PETALING JAYA: Bumiputeras still lagging behind in labour market mobility and educational achievements is not a new problem, says the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF).
It said the poor command of English among many Bumiputera graduates was the main reason why they find it hard to get jobs in the private sector, which account for more than 90% of job opportunities in the nation.
MEF executive director Shamsuddin Bardan believes the perception that employers often discriminated against Bumiputera graduates was wrong because a reasonable fluency in English was necessary for those working in the private sector.
He said not having a good command of the language, whether written or spoken, would lead to difficulties in communications internally as well as with outside parties.
“In the private sector, most things are done in English and we understand why. It is because there is an overseas market, hence English is used in e-mail and other modes of communications too,” he told FMT.
According to Shamsuddin, one of the reasons why graduates fail to command the language was their fear of being criticised by others for speaking English.
“There’s no need to be afraid or shy because when they improve, they will benefit from it too. Companies can then mould and train up other skills in them,” he said.
Shamsuddin was commenting on a new study on affirmative action policies by economist Lee Hwok-Aun, who found that Bumiputeras were still lagging behind in labour market mobility and educational achievements.
Lee, who works with the Iseas-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said Bumiputeras have steadily advanced in acquiring qualifications but were still lacking in the two aforementioned areas.
