If you had caught the announcement in The Sun paper, chances are you would have attended this audience-packed forum organized by the DAP at the Chinese Assembly Hall in KL. Must salute DAP for putting together an interesting panel of speakers, they were;
1. former UN and World Bank economic advisor, Prof. Dr Lim Teck Ghee who gave us the facts and figures from his independent research.
1. former UN and World Bank economic advisor, Prof. Dr Lim Teck Ghee who gave us the facts and figures from his independent research.
2. former Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd Chief Executive Director, former PNB CEO,Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, interesting perspective as a Malay with a corporate mind and affirming’s Parti Keadilan’s stand.
3. Opposition leader, YB Lim Kit Siang, the take on the political impacts of having the governing body misusing the NEP policy.
4. DAP Secretary General, Lim Guan Eng, who gave his opening remarks, with the notion that everyone is truly against the continuation of NEP Policy.
5. UKM Political Science Professor, Dr P Ramasamy, giving his academic view and lending his voice for the Indian community.
Need to know what NEP is? It stands for the New Economic Policy or Dasar Ekonomi Baru. Wikipedia gives a very good historical background on this. An important point was that this had came about to address the issue of socio-economic disparity of the Malays, a brain-child you can say as an aftermath of the May 13 incident. Read it here. Speaker P. Ramasamy equates it to more as a “Never Ending Policy” or a “Not Enough Policy” indicating how this has benefited only a small group of people. Read on and you will know the reason for his stand. (Just managed to scribble through the speakers’ speech, so hopefully it’s more or less accurate.)
Some interesting points (some modified based on my perception and opinion) from Prof. Lim’s informative presentation:-
Need to know what NEP is? It stands for the New Economic Policy or Dasar Ekonomi Baru. Wikipedia gives a very good historical background on this. An important point was that this had came about to address the issue of socio-economic disparity of the Malays, a brain-child you can say as an aftermath of the May 13 incident. Read it here. Speaker P. Ramasamy equates it to more as a “Never Ending Policy” or a “Not Enough Policy” indicating how this has benefited only a small group of people. Read on and you will know the reason for his stand. (Just managed to scribble through the speakers’ speech, so hopefully it’s more or less accurate.)
Some interesting points (some modified based on my perception and opinion) from Prof. Lim’s informative presentation:-
1. There were some success in this policy from the period 1970-1990, mainly due to the Felda schemes and Free Trade Zones. However, these economic achievements are not unique to Malaysia, other Asian countries, Latin America and Africa were also experiencing the same. It’s not a direct cause from NEP policy.
2. The Human Development Index, which measures the effectiveness of investments in Human Resources and our competitiveness level show that Malaysia has fallen from being at position 50 in 1975 to position 61 in 2005. This indicates that Malaysians are indeed flagging behind.
3. The NEP has benefited the “Distributional Coalitions”, ie a small influential group of selects who aim to close ranks against competition. They are namely Political (UMNO/MCA/MIC), Bureaucratic (PNB), Military (LTAT), Religious (LUTH). There is usually an overlapping membership and this translates to a rough figure of 3000-4000 people only who profiteers from NEP.
4. NEP instruments are privatization (privatized gains and socialized losses) <- this simply means that when there are gains, only a small group enjoys this but losses are shared nationally. Everyone pays but only a select few gains, corruption/nepotism/cronyism, multiple directorships and unsecured loans. Some notable bail-outs: Bank Bumi, Renong Group, Lions Group, TOTO, NST, Pantai, etc the list was some 3 pages long.
2. The Human Development Index, which measures the effectiveness of investments in Human Resources and our competitiveness level show that Malaysia has fallen from being at position 50 in 1975 to position 61 in 2005. This indicates that Malaysians are indeed flagging behind.
3. The NEP has benefited the “Distributional Coalitions”, ie a small influential group of selects who aim to close ranks against competition. They are namely Political (UMNO/MCA/MIC), Bureaucratic (PNB), Military (LTAT), Religious (LUTH). There is usually an overlapping membership and this translates to a rough figure of 3000-4000 people only who profiteers from NEP.
4. NEP instruments are privatization (privatized gains and socialized losses) <- this simply means that when there are gains, only a small group enjoys this but losses are shared nationally. Everyone pays but only a select few gains, corruption/nepotism/cronyism, multiple directorships and unsecured loans. Some notable bail-outs: Bank Bumi, Renong Group, Lions Group, TOTO, NST, Pantai, etc the list was some 3 pages long.
5. Poverty rates have not improved much and are likely to deteriorate. Widening gap of the rich and the poor. Inter-racial harmony is worsening.
Solutions: Need to replace racially-biased economic entitlements, corporate share equity with a more needs-based selective process. Dismantling of entrenched bodies that have basic self interest for example the GLCs.. Inter-ethnic partnerships based on merit should be preferred for better harmony of racial groups. Focus on development on SME instead of the already rich and self-sufficient big corporations.
Hope this has been useful information for all of you. I’m about only half-done. Will probably have a Part 2 to this when I have time or if it generates enough interest for a continuation. Hehe..
P.S. if you are interested in what other dialogues DAP might organize, please visit this. Have to make it clear that I'm not an advocate but just think that it'll be good to have different perspective of things aside from what we are fed by the mainstream media.
P.S. if you are interested in what other dialogues DAP might organize, please visit this. Have to make it clear that I'm not an advocate but just think that it'll be good to have different perspective of things aside from what we are fed by the mainstream media.
5 comments:
List of racial discriminations in Malaysia, practiced by government as well as government agencies. This list is an open secret. Best verified by government itself because it got the statistics.
This list is not in the order of importance, that means the first one on the list is not the most important and the last one on the list does not mean least important.
This list is a common knowledge to a lot of Malaysians, especially those non-malays (Chinese, Ibans, Kadazans, Orang Asli, Tamils, etc) who were being racially discriminated.
Figures in this list are estimates only and please take it as a guide only. Government of Malaysia has the most correct figures. Is government of Malaysia too ashamed to publish their racist acts by publishing racial statistics?
This list cover a period of about 49 years since independence (1957).
List of racial discriminations (Malaysia):
(1) Out of all the 5 major banks, only one bank is multi-racial, the rest are controlled by malays
(2) 99% of Petronas directors are malays
(3) 3% of Petronas employees are Chinese
(4) 99% of 2000 Petronas gasoline stations are owned by malays
(5) 100% all contractors working under Petronas projects must be bumis status
(6) 0% of non-malay staffs is legally required in malay companies. But there must be 30% malay staffs in Chinese companies
(7) 5% of all new intake for government army, nurses, polices, is non-malays
(8) 2% is the present Chinese staff in Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), drop from 40% in 1960
(9) 2% is the percentage of non-malay government servants in Putrajaya. But malays make up 98%
(10) 7% is the percentage of Chinese government servants in the whole government (in 2004), drop from 30% in 1960
(11) 95% of government contracts are given to malays
(12) 100% all business licensees are controlled by malay government e.g. Approved permits, Taxi permits, etc
(13) 80% of the Chinese rice millers in Kedah had to be sold to malay controlled Bernas in 1980s. Otherwise, life is make difficult for Chinese rice millers
(14) 100 big companies set up, owned and managed by Chinese Malaysians were taken over by government, and later managed by malays since 1970s e.g. MISC, UMBC, UTC, etc
(15) At least 10 Chinese owned bus companies (throughout Malaysia, throughout 40 years) had to be sold to MARA or other malay transport companies due to rejection by malay authority to Chinese application for bus routes and rejection for their application for new buses
(16) 2 Chinese taxi drivers were barred from driving in Johor Larkin bus station. There are about 30 taxi drivers and 3 are Chinese in October 2004. Spoiling taxi club properties was the reason given
(17) 0 non-malays are allowed to get shop lots in the new Muar bus station (November 2004)
(18) 8000 billion ringgit is the total amount the government channeled to malay pockets through ASB, ASN, MARA, privatisation of government agencies, Tabung Haji etc, through NEP over 34 years period
(19) 48 Chinese primary schools closed down since 1968 - 2000
(20) 144 Indian primary schools closed down since 1968 - 2000
(21) 2637 malay primary schools built since 1968 - 2000
(22) 2.5% is government budget for Chinese primary schools. Indian schools got only 1%, malay schools got 96.5%
(23) While a Chinese parent with RM1000 salary (monthly) cannot get school-text-book-loan, a malay parent with RM2000 salary is eligible
(24) 10 all public universities vice chancellors are malays
(25) 5% - the government universities lecturers of non-malay origins had been reduced from about 70% in 1965 to only 5% in 2004
(26) Only 5% is given to non-malays for government scholarships over 40 years
(27) 0 Chinese or Indians were sent to Japan and Korea under "Look East Policy"
(28) 128 STPM Chinese top students could not get into the course that they aspired e.g. Medicine (in 2004)
(29) 10% place for non-bumi students for MARA science schools beginning from year 2003, but only 7% are filled. Before that it was 100% malays
(30) 50 cases whereby Chinese and Indian Malaysians, are beaten up in the National Service program in 2003
(31) 25% is Malaysian Chinese population in 2004, drop from 45% in 1957
(32) 7% is the present Malaysian Indians population (2004), a drop from 12% in 1957
(33) 2 million Chinese Malaysians had emigrated to overseas since 40 years ago
(34) 0.5 million Indian Malaysians had emigrated to overseas
(35) 3 million Indonesians had migrated into Malaysia and became Malaysian citizens with bumis status
(36) 600000 are the Chinese and Indian Malaysians with red IC and were rejected repeatedly when applying for citizenship for 40 years. Perhaps 60% of them had already passed away due to old age. This shows racism of how easily Indonesians got their citizenships compare with the Chinese and Indians
(37) 5% - 15% discount for a malay to buy a house, regardless whether the malay is poor or rich
(38) 2% is what Chinese new villages get compare with 98% of what malay villages got for rural development budget
(39) 50 road names (at least) had been changed from Chinese names to other names
(40) 1 Dewan Gan Boon Leong (in Malacca) was altered to other name (e.g. Dewan Serbaguna or sort) when it was being officially used for a few days. Government try to shun Chinese names. This racism happened in around year 2000 or sort
(41) 0 churches/temples were built for each housing estate. But every housing estate got at least one mosque/surau built
(42) 3000 mosques/surau were built in all housing estates throughout Malaysia since 1970. No churches, no temples are required to be built in housing estates
(43) 1 Catholic church in Shah Alam took 20 years to apply to be constructed. But told by malay authority that it must look like a factory and not look like a church. Still not yet approved in 2004
(44) 1 publishing of Bible in Iban language banned (in 2002)
(45) 0 of the government TV stations (RTM1, RTM2, TV3) are directors of non-malay origins
(46) 30 government produced TV dramas and films always showed that the bad guys had Chinese face, and the good guys had malay face. You can check it out since 1970s. Recent years, this tendency becomes less
(47) 10 times, at least, malays (especially Umno) had threatened to massacre the Chinese Malaysians using May 13 since 1969
(48) 20 constituencies won by DAP would not get funds from the government to develop. Or these Chinese majority constituencies would be the last to be developed
(49) 100 constituencies (parliaments and states) had been racistly re-delineated so Chinese voters were diluted that Chinese candidates, particularly DAP candidates lost in election since 1970s
(50) Only 3 out of 12 human rights items are ratified by Malaysia government since 1960
(51) 0 - elimination of all forms of racial discrimination (UN Human Rights) is not ratified by Malaysia government since 1960s
(52) 20 reported cases whereby malay ambulance attendances treated Chinese patients inhumanely, and malay government hospital staffs purposely delay attending to Chinese patients in 2003. Unreported cases may be 200
(53) 50 cases each year whereby Chinese, especially Chinese youths being beaten up by malay youths in public places. We may check at police reports provided the police took the report, otherwise there will be no record
(54) 20 cases every year whereby Chinese drivers who accidentally knocked down malays were seriously assaulted or killed by malays
(55) 12% is what ASB/ASN got per annum while banks fixed deposit is only about 3.5% per annum
There are hundreds more racial discriminations in Malaysia to add to this list of "colossal" racism. It is hope that the victims of racism will write in to expose racism.
Malaysia government should publish statistics showing how much malays had benefited from the "special rights" of malays and at the same time tell the statistics of how much other minority races are being discriminated.
Hence, the responsibility lies in the Malaysia government itself to publish unadulterated statistics of racial discrimination.
If the Malaysia government hides the statistics above, then there must be some evil doings, immoral doings, shameful doings and sinful doings, like the Nazi, going on onto the non-malays of Malaysia.
Civilized nation, unlike evil Nazi, must publish statistics to show its treatment on its minority races. This is what Malaysia must publish……….
We are asking for the publication of the statistics showing how "implementation of special rights of malays" had inflicted colossal racial discrimination onto non-malays.
to be fair, not all bumiputeras are actually getting these intended benefits. It is only a small group of people, and they consist of non-bumis as well. Have to remind you that this is not a racial thing, but simply that this NEP is costing the Progress of the Nation. What is important is to re-evaluate the criteria of NEP, that is it should be to address NEEDY people, regardless of race.
Lee Kuan Yew's systematic marginalisation comments become child's play if compared to Human Book's colossal racial discrimination examples tediously listed out above.
If this posting is in Monsterblog I am sure it will attract more than a thousand wonderful comments ! Making your posting the Top Gun ever .
Thanks Tihtahpah for realizing it is not a racial thing. The point of the DAP seminar is to show that even the bumis are marginalised under the NEP and NEP only benefits a select politically connected few. The bumis are even poorer under this scheme.
The email posted by Human Book has circulated many times but it is unfortunate that such propaganda gets treated as facts. You know it is propaganda when it is fed with lines like "50 cases each year whereby Chinese, especially Chinese youths being beaten up by malay youths in public places. We may check at police reports provided the police took the report, otherwise there will be no record" or "20 cases every year whereby Chinese drivers who accidentally knocked down malays were seriously assaulted or killed by malays".
Items such as these:
"(7) 5% of all new intake for government army, nurses, polices, is non-malays
(8) 2% is the present Chinese staff in Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), drop from 40% in 1960
(9) 2% is the percentage of non-malay government servants in Putrajaya. But malays make up 98%
(10) 7% is the percentage of Chinese government servants in the whole government (in 2004), drop from 30% in 1960"
well cant blame them when there isnt many applications from the Chinese to be government servants.
As to the rest of the points, well there is no such thing as a malay primary school.. they're government primary schools. There are racial Chinese primary schools, or racial Tamil primary schools, but no racial malay primary schools. Could this be taken as a discrimination against malays? I sure hope not.
The reply by Human Book is extreme in bigotry and one should attempt to stop and quench the propaganda before it gets out of hand.
The malays are not your enemy. You despise in the government policies, dont make it racial and bring hate towards millions of poor malays who had nothing to do, nor have benefitted from these policies.
Kisiel
Thanks for the great post Kisiel - I agree.
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