PENANG Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy is mulling  legal action against two news portals that allegedly distorting the meaning of his comment about the Malaysian civil service.

The DAP lawmaker, who had courted controversies in the past, said while he respected the freedom of the press the media must be responsible in their reporting.

“I will take legal action against two local news portals who twisted my comments. Both portals reported that I asked for the ‘domination of the Malays in the civil service to be broken up’.

“After the report was published, I was attacked by several politicians,” he said in a statement today.

“Twisting my words to give it a racial tone is irresponsible. I have already instructed my lawyer to initiate legal action against the two media portals.”

Ramasamy, an academic turned politician, however, did not name the news outlets.

Previously, Ramasamy wrote an article urging Putrajaya, under the leadership of Anwar Ibrahim, to reform the civil service, claiming it was dominated by Malays.

Anwar responded by saying that the government will not consider the call for reforms to break Malay domination in the civil service as Putrajaya does not think it a problem.

Ramasamy’s comments courted the wrath of other Pakatan Harapan lawmakers who asked DAP to give him the sack as he was deemed a liability to the unity government.

The Congress of Union of Employees in the Public and Civil Services president Adnan Mat also chided Ramasamy for his comments.

He said the recruitment and appointment of staff in the public service are based on each candidate’s merit and competence, without involving quotas, as stipulated by the Public Services Commission (PSC).

“PSC has never stipulated that the recruitment of civil servants must meet any quota, including those involving certain religion, race, ethnicity and state,” he said. – February 16, 2023.