Who’s your Daddy?

Porsche Cayenne - the current car of choice for the new rich. — Picture courtesy of Porsche.

Malaysia is also facing an economic downturn, no matter what the bastions of power say. It’s getting harder to get jobs, be promoted and be awarded projects, the right way. Brilliant graduates and professionals are dismayed when they find out that meritocracy doesn’t exist in corporate Malaysia.

Dina Zaman, The Malaysian Insider

Of course, everyone is talking about this phenomenon. From the office worker, to the budding fashionista, right up to high society itself.

“Well. I suppose it is a good sign…. that… Melayu dah maju,” a friend said.

You must have seen them: The New Rich and Beautiful. The young men are handsome, and the young women appear regularly in local magazines. They drive the best. Porsche Cayenne is the car of the moment, though by the time this is published, the new rich may have moved on to another make.  An 800 square feet apartment with a RM4,000 rental tag does not deter them. Their precincts?

“Oddly enough,” the said friend observed, “there’s a lot of them in Kota Damansara. (pause) Well. The cars.”

Inevitably the conversation will lead to the ever oft question:

Who’s their father?

Or mother?

This phenomenon is nothing new. Edith Wharton and F. Scott Fitzgerald recorded the clash of old and new money in their novels. Vanity Fair – the high brow magazine which reports on politics plus lifestyle and entertainment – and Tatler UK are glossy and excellent bibles of the rich and powerful.

In Malaysia, local editions of high society magazines like Tatler, Prestige, as well as the uber fashionista’s must-have, GLAM, are showcases of the who’s who, who’s rising, who’s had a botched nose job, and occassionally the fallen.  And in this gilded world, the backbiting, the status jostling and social brokerage is only for those with courage and tenacity. This seems to be the domain of social opportunists.

So who are the new and young rich?

A good majority belong to the Concession Generation. Daddies and mummies were shrewd proxies and held government contracts. Not all of them were given contracts through unethical means, but nevertheless, their wealth sprang from work and projects with the government of the day. How are they different from the offspring of old money?

Anoura (names have been changed to protect the privacy of those interviewed) captured the difference rather succinctly. Anoura parties with them.

“These kids go to national schools, or private schools which only teach the national curriculum. They don’t go to private international schools, that the children of old money do.”

Why is that?

She laughed. “Sebab they all tu ramai bodoh. You think they can pass IB (International Baccalaureate?) The expat kids and the old money kids are bloody smart, okay? Their worldview is global. Budak-budak ni, at the end of the day, Melayu beb.”

May we quote you on that?

“Sure. Just don’t use my real name. I’m part of the system too.”

Anoura sighed. She knows the system too well. Her father is part of it. “To get the deal, sometimes, he has to ‘kill’ the tenders.” Her father was once a civil servant, and most of his friends were too.

Like the many brokers and wheeler-dealers in the city, he and his friends just need to strike that ONE deal, and they’ll be happy. And because of their former work in the government, they understand the protocols.

This leg-up has helped somewhat, but they haven’t got that deal yet. Not yet. “Even a small meal with the guys at the bottom of the rung costs RM500. That’s one dinner. Imagine a few dinners a week. In all the years my father has started brokering for deals, he has been swindled by friends. They have to pay cuts to the people who may help them along the way. Why does he do this? Simple. After all the things they’ve gone through, they think they deserve a deal.”

Is it worth it? Really?

Malaysia is not unlike any other developing country, anxious to show she has arrived in society. Asian societies of the old thrived on power, status and social hierarchy. They have their own systems of monarchy and aristocracy.

Malaysia is also facing an economic downturn, no matter what the bastions of power say. It’s getting harder to get jobs, be promoted and be awarded projects, the right way. Brilliant graduates and professionals are dismayed when they find out that meritocracy doesn’t exist in corporate Malaysia.

If you do not have the right political connections (no use getting chummy with a state assemblyman unless he can really pull strings), corporate network and an illustrious family, you might as well chuck your dreams aside. You can still succeed in Malaysia, without either one or all of the mentioned, but it will be tough.

A multi-millionaire I met, who made his millions through trade abroad, and has come back to settle down here admitted that it has been a rough ride. He found himself entertaining and being entertained at luxury karaoke lounges where a night may cost RM10,000 just for drinks (throw in the girls and the tab could go up to RM50,000).

He had no choice but to mingle with a new network he still finds mind-boggling: politicians. This man is 60 years old and thinks if he does this for another year, he may just die on the spot. The acquired and very much needed nightlife to just gain the listening ear of the middleman who may put you in touch with a VIP was a strain on his health and sanity.

This is why, almost everyone you meet in Malaysia is a broker. Yes, there are bona fide opportunities, but how is the average Malaysian to get that deal?

And hang on, who’s that young kid driving the Porsche Cayenne?