Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Koh Tsu Koon ( below ) is attempting to put a lid on the current spat on bumiputera equity in public-listed companies.

gerakan press conference koh tsu koon 2 Urging both bumiputeras and non-bumiputeras not to be “obsessed” about the quota in the shareholding equity, Koh says more emphasis should be placed on the quality of the workforce instead.

“The issue of equity must be based on the economy of the world and the country.

“But more importantly, don’t just think about the quota, but the quality, competitiveness and the productivity (of the workforce). If you just talk about the quota and equity, you have missed the point,” he said.

“What is more important than anything else is that we must promote effective entrepreneurship and the spirit of excellence,” he said after chairing the central working committee meeting in the Gerakan headquarters in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

Poverty eradication regardless of race

He also said that the need to eradicate poverty and to improve the welfare of the “bottom 40 percent” of the populace must be carried out irrespective of race.

“But I’m not saying that we should not set targets. It is more important that there is quality (in the) implementation of it,” he said.

With pearls of wisdom for Malay rights NGO Perkasa’s president Ibrahim Ali, Koh also told him to stop the rhetorics.

“I would advise Ibrahim to focus more on ‘ memperkasakan pengetahuan ’ (strengthening knowledge) so that i chinese economic congress 140810 chua soi lek t will bring the bumiputera to an even higher level,” said Koh.

The issue of bumiputera equity was reignited after the 500 participants of the MCA-organised Chinese Economic Congress ( right ) last weekend passed a 13-point resolution calling for a more level playing field for non-bumiputeras in the business sector.

Among the resolutions was a call for gradual removal of the 30 percent bumiputera equity in all sectors of the economy, a suggestion that had irked Perkasa as well as the ruling party Umno.

Championing workers rights

In a move for the BN component party to return to their glory years of the 1960's and 1970's when they had a strong unionist foundation, Gerakan will also be setting up a workers bureau.

Going back to their roots, Koh announced that the bureau will study and push for workers rights.

“There are a lot of issues regarding the welfare of workers. What we have now are links to the workers’ unions, but this must be stepped up,” he said.

He added that the head of the bureau will be announced soon, and that he or she would likely be a former union chief.

Gerakan of the past was solidified and led by fiery union bosses such as V Veerapan, Yeoh Teck Chye and V David.