Archive for the ‘NEP’ Category
“Poll shows most Malaysians want NEP to end”
Tagline in The Malaysian Insider.
Here’s the article…
____________________________
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — Seventy-one per cent of Malaysians surveyed in a recent poll agree with the statement that Barisan Nasional’s “race-based affirmative action policy is obsolete and must be replaced with a merit-based policy”.
Surprisingly, the poll, conducted by the independent Merdeka Centre between June 18 and July 29, up to 65 per cent of Malays who were asked the question agreed that race-based affirmative action should be done away, compared with 83 per cent of Chinese and 89 per cent of Indian respondents.
The overall consensus against race-based affirmative action was also apparent in that 61 per cent of rural and 75 per cent of urban respondents agreed that it should be replaced with a merit-based policy.
The same result was true in nearly all major categories of race, age, gender and income class, suggesting a majority of Malaysians are now ready to do away with NEP-type policies.
Asked to comment on this, Pas head of research Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad noted that the stated objective and vision of the New Economic Policy is to eradicate poverty and reconstruct society so that economic functions according to race would be ended.
The Kuala Selangor MP said it was the abuse of the implementation that has resulted in such a dire opinion of the policy.
“You cannot deny that poverty has been reduced over the years. But, for example, the Approved Permit system was meant to allow Malay entrepreneurs a stake in industries such as the automotive business. Instead, it became a monopoly for a selected few.
“It’s not redistribution of wealth but reconcentration into a bangsawan (nobleman) class.”
However, Umno MP for Pulai Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said that no one has come up with a detailed alternative so it was doubtful if “this opinion is based on hard facts.”
“I feel it is based on sentiment without actually being properly thought through. What is the alternative? Has anything been clearly defined? The last time the NEP was properly discussed was in the ’90s.”
Centre for Public Policy Studies director Tricia Yeoh agreed with Nur Jazlan in that the statement appealed to the normal idealism that meritocracy is the way forward.
“But when a Bumiputera thinks about what needs-based as opposed to race-based means to him in real terms, he might be less enthusiastic.”
Yeoh, however, said the policy was inherently flawed due to conditions such as the 30 per cent Bumiputera equity or employee headcount.
From The Malaysian Insider – The Malaysian Economic Agenda
-
New plan called, Malaysian Economic Agenda, will replace NEP, keep Malay agenda, draw up new agenda for Chinese, Indians
-
Opposition leaders continue to throw govt off-balance with bold moves – Selangor chief minister visits site of demolished Hindu temple
KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 – Anwar Ibrahim and the Opposition continued to throw the government off-balance with bold pronouncements yesterday.
The de-facto Opposition leader told Singapore’s only Malay-language newspaper, Berita Harian, that the PKR-DAP-PAS will formalise their alliance in a few days and will then replace the New Economic Policy with a landmark Malaysian Economic Agenda (MEA), a colour-blind initiative aimed at lifting the fortunes of all Malaysians.
The move to formalise the alliance will be cheered by Malaysians who believed that the gains made by the Opposition on March 8 would lead to a two-party system here. It will also shred like wet tissue the argument by the Barisan Nasional that the Opposition alliance is akin to a sham marriage.
Even more important, the MEA will pose a major challenge to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s reform credentials. By proposing to do away with affirmative action for one race, Anwar is setting the bar very high for a coalition which has been allergic to any talk of dismantling the NEP.
In the interview with Singapore BH, Anwar said the Opposition alliance had been working on the MEA for the past one year.
“I would like to assure the Malays that the Malay agenda will remain but we also have to sketch a new agenda for Chinese and Indians,” he said. On his website, Anwar said the MEA can be implemented at state level to reduce race-based affirmative action policies and replace it will a more competitive, merit-based system.
“This will immediately increase foreign investment, improve the state’s tax revenue and begin to promote equity and income parity,” he argued.
Political analysts say that the Chinese and Indian voters deserted BN in droves because they felt that the ruling coalition had turned a deaf ear to their grievances over the NEP. BN’s ability to respond to an imaginative idea like the MEA will be watched closely by the communities.
It is unclear how Malays will react to the removal of NEP from the Malaysian vocabulary.
But Anwar believes that even the Malays will accept that there has been a distortion in implementing the NEP.
Another PKR leader who captured the imagination yesterday was Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.
He visited Kampung Rimba Jaya in Shah Alam – the site of Sri Maha Mariamman Temple which was demolished in November last year. This act of pulling down the temple a few days before Deepavali ignited anger among Indians across the country.
Mayor Mazalan Md Noor said the temple would be rebuilt soon on 10,000sq feet of land.
“The developer has been directed by the state government to provide the land and RM40,000, the cost of the building construction. It is up to the temple committee and the developer to decide when to start the temple construction,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Khalid announced that he would propose that every household in the state gets 20 cubic metres of water supply free monthly. It is expected to be implemented starting next month. Based on the estimated one million domestic users in Selangor, an exemption of water rates for usage of up to 20 cubic metres translates to a monthly value of RM11.4 million a month.
At a time when those in the lower-income bracket are groaning under inflation, the savings of RM11 per month per household will be welcomed.
The NEP and our democratically elected Emperor
It’s tough as a non-malay to comment on Malay politics or prerogatives.
Most people don’t, for fear of giving offence and for fear of being branded ungrateful or worse. Much worse. I was one of those people. Who feared commenting that is; not that anything has happened to me at all! 😉
Now, from my point of view, it’s not like what I would have to say is that inflammatory. Well, I don’t think so anyway. But not really being a politician (they have their place in our world but it’s not mine) I don’t have the guage of the ground so I erred on the side of caution. We went to the polls on Mar 8, most of us, thinking we were going to elect an “emperor.”
It’s obvious isn’t it.
We’re run by the executive. Our institutions are so eroded that nothing happens without the say so of the Prime Minister or anyone else. OK, nothing substantive.
Our daily lives are governed by patron – client relationships.
To get a liquor licence to open a restaurant would be made “easier” if you “knew” someone.
I know someone who is in constant contact with the police and the amount of petty corruption that goes on is systemic. “I help you, you give me RM50/nice pen/handphone.” It’s so endemic that I don’t think anyone thinks about it anymore. In this instance, the police have the power and the supplicant needs something, hence patron and client.
I don’t think that the “patron and client” even think about it as corruption.
When I was in the corporate world, and business meetings were set up for business transactions, what struck me was how little VALUE was created and how much time was wasted. Instead, what we had were occasions for name dropping. “Oh ya, I know so and so, he can help.” And phone calls were used to continually set up appointments and meetings rather than thrashing out a business model which would create value for the customer.
Don’t get me wrong. Some of these business deals ended up as money spinning exercises for the caller and for those involved in the deal. But should money and who you know be the arbiter of success?
And yes, you got what you needed from the official if the RM50/nice pen/handphone were exchanged.
But again, isn’t that why we have institutions in the first place; to ensure the orderly workings of society and do what is required?
I contend, and this is not new, that all this stems from our NEP.
Firstly, I do not deny that Malays AND OTHER marginalised people need help. It doesn’t matter who needs the most help. The marginalised need our help!
Secondly, the NEP’s implementation has been woefully sidetracked. So much so that UMNO itself is now not a party of ideas and ideals anymore, but a means to make money. I’m not going to get into that side of it. There have been a myriad articles out there that cover it better than I ever could.
Thirdly, the way the NEP has been interpreted and implemented has caused race relations to deteriorate and the Malays to be disadvantaged.
Why?
Let’s get back to the roots of the NEP for a bit; the ultimate goal of the NEP was noble. It aimed to “eventually eradicat[e] poverty…irrespective of race.” The framers of the NEP had the greater good in mind. And in those left leaning years, it looked good to redistribute wealth and much of the economic mindset went with a “managed economy.” Somewhat communist in bent.
But the implementation itself lost it’s way. In today’s global society, it’s an anachronism. Not only have the Malays failed to achieve 30% of the economic pie, we now have major racial divisions to show for 30 0dd years of affirmative discrimination or economic apartheid. Yes, apartheid.
How could you have a situation which takes from one group and gives to another, arbitrarily, and not create resentment? Furthermore, how can you give handouts all the time and expect those receiving not to want more? It’s human nature. Yes, it’s morally wrong but let’s put morals aside for now. It’s plain human nature. There would be very few people who would actually say no to more being dished out.
Heck if you gave me some I’d want more. Who wouldn’t?
The thing is, what the NEP failed to take into account is that hardship DOES build character. Cream floats to the top. We, and I mean human beings, the brotherhood of man etc, are best when our backs are to the wall. Some will sink no doubt (and as a compassionate country we need to look into systems to get them back on their feet again) but the others, and I guarantee this, will rise spectacularly to the occasion.
The job of the government is to set the stage. Not to people it with actors. Like the current situation.
Let me draw another analogy; if you have a child you’re trying to raise to be a good, hard working, dutiful child to their parents. What do you do? Multiple choice everyone. Do you
a. Spoil it rotten by giving it all it desires and when it falls down pick it up and say “its ok, we’re here to catch you.”
or
b. Teach it the best you can (education), teach it to be confident, brave, loving, kind, generous, and then let it grow. Let it do it’s own thing, make it’s own mistakes, and learn from them?
Obvious isn’t it? Let’s abandon all pretense of subtlety; a) is your brain on NEP and b) investing in meritocratic education
The NEP isn’t helping the Malays at all. It’s disadvantaging them in this era of globalisation. It’s not giving them a leg up. It’s oppressing them. Tun Dr Ismail said it best; The NEP was like a handicap in golf which “will enable them to be good players, as in golf, and in time the handicap will be removed. The Malays must not think of these privileges as permanent: for then, they will not put effort into their tasks. In fact, it is an insult for Malays to be getting these privileges.”
Can you imagine the indignity that many of our brothers feel when they think that most of the country must be thinking “oh, of course they had a hand up.” I know I would. It’s so sad because those who have truly made it – and there are quite a few – well, their victories are tainted because of this policy. There are even those who’ve made it on the international stage. I know this personally.
Listen, if you need proof, look at the other side of the coin. Non-malays in this country have been the result of 30 odd years of the NEP as well. And where are they today? By hard work yes, but more than that, imagination and creativity, they have somehow still maintained more of the economic pie. Why is that? Because they were richer to start with? Or maybe, just maybe, they had the advantage of being disadvantaged. They had to make it. No ifs ands or buts. They had to. No safety net, no options. So in general, they did.
It’s time to get away from decision making based on motives of fear. Of insecurities and of a zero sum game. The NEP was formulated based on that communal anxiety.
As a non-malay, why would I wish bad things to happen to my brother/sister citizen? I’d want good for my brethren. Yes, I’d compete and may the best person win but I’d want all my brother/sister citizens to make it. At that point, you’ll see Malaysia taking it’s RIGHTFUL place on the world stage.
As a country which is secure and confident in itself. Able to export and import the best in mind power. ALL our citizens contributing to an ever interdependent world.
From tawkthewawk.wordpress.com – Yazmin
Sunday, 9th of March 2008
That day, the future of thousands of people had a rebirth. A momentous occasion I will tell my children about one day, when we realised that all hope is not lost. When the people realised that the power was still in their hands.
But that’s old news really.
My mother has been buying rice and fish and cans of sardins. The NEP, she says as she packs food away in cupboards and freezers, has been abolished in Penang. You don’t know, she chides me, what it was like during 13 May. Laugh if you want, she grumbles, but you’ll be thankful if anything happens.
I reminded my mother about what Tun Dr Ismail said – that the NEP was like a handicap in golf which “will enable them to be good players, as in golf, and in time the handicap will be removed. The Malays must not think of these privileges as permanent: for then, they will not put effort into their tasks. In fact, it is an insult for Malays to be getting these privileges.”
It is all well and good, my mother replied, to know that we don’t need the NEP. But don’t forget, the Malays are a hot headed emotional lot. All it takes is one person to say something stupid, and you might not have your Chinese friends tomorrow.
It’s a painful time for her. My mother grew up in Kampung Baru during 13 May. She often retells the story of her Chinese best friend who walked to and back from school with her every day. She had long pigtails, my mother would say. And one day, she was gone. My mother didn’t get a chance to save her. Her whole family was killed and their house was burned to the ground.
I drove past my old house earlier, my mother whispered quietly to herself. The land where her family’s house used to stand is still empty, still vacant. No one survived to inherit that square piece of land. Whole family wiped out. Wiped out, just like that. When I went to school, her desk was empty, and my Chinese friends stared at me like I was the one who did it.
I know it’s painful, Ma, but it has to be done. This NEP nonsense is like a drug. We Malays are high, living with the purple hippos and the pink elephants dancing.
I know, I know. I’m just worried that’s all. Not everyone sees it that way, unfortunately. You and I do, but all it takes is one person who doesn’t understand, and all this will come to nothing.
Dotmyhome's Weblog 