So sorry: Abdul Razak Khalid, from the MACC corporate communications department, apologising to the crowd as there were not enough seats for them
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has extended the application for Mandarin speaking officers to Friday due to strong response and high demand.
"The response from degree and diploma holders has been very encouraging. We are still receiving applications by phone and email," deputy principal commissioner (management and professionalism) Datuk Zakaria Jaafar said in a statement today.
Some 405 people turned up to apply for 40 posts of investigating and assistant investigating officers at the Federation of Chinese Chamber of Commerce yesterday.
Zakaria said 431 applications were received up to 2pm yesterday. Of the number, 426 were from Chinese, four from Malays and one from Indian.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's recruitment drive for more Chi-nese officers has received overwhelming response when more than 400 people turned up to apply for 40 vacancies.
Several officers, who came for the recruitment drive at the Career Day jointly organised by the Federation of Chinese Associations of Malaysia (Hua Zong) yesterday, said they were surprised by the huge number of applicants.
“We are surprised because we only have 40 vacancies available for investigating officers and assistant investigating officers,” said an officer.
Application forms were quickly snapped up by aspiring job seekers who came from all over the country, with many saying that they were attracted by the salary and allowance perks which came up to RM3,500 monthly for an officer and RM2,600 monthly for an assistant officer.
Despite the briefing room being filled to the brim with applicants, many did not mind sweating it out as they stood along the crowded corridors and waited for more forms to be prepared.
Information technology graduate Jason Soo, 26, who came looking for better job prospects said he wanted to contribute to society by joining in the fight against corruption with the commission.
“Having more Chinese officers will ease the language barrier and help the commission solve more cases,” said Soo, who even managed to befriend fresh graduate Alvin Lee, 23, while waiting in the queue.
Hua Zong deputy secretary-general Dr Chin Yew Sin said the good response was heartening, adding that the association would consider having similar recruitment exercise for the police and army.
“This shows that the notion that the Chinese do not like working in the government service is wrong,” he said when met at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.
Dr Chin said the recruitment should reflect the country's racial composition as currently, only 50 or 1.67% of the 3,000 officers were Chinese. The applications would be sent to the Public Service Commission with vacancies expected to be filled by June.
Although successful applicants will be hired on a contractual basis, they will continue to enjoy a long list of perks, including costs of living and transport allowances, overtime, incentives, free medical treatment and car loan benefits.
