your say 'Continuing current policies will not improve the situation... Doing something the same over and over again, and expecting different results is total madness (Albert Einstein).'

 

Congress slams NEM's neglect of Malays

David Dass: I think that Malays are competitive. I think that Malays are as good as everybody else. I think that the emergence of an educated Malay middle-class has been good for the nation. I think that the vast majority of Malays work as hard as everyone else.

But we must acknowledge problems in our society. We must upgrade standards of education at all levels. We must bring back English language proficiency and fluency. We must become a bilingual nation at the very least - many will be trilingual and quadrilingual.

We must adopt a zero tolerance policy to corruption, we must spend money on projects that will bring maximum benefit to the greatest number, we must reduce expenditure on wasteful and extravagant prestige projects, and we must ensure even-handed enforcement of the laws of the nation.

As for the big projects and the big contracts, make sure that all bidding companies must have a multiracial shareholder and management profile. We must work together and we must learn from each other.

Revamp the NEM (New Economic Model) by all means. The basic theme of the NEM was inclusiveness. It was built on the premise that divided we are weak and united we are strong. It was built on the assumption that if we approach nation-building on an issues basis and have an affirmative action policy based on a needs basis, all will be satisfied.

The rhetoric of Perkasa and now this convention is strident, confused and foolish. The NEM was not written by the Chinese and the Indians. It was not written by DAP leaders Karpal Singh and Lim Kit Siang. It was presumably written by professionals, most of whom were Malay.

I am sure that there was no thought or belief amongst those responsible for the NEM that it was a plan for the Chinese and it was a plan that betrayed the Malays. What are the modifications that Perkasa seeks? If inclusion is bad, then the modifications must be about exclusion. And exclusion must mean reinforcing the polarisation which exists.

Yuvan: I have always thought an economic congress is an occasion for participants to engage in serious debate to analyse economic issues and draw up plans and programmes to economically uplift the community or society.

If the ultimate intention of the Malay Consultative Council (MCC) in organising the Bumiputera Economic Congress was to slam the NEM and the non-Malays, why have all the workshops, talks and roundtable discussions? All that the MCC had to do was to send a strongly-worded protest note to the PM and tell the PM to dismantle his '1Malaysia' propaganda straightaway.

This country would not have progressed and prospered without the contribution of all the races. That's a fact and no two ways about it.

If the MCC thinks otherwise, it can tell the government to 'remove' the non-Malays from all the economic activities of the country. It can then see for itself if the country can really move forward to achieve its 'Vision 2020' or if that great vision will just remain a dream forever.

Hamisu: This is the so-called success of 1Malaysia. Only one race seem to claim sole ‘ownership' of this country and always harping on ‘citizenship' agreement, but not understanding, or even acknowledging, that our citizenship is based on jus soli .

I am extremely disappointed that the ‘us against them' mentality is very much alive among participants of this congress. Continuing current policies will not improve the situation of the Malays. Doing something the same over and over again, and expecting different results is total madness (Albert Einstein).

Can the congress really accept that the situation Malays are in are due to lack of opportunity? Was none ever given? Did these provided opportunities come at the expense of some other people?

I seriously won't give two hoots about what the congress is saying if the government does not collect taxes from those perceived to be preventing the Malays from success. Our tax money is being mismanaged and yet no one at this congress seems to comprehend.

Lee Heng Soon: I don't know what Malay economics is. Rent seeking? Government contracts? Inflated negotiated contracts? PNB (Permodalan Nasional Berhad)? The fact is there is no pool of Malays entrepreneurs that is viable enough in Malaysia.

The government has given out billions of shares to the Malays and yet they end up with only 10 percent left. In terms of agricultural production, commercial production and industrial production, the figures are just too insignificant.

The government tries to block the progress of private sector and implements policies that are not investor-friendly until we are on the brink of bankruptcy. What Malay economics are they talking about? If they don't help themselves, God will not be able to help them.

When our natural resources run dry, there is nothing left for everybody and nothing to fight for. Knowledge is power. When our educational policies do not encourage acquiring knowledge, we will be left behind.

Not Confused: The Malays are in the majority in this country, they have a stranglehold on the civil services, have special rights, quotas and discounts in every walk of life (and have done so for over four decades) and now they have the audacity and arrogance to demand that they are being threatened by this so-called new policy.

If the Malays have not improved their lot after 40 years of special treatment, then they should be totally ashamed of themselves - it is clear that they will never improve their status in a global economy.

Malaysiasakit: This congress reeks of a sandiwara by supporters of MM (former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad). First we have someone from NEAC (National Economic Advisory Council) saying that there are no Malay-specific policies in NEM.

Isn't NEAC the advisor to the Malaysian government on economic policies? Instead, she (NEAC secretary Normah Mansur) should tell us why this is the case as NEAC is made up of people from all sectors of the economy.

Then we have academicians who are clearly ignorant of the history of Malaya. Even my 10-year son can tell him that Parameswara discovered Melaka in the 1,400s and he was Hindu. How then did the Malays come to Malaya 2,000 years ago?

FairMind: The subsidy cut has a even more direct bearing on the ordinary and poor Malays in the immediate future. I am surprised that Perkasa did not deem it fit to touch on this important topic at their meeting.

It is a clever strategy for Prime Minister Najib Razak to draw support from both Perkasa and Mahathir while at the same time play the good cop in trying to appeal to the non-Malays. Don't be fooled - Perkasa is Umno and Umno is Perkasa.

Muhammad Effi Abd Halim: Fairnessforall, who are you to have said the Malays are lazy and stupid? You are making me angry because as a Malay civil engineer, I paid for my two children on my own, without any scholarship, to study until both graduated as civil engineers from Manchester.

I have been working extremely hard as a consultant engineer on my own without any political connection to survive as a 100 percent Malay-owned company. I had been working a minimum of 12 hours a day for 20 years. I have over 200 Malay staff, and contradictory to what you had said, I wouldn't have lived on trees even if I don't have Chinese and Indians around me.

Keturunan Malaysia: Not to worry, Muhammad Effi Abd Halim. There is enough non-Malays who admire people like you. No race is spared of its fair share of racists but what's important is we Malaysian must come together in earnest as one Bangsa Malaysia.

Only then, we can look forward and share our joys and pains as birds of the same feather rather then always looking over our shoulders and bogs ourselves down with very destructive and never-ending 'them and us' things, and it is exactly for this same reason that some of our fellow Malaysiakini subscribers may inadvertent make some 'non-intentional slips' that are uncalled for and hurt our Malay brothers and sisters.

I voluntarily, respectfully, humbly and sincerely choose to venture to apologise for all and any.

Gerard Samuel Vijayan: Affirmative action should be needs based and not purely race-based. By extension, most Malays and bumiputera from Sabah and Sarawak will benefit.

But it would be wrong to extend affirmative action policies to the wealthy and well-connected Umnoputras who have abused the NEP over the last 40 years and still blame the Chinese and Indians for their economic and social problems.

The Equal Opportunities Commission is a good idea, provided it applied to both the public and private sectors in equal measure. Jobs and contracts must be given based on merit, ability and integrity and not just race. Even if quotas need to be set, these must be fair and transparent.

The core fundamentals of the constitution are not being challenged by the non-bumiputeras and most have accepted the status quo. But what they are unhappy about is the blatant abuses, prejudices and unfairness in the way they are treated by Umno and the Malay political elite. All must be treated fairly and with justice and equality.

 

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