Can or will Umno learn?

For Umno to blame the lack of progress of the Malays on the non-Malays is engaging in delusion of the highest order.

COMMENT

By Koon Yew Yin

Zaid Ibrahim’s latest effort at redefining the Malay agenda is an interesting exercise coming as it is just ahead of the Umno general assembly meeting.

Although directed at Umno leaders and members, I am sure that he intends to provide food for thought for everyone.

Like him, I hope it also opens the door to an honest, open and transparent appraisal of not just the party’s role in leading the Malays but also of where the Malays would like to go from their present situation and what needs to be done to help the Malays succeed in their aspirations.

Let me summarize what Zaid has written.

Firstly, he reminds that Chinese or Indian bashing – whether about the election results or the failure of Malay youth to be gainfully employed or for any Malay problem – is a waste of time and misplaced. I cannot agree more. In fact, I would use stronger words to condemn race hatred and baiting wherever it stems from and whoever it is aimed at.

Secondly, he scolds the nuttier ones within the party (and I assume this refers to the party’s leaders too) who seek a strengthening of Islam and the Malay rulers as if more power for the ulama and rulers are the magic bullets that would bring about the salvation for the Malays.

A turn towards a religious or return to a feudalistic future would be to the detriment of the great majority of Malays, though the leaders of the old order would welcome it.

As Zaid succinctly puts it: “If Malay leaders could be honest enough to admit it, they would recognise that giving more power to the Malay Rulers and “strengthening Islam” (whatever that means) will not solve [their] problems.”

Thirdly, Zaid is on the same page as many others in recognizing that the Malay bureaucracy is a major source of inefficiency and corruption.

However in calling for Umno to address this problem, he conveniently omits to mention that Umno itself is the starting as well as end point of much of the petty and grand corruption found in the country.

No Malay bureaucrat would dare to engage in selling licences, permits or other favours for personal gain without the support of their political patrons in Umno.

Much of what Zaid has opined is not new or original. Neither are the solutions that he has proposed such as for Umno not to be fixated by the numbers game in education through pushing for even higher quotas for Malays in higher education.

As he correctly points out, churning out hundreds of thousands of poor quality graduates through the public universities is a pointless exercise when they are not able to meet the demands of a competitive market place.

Some home truths

Even worse for Umno, these unemployed or under-employed youth are a ticking time bomb that could bring about the demise of the party.

In his words which are useful for the Education Minister to ponder on: “just to increase the number of graduates so we have more than the Chinese is a silly strategy unless the standards are high and employment is assured. Learn from Singapore where they limit the number of graduates as a proportion of their population. Unemployed graduates and especially the unemployable ones are ripe for street marches.”

While there is much that is thoughtful from Zaid’s opinion post, my main concern is in his unwillingness or inability to be fully honest with the delegates and party chiefs that he wants to reach out to.

The following are some inescapable home truths that need to be elaborated as reminder to Umno’s leaders and apparachik.

1. Malays control and dominate in the political, administrative and social sphere of life in the country. They form the majority in parliament, judiciary, army and police, the MACC and all other important political bodies. In the socio-economic and educational sphere, they control the public universities; civil service; etc. For Umno to blame the lack of progress of the Malays on the non-Malays is engaging in delusion of the highest order.

2. Due to Umno and Malay domination, the Malays have made tremendous strides since the 1970s in the economic sphere too. For example they control Bank Negara and all the major banks (except for Public Bank); all the GLCs; Petronas; as well as comprise the majority in the top professional and best paying occupations in the private sector. It would not be incorrect to say that the Malays also call the shots in the running of the economy.

3. Umno and Malay leadership of a country blessed with natural and human resources during the past 50 years has greatly benefitted the Malay and non-Malay elite such as Zaid and the Umno party leaders. Millions more Malaysians could have also become beneficiaries if not for Dr Mahathir’s squandering of thousands of billions of our petro dollars in his projects of superficial grandeur and his support of cronies, many of whom he helped with expensive bailouts.

Umno’s delegates went along with Mahathir as he allowed the systematic looting of the country’s treasury and tolerated the culture of leakages, wastage and inefficiency.

Zaid has lamented this but fails to point the finger of responsibility towards those who are guilty.

Despite all his wrong doing Mahathir is still considered the king maker. He recently said that Umno’s top two posts should not be contested to avoid internal party squabbles and most likely Umno’s delegates will accept his opinion.

The measure of the worth of political parties and their leaders is if they can learn from their mistakes and not repeat them.

A national tragedy

One is that past policies benefitting the Malays must not be at the expense of the non-Malays. For example, educational and employment policies favouring Malays have led to the exodus of some of the brightest and best non-Malays in the past thirty years.

This out-migration has been a national tragedy as they could have helped build a better future for all Malaysians, especially the young Malays needing better jobs.

Today, we have a ridiculous situation of the BN government belatedly recognizing the folly of racial exclusionary policies and attempting to attract Malaysians to return to help create jobs for our young.

But can or will Umno learn? Will Zaid’s sensible view be the prevalent one in the coming general assembly or will the extremists in the party become the dominant voices yet again?

I am not holding my breath on what is the likely outcome.

Finally, let me remind that Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia, soon after the GE13, published an inflammatory front-page article titled ‘Apa Lagi Cina Mahu?’ (What else do the Chinese want?), taking aim at the Chinese for their apparent ‘ingratitude’ of the ruling coalition.

My response is ‘Apa Lagi Bumiputeras Mahu?’

Koon Yew Yin is an investor and philantropist. He is the founder IJM Group, Gamuda and Mudajaya.