Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad’s insistence that his successors stick with the New Economic Policy to shape the country’s future has been criticized and ridiculed by economists, civil rights advocates and even top leaders within his Umno-BN coalition.
Many have been quick to suggest the 85-year old, who ruled Malaysia for 22 years from 1981 to 2003, has ulterior motives and vested interests for doing so.
But whatever Mahathir's reasons, the latest tug-of-war between himself and Prime Minister Najib Razak over whether it is the New Economic Model or the NEP which should hold sway has brought out the cockroaches from under the woodwork.
More inside stories of the NEP emerge
Various inside stories are now starting to appear as Malays who got cheated instead of being boosted by the NEP come out of the closet and warn their community against the over-simplistic rhetoric adopted by Mahathir and his henchman Ibrahim Ali, the president of ultra-Malay rights group Perkasa.
One of the most sensational revelations so far is about the privatization of Spots Toto, among the most successful gambling outfits in Malaysia.
In his article entitled Sports Toto, The Inside Story, former Bernama general manager Ahmad Mustapha Hassan tells of how he helped tycoon Vincent Tan gain control of Toto and how he was ruthlessly short-changed and dumped once the deal went through.
“I have attempted for years to recover what has been owed to me by Ananda Krishnan and Vincent Tan. Ananda owed me for my services in getting him control of Inchcape Malaysia and Vincent Tan in the privatisation of Sports Toto,” wrote Ahmad, who also authored the book The Unmaking of Malaysia.
“I have sent countless letters, e-mails and also used the services of debt collectors. I have also sought the services of eminent personalities who are close to these two businessmen. I have also repeatedly tried to meet them but it was unfortunate that I was unable to have a face-to-face meeting with them; plain and simple they refused to see me.”
Emotional words of us-against-them
Despite Islam being the official religion, gambling kings in the country such as Vincent, the MCA-linked Magnum Corp, Pan Malaysian Pools’ Ananda and the Genting casino in Pahang rake in billions of ringgit in bets per day.
This has caused unhappiness amongst the Malays because gambling is prohibited by Islam and these tycoons got their break from betting licenses dished out by the Umno-BN government. There is also fast-growing disenchantment with the NEP because of its inability to distribute wealth downwards despite having been in existence since 1971.
Nevertheless, it is still tough for Najib to beat off the race-championing tactics deployed by Mahathir and Ibrahim Ali, who have equated the scrapping of the NEP to a direct slap in the faces of the Malays.
One of the key reasons is that the majority of the community are still rural-based. They find it easier to empathize with the fiery us-against-them rhetoric spewed by the Mahathir group, even though they may grumble at the same time about receiving the short-end of the economic carrot.
But will their eyes be easier to open now that more educated Malays are beginning to speak up about their bad experiences with the NEP, and what a class and poverty trap it can be.
“It will certainly expose the shocking amount of corruption in the government and how entrenched business has become in the political arena. It is all about who you know and what you can get want and who you must pay to get what you want,” PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Akin told Malaysia Chronicle.
“The rural Malays know for themselves how tough their lives are. These who work in the towns and the cities also know it is not easy to make ends meet. Yet they can also see how some of the privileged ones are able to get everything they want just because they know so and so in Umno or other. They should not for the sake of a few sweet words from Ibrahim Ali or Mahathir get confused.”
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