YOURSAY | 'Umno had used the spin to serve its own agenda and political interests.'

GLCs, revenge politics and a demystified Malay agenda

The Wakandan: Since Independence 60 years ago, the Malay agenda has always been about affirmative action.

The New Economic Policy (NEP) has long passed and lapsed, and its target achieved, yet Umno still wanted to continue this affirmative action. Why? It had nothing to do with the Malay agenda anymore but was about the Umno cadres who wanted the easy way to earn a living and to get rich.

Laziness and greed always lead one to find shortcuts and silver spoons. And that's what happened. Why not help themselves to the nation's largesse when it is made available by the power they bestowed upon themselves?

Unfortunately, corruption destroys the country and hurts the very people that the Malay agenda wants to serve - the small guys in the kampungs and the streets of Kuala Lumpur and other cities. These people do not get the benefit of the Malay agenda.

That's why Umno needs to spin to perpetuate their rule. Unfortunately, the race and religion issues which they exploit are very effective tools to control the minds of the people.

The maxim, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, is really at play in the politics of Umno. We really need to cut off from the old ways and to embark on a new Malaysia. There should be no more tolerance for corruption.

David Dass: Interesting analysis by Lim Teck Ghee. If the writer's statistics are to be accepted - and there is no reason why they should not be, given the sources he cites - then is it not time to consider the interests of all Malaysians?

The Malay agenda has succeeded beyond all expectations. There is no more reason for Malays to be anxious or to feel threatened. But in that period of Malay advancement, other communities have been neglected. The Indians and Orang Asli for a start. And the indigenous people of Sabah and Sarawak.

In all future statistics, there should be a separation of Malay statistics from that of the other bumiputeras. A new approach is required. Aid and assistance to the poor should now be more targeted and focused. The government should look after the poor of all communities. Let the well-to-do look after themselves.

And what is our policy on meritocracy? Do we think that people of ability and who work hard should be rewarded? Do we believe that it is necessary to establish and maintain a hierarchy structured on racial lines? Or do we now foster a culture where the most talented of our people are used to advance our nation on all fronts?

Do we continue to tell Indians, for instance, “Sorry, this is a Chinese company,” or “This is Malay country”? So Indians should lower your expectations? Or do we simply let the best rise to the level of their potential?

All studies show that intelligence is distributed in the same way among all races. Just provide a level playing field. Eradicate poverty and upgrade our schools and universities. Make English our second working language. And our country will take off like a high-speed train.

Ipohcrite: The Malay agenda and the Malay share of the country's economic wealth had already been achieved much earlier. Umno has used the spin that it has not been achieved, so as to serve its own agenda and political interests.

Using the claim of not having met the target, Umno continued to exploit opportunities meant to help the Malays and bumiputeras, but in reality, it was only to enrich their own Umno cronies.

Take the Mara Digital Mall idea by former minister Ismail Sabri - Malay traders were forced buy their stuff through an appointed Malay supplier (not even at competitive prices), and do you want to guess who this supplier is?

Yes, a crony of you-know-who. And the way Ismail Sabri tells it, it is so successful that you wonder why the traders after the free rental period moved out one after the other.

Mano: Is the Malay agenda meant to allow the millionaire and multimillionaire Malays get a discount on the properties they purchase for investment or commercial purposes?

I am agreeable if those ill-given discounts are given to the truly poor of the Malays to help them acquire their first or even second house.

The way that it has been going till now is that the super-rich Malays are not only fleecing the non-Malays, but they are unjustly fleecing their own race. Is this right morally and ethically?

ABC123: The Malay agenda has all along been kept vague so that it can be used as a political tool to control the Malay electorate and enrich the Malay elite and to keep them in political and economic power.

MahuSeeLui: The Malay agenda has distorted the economy, politics and governance, and bred corruption at almost all levels of government. It's time to look at it honestly, given that it is in the interest of crooked and small-minded politicians to exploit it for their own advancement.

This largely Umno instigated small-mindedness is still alive and thriving.

Kawak: Former Umno MP Tawfik Ismail's fear of the undermining the Malay agenda through dismissing current CEOs of GLCs (government-linked companies) is unfounded.

Worse, is he trying to incite racial sentiments by bringing in the argument of a Chinese finance minister doing the sacking of the GLC top officers?

The removal of these Umno-appointed CEOs is the decision of the Pakatan Harapan cabinet, and not made at the whims and fancy of Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Drngsc: Removing the GLC bosses is not revenge politics. These GLC top executives were paying themselves astronomical sums for little productive work. So it has to be rationalised. They must be changed as that culture will recur.

We cannot afford to pay managers millions when they do not bring in the profits. and their lowest-paid workers are paid so poorly. As it stands, GLCs have become a rip off on Malaysians.

Fair Play: Under the Harapan government, there should be one and only one agenda - the Malaysian agenda. Its first priority should be to uplift the status of the bottom 40 percent (B40).

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