NEP resulted in a gilded superclass of bumiputera executives who do little

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In short, despite a leadership, especially under Mahathir, addicted to massive – and massively expensive projects to demonstrate its developed-world ambitions, it is so rich in natural resources that it can’t be looted fast enough to cause the population of 26 million citizens to demand change.

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The real question is whether 30 years of preferential treatment has done much good for rank-and-file ethnic Malays. Many people, Malay, Chinese or Indians complain among themselves that the NEP resulted in a gilded superclass of bumiputera executives who do little but collect their salaries and stock options and let others do the work. Worker-bee bumiputras, some say, remain at the lower end of the economic scale.

…

Source: Asia Sentinel

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Malaysia ethnic policy stirs doubts

Malaysia @ 50

Thierry Rommel on Malaysia’s NEP

 

 

 

Malaysia ethnic policy stirs doubts

Malaysia must look at reforming its affirmative action policies if it is to increase inward investment, according to a leading emerging markets fund manager.

Marc Mobius, who manages $40bn of funds at Franklin Templeton, said the policies that favour the majority Malays may have outlived their usefulness.

Malaysia, which on Friday celebrates 50 years of independence, is one of the most successful former UK colonies. The economy is set to grow 6 per cent this year, driven by exports of high-tech products and commodities such as tin and oil.

But over the past 10 years the FTSE Malaysia index has underperformed the FTSE Asia-Pacific gauge by 8.2 per cent.

Malaysia has used positive discrimination policies since the 1970s to close the gap between the indigenous Malay majority and the economically dominant Chinese. Chinese or Indian Malaysians and foreigners must have ethnic Malay partners to start businesses in some sectors. Universities have racial quotas.

“The key is education, not restrictions,” Mr Mobius said. “They’ve got the resources, they’ve got the people. They’re just not harnessing them in the right way.”

Rolling back the measures would encourage the entrepreneurial energies of minority races and attract foreign investors, he argued.

“The Malays would do a lot better as well. There’s great potential. In some ways they could do better than Singapore if they really put their minds to it.”

Mr Mobius said he had cashed out most of his funds’ investments in Malaysia in the past year but had not pulled out completely.

The Malaysian government is sensitive on the issue of preferential treatment for Malays.

Kuala Lumpur scolded Thierry Rommel, a European Union diplomat, for meddling when he suggested in June that Malay privileges were discriminatory – he said they amounted to protectionism and could complicate free-trade talks between the EU and the Association of South-east Asian Nations.

Mr Mobius said Malaysia’s industrial policy was also a barrier. He was critical of “sacred cows” such as Proton, the troubled national car group, whose growth was fostered behind high tariff barriers.

Volkswagen has shown interest in buying Proton, but the Malaysian government seems reluctant to hand control to foreigners.

Mr Mobius said Malaysia should “think less on nationalist terms” and “do what the Chinese are doing – welcoming foreign investors aggressively”.

Source: Euro2day

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Malaysia @ 50

Thierry Rommel on Malaysia’s NEP

Najib says Parliament should be given due respect

Parliament’s importance has not diminished even after 50 years of independence, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said. 

The Deputy Prime Minister said the role of the country’s legislative should be given due respect not only from the elected representatives but also the people. 

Source: The Star

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Nazri in Parliament 1

Nazri in Parliament 2

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Malaysia Chief judge’s call for Sharia shocks ethnic minorities

Hardline Islamic law could be introduced across Malaysia under reforms proposed by the country’s chief justice.

As the nation in south-east Asia celebrated 50 years of independence from Britain on Friday, its government was preparing to discuss a plan that would revolutionise the legal system put in place by its former colonial administrators. As Kuala Lumpur witnessed celebrations that included parades, fireworks and a fighter-jet fly-by attended by the Duke of York, the proposal pointed to the deep differences which locals say are poisoning social relations beyond the glitter and skyscrapers of Malaysia’s modern capital city.

Ahmad Fairuz, the chief justice, told an Islamic conference in Kuala Lumpur that 50 years of independence had failed to free Malaysia from the “clutches of colonialism”. Sharia should be “infused” into the gaps created by abolishing common law, he said.

Secular state

Malaysia’s non-Muslim Chinese and Indian communities, who form 40 per cent of the population, are alarmed at what they call creeping Islamisation.

Abdullah Badawi, the prime minister, this month for the first time joined other leaders in denying what the British-authored constitution has said for 50 years – that Malaysia is a secular state.

Sharia already operates in some Malaysian states and is occasionally applied to non-Muslims, as in July when Islamic officials forcibly separated a Hindu-Muslim couple with six children after 21 years of marriage.

Source: Gulf News

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Malaysia @ 50

Raja Nazrin:Constitution must be adhered to ensure economic and social justice for all

King: every Malaysian’s rights are enshrined in the Federal Constitution

Raja Nazrin exhorts Malaysians to defend integrity of Constitution

 

Malaysia’s 50th birthday festivities clouded by worsening race relations

Malaysia marked 50 years of independence Friday with dances and parades, in a colorful show of ethnic unity that belied worsening race relations and growing fears about eroding minority rights.

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… racial unity appears to be unraveling, say many observers, citing an affirmative action program for the majority Malays and the growing influence of Islam that ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities say is undermining the constitutional rights to a secular government and freedom to practice their faiths.

“Although we have achieved a lot in 50 years, I have my doubts we can continue to sustain the pace of the progress until we change our mind-set and develop more dynamic and meritocratic policies,” said Ramon Navaratnam, a former Finance Ministry adviser and an architect of the country’s economic policies.

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At independence, Malays were the poorest and the most backward ethnic group. But an affirmative action program started in 1971 gave Malays privileges and preferences in jobs, education, businesses, housing, bank loans and government contracts.

The program has given rise to minority disenchantment, and even Malays have complained that it benefits only those close to Abdullah’s United Malays National Organization party.

…

“What divides us has become more accentuated than what unites us,” the Christian Federation of Malaysia said in a statement. “Signs of polarization along ethnic and religious lines, along with all forms of chauvinism, racism and superiority are eroding our national unity.”

The spread of Islamic conservatism is adding to ethnic tensions, which have remained under the surface since racial riots in May 1969 left hundreds dead.

Court verdicts this year have found that civil courts have no jurisdiction in Islamic matters, even when applied to non-Muslims.

Clerics have been telling Muslims not to attend Christian or Hindu festivals, and some condemn Christians and Jews at Friday prayers. Most Malay women now wear head scarves, not part of their traditional attire. Some schools have started reciting Muslim prayers.

The trend worries many modern Malays.

“The question we are facing is, are we Malay first or Muslim first? Right now most people have become Muslim first,” said Tengku Zafrul Aziz, the chief executive of Tune Money, an investment and insurance company.

Source: International Herald Tribune

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Malaysia @ 50

Race clouds Malaysia celebrations

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In an attempt to address this divide, in 1971 the government set up its New Economic Policy, giving ethnic Malays preference in jobs, education and business.

But instead of closing the economic gap, many believe the policy, known as the Bumiputra system, has widened the rift between the races.

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The New Economic Policy was designed as an economic affirmative action programme favouring ethnic Malays, but it was at the expense of other communities.

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People were also not allowed to express their views on racial or religious issues.

That has all changed now, but the issue still stirs controversy.

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Malaysia now is one of the richest nations in South-East Asia and is on the verge of ending absolute poverty.

As a resuly many people are openly asking if the affirmative action laws favouring ethnic Malays are really still necessary.

…

Chandra Muzaffar, a social scientist and former opposition politician, says Malaysia’s greatest achievement is inter-ethnic peace, which he says is not the same as unity.

Source: Al Jazeera

Read:

Fifty years on, race, religion still haunt Malaysia

At age 50, Malaysia questions its identity

Malay daily fanning racial flames

Discriminatory leaders is not fit to be leader in Malaysia

Sultan expresses concern over host of issues

Selangor Sultan tells politicians to keep politics out of N-Day celebrations

Malaysia: Racial division sharper after 50 years

Najib ignores Malaysia’s constitutional history, social contract and says Malaysia was never a secular state, is an Islamic nation, Islamic state

NEP threatening inter-religious, inter-ethnic good relations

Thierry Rommels says Malaysia’s affirmative policies are about protectionism and discrimination

Cracks show in Malaysia unity

Fears of creeping conservatism in Malaysia

Malaysia at 50:Tall buildings, narrow minds

After 50 years, Malaysia should stop treating a third of its people as not-quite-citizens.

….

Malaysia’s 50th birthday comes at a time of rising resentment by ethnic Chinese and Indians, together over one-third of the population, at the continuing, systematic discrimination they suffer in favour of the majority bumiputra, or sons of the soil, as Malays and other indigenous groups are called. There are also worries about creeping “Islamisation” among the Malay Muslim majority of what has been a largely secular country,

…

The pro-bumiputra discrimination was laid down in the country’s first constitution, in 1957, to ease Malays’ fears of being marginalised by the Chinese and Indian migrants. These had come, supposedly temporarily, to work in the tin mines and plantations but were settling permanently and increasingly dominating business and the professions. The perks were extended greatly after race riots in 1969. Malays get privileged access to public-sector jobs, university places, stockmarket flotations and, above all, government contracts. The most notable result, as with South Africa’s similar policy of “black economic empowerment”, has been “encronyment”—the enrichment of those well connected to the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the party that has led all governments since independence. Malays as a whole, like other races, have got richer but the gap between the Malay haves and have-nots has widened. The corruption and waste these policies engender seem to have got worse in recent years.

As criticism has grown, UMNO’s leaders have resorted ever more frequently to growling that nobody should question the “social contract”. This is a reference to the metaphorical deal struck between the races at independence, in which the Malays got recognition that the country was basically theirs, while the Chinese and Indians were granted citizenship. The veiled threat of violence lurking behind calls to uphold the social contract was made explicit during last year’s UMNO conference, at which one delegate talked of being ready to “bathe in blood” to defend Malay privileges and the education minister, no less, brandished a traditional Malay dagger.

The hypocritical Malay dilemma

The social contract may once have seemed necessary to keep the peace but now it and the official racism that it is used to justify look indefensible: it is absurd and unjust to tell the children of families that have lived in Malaysia for generations that, in effect, they are lucky not to be deported and will have to put up with second-class treatment for the rest of their lives, in the name of “racial harmony”. When the mild-mannered Abdullah Badawi took over as prime minister from the fire-breathing Mahathir Mohamad in 2003, there were hopes of change for the better. Mr Badawi preached a moderate, “civilisational” Islam and pledged to crack down on corruption.

Four years on, corruption, facilitated by the pro-Malay policies, is unchecked. The state continues to use draconian internal-security laws, dating back to the colonial era, to silence and threaten critics. UMNO continues to portray itself to Malays as the defender of their privileges yet tries to convince everyone else that it is the guarantor of racial harmony. One commentator this week gently described this as a “paradox”. Hypocrisy would be a better word.

The damage caused by this state racism is ever more evident. Malaysia’s once sparkling growth rate has slipped. Racial quotas and protectionism are scaring away some foreign investors. While Malaysians celebrate having done rather better than former British colonies in Africa, they must also notice that South Korea, Taiwan and their estranged ex-spouse Singapore have done much better still. The economic consequences alone justify ending Malaysia’s official racism. Even without them, it would still be just plain wrong.

Source: The Economist

Read:

Fifty years on, race, religion still haunt Malaysia

At age 50, Malaysia questions its identity

Malay daily fanning racial flames

Discriminatory leaders is not fit to be leader in Malaysia

Sultan expresses concern over host of issues

Selangor Sultan tells politicians to keep politics out of N-Day celebrations

Malaysia: Racial division sharper after 50 years

Najib ignores Malaysia’s constitutional history, social contract and says Malaysia was never a secular state, is an Islamic nation, Islamic state

NEP threatening inter-religious, inter-ethnic good relations

Thierry Rommels says Malaysia’s affirmative policies are about protectionism and discrimination

Cracks show in Malaysia unity

Fears of creeping conservatism in Malaysia

Malaysia, wither the next 50 years ?