Poverty, not race, is the real dividing line in Malaysia

YOURSAY | Did NEP make the Malays stronger and the Chinese weaker?

Economist: Income gap among Chinese higher than other races

Trueglitter: The thought-provoking analysis by economist Muhammed Abdul Khalid on wealth distribution and income disparity of Malaysians in the country should serve as invaluable 'eye-opener' and appropriate 'food for thought' for all discerning and concerned citizens as invariably, these are pivotal factors which have huge impact that will invariably determine the financial health of the nation and its people.

Evidently, this will also serve as a timely wake-up call for the government on the fact that poverty is not restricted to only the under-privileged and poor Malays alone, but also across the board involving other ethnic minorities, including those living in Sarawak and Sabah.

Existential Turd: Colour blindness must extend to governmental hiring. If the government practices preferential policy, how can it also claim the moral right to enforce non-discrimination policy on private businesses?

But of course, we all know the usual excuse given by the government: preferential policy is needed to balance the imbalance in the private sector. Has it ever cross their mind that the preferential policy was contributing to the imbalance?

Any preference in hiring a particular ethnic group in the private sector must take into account of the difference in qualification and aptitude of the potential hire. If a firm hires more Chinese, it could simply be that the work requires them to be fluent in Chinese.

The government has instilled a sense of entitlement among the Malays, many expect a cushy job by virtue of their ancestry. That could also be a reason why there are few Malays in the private sector.

ABC123: I am an employer. I am Chinese. I can’t speak for others but from my experience, competence has nothing to do with race. I have hardworking and smart Malay employees. I have also experienced lazy and incompetent Chinese employees.

Treat your employees fairly, treat them like human beings and not just as workers to be used, and you will get the best out of them. If you judge your employees by any other criteria other than performance, you are short changing your business.

Pemerhati: Muhammed said, “Even in Malay-owned engineering firms, Chinese applicants possessed a better chance of landing an interview. We don't know why this is the case.”

The most probable reason is the Malay firms feel that the Chinese applicants are better. In the private sector, the employers want to have the best people. The question now is why do the employers think that the Chinese graduates are better than Malay graduates.

This is because the firms know that the Umno government has been producing large number of low quality Malay professionals by admitting many low calibre Malay students into tertiary institutions through the easy ‘matrikulasi’ examination and then ‘forcing’ these institutions to give them degrees.

On the other hand, most of the Chinese students that enter the local tertiary institutions are much better academically as they can only get admitted if they get good results in the much harder STPM exams. To solve the problem, have a single entrance exam for all Malaysians.

Telestai: I think it is absolute nonsense to interpret survey results because in all probability, it will not reflect the real situation. The Americans call it paralysis through analysis.

Firstly, the New Economic Policy (NEP) has distorted the economy so much that it increases the sampling error rate. One cannot say the Chinese did not benefit from NEP because all cronies, regardless of race, benefited from NEP.

Secondly, why is the income gap amongst the Chinese greater when seven out of 10 are employed. Those not employed are doing their own business and except for the cronies, the income distribution should fit nicely into a bell curve.

I think the income distribution of the Malays are far more disproportionate as those employed mostly with the government and are bunched up in a common group while those in business are filthy rich save for a few who do honest business. The Indians have an even far bigger income gap given that a large number are marginalised in rural areas.

Did NEP make the Malays stronger and the Chinese weaker? Quite the opposite actually. I noticed the Chinese professionals and businessmen have actually emerged stronger having to deal with obstacles and headwind in their pursuits. The Malays, on the other hand, have been having it easy and hence do not have the kind of resolve the Chinese have developed.

Is a Chinese professional more successful in securing an interview? Maybe with a Chinese firm (probably due to linguistic advantage), but what about the government and government agencies? Been there and done that -  the answer is no. All these observations make a mockery of whatever survey results.

Doc: To figure out the reason that Chinese fresh graduates are preferred over Malays graduates even in Malay companies is no rocket science. Most Chinese graduates have completed their tertiary education from local or international colleges of repute.

The education provided at these colleges ensure that graduates are equipped with skills in language (English especially), communication, creative thinking, problem solving, and instil them with a positive attitude that they will take to their workplace.

Some of these colleges help their graduated students get job placements. Most Malays tend to graduate from government-link universities that are diploma mills. They focus on BM, religion and are very racially-orientated, thus these graduates are poorly skilled to function and compete in a shrinking job market.

Iiiizzzziiii: Perhaps the obvious has been too glaring for the researcher to conclude otherwise, the quota system in the country education system may have something to do with it. The country education standard has never been based on meritocracy, but on quota which favours a particular ethnic group.

This simply means the standard of excellence becomes more pronounce for graduates from the same university on the same course of study. Who do you think will come out top? If you can draw a conclusion now, will it not possible for the potential employer to do the same when screening for potential employees?

Previous leaders with no foresight meddled with the education system, and today we are collecting the rewards. Academic excellence will never work in an "affirmative policy" environment. Whoever thinks it will work is more stupid than those who have been classified as slow learner.

With this backdrop, what is the future for this country? Those in power owe it to themselves to create a nation of fools.

Quigonbond: The research is in the right direction, but not quite there yet. Although seven out of 10 Chinese are workers, that seems to imply the remaining 30% of the Chinese are rich. That's definitely not the case.

The rich ones probably occupy the top 1-2% followed by the affluent that may occupy say anywhere between 5-7%. The rest of the 23% may not be workers, but could be small-time businessmen or people who are no longer holding a job.

The Chinese has always been the bogeyman of Malay/Umno politics. To hide their own failure at governance and uplifting the entire nation, they make Chinese the bad guys.

Ask any right-thinking Malays especially those working alongside their colleagues either at the market stalls, offices, construction site, etc - the Chinese are just as desperate for a socio-economic uplifting like everyone else.

Drngsc: The affirmative policies of the last 60 years should stop. We should help all who are poor and disadvantaged, regardless of race. Poverty is colour blind, so also must the help and preferential treatment.

Swipenter: Let us start debunking many of the myths created by Umno to demonise the ‘pendatang’. This is a good starting point. It also confirms the fact that income disparity is a huge problem in all communities.

Employers look for many things in a potential employee and one of the most important factor is work attitude and competency, not the colour of your skin.- Mkini