If not for "monstrous hijack", 30% Malay-Bumi quota already met

If not for "monstrous hijack", 30% Malay-Bumi quota already met

Malaysia Chronicle

As Umno and MCA continue to wrangle over the country’s economic pie, Pakatan Rakyat leaders have ramped up calls for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to probe if it was true that if not for a “monstrous hijack”, the 30 percent Malay and Bumiputera target would have already been met.

“The real problems for Malaysia are not BN's claims of race or religion but deep-seated corruption, inefficiency, abuse of power, mediocrity and lack of rule of law,” DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said in a statement.

“If the RM52 billion worth of Bumiputera shares still remained in Bumi hands, then the 30 percent Bumi/Malay equity target under the NEP would have long been achieved.”

No need for heated polemics, just do it

Lim was referring to shares allocated to Malays and Bumiputera worth a whopping RM54 billion since the New Economic Policy was launched in 1971. Prime Minister Najib Razak said in June last year that of this amount, only RM2 billion still remained in Malay hands.

“Clearly the RM52 billion worth of shares given to the few Malay and Bumiputera leaders was cashed out and sold off. Stern action and the full force of the law should be unleashed at this open sabotage of the NEP,” Guan Eng said.

PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Akin said the best way for Umno and MCA to prove to the people that it was not hiding any misdeeds was by agreeing to hold an independent full-scale RCI.

"We have to stand by principles of honesty and zero-tolerance for corruption. It is no point launching into heated polemics and boring everyone in the country to death because they know from the past, it will just be sandiwara. If Najib is sincere, call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry," Shamsul told Malaysia Chronicle.

Protecting cronies

Indeed, the NEP was introduced in 1971 to eradicate poverty regardless of ethnicity. But due to decades of Umno political dominance, the policy has been turned into a symbol of Malay rights and special position to help the party camouflage the gross corruption amongst its top leaders.

Covers for graft, again in the name of Malay supremacy, have also been added to the policy through the years, mostly during the rule of former premier Mahathir Mohamad from 1981 to 2003.

“BN's refusal to take action against these NEP saboteurs and that they return the RM52 billion is an immoral act designed to protect their own cronies who have profited shamelessly from a policy that is supposed to assist the poor Malays and Bumiputera," Guan Eng said.

Calling a spade a spade

At at a recent economic congress, Najib’s brother Nazir, the CIMB CEO, openly described the NEP as having been "bastardized" into its current corrupt form. Najib has tried without much success to replace the NEP with the New Economic Model that strives to distribute economic wealth on a needs-basis - much like the Pakatan's own platform.

As expected, Nazir's comments sparked a furore from Malay rights groups such as the Mahathir-patronized Perkasa and Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who rushed to issue stinging warnings to the Chinese not to encroach on Malay rights. But their emotional rhetoric failed to impress.

“So long as the BN government refuses to demand full accountability and action over the ‘lost’ RM52 billion in bumi shares, they are using the NEP to divide and rule by playing racial antagonism against Malaysians,” said Guan Eng.

Dr M's tug-of-war with PM: More Malays tell of NEP's dark side

Dr M's tug-of-war with PM: More Malays tell of NEP's dark side

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad’s insistence that his successors stick with the New Economic Policy to shape the country’s future has been criticized and ridiculed by economists, civil rights advocates and even top leaders within his Umno-BN coalition.

Many have been quick to suggest the 85-year old, who ruled Malaysia for 22 years from 1981 to 2003, has ulterior motives and vested interests for doing so.

But whatever Mahathir's reasons, the latest tug-of-war between himself and Prime Minister Najib Razak over whether it is the New Economic Model or the NEP which should hold sway has brought out the cockroaches from under the woodwork.

More inside stories of the NEP emerge

Various inside stories are now starting to appear as Malays who got cheated instead of being boosted by the NEP come out of the closet and warn their community against the over-simplistic rhetoric adopted by Mahathir and his henchman Ibrahim Ali, the president of ultra-Malay rights group Perkasa.

One of the most sensational revelations so far is about the privatization of Spots Toto, among the most successful gambling outfits in Malaysia.

In his article entitled Sports Toto, The Inside Story, former Bernama general manager Ahmad Mustapha Hassan tells of how he helped tycoon Vincent Tan gain control of Toto and how he was ruthlessly short-changed and dumped once the deal went through.

“I have attempted for years to recover what has been owed to me by Ananda Krishnan and Vincent Tan. Ananda owed me for my services in getting him control of Inchcape Malaysia and Vincent Tan in the privatisation of Sports Toto,” wrote Ahmad, who also authored the book The Unmaking of Malaysia.

“I have sent countless letters, e-mails and also used the services of debt collectors. I have also sought the services of eminent personalities who are close to these two businessmen. I have also repeatedly tried to meet them but it was unfortunate that I was unable to have a face-to-face meeting with them; plain and simple they refused to see me.”

Emotional words of us-against-them

Despite Islam being the official religion, gambling kings in the country such as Vincent, the MCA-linked Magnum Corp, Pan Malaysian Pools’ Ananda and the Genting casino in Pahang rake in billions of ringgit in bets per day.

This has caused unhappiness amongst the Malays because gambling is prohibited by Islam and these tycoons got their break from betting licenses dished out by the Umno-BN government. There is also fast-growing disenchantment with the NEP because of its inability to distribute wealth downwards despite having been in existence since 1971.

Nevertheless, it is still tough for Najib to beat off the race-championing tactics deployed by Mahathir and Ibrahim Ali, who have equated the scrapping of the NEP to a direct slap in the faces of the Malays.

One of the key reasons is that the majority of the community are still rural-based. They find it easier to empathize with the fiery us-against-them rhetoric spewed by the Mahathir group, even though they may grumble at the same time about receiving the short-end of the economic carrot.

But will their eyes be easier to open now that more educated Malays are beginning to speak up about their bad experiences with the NEP, and what a class and poverty trap it can be.

“It will certainly expose the shocking amount of corruption in the government and how entrenched business has become in the political arena. It is all about who you know and what you can get want and who you must pay to get what you want,” PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Akin told Malaysia Chronicle.

“The rural Malays know for themselves how tough their lives are. These who work in the towns and the cities also know it is not easy to make ends meet. Yet they can also see how some of the privileged ones are able to get everything they want just because they know so and so in Umno or other. They should not for the sake of a few sweet words from Ibrahim Ali or Mahathir get confused.”

Is there Bumi equity under NEM?

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 06:00

By Muda Mohd Noor and Syed Jaymal Zahiid

KUALA LUMPUR: Is there such a thing as 30% Bumiputera corporate equity under the New Economic Model (NEM)?

There seems to be confusion among Malay traders when the Malay Chamber of Commerce president Syed Amin Aljefrri said today he does not believe there is such a policy under the NEM.

"We have never heard about the 30% Bumiputera equity mentioned by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak under the NEM," he told FMT when asked what he felt about its Chinese counterpart's demand that the quota be gradually removed.

At the unveiling of the first part of the NEM in March this year, Najib said that various key sectors will be opened up, which will see the gradual removal of the Bumiputera corporate equity as part of the government's effort to lure back foreign direct investments (FDIs).

The NEM was his blueprint to transform Malaysia into a high-income economy amid scepticism that the nation's developed country status by 2020 is achievable.

But Najib faced tremendous pressure when an economic congress hosted by Malay right-wing Perkasa-led Malay Consultative Council warned Umno that it risks alienating Malay voters and demanded the special commercial position of the Malays be maintained under the NEM.

Conflicting policies

While Najib showed courage and defiance at the congress where he accepted the memorandum submitted by the council, the unveiling of the 10th Malaysia Plan showed otherwise: he told Parliament that the government would strive to achieve the 30% Bumiputera equity target.

This has created confusion among political leaders and businesses alike as reflected in the statement given by Syed Amin today.

Pakatan Rakyat leaders blame the drop in FDIs on Najib's conflicting and flip-flopping policies although the government has denied the allegation.

Opposition leaders also predict a backtracking in the Bumiputera policies given the amount of pressure Najib has received from groups like Perkasa, which holds significant influence over the Malay electorate.

The Malay votes have given Umno and Barisan Nasional the much-needed ammunition to survive without non-Malay support and remain in power.

Dismantling the Bumiputera equity system may prove to be fatal for Umno and the Najib administration.