Time for "outdated" Dr M to think "out-of-the box" and drop "institutionalized racism"

Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad is outdated for wanting to continue with race-based policies, despite these having failed to achieve the desired socio and economic results; Mahathir should try to think out-of-the-box or be further left behind by the rest of the world, prominent citizens and opposition leaders warned on Thursday.

"This was the thinking in the early 70s, after the May 13 1969 racial riots. Even then, many people disagreed with it, and then through the decdes, it has been proven to be a false and misguided piece of policy," Ramon Navaratnam, chairman of the Centre for Public Policy Studies, toldMalaysia Chronicle.

"Not only has time and the people changed, Malaysia badly needs policies that cater to the needs of the citizens. For example, economic distribution and educational opportunities should be based on needs and not on the color of one's skin. This will automatically benefit the Malays, who still form the bulk of the poorest people in the country, despite the government's race-based policies put in place more than 40 years ago."

Sending a signal to Najib

Ramon and other pundits were referring to comments Mahathir posted on his Chedet blog, arguing that it is better to slow down development than to scrap race-based policies and risk ethnic clashes in the country.

To Pakatan Rakyat leaders, Mahathir was sending a signal to Prime Minister Najib Razak that he would oppose any move to liberalize the country or change the communal politics practiced by the BN coalition.

"I don't think Mahathir cares two hoots about Malaysians or the economy. He is only keen to put his son Mukhriz within reach of the Umno presidency and use the party's hardliners to pin Najib to the wall. Mahathir fears Najib may actually keep his reform promises and roll out the NEM, which would surely cook his goose. For example, if we had open tenders, how would his cronies get to cari makan (make a living)? We must remember Dr M ruled Malaysia for 22 long years and he abused the country and its system slow but surely," PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

Meanwhile, Mahathir boasted about the effectiveness of his ham-fisted rule. He also referred to the New Economic Policy (NEP) implemented in 1971 by Najib's father.

Although, the NEP officially ended in 1990, the time-frame was extended and the Najib administration is still reluctant to set any expiry date to the NEP. Although Najib has tried to replace it with his New Economic Model or NEM, he had to U-turn when confronted by Mahathir and other Umno hardliners.

“The world has admitted that multiracial Malaysia grew faster than other developing nations that did not have the problem of race to consider. It is true that if the problem of race does not haunt Malaysia, development would speed up. But when the distribution of wealth is so wide between the races, there is a large possibility hostilities would occur between the rich and the poor," said Mahathir.

Such "hostilities" could lead to chaos and rioting, added Mahathir. This in turn would frighten away investors and businesses, further stunting the country’s economic growth, he reasoned,“therefore, it is better that development is slowed slightly than destruction to occur because of such rioting."

Institutionalized racism

But even his peers disagreed with him. Ramon, who help draft the NEP, and is a former top civil servant remembers history differently from Mahathir.

"Frankly, instead of being admired by other countries in the world as Dr Mahathir claims, the BN's race-based policies are regarded as a form of institutionalized racism by every first world government," said Ramon.

"We have had a go with race-based polices, the NEP and the results have not really been as expected. Racism is on the rise, the gap between the races has increased and so have the richer become richer. But the most important prong of any government - to reduce or zero-rise the number of poor and helpless in the country has not been achieved. This too has increased the risks of ethnic instability in the country and it does not help when top leaders intentionally light the racial fires to manipulate the emotions of the people to their own advantage."

Malaysia Chronicle