Pelagoose

Uggah speaking to reporters after opening the ISP seminar yesterday

DCM, State Secretary meeting Petronas to get real picture of its hiring policy

KUCHING: The State Government and Petronas will meet on Monday here to discuss the national oil corporation’s recruitment practices in Sarawak.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah and State Secretary (SS) Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohd Morshidi Abdul Ghani will represent the state government in the talk to find out the recruitment and retrenchment practices of Petronas regarding Sarawakians.

“They will be meeting SS and I first before meeting the Chief Minister (Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem). The issue is very simple. This is regarding Petronas’ employment in Sarawak because before this there were some allegations that there is some unfairness.

“We want to know what is the situation actually and from there, we will see. They will come to explain to us and to discuss with us. Whatever they say, we want to know the truth. That is all. If what they say is right, then we don’t dispute. If there are some issues, we want the issues to be resolved, amicably.

“What we want is transparency and fairness, that is all,” Uggah told a press conference after witnessing the swearing-in ceremony of Betong District Council councillors yesterday morning.

The issue of Petronas’ preference for Peninsular Malaysians over Sarawakians for jobs in the state has recently been widely highlighted in the media.

The issue was raised when Suarah Petroleum Group (SPG) revealed that Petronas in a restructuring process had abolished 29 permanent positions which resulted in the retrenchment of 13 experienced staff from Sarawak.

SPG president Hamin Yusuf was quoted as saying that the majority of senior jobs were also filled by non-Sarawakians and the influx of Peninsular Malaysians filling the lower level jobs exacerbated the situation for the state.

Since then, leaders across the political divide have urged the State Government to act fast to stop workers from other states from working here, prompting Uggah to issue a statement that a moratorium would be imposed with immediate effect on all new applications for work permit by Petronas personnel from outside Sarawak intending to work here.

In response, Petronas had on Tuesday issued a statement asserting its stand on hiring practices and that the decision to impose moratorium was based on “the wrong perception that its recent group-wide business restructuring had unfairly impacted its employees from Sarawak”.

When contacted, Immigration director Kent Laben told The Borneo Post that his department had stopped issuance of work pass to any Petronas application, including its subsidiaries until further directive from the state authority since the announcement of the moratorium on Monday.

Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Jemut Masing on the other hand hoped that after the State Government had imposed the moratorium, Sarawak would not be used as ‘dumping ground’ of workers and government staff from outside the state.

“We have a good pool of talents here in Sarawak, I hope we can provide better job opportunities for them otherwise they will be headhunted by countries like Singapore where they are enticed with good perks,” he pointed out.

Masing, who is also PRS president, stressed that the relevant authorities should apply the same criteria or standard operating procedure (SOP) for the federal public service posts in Sarawak so that more locals could be appointed as heads of various federal government departments and agencies in the state because currently, many have alleged that most of the various government department and agencies were headed by officers from other states.

“I was told that there are departments in Peninsular Malaysia which qualified Sarawakians aren’t allowed to head. If indeed this is true, then integration of civil service will not take place. I hope I am wrongly informed!” said Masing.

Meanwhile, the issue has caught the attention of netizens who had voiced out their opinions on Petronas’ recruitment practices at Borneo Post Online social media page https://www.facebook.com/borneopost.online/?fref=ts.

Among those posting their thoughts Alex Ng supported the state government’s move in imposing the moratorium.

“Our government must be firm on this policy for the interest of the people of Sarawak, it is no more 50 years ago. Any people who is (non-Sarawakian) working in Sarawak must apply (for) work permit, there is no question about it. We can’t afford to open our border where people come in and rob our children’s future.”

Ng’s opinion was supported by Joseph Chiam who stressed that both deputy chief ministers must be firm on the policy.

Another netizen, Tay Taylor, pointed out that “The majority of Sarawakian staff in Petronas were contract staff and were of low ranking workers. Those in high positions are countable”.

Netizens Endu Mariah and Mohamad Fadzairy told Petronas not to be arrogant and reminded it that the origin of its wealth is from Sarawak.

Tengku Faqkaruddin rebutted Petronas by saying “It is not a misperception. It is simple. Anything goes wrong, the Sarawakians will go first.”


 August 11, 2016, Thursday By Lian Cheng & Peter Sibon, reporters@theborneopost.com

Petronas in its quest to become an MNC has forgotten its role as a national oil company. It has also forgotten upon whose assets and resources it has risen into the ranks of the Fortune 500. Does it not owe Sarawak anything?

To talk of its thousands of international staff and job seekers from the other 12 states as well is besides the point.

Having sacrificed its petroleum resources to Petronas for the last 40 years, is it too much for Sarawak to ask for priority to be given to Sarawakians for jobs in Sarawak?

While not all Sarawakians may want to work for Petronas, if work is available in Sarawak would they want to work elsewhere including in Semenanjung?

The deal when Malaysia was formed was Borneanisation, not Malayanisation. This is clear from the Malaysia Agreement.

There are good reasons why Sarawak required control over its own immigration and priority for employment for Sarawakians is one of them, notwithstanding which has been flouted by Petronas and conveniently forgotten by most if not all Malayans.

Petronas meritocracy is only an excuse. Sarawakians were employed in O&G long before any Malayans and today are among the best. They can find employment in O&G worldwide, but strangely not in their home state for Petronas. Why?

Why are there no Sarawakians in senior management positions in Petronas itself, or even at board level (have there ever been)? Meritocracy or bias? Coincidence or on purpose? Overlooked or planned?

Yes, Petronas must look at the larger picture, but in doing so must not forget its roots and who it is supposed to look after.

The idea behind the relinquishment of the petroleum-producing states' resources to Petronas was to benefit the non-petroleum producing states as well.

It is ironical that now the petroleum-producing states find themselves among the poorest in the nation, unable even to take advantage of employment opportunities for their own people because Petronas thinks that only it can decide on meritocracy, but in reality not especially when junior staff from Malaya are given jobs replacing senior Sarawakians.

Sarawakians are not asking or begging for jobs which they don't deserve. All Sarawakians want is a fair chance to regain economic parity for its present and future generations. This is not merely in the State's interest but also in the national interest.

If that is denied to them because of pro-Malayan Petronas bias, Petronas has to answer to the State.

Yusuf Abdul Rahman
Media Communications
Suarah Petroleum Group

Congratulated to national divers Pandelela Rinong and Cheong Jun Hoong who won Malaysia's first medal, a silver, at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro early today.

Pandelela and Jun Hoong won the medal in the 10m synchronised platform event at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre.

The duo, paired for the third time in international championships, accumulated 344.34 points behind China's Chen Ruolin and Liu Huxia who collected 354 points.

Canadaian pair Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion won the bronze medal with 336.18 points.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 10 — Pandelela Rinong and Cheong Jun Hoong created history when they won a silver medal in the women’s 10m platform synchronised event yesterday.

This is Malaysia’s first ever silver medal in diving at the Olympics and diving’s second, four years after Pandelela won a bronze in the 10m platform.

The Malaysians collected 344.34 points to trail China’s Chen Ruolin-Liu Huixia (354.00) and ahead of Canada’s Meaghan Benfeito-Roseline Filion (336.18).

Pandelela said she was both surprised and delighted with their performance.

“I never thought that we could win the silver medal today because the competition is very tough and all of the divers of other countries are very, very good.”

“We started to warm up and after that we found our footing,” she told olympic.org, the official website for the Olympics.

Jun Hoong said the silver medal made up for her disappointment in the synchronised 3m springboard with Nur Dhabitah Sabri on Sunday.

“I told myself to forget what had happened in the 3m springboard and to focus on the 10m platform. Everyday is a new day and I focus on my performance in the 10m platform,” said the 26-year-old.

Jun Hoong has said that it was her error that cost Malaysia a first medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics earlier this week. She said she messed up her dive in round four of the women's synchronised 3m springboard with Dhabitah.

Pairing with Jun Hoong, Pandelela was unperturbed when North Korean pair Kim Kuk Hyang and Kim Mi Rae took second spot after the third dive.

“We were focused on our dives and what we needed to do. Although points were flashed on the giant scoreboard across the platform, we didn't look at our position,” said Pandelela.

She said that the pair had been training together for almost two years and often matched other divers in international championships.

“This is the third time we have competed in a competition as a pair,” said Pandelela who had often paired with Leong Mun Yee.

She said the coaches often experimented with new combinations and found the right match in Rio.

“I am recovering from a string of injuries and the training stint in China was put to good use here,” she said.

Pandelela will compete next in the 10m individual platform on Aug 17, while Jun Hoong will take part on the 3m springboard on Friday. Pandelela's parents and elder brother will watch her in action in the individual event.

China's Chen, who is competing at her third Games, has won every major title in the synchronised 10m platform event since 2006, which makes her overall tally of Olympic goals to five.

This puts her on par with fellow athlete Wu Minxia for scoring the most Olympic diving gold medals in a career.

KUCHING: The state government’s decision to place a moratorium on all new applications for work permits for Petronas employees from outside Sarawak has raised the concern of national oil company.

In a statement released yesterday, Petronas believed that the decision, announced over the weekend, may have been made based on the wrong perception that its recent group-wide business restructuring had unfairly impacted its employees from Sarawak.

“Sarawak remains a key investment State for Petronas, where its workforce requirement will continue to grow. Petronas expects the majority of the workforce required to meet the new manpower demand will constitute Sarawakians, as per existing recruitment practices. “A number of positions are expected to be filled by experienced employees, which may include non-Sarawakians,” said the statement issued by Petronas’ Media Relations Department Group Strategic Communications here yesterday.

The statement pointed out that the key to the successful delivery and operations of Petronas’ projects in Sarawak is the support and commitment from all relevant parties, especially its teams of qualified, trained and dedicated employees – no matter where they are from.

“Petronas has had a number of engagement and briefings with the Sarawak State Government’s officials at various levels following the restructuring exercise.

“Petronas will continue with its engagement efforts, including with Deputy Chief Minister Dato Sri Douglas Uggah Embas to address the State’s concerns with regards to Petronas’ manpower requirement in Sarawak,” added the statement.

It added that, like many other oil and gas companies worldwide, it will continue to review its business strategies and

manpower requirements for better efficiency and sustainability, to make it more resilient and focused to thrive in the current and future industry landscapes.

The statement was in response to Uggah’s announcement that the State Government had imposed a moratorium with immediate effect on all new application for work permits of Petronas personnel from outside Sarawak intending to work here.

The issue of Petronas staff in the State has been hogging the limelight ever since it was highlighted by Suarah Petroleum Group (SPG) on the abolishment of 29 permanent positions that resulted in the retrenchment of 13 experienced staff from Sarawak by Petronas in its upstream restructuring exercise in Sarawak recently.

SPG president Hamin Yusuf was quoted as saying that the majority of senior jobs were also filled by non-Sarawakians and the influx of Peninsular Malaysians filling the lower level jobs exacerbated the situation for the state.

Since then, leaders from both the political divide have urged the State Government to act fast to stop workers from other states from depriving Sarawakians of job opportunities in the national oil company.

 August 10, 2016, Wednesday
Credit- Borneo Post

KUCHING: The decision by the Sarawak government to freeze new applications for work permits from Petronas is a fair decision, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg.

“If Sarawakians (working in Petronas) are retrenched, and yet others (from outside Sarawak) come in and replace them, it is not fair.

“If there are capable Anak Sarawak, who should continue serving in Petronas, let them continue,” he told reporters after chairing a meeting at Sarawak Islamic Council yesterday.

He said the state government took the initiative to freeze the work permits due to several complaints that Petronas underwent a restructuring exercise which involved retrenchment of officers from Sarawak in its operations in the state.

“There were complaints that many non-Sarawakian officers are still retained to serve here. So, (fellow Deputy Chief Minister) Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah has contacted Petronas senior officers to provide latest figure on Sarawakians working in Petronas.

“In the meantime, we freeze the working permit for them until after we got all the information to be verified,” he said.

The Borneo Post yesterday front-paged news regarding Sarawak government’s decision to suspend with immediate effect all new applications for work permit of Petronas personnel from outside Sarawak intending to work in Sarawak.

Uggah said this would ensure that Petronas would be fair and transparent in engaging with Sarawak regarding its operations here.

The Borneo Post’s front-page reports on two consecutive days highlighted the concern raised by Suarah Petroleum Group (SPG) on the abolishment of 29 permanent positions that resulted in the retrenchment of 13 experienced staff from Sarawak by Petronas in its upstream restructuring exercise in Sarawak.

SPG president Hamin Yusuf was quoted as saying that most senior jobs were also filled by non-Sarawakians and the influx of Peninsular Malaysians filling the lower level jobs exacerbated the situation.

Credit- Borneo Post

ENGKILILI: Upacara tolak bala pembinaan projek jambatan di Rumah Lepang, Sayat di Engkilili bertukar tragedi apabila seorang lelaki cedera di tangan setelah diserang menggunakan parang.

Ketua Polis Daerah Lubok Antu DSP James Jonathan berkata kejadian berlaku pada Sabtu lalu di tapak pembinaan projek jambatan dekat rumah panjang itu.

Menurutnya, mangsa yang berusia 35 tahun dari rumah panjang tersebut diserang seorang lelaki yang juga dari rumah panjang sama.

“Ketika kejadian kedua-duanya sedang mengikuti upacara tolak bala dan meminum minuman keras,” katanya.

Sementara itu, siasatan polis mendapati suspek berumur 41 tahun dalam keadaan mabuk dan berlaku pertengkaran antara kedua-duanya.

Suspek kemudian balik ke rumah dan kembali semula ke tapak pembinaan dengan membawa parang dan terus menyerang mangsa.

James berkata suspek kemudian melarikan diri manakala mangsa dibawa ke Hospital Sri Aman untuk rawatan dan mendapat 14 jahitan.

Susulan laporan polis dibuat mangsa pada Sabtu lalu, polis kemudian bertindak menangkap suspek di rumahnya di Rumah Lepang, Sayat.

Suspek kini ditahan reman tiga hari sementara kes disiasat di bawah Seksyen 324, Kanun Keseksaan iaitu mendatangkan kecederaan menggunakan senjata tajam.