ONE REASON WHY THE MALAYS WILL ABANDON UMNO

I think Umno is about 30 years too late. Umno should have listened back in 1985 and 1987 when we first warned them about what was going to happen. But then the Umno leaders at that time thought they were smarter than us. And now they want Najib to pay for 45 years of Umno’s failure when he has been Prime Minister for only six years.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

It is not that difficult to understand why Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is so pissed with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. Of course, Dr Mahathir cites 1MDB as the reason. However, in that same breath he also states other reasons, which are actually the real reasons.

One reason Dr Mahathir stated was that Najib is too soft and too compromising towards the Chinese. In spite of ‘giving in’ to the Chinese, said Dr Mahathir, they still vote for Pakatan Rakyat and not for Barisan Nasional.

The next reason Dr Mahathir stated is that Najib is not looking after the Malays and the Malays are being left behind. Najib should focus on the Malays rather than on the Chinese who do not support the government.

The third reason that Dr Mahathir stated, of course, is that if Najib does not step down and hand power to a new Prime Minister then Umno is going to get kicked out in the next general election and the Chinese or the Malay puppets of the Chinese are going to take power.

Is all this true? Well, Majlis Tindakan Ekonomi Negara or MTEN met three days ago and they came out with this report:

1. The gap between the rich and the poor has widened with the richest 20% of Malaysians controlling 90% of the country’s wealth.

2. Bumiputeras with no formal education make up 82% of the work force.

3. 70% of all jobless graduates are Bumiputeras and Bumiputeras occupy only 8% of managerial positions in the private sector.

4. Bumiputera are the majority in the declining primary sector and agriculture sub-sectors such as food and cash crops, livestock, forestry, fishing, etc.

5. 74% of Bumiputeras in the labour force are either semi-skilled (64.7%) or unskilled (9.4%) workers. Only 26% are categorised as management staff, professionals or skilled workers.

6. 26.3% of Bumiputera households earn below RM2,000 a month compared to 13.8% for Chinese and 20.2% for Indians.

7. While the average income for Chinese households is RM6,366, Indian households average RM5,233, and Bumiputera households come in last with an average income of RM4,457.

8. Chinese Malaysians who constitute 27% of Malaysia’s population own 65% of the country’s wealth.

9. 90.7% of all micro-sized enterprises are Bumiputera-owned enterprises.

10. Bumiputera companies made up only 8.2% of large companies in Malaysia and only 15% of the total market capitalisation (if including trust agencies and GLCs or else it is just 1% ownership if for individuals).

11. 48.4% of the youth declared bankrupt in 2012 are Malays.

12. Bumiputeras own only 25% of the total value of residential properties in Malaysia.

So, after 45 years of the New Economic Policy (NEP) the Malays are still nowhere near the target and are still way behind the Chinese and Indians. Yes, 45 years of the NEP through five Prime Ministers — Tun Razak Hussein, Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Dr Mahathir, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and now Najib.

No wonder Dr Mahathir is pissed. But then whose fault is this? About 28 years ago back in 1987 we from the Malay Chamber of Commerce had warned the then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir and his Deputy Tun Abdul Ghaffar Baba that if Umno did not wake up this is what was going to happen.

Yes, 28 years ago we whacked Umno and threatened that we would abandon Umno and would support the opposition if they did not do something before it is too late and it goes beyond the point of no return. And we said this during the two-day seminar in the Shangri-La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

So now what we said was going to happen 28 years ago has happened. And Dr Mahathir wants Najib to pay for this. Hey, Najib was not the Prime Minister back in 1987 when we warned Umno.

So what do you want Najib to do about this? Act tough with the Chinese? Enforce the NEP even more than the last 45 years? Steal from the Chinese and give it all to the Malays?

I think Umno is about 30 years too late. Umno should have listened back in 1985 and 1987 when we first warned them about what was going to happen. But then the Umno leaders at that time thought they were smarter than us. And now they want Najib to pay for 45 years of Umno’s failure when he has been Prime Minister for only six years.

I have only one thing to say about this: I am not as stupid as I look.

So tell me now: why should the Malays continue to support Umno? Umno has failed the Malays. And even Anwar Ibrahim who was the Finance Minister did not listen. In fact, he ridiculed us when we brought up this issue.

Okay, it may be 30 years too late. But it is still satisfying to tell Umno “I told you so” even 30 years later.