Corruption, NOT THE CHINESE, creating poverty & an underclass in Malaysia

The Barisan Nasional (BN) government’s assertion that it intends to make Malaysia a high income nation by the year 2020 is a fallacy that cannot be achieved and instead what is happening in reality is that the spread of widespread corruption is creating poverty and an underclass.

Bureaucrats in Putrajaya contend that by the year 2020 (in six years time) the nation will achieve the projected target of RM48,000 per capita income and this is to be made possible by certain “fast-track” ventures under the Najib Administration’s transformation programme.

But independent experts are not buying the bull. A New Economic Model (NEM) report showed that 80 per cent of Malaysian households earned less than RM 5000 per month, and of this, 40 per cent earned less than RM2000 per month.

The stark reality is that of the vast majority of these households that are struggling to butter their bread, many were being tempted to become corrupt and to take the easy way out of their predicament. Corruption in this country is really a double-edged sword.

Many Malaysians are caught between a rock and a hard place and have to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea. On one hand, the poor are tempted to escape poverty by being corrupt on the other hand runaway corruption in the public and private sector is creating the squeeze on the poor.

This means the top level or the elite in this country is to be blamed for squeezing out the poor and creating suffering and hardship because of corruption, and this in turn has created an underclass society to emerge in Malaysia.

The poor of Malaysia

It is hard to ascertain by what yardstick the Malaysian government of present is using to state that it is on target to become an advanced and developed nation by the year 2020. By tinkering and manipulating statistics do they hope to fool Malaysians and the world?

Just by going on a walkabout in the Klang Valley, considered the nucleus of the nation, it is suffice to say and conclude upon hearing of the misery and hardship of the populace that Malaysia is far off from the role models played by Western countries that are developed.

Even to match the achievements of the tiny island-state of Singapore across the Causeway is a pipe dream for the BN government. Do they think they can hoodwink and fool everyone into thinking that the nation is doing well.

Far from it, the nation is seriously sick and ailing and the disparity between the poor and the rich has been burgeoning in this New Millennium. It is no longer a gap but a wide schism that has evolved between the haves (golongan berada) and have not’s (golongan tak berada) in this country.

Have bumiputra’s been deceived?

The biggest worry and concern now is the rise of the underclass in this country which mainly consists of the Malay community and other bumiputra’s. They seem to have been thoroughly deceived into thinking that affirmative action will enrich and better their lives.

But according to data from the NEM report, while investment power among the majority of bumiputras was manifested in the Amanah Saham Bumiputra, 75 per cent of account holders only had an average of RM611 in savings.

What has happened is obvious. The history and tenure of affirmative action which began after the May 13, 1969 race riots has turned out to mock the Malays and other bumiputras for not playing by the rules of democracy.

By taking matters in their own hands, and by failing to abide by the full tenets and obligations of democracy, by tinkering and social re-engineering, the entire specter has backfired and hurt the bumiputras the most as they remain in square one after all these years of so called affirmative action.

While the Chinese and Indians who remained in this country have grown stoic and resilient, the bumiputras today form the bulk of the underclass as the BN government has inequitably distributed the wealth of economic gains to favor and establish the elite in this country.

The ways and means used is the corruption network or the nexus between government, cronies and sycophants. This simply and effectively means that the majority of Malaysians in the bottom end are suffering because of the corruption spewed by the upper echelon of society.

Tread cautiously

Malaysians will be well advised to tread cautiously and be prudent and wise as the coming on-stream of the Goods & Services Tax next year and the doing away with subsidizing fuel and other essential items is set to pave the way for greater suffering and oppression of Malaysians.

The real reasons for this scenarios evolving ever since Malaysia gained independence or “Merdeka” in 1957 is because the BN government which has exclusively ruled over this nation all this while has veered off course from the stated aims and objectives of the founding fathers of this nation.

This, however, has not been an overnight phenomenon but having taken place gradually over the years until it has now reach panic stations. Why? It can be boiled down to the hard, harsh fact that the BN government does not measure up to being able to govern Malaysia.

While good governance has seen a number of countries grow strong and develop well in this globalized environment, the same unfortunately cannot be credited to the Malaysian government. By denying civil liberties and human rights, by eroding democratic values, Malaysia has lost the plot.

The only way to overcome these challenges is for Malaysians of all walks of life to come together in concert and stand united and safeguard and ensure that democracy is restored in full in this country. Anything less than that will spell the collapse or death of this nation in the immediate future. - MAILBAG