Banker Nazir misses a point or two on NEP

CIMB chief Nazir Abdul Razak has said it at least twice before, albeit in his own way, on the need to get away from the bastardisation of the New Economic Policy (NEP).

Those who took the NEP off at a tangent in the aftermath of the searing race riots of May 13, 1969 were the ones responsible for thebastardisation.

The NEP was basically meant to eliminate the identification of race with economic function and place of residence. Other objectives were the elimination of poverty irrespective of race and religion; and to ensure that the bumiputera - indigenous people - own, control and manage 30 percent of the corporate wealth within 20 years (1970-1990).

None of these policy objectives have been met as a tiny self-serving minority continues to hijack the NEP at the expense of all and the nation, while playing to the gallery.

Bumiputera involvement in the corporate economy, likewise, presents a dismal picture especially in Sabah and Sarawak. Both these oil-producing states are the poorest in Malaysia along with Kelantan and Terengganu, the only other oil-producing states.

Human rights movement Hindraf Makkal Sakthi has highlighted the incidence of poverty among the urban poor, in the estate sector and among those who possess no personal identification documents.

There's no doubt that what we have experienced since the launch of the NEP in 1970 were gross distortions and deviations in the implementation of the policy. The banker in Nazir (right) did not use these two terms.

He wanted to impress upon the Chinese business community that he - and by extension his brother and premier Najib - know what is the right formula in managing the economic affairs of Malaysia in meeting the challenges of an increasingly globalised world economy.

However, pious hopes and sanctimonious pontifications are not simply good enough for the business community. If Nazir thought that he was helping his brother to lobby Chinese support in the face of threatening demands from Ibrahim Ali and Perkasa, he didn't.

Since the NEP obviously did not turn out as expected, the federal government should have no qualms about calling a spade, a spade. Instead, we are being told that the NEP will stay - “that's not an issue”.

What has been left unsaid is whether the deviations and distortions will be allowed to continue, without the government even batting an eyelid.

The federal government needs to address this burning question and not side-track into the subsidy factor and the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax, although the latter arguments are not without merit.

Equally important, it needs to bring the NEP back to its rightful roots and not allow it to rule every facet of the nation's economic life.

What's not in NEP

The corporate economy is not the entire economy of the nation.

By the same token, 90 percent of civil servants should not be drawn from members of one community if we are to eliminate the identification of race with economic function and place of residence.

It was never the intention of the NEP either that 30 percent of housing schemes must be reserved for sale to the bumiputera only or that that they - whether rich or poor - should be given a discount on purchases, obviously at the expense of the non-bumiputera.

The licence raj is another area which has been solely reserved for the bumiputera, but again only a handful of the favoured few.

Article 153, captured by the spirit of the NEP, only mentions a reasonable proportion for the bumiputera in respect of four areas - civil service jobs, intake into public universities and special training privileges, government scholarships and opportunities created by the government to do business.

Article 153 also speaks of the legitimate aspirations of the non-bumiputera. This aspect has been found wanting since 1970 as no doubt noted in their hearts by Nazir's Chinese gathering.

Nazir would do well to advise the prime minister, not privately but publicly, that he should take the bull by the horns and put people like Ibrahim Ali and Perkasa in their place.

Ibrahim has publicly warned Najib again to “solve Malay economic woes” - meaning don't cut out fat cats like him - or face a voter backlash from the community.

Najib should call Ibrahim's bluff and tell him in no uncertain terms that Umno doesn't need the votes of a handful who wish to hold the rest of the country to ransom by twisting and turning every issue into a racial issue.

Comments of JOE FERNANDEZ who is Malaysiakini's Sabah pointman who feels compelled to put pen to paper when something doesn't quite jell with his weltanschauung (worldview). He readily admits that there's a demon in him at times, urging him on.