Police relax entry rules on recruitment of Chinese

KUALA LUMPUR: Police have relaxed several conditions pertaining to recruitment to encourage more Chinese to join the force (PDRM).

Deputy IGP Datuk Seri Bakri Zinin said aspects related to salary, promotion opportunities and others to entice the participation of the Chinese might be reviewed.

 "We are targeting about 5,000 Chinese in stages because we need to look at the capacity and our need to provide basic training and courses," he told reporters.

He said the number of Chinese police personnel made up only 1.87 per cent of the total police strength.

Bakri said the force had also formed a special team to ensure the participation of the Chinese could be implemented as soon as possible.

"They will explain to society, especially the Chinese community, on joining the PDRM. We are doing that, this is our initiative, to ensure we get suitable candidates in the PDRM," he said.

Bukit Aman Management Department director Datuk Seri Fuzi Harun said the police viewed the participation by the Chinese seriously as the community made up 30 per cent of the population.

"So, less than two per cent have joined the PDRM, it does not look good, so we have to improve this figure...to ensure this programme is successful, we will relax the entry conditions," he said.

Bukit Aman Personnel (Recruitment) assistant director ACP Saiful Azly Kamaruddin said the exercise for the recruitment of new police constables for the first session this year, would be carried out on Monday.

He said the relaxation of conditions included a pass in Bahasa Malaysia in SPM apart from passing a vision test or by using glasses or contact lenses by obtaining V/6/9.

"We understand the entry requirements, which prior to this were too stringent for the Chinese community, namely, credit in Bahasa Malaysia while there are those among them who are not fluent at all.

"So, we consider this situation a special one for the Chinese community," he said.

Based on statistics, as of Dec 31 last year, Malays (90,156 people) dominated the force, followed by Indians (3,659 people) and Chinese (1,974 people), while the rest were from other communities, he said.

 He said the lack of Chinese staff was due to several reasons, including salary, which was regarded as still low, while parents did not encourage their children to join the PDRM.

"According to a study, most of them do not realise a constable can bring home RM3,000 a month, if all the allowances are included," he said.

For the recruitment on Monday, the Chinese were encouraged to download the application form from the PDRM website at www.rmp.gov.my.

The form should send it to the nearest police station or to the Personnel Recruitment Unit at the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman. - Bernama