There has been a flurry of letters and articles published in both the print and electronic media debating some thorny issues of Malaysian life. This is a healthy situation and I think malaysiakini is doing a good service by letting Malaysians of all persuasions speak up on such issues as the granting of scholarships and APs.
I am writing as an observer from afar, being away from Malaysia at the moment. I must say that there is a perceptible shift away from the closed and tight-lipped period of the past - at least, that is my perception from the UK.
Recently, the very active ex-premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad was reported by The Star to be a 'very angry man' over some comments made by the international trade and industry minister. It is good that Mahathir as an ordinary Malaysian citizen has been allowed to voice his opinions and share with the public his knowledge about the thorny issue of APs. Perhaps, this should help motivate the government toward a more transparent form of administration.
This could be the first step away from a feudal form of allocating special privileges to a certain class of Malaysians often at the expense of other citizens. What is more interesting is that from the APs issue, as noted by other letter writers, only a very special group of citizens are awarded special privileges.
There is no racial policy here as most bumiputeras are excluded from such privileges. In fact, the expanding Malaysian middle-class (with urban Malays constituting a growing number) has to pay more and more for the upkeep of the special citizens. It is good that Mahathir and Rafidah Aziz is being so frank about such a policy. It is even more commendable that the PM is thinking of reforming it.
The idea of linking special privileges to a special class of people also affects scholarships awarded by the government. I agree with Law Tzuo-Hann that scholarships are seldom ever given out completely based on merit. At a higher degree level, a candidate's ability to deliver is as important as his/her academic achievement or social background. But if the Malaysian government is truly interested in uplifting the economic status of the bumis, then what they should do is to make the awarding of scholarships and privileges race-blind.
Umno has nothing to worry about as the share of scholarships going to Malays would rise. Similarly, with APs, if it cannot be discontinued, then Mahathir is right. It should be awarded to people who can truly sell cars and who can truly be efficient at what they do. The key to the success is transparency.
The refusal to be transparent is a tacit acknowledgment on the part of the government as well as by Umno that Malays are incapable of good governance. This is a racist idea. Malays are as good as anybody else in Malaysia. I know many who are very hard working and can hold their own in the best universities in the world. To say that special privileges have to be limited to a special class of Malaysians is a slight against us all.
To my mind, all Malaysians have to re-think in what direction we want the country to follow. A foreigner friend told me that in his experience, the only country left that has a policy of separate development for separate races is Malaysia.
We may have come to this situation by choice but do we really want to continue as a fragmented society? In a global field, no amount of APs and no amount of scholarships will make us competitive. We have very little time to decide whether or not to start helping each other regardless of race or religion.
As the PM said, his greatest task would be to upgrade the software - meaning changing the mindset of Malaysians. After the monuments of the Twin Towers and Putrajaya, we now need to think as Malaysians.