We refer to the statement made by the Honourable Minister of Human Resources Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem published in the media on 27th August 2017. It is reportedly stated that the reason, why our nominee, Datuk Philip Ting, was not reappointed to the SOSCO Board was because he is a non-Sarawakian. With respect, the ground for the Minister's decision is misconceived and blatantly unacceptable. Datuk Philip Ting is a Sarawakian with a "K" in his identity card. He has lived in Sarawak continuously for 37 years and is married to a Sarawakian. All his three children are born and bred in Sarawak. Datuk Philip was conferred the Panglima Gemilang Bintang Kenyalang (PGBK) Datukship from Sarawak in September 2000 for his contributions to Sarawak. And while serving on the SOSCO Board, he has always identified himself as a member representing Sarawak interests. He has also taken very keen professional interests in the affairs of SOSCO as a whole. 

The Minister ought to have consulted with SBF/SCCI or MEF concerning our nominee if he has any doubt. Alternatively, he could have asked for another nominee from us bearing in mind that for the past 25 years or so, our nominee has always been appointed. The break from this long established rapport and mutual confidence is therefore very much regretted. 

We note that this year, the process of nomination started in February. The business community has always been represented on SOSCO Board with 4 representatives out of 16 Board members. Of the 4, two represent the business community in Peninsular Malaysia and 1 each for Sarawak and Sabah. Given this rather limited representation, the person representing Sarawak should therefore rightfully be a representative from SBF/SCCI, the most eligible entity in terms of the size of its membership to represent the interests of Sarawak where the employers have contributed around RM 200 million annually to SOCSO. 

We deeply regret this lost opportunity and hope this situation can be rectified with a nominee from SBF/SCCI to sit on SOSCO Board. 

Dated 28th August 2017 

Jonathan Chai
Secretary General of SBF