Mahathir's cronies get lion share of NEP gains

YOURSAY ‘So, why are Malaysians earning much less than Singaporeans? Singapore does not have natural resources, or the NEP, or whatever anagrams that came before and after it.'

Malaysian economy grew highest during NEP, says Dr M

Swipenter: Former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad is masking the failure of the New Economic Policy (NEP). Clearly, Malaysia would have grown much faster without the NEP and Mahathir is once again trying to deny this fact.

I remember he once admitted that the NEP did hold back the full potential of Malaysia to grow at its best. Just take a look at the four emerging Asian tigers then - Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.

Of the four, only Malaysia has NEP whereas the three others allowed meritocracy and entrepreneurship to flourish without hindrance. Now where is Malaysia compare to them now? At the bottom.

Even our once poor neighbours are catching up with us.

Spinnot: I support genuine affirmative action policy but it's bullshit to suggest that our economy grew faster because of NEP.

If Malaysia under NEP had economically exceeded other nations that had gained independence at the same time and even some developed countries, as claimed by Dr M, how come we are now so far behind economies like South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong?

OMG!!: In 1970, Korea, Taiwan, Philippines and Thailand ranked almost the same as Malaysia in terms of GDP - around 12 to 16 in Asia.

Today, Korea and Taiwan have moved up to 4 to 6 position and Thailand is also ahead of Malaysia. Only Philippines is behind us, but it would not be for long with its strong growth in these couple of years.

Without NEP and the cronyism, corruption and nepotism that are associated with it, Malaysia could have become a developed country by now and does not have to wait until 2020 to become one if it does become one at all.

Wira: The US economy also expanded rapidly and grew after World War Two during the height of the segregation policy which existed in many former confederate states.

Does that make the white-only policy relevant in later years? This is 2012, Dr Mahathir. Do you recognise too that there is a black president occupying the White House today? Please do not live in the past.

TakeMiddlepath: NEP is extended, isn't it? We are still under NEP. Yes, this Never Ending Policy has helped propel Malaysia into the limelight for the wrong reason.

Mr Ex-PM, you are comparing us with which country? In those days, the Malaysian ringgit is much stronger than Singapore dollar on a dollar-to-dollar basis. Now where do we stand?

Enough of your 'masuk bakul angkat sendiri' (blowing your own trumpet) like the Malays used to say.

Not Confused: "Maintained stability"? So the other now marginalised races within the Malaysian melting pot, at almost every walk of life, are happy and feel "stable" in the knowledge that they are disenfranchised and disadvantaged in so many ways and suffer discrimination?

In other words, they are treated as second-class citizens within their own land, particularly by the partial, biased and corrupt in all aspects of the country's administration, police and all other arms of government. It's high-time Mahathir disappears into the woodwork.

Anonymous#007: So, why are Malaysians earning much less than Singaporeans? Singapore does not have natural resources, or the NEP, or whatever anagrams that came before and after it.

Anonymous #23456263: Our growth was due to our oil wealth. It was not due to any value added and wealth creation initiatives. The NEP just makes it easier for cronies to accumulate wealth, but the poor remains poor.

TK: There are many other facts which Mahathir chose to deny. Don't pick and choose. Lay all of them out, then you are more credible.

Onyourtoes: Yes sure, Mahathir, the Malaysian economy grew and grew under NEP, especially those years under your watch, but where did the wealth go?

You mean like some owning everything - oil, gas, shipping, approved permits (AP) and telecommunications - while some are left with nothing?

Do you mean like some driving Maserati, Ferrari and Porsche, while others are squeezing into the LRT every morning and evening?

What stability, Mahathir? Do you know why the present government is so distressed now? That's because your cronyism and pilfering programmes were too successful.

Jedi_Who: Petrol from national oil firm Petronas' oilfields increased our growth, otherwise we would have been finished, especially since NEP tycoons skim 30 percent for themselves.

The same can be said by the then apartheid South African government who can claim records gross domestic product (GDP) was made when they practised apartheid atrocities, especially in the mining of diamonds since black workers had no choice but to work like dogs for them.

Keturunan Malaysia: The NEP, as it turned out, it made for people like you and not for those in need as intended.

If using the same period of time but adopting another set of better, fairer and more transparent choice of policies, would you dare to say it could not have been far, far better?

You can never have the best until you can pick and chose the best available on a level-playing field. We are not denying the fact, it is you Mahathir who is denying the fact.

3rdEye: Let us be clear, the growth during the NEP period is not because of the NEP. It is because of the end of the Vietnam War. Money not only flowed into Malaysia, but across Southeast Asia.

Former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos, former Indonesian president Suharto and Mahathir were beneficiaries of these inflows. Malaysia benefitted more because of a good young, skilled English-educated populace.

Likewise, investments will pour into the Middle East if the war between Israel and Palestine ends. Huge investment flowed into Europe because of the dismantling of the Berlin Wall.

The NEP is only good at making the rich, well-connected and powerful richer. NEP makes Malaysia poorer as a nation. Indeed, the rich Indians and Chinese love the NEP more than ordinary bumiputeras.

Vgeorgemy: We grew on the strength of the natural resources such as plantation and petroleum products.

Everyone knows that the growth is purely based on the transfer of foreign ownership of plantation companies to locals and the huge and substantial dividend from Petronas.

Growth slowed down due to the vagaries of market and the repayments of huge loans taken to acquire the foreign companies.

Blogsmith: That particular period, I believe, was also the period of huge earnings from petroleum export, so Mahathir cannot claim full credit. An average person too can do it when he has high earnings and huge resources.

Chee Hoe Siew: If it has much contributed to growth, you wouldn't have wept during the Umno general assembly on the Malays failing to progress, Mahathir. The fact that NEP is aimed at protecting the Malays against competition had only made the Malays weaker.

Anonymous_40c8: Mahathir said he would not interfere in politics when he retired, but then he came out to hound poor former PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi until he had no alternative but to quit. He, Mahathir, justified his action that Abdullah did not perform.

Now with present PM whom he said did perform, he is still sticking his neck into politics. Clearly never trust this old fox.

Ez24get: This one dimensional analysis of Malaysia in isolation is a blatant misuse of statistics. While Malaysia is pursuing its NEP, the whole of Asia has progressed by leaps and bounds.

Singapore, South Korea, China, India and many other countries have progressed far ahead. Some became the Asian Tigers. These countries don't practice the NEP, yet they are much better than Malaysia. One need not look further than Singapore.

Not only does NEP retard economic growth in the past, it caused untold damages to competitiveness, creativity, inability to speak in other languages and think creatively, social in-breeding, superficial education system, massive race divisiveness, endemic corruption, a breakdown in the judiciary and police force.

Our future generation has to pay heavily for one man's folly.

Mohd Mazlan Khamis: You, your sons and your associates are the only and the greatest beneficiaries of the NEP. The actual bumiputeras are all poor and struggling. Indeed, they got very little out of the NEP.

DaiGor: As the late Tunku Abdul Rahman once said, "If a doctor prescribed the medication wrongly, it could affect one person at a time. If a politician implemented a bad policy, it would affect many people for many generations."

This was said after Mahathir was sacked from Umno then. It is proven that our first prime minister really had foresight. - Malaysiakini