Nobody in this country (Nazri included, I am sure) will say that Indians did not make good civil servants. Therefore the unkindest cut of all was to deny Indians the opportunity to join and flourish in the civil service.

While it may be true that non-Malays are not interested anymore to join the civil service, Nazri must ask himself why this is so. Making comments like "their culture indicates they are not interested in working for the government" only shows the honourable minister's poor understanding of the nation's history.