'The problem is people like Ibrahim Ali - not all Malays. Most Malays are like everyone else - working hard with many struggling to survive on low incomes.'

Malott, Zainal Aznam are sick, says Ibrahim Ali

David Dass: This man does not know his history. Malacca became a colony of the Portuguese in 1511 and Sabah, Sarawak became colonies in the late 1800s and the Federated Malay States and the Unfederated Malay States came under British influence in 1900 or so.

So it was not 500 years of being colonised, but about 100 years, except for Malacca. The Chinese and Indians were colonised for much longer than that - in China as well as in India and their experience of colonisation was far more brutal.

And in Malaya, the Chinese and Indians worked mainly as manual labourers opening up the jungles, building the infrastructure of the country, in the plantations and in the tin fields - dying in the tens of thousands of snake bite and malaria. In the same period, the Chinese and Indians also worked as teachers, doctors, lawyers, civil servants, etc, to help establish the soft infrastructure of modern Malaysia.

Indians and Chinese were never part of the colonising force. They were colonised as well.

Anonymous_Concern: It's the Umnoputras who are cheating the Malays by raping the country such as Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud. The world is becoming borderless, and sooner or later if the Malays are not prepare to stand on their own, the next generation will suffer.

Pakatan Rakyat leaders like Anwar Ibrahim and Nik Aziz Nik Mat can see what will happen one day and that's why they are fighting so hard to help the Malays. But it's the Umnoputras who are bend on preserving their wealth, and when the country goes dry, they would have invested enough of their money outside the country and ready to migrate. They don't really care and they are the ones who will destroy the Malay race.

Petestop: The Chinese and Indians came to Malaysia as ‘kuli' (labourers) under the British colonial government, yet they are economically empowered now despite the NEP.

The Penang state government has proven that Malays contractors can be competitive under the open-tender system, yet it is the same BN component parties that put these Malay contractors down with the likes of Gerakan and MCA accusing DAP of pandering to the Malays.

Kgen: Fifty years under a pre-dominantly Malay government and Ibrahim Ali still see fit to blame the Chinese for oppressing the Malays economically? As John Malott said, racism has an economic price tag, but it is not Umnoputras and people like Ibrahim who will pay the price.

Hamisu: The problem is the misuse of a policy that had its deadline extended to perpetuity. To say Malays are backwards and digging up 400 years of history is absurd. What Perkasa need to ask how come over 400 years, they are still where they are. There's lack of drive, motivation, and whatnot.

Yet Perkasa blames everyone else for its own problems. Perkasa intention is no doubt to keep the Malays where they are now, 400 years ago, and even 400 years later, without any change nor improvement. Ibrahim Ali is the sick one to put on a leash on his own race.

Realistic: The special privileges is for all bumiputeras in the country and not mean for Malays only. I don't think the Orang Asli and the bumiputeras in Sabah and Sarawak have benefit much from these special privileges.

David Dass: The problem is people like Ibrahim Ali - not all Malays. Most Malays are like everyone else - working hard with many struggling to survive on low incomes. Ibrahim Ali and the likes of him want to perpetuate a system that favours a few - that helps some exploit the advantages of being intermediaries.

Most Malays do not benefit from big contracts, big projects and share issues. There are many poor Malays out there. It is a fact that Malays do not have an entrepreneurial culture and something must be done to teach them business skills.

From my perspective, the best way is for the total integration of the races where part of each of us is absorbed by the others. We work, live and play together and in so doing learn from each other. Friendships develop and shared experiences lead to shared adventures and to joint business enterprises.

Tailek: I wonder who is using who - Perkasa using Dr M or is it Dr M using Perkasa?

Dr M has no platform to speak so he uses Perkasa as his platform to spew his racist venom. Perkasa has no standing and credibility so Perkasa leverages on Dr M's once esteemed position to lend credibility to its pro-Malay agenda.

In any case, they deserve each other.

Rick Teo: Ibrahim Ali, did you forget that you was the one who was sick? Weren't you hospitalised after suffering a heart attack and after that your datukship was stripped? Melayu muda lupa.

Perkasa wants bumi share margin maintained

Gerard Samuel Vijayan: Who owns the alleged 18% bumi equity? What is the point of owning shares even at 30% when nearly 70% of Malay households are poor? Is this equity helping them in any way?

What about the number of private limited companies that are owned by Malays? What about the GLCs (government-linked companies) which are more than 99% Malay and government contracts that are 100% dished out to Malays? Don't these figures feature in the computation of the 30% equity.

My guess is that the target has already been achieved but sadly only concentrated in the hands of the Umno Malays and their cronies. Ibrahim Ali should be talking instead about uplifting the incomes and standard of living of the vast majority of poor Malays through a fair minimum wage, job opportunities, higher education and home ownership.

These are better indicators of Malay economic participation rather than enriching a small group of cronies who are the lackeys of Umno. It is time that the ordinary Malays demand for their rights from the fat Umno cow.

Longjaafar: Silly suggestion. Why should Equinas buy from the bumis? It can buy from the open market. It's not that the bumi shares have got special status. Secondly, if the company is doing badly, and the bumi wants to sell, why should Equinas buy the shares? That's the problem with the likes of Ibrahim Ali. Many people still believe him.

Ksn: Ibrahim Ali, no non-Malay is complaining about 30% equity for bumiputeras, Malays actually. The problem is that 30% was reached many years ago, according to independent and credible sources which have put Malay-controlled equity at 45%. The government, however, insists it is only 18%.

If the Malays divested their shares, that must be for a profit and they have it still with them in the form of cash, FDs (fixed deposits), property or whatever they exchanged it for. While these transactions are going on a daily basis, how can the 30% or 45% equity be maintained?

But the cash is still with them. They did not give it to anyone as charity and if they did, I am sure, not to any non-Malays, right?

Just me: First, Ibrahim Ali should ask the cronies to buy back all the shares allocated to them which they have sold. The public-listed companies should have records, so it is not a difficult task.

MW: Errr... is Ibrahim suggesting ‘buy high, sell low' - ie, a bailout?

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