1 Malaysia, One Civil Service Administration

Sabahan and Sarawakians should not be enticed by the suggestions of some administrators and politicians to change our present administration system. At this moment we have two tier systems, that is, federal and state administration systems. When Sabah and Sarawak helped formed Malaysia it was already spelt out in the 20 points agreement raised by Sabah of which was also adopted by Sarawak (20 points) that there are matters that the Federal government must help protect for the benefit of the peoples of Sabah and Sarawak. This includes forestry, labour and immigration matters affecting both states. However, many of the 20-points had not been observed and not been reviewed until now.

The One Civil Service Administration may also deprive of the state’s rights to control the resources of the state. Both Sabah and Sarawak are rich in natural resources and if One Civil Service Administration be a reality, we may also see that many legislations, affecting the control of these resources will be passed by Parliament and this will give our State Legislature very little say. In the end our State Legislature will just be reduced to window dressing with very little influence over the administrative matter in the state. In the long run, we can even later on see Parliament passing laws that may even take away the rights of Sabahans and Sarawakians to become governors in their own states. I am not imagining things too far, but, this can be a reality if we just simple give in to the suggestions or proposal of the administrators and politicians. We cannot just follow things blindly and be caught later on.

Sarawakians must remember, SUPP was caught in 1971 when Tun Razak proposed that SUPP should join the government. By joining the government, BN government led by UMNO took the chance and quickly amended the Federal Constitution and the relevant laws which zipped the mouths of dissent voices in Malaysia. SUPP leaders should be held responsible for what had happened to Malaysia which led to classifications of races into Bumiputera and non-bumiputera in our administration. We all know the classification of bumiputera never really benefited the dayaks and minority races in the control of the administration and also in the control of our rich natural resources.


The One Civil Service Administration is not suitable for a multi-racial Malaysia as it will be against the spirit of the Federal Constitution which states that Malaysia is a secular state. With the One Civil Service Administration, the BN government headed by UMNO would be tempted to assimilate Islamic concepts into the vein of administration. If this be done, many Sabahans and Sarawakians who are Christians and Buddhists may shun the civil service. At the same time, we can see the influx of West Malaysians coming to hold top posts in the civil service in both states at the expense of the locals. We may also find our people lose out in minor posts including office boys and messengers.