Interview panel...

Out of 102 people we interviewed, we could pick out 4.
Just 4 will be offered the job.
On top of that, we could nominate another 20 as reserves.
And we were lucky because more than 60 did not turn out for the interview, otherwise it would be even more difficult for us to do the selection.

It was my first time sitting as the chairperson of an interview panel.
I only agreed to do it because I had had no experience whatsoever sitting in an interview panel before.
Oh my - I know I won't agree to do it again in the near future.
It was tough.
Yes, it was only for clerks - but the competition is very stiff.
And we had to find the balance too - between pure academic merits and other criterias, such as family background.
I mean, if they perform equally well during the interview - between (a) a single SPM holder from rural area who has 12 siblings, 8 still in school, a stay-at-home-mom and a retiree dad and (b) a Diploma holder who has 2 siblings with working parents, I would give more credits to (a) than (b). But that's just me...

There were 2 of us as panel.
Apart from asking candidates to introduce themselves, we asked simple questions such as (not all questions to all individuals, but rather mix-and-match of sort):
- Rukun Negara (in one instance because the candidate had trouble mixing Rukun Negara with Rukun Islam, we asked him to tell us the Rukun Islam);
- name 2 Cabinet ministers apart from PM and TPM or name 2 MB/Chief Ministers;
- what was the current H1N1-related death cases reported on the inteview day;
- what happened in KL on August 1st and why;
- PPSMI's pros and cons;
- explain the concept of 1Malaysia, or at least tell us the motto of 1Malaysia;
Basically, we asked questions that even high school students could answer if they read the newspaper/watch news on TV and have some interests in what's happening in the country.

Apart from that we also asked them about what they know about the position offered or what they believe the job is all about. For those who are already in the government sector, we asked them a little bit more about stuff we expect officers at their level should be familiar with - General Orders, Golden Handshake and stuff. Nothing too specific - merely general knowledge.

At the end of the day, I must admit that most of them don't read too much.
One girl, when asked about how many H1N1 death related cases reported in Malaysia so far (8 on that day), answered "25,000"
Another confidently named "Tan Sri Khalid Jamlus" as the MB of Selangor
Yet another named "Datuk S Samy Vellu" and "Dato' Chua Soi Lek" as 2 current Cabinet Ministers.
And I got all sort of 'new' definitions for ISA (Internal Security Act)
Most of them knew that some 'riots' or 'demonstration' happened, but they seemed not to really understand why 20,000 or so people from all over Malaysia gathered in Kuala Lumpur that day. (I got tired of getting responses carbon-copied from mainstream newspapers, I stopped asking)

When asked about why they wanted to join the government service, typical answers include:
"Kerja kerajaan terjamin",
"Cerah masa depan kalau kerja kerajaan",
"Tak kena buang kerja walaupun masa ekonomi merudum",
"Kerja kerajaan banyak perks, benefits... pergi hospital percuma untuk diri, untuk anak-anak, boleh dapat biasiswa sambung study, dapat cuti sambung study"
Et cetera.
So, it was no surprise that both of us in the panel took an instant liking to a candidate who, when asked why he would like to join the government service, answered earnestly,
"Sebab saya rasa peluang untuk saya mendalami Islam lebih cerah sekiranya saya bekerja di sektor kerajaan"
He's a muallaf Iban, who reverted to Islam in 2004.
When asked what's the name of the current month in Islamic Calendar, he answered "Syaaban" quicker than some born Muslims.

On Nisfu Syaaban, I asked some to tell me what was the previous night's name according to Islamic Calendar.
Answers included "Isra' Mikraj", "Nuzul Quran" and even "Lailatul Qadar" before the candidate quickly added herself "Isy, tak kan lah kot, Lailatul Qadar mana ada tarikh, masa Ramadhan je pulak tu..."
But one particular girl really stood out from the rest
"What was last night according to Islamic Calendar?"
"Hmm, I'm not sure"
"What is this month in Islamic Calendar"
"Hmm, Rabi'ul Akhir?"
"When do we start fasting?"
"End of this month?"
"What is the name of fasting month?"
"Ramadhan"
"What is the name of the month before Ramadhan?"
"Hmm..."
"Okay, okay, I'll ask an easy one, what is the date of Ma'al Hijrah?"
"14 Rabi'ul Awal?"
"Okay, an even easier one - from where to where did Rasulullah performed the Hijrah?"
"Err... from Madinah?"

With that kind of response from a born Muslim, it was easy to see why we were impressed with the Iban muallaf. In Japan, it would be a big achievement for a Muslim revert to pray 5 times a day after 5 years being a Muslim. This guy, he's been praying 5 times a day after he reverted and he had started fasting in Ramadhan even before he officially pronounced the shahadah.

Yes, he's one of the 4 who we nominated to be offered the job.