Najib says to end Bumi quotas eventually but experts ask when is 'eventually'

UPDATED Prime Minister Najib Razak again hinted at the need to eventually do away with Bumiputera quotas, but after the repeated failures to breathe life into his New Economic Model, experts were cautious and called on him to state a proper and definitive time line.

"The reassurance is encouraging but when will the plan be carried out and for how long more will there be preferential treatment as this affects national unity as well as socio-economic progress. So the question is, for how long more must Malaysians wait?" Ramon Navaratnam, chairman of the Centre for Public Policy Studies told Malaysia Chronicle.

At the Khazanah Megatrends Forum on Tuesday, Najib raised the spectre of his all-but-defunct NEM, which had been shot down by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and even his own deputy Muhyiddin Yassin.

“We want to do away from with quotas but we must support them (Bumiputera entrepreneurs) in a way that would allow them to grow,” he told the forum on Tuesday.

“If we give them quotas, what will happen is that they will rest on their laurels and eventually, they will not gain expertise."

Nothing new, has said it before

Najib also said the 30 per cent Bumiputera equity target “does not mean anything” if receipients sold off their shares. He pointed to his admistration's newly-hatched plan to train 1,100 top small, micro and medium-sized Bumiputera companies as part of efforts help them be more resilent to competition.

However, experts have been less than impressed, pointing to similar plans made during the days when Mahathir was still PM, and how little progress was actually made.

Malaysia had introduced an affirmative action plan to eradicate poverty in 1971 but after years of abuse, the New Economic Policy is no longer regarded as a wealth distrubution mechanism but more of a racial favortism program used as a tool to keep Najib's Umno party in power, and also to mask top-level corruption by the ruling elite.

The last time Najib spoke at length about lifting quotas was in 2010. He drew serious rebuke from Mahathir and Malay rights groups such as Perkasa. They are likely to pan his latest comments although in a much more muted and subtle way given that Najib may decde to call for snap general elections in Novermber.

Malay supremacy

Najib's Umno party has controlled the federal government since 1957, and with near absolute power in its hands, had evolved a mindset known as Ketuanan Melayu or Malay supremacy, where the race demands first rights and biggest share of the political, social, economic and educational pie.

Using Malay supremacy, or the possible loss of it, to scare the Malays into voting for it, Umno has succeeded in the dividing the races and using racial suspicion and distrust to stay in power. Critics have long accused the NEP of being a mere mask for corruption most foul.

Meanwhile, government statistics show that 96.7 percent of Malaysians living below the poverty line were Malays.

"After 53 years in power, the Malays and bumiputera are still neglected. The 30 percent Malay-bumiputera equity has yet to be met. Of the RM54 billion equity and shares for bumiputera, only RM2 billion still belong to them,” PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has said.

She criticised the BN for its lack of economic reform and insistence on clinging to the NEP.

Malaysia Chronicle