I read the article published Dec 18 in The Sun , Non-bumis not keen to be diplomats , in which Deputy Foreign Minister Joseph Salang said, “The lack of non-bumiputeras in Malaysian missions has nothing to do with race quota.”

This statement is an absolute lie and the deputy minister knows it. In Mavis Puthucheary’s famous book The Politics of Administration: The Malaysian Experience and the recent Asli report Towards A More Representative And World Class Malaysian Civil Service , it is clearly stated that there is a racial quota in place since independence. This quota applies to the Perkhidmatan Tadbir dan Diplomatik (PTD) to which all Malaysian diplomats belong.

At independence, the quota was four Malays to one non-Malay. According to the Asli report, due to zealous implementation of this quota, the PTD today is 85 percent Malay. This is equivalent to six Malays to each non-Malay. So how can the deputy minister say that there is no racial quota and non-Malays are not interested in becoming diplomats? Who doesn’t want to live in a foreign city like New York or London and have all their expenses paid by the government?

Salang’s response is even more surprising given that he is an Iban from Sarawak. Last year, only one Iban was selected for the PTD. It became a big political issue in Sarawak.

When you have ministers lying with a straight face, you know that this country is in deep trouble. They think they can lie and that people are stupid enough to believe them. Unlike the rural, uneducated Ibans who voted for him, the non-Malays know the truth about the Malaysian civil service practice of apartheid.