A response to Idris Jala (Part 3)

FMT LETTER: From Oliver Gomez, via-e-mail

David Copperfield is a man possessed of charm, wealth, and a spectacular ability for the impossible. One of the greatest magicians of our time, his shows consist of elaborately constructed sets replete with exotic animals, great balls of fire, and gorgeous assistants of the female persuasion. All of these elements are then combined to form acts of laser guided perfection, timed down to the last microsecond, the singular purpose of which is to distract an audience from the hidden nooks, secret trap doors, and sleights of hand. Idris Jala, then, is in good company. Though less practiced and certainly duller than his opposite number, Idris Jala does possess an ability to distract and mislead. Where Idris Jala is unable to call upon on a perfectly sculpted female assistant, he relies on figures of a different sort. Even his purpose remains the same as that of Copperfield’s – Idris Jala’s recent article in the June 24, 2013 edition of The Star exists to distract the Rakyat from the hidden agendas, the secret dealings, and the backroom handshakes. The Fourth Issue: The NEP and the Brain Drain By now, you the readers are no doubt familiar with the Angry Malaysian and his unwarranted tirade against the defenceless Idris Jala. Cornered and perhaps even fearful for his safety, Idris Jala has no choice but to engage with and somehow neutralize the vitriol of the Angry Malaysian. This time around, the mysterious and unjustifiably Angry Malaysian is upset about the NEP driving away non-Bumiputeras into the open arms of the likes of Singapore. Are you looking closely? You should be, for Idris Jala is about to make the problem disappear: ”That’s not true. A Mindshare survey of 2000 Singaporeans carried out last year showed that over half of them (56%) wanted to migrate, although there is no NEP in Singapore. According to the World Bank, Singapore had 300,000 migrants in 2010, nearly 10% of Singapore citizens. Reasons for migration are complex and varied and cannot just be pinpointed to the NEP.” Non-Bumiputeras are leaving Malaysia In true Copperfield style, Idris Jala distracts the Angry Malaysian and in so doing, completely sidesteps some very fundamental problems. To give you a comparison, Idris Jala’s answer isn’t unlike the following: Amma: Muthu, why did you only get 40% in your Mathematics exam? Muthu: But Amma, Abu only got 35%! Like Amma, I am not particularly concerned about the performance of others; it behooves one to keep a clean house before playing the blame game. Now admittedly, there are generic overlaps in terms of reasons for migration. However, these overlaps are not unique to Malaysia or Singapore alone. As such, they can be discounted for the purposes of this article. It is indeed true that the vast majority of those emigrating from Malaysia are non – Bumiputera. According to a comprehensive 2011 World Bank report, Singapore absorbed 57% of all Malaysian immigrants, with ethnic Chinese making up an eye-watering 90% of that figure. Australia and subsequently, Brunei, make up the 3 most preferred destinations for emigrating Malaysians. Now before anyone bah humbugs the issue, the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship has a few interesting factoids for your consideration: in 2011-2012, 4617 ‘skilled migrant’ visas were issued to Malaysians. Now it turns out that these ‘skilled migrants’ are accountants, doctors, and high end IT and tech specialists – literally the best and brightest of the Malaysian workforce. This is all well and good though, seeing as we are taking steps to compensate for the brain drain right? I mean, surely a wealthy and seemingly perfect country like Malaysia is capable of attracting its own foreign talent, right? In April 2013, at the 46th session of the Commission on Population and Development, Chua Choon Hwa, Malaysia’s representative to the United Nations, had this to say about immigration patterns in Malaysia: “… in terms of the number of immigrants flowing into the country, which currently stands at 2.3 million… they are mainly employed in manufacturing, agricultural, and construction sectors.” Chua only refers to the 2.3 million immigrants who came in through the front door. You and I however, know a little better – the Lahad Datu incident, the ongoing fiasco over phantom voters, and the stalled Royal Commission Inquiry into the ICgate scandal in East Malaysia are all indicative of a much higher number of foreigners within our borders. I may of course be mistaken, but somehow I doubt that brain surgeons and theoretical physicists make up the bulk of the illegal immigrants within our borders. So now, not only are the best and brightest leaving Malaysia by the thousands per annum, they are being replaced by millions of semi to low skilled immigrants. All this of course, is to say nothing of the illegal immigrants who continue to live and work in Malaysia. Non-Bumiputeras are emigrating as a direct result of the NEP If the above isn’t embarrassing enough, Idris Jala’s own PEMANDU via its Government Transformation Program, acknowledges that the discriminatory nature of the NEP is directly responsible for Malaysia’s brain drain. This however, does not stop Idris Jala from shamelessly pointing the finger at Singapore – a country which has consistently outpaced Malaysia in just about every significant economic yardstick. Go through the pages of history and you will find that the formation of Singapore was directly attributable to widespread condemnation of discriminatory affirmative action policies. Today, the very same policies can be said to be largely responsible for about 1.5 million Malaysians living and working all over the world. Former Singaporean Premier Lee Kwan Yew had a famous rallying cry – “Malaysian Malaysia” – and was deeply opposed to Article 153 of the Malaysian Constitution. This controversial Article specifically provides special quotas for the ethnic Malays and other indigenous people of Malaysia. As a result of the increasing violence and unrest which would ultimately undermine his administration, our late and great Tunku Abdul Rahman advised the Malayan Parliament to expel Singapore from the Federation of Malaya. On August 9th 1965, Singapore would become the first country in modern history to gain independence against her own will.  A tearful Lee Kwan Yew had this to say on the day of Singapore’s secession from Malaya: “For me, it is a moment of anguish. All my life, my whole adult life, I have believed in (the) merger and unity of the two territories.” The greatest failure of the NEP then, was not the alienation of just people – the greatest failure of the NEP (or at least, that of its pre-1970s predecessor) was the alienation of a Kuala Lumpur sized chunk of real estate. Guess what though? Singapore’s unceremonious expulsion turned out to be one of the greatest silver linings in human history. In the decades that followed, Singapore transformed herself from a backwater Malaya reject to a shining example of Asian ingenuity. She did so by unequivocally rewarding excellence and shunning all measure of mediocrity. And dear readers, Singapore is quite happy to reward the best and brightest of us Malaysians. I can’t blame Singapore anymore than I can blame the Malaysians who flock there in droves. After all, would you turn down the visa applications of a modern day Albert Einstein or a Zinedine Zidane duplicate? I am not saying that Singapore is perfect. If anyone has been following the news south of the Causeway, you will undoubtedly be aware of a number of embarrassing scandals that have occurred in recent years. In addition, Singapore’s infamous ‘kiasu’ epidemic does her no favours. What I am trying to say however, is that being a country with next to no land and natural resources, Singapore has had to rely almost solely on human capital. In 1965, she was bruised, bloodied, and beaten before the opening bell was even rung. Today, Singapore is one of the world’s most robust economies. With all this in mind, I envision only two possible reasons for Idris Jala’s harping on Singapore’s migration numbers: he either assumes that the average Malaysian is too stupid to spot a hustle, or, he is just plain obtuse. Either way, his little sleight of hand has just been discovered. Conclusion Idris Jala, far from the economic Copperfield Najib holds him out to be, is in fact closer to a child with a Toys”R”Us magic set. His routine, while impressive to the uninitiated, is easily revealed to the discerning eye. You, dear Malaysians, are a discerning lot. Idris Jala’s props are decidedly simpler than Copperfield’s. His sleight of hand far more clumsy and amateurish. The consequences of falling for Idris Jala’s trickery though, are all too real.