Evil scheme, Rafizi?

Evil: So this dude thinks settlers should be just settlers forever...

PKR's chief strategist Rafizi Ramli has described the proposed listing of Felda as "an evil scheme". Scary. Since when did an IPO become an evil scheme to cheat the rakyat? Yes, it's scary when young politicians like Rafizi start to label things "evil". 

What really is evil in the scheme of things involving Felda and its 113,000 setllers? I'll tell you what, Rafizi: Evil is the scheming going on to stop the IPO and to deny the settlers' children and their children to have a shot at a better life, for them to be able to get out of the little plots that the government opened up years ago so that they could pursue bigger and better opportunities.

Evil is the scheming minds of politicians - young ones like Rafizi and old ones like Tengku Razaleigh - who want settlers to remain as settlers forever, and who expect the settlers' children and grandchildren to continue to become settlers.

Yes, that's evil. 

What the IPO offers settlers is not just the windfall in terms of ringgit and sen. It allows these settlers to move up in life and become part of the future growth of Felda in Malaysia and the rest of the world. It allows the settlers to keep what they already have and, in addition, open up vistas for the settlers' future generations to become more than just settlers.

A few years ago, an think-tank conducted a study on more than 20,000 settlers in the state of Sabah. One of the questions they asked the settlers is whether they would like their children to become settlers after them. None of them said they wanted their children to become settlers.

Zero, dude. Zilch!

These settlers in Sabah, almost all of them Bumiputeras, wanted their children to become accountants, pilots, doctors, and businessmen so that they can have better lives.

Now, what's evil about transforming the Felda settlers, almost all of whom are Malays, into more than just settlers so that they can have the better lives, Rafizi?

- rocky's bru