Sarawak Chief Minister’s Department Human Resource Management Unit (UPSM) / Muhammad Ammar Zafri Zainuddin

Sarawak was fortunate that the Colonial Office understood that it could not hold on to power forever in the colony and that, sooner or later, when the country attained independence, the colonists would have to leave and hand over the reins of administration to the local populace. Helping to ensure a smooth transition was the introduction of the Sarawak Administrative Service. When it was established in the 1950s, the Sarawak
Administrative Service operated in tandem with the Native Administrative Service. Officers in both services had the same functions and goals, the only difference lay in their method of recruitment. Where the Native Officers were appointed because of their family background and influence, the Administrative Officers had to possess minimum academic qualifications. With the retirement of the last few remaining Native Officers in the 1960s, the Native Administrative Service came to a natural close, after nearly a century of serving the people of Sarawak.