Fancy being a bumiputera?

It is obvious that only raced based policies will allow the nation to progress further as it quite a humongous task to treat every Malaysian fairly and equally, says this satirist.

COMMENT

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said it right when he remarked that it was indeed a lucky day when Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced the BEEA (Bumiputera Economic Empowerment Agenda) in September.

The BEEA contains five main strategies to empower the bumiputera’s economy, covering human capital, equity ownership, non-finance asset ownership, entrepreneurship and service delivery.

While unveiling the new agenda, Najib has stressed that the bumiputeras who are the majority must be the core of the national agenda and cannot be denied by anyone. In principle, this practice has been accepted as a social contract by all Malaysians and agreed to by our founding fathers of this nation.

Najib, who upholds the seven ‘wills’ of the nine Malay Rulers, said the ‘wills’ are very clear and cannot be disputed. He also quoted the seven wills governing the independence agreement to establish a federation and that the ‘will’ states the equity and ownership of the Malays which was later expanded to the rest of the bumiputeras.

The government has already explained that affirmative policies implemented are to help the majority first and then focus later on the other communities but there are still jealous Malaysians who continue to condemn the government’s exemplary efforts as unconstitutional and akin to apartheid even though Najib has said that these new measures will not affect the non-bumiputeras in any way.

It is also very disappointing of S Ambiga, co-chair of Bersih and other opposition leaders to lash out at Najib’s Umno-BN government for rolling out the wonderful plan which they claim has been widely condemned as racist, unreasonable, divisive, unnecessary, unlawful, unconstitutional and even immoral.

Other opposition leaders have condemned the plan, describing it as moving Malaysia backwards into an archaic apartheid system of racial segregation and favouritism which is blatantly discriminatory and in the long-run damaging to the economic and social cohesion of the country

They also claim that nothing in the Federal Constitution allows the government to set up massive funds, share schemes, housing developments and contracts, for the benefit of one race only, which is a blatant breach of our laws and constitution and also against international human rights standards.

Positive public response

Many Malaysians, however, feel that this new policy shows Najib’s enthusiastic political will to uphold 1Malaysia, as the BN government is not blind and have long sympathised with the downtrodden Malays who were left behind by economic injustices.

BN leaders also know that if their complaints are not heard, if they continue to suffer, they might resort to other means to change the government instead of through peaceful and democratic means.

That’s why it is paramount that the needs of the majority are met, and pronto. However, this should not be misconstrued as an increasingly large majority taking from an increasingly smaller minority which at the moment is still quite sustainable!

In addition, it is also quite obvious that only raced based policies will allow the nation to progress further as it quite a humongous task to treat every Malaysian fairly and equally.

But even when the odds were against Umno and BN, independent media like the Utusan Malaysia remained firm and never backed down from defending the Malay race, besides playing a role in opening up the minds of the public to current issues.

It continues to uphold the Malay Agenda and Malay nationalism despite facing financial difficulties due largely to dwindling readership and opposition lawsuits. It has also caused the kindhearted Najib to realise that Utusan could not rely solely on circulation to stay in business and has called on GLC’s to advertise with Utusan to keep it afloat.

The benefits of the BEEA

Najib’s government has always shown its legitimacy and un-biasness by the inclusion of P Waythamoorthy in the cabinet to oversee the Hindraf blueprint and the plight of the Indians, and Paul Low to ensure that there is absolute transparency in the government.

Like other successful policies, the BEEA can best be described as an ‘ingeniously engineered’ policy that will benefit the nation and elevate it to First World status. It will also bring the nation out of its financial doldrums once and for all.

For without a new agenda to replace the NEP and NEM, the growing number of bumiputeras would be left further behind by the other communities which would be grossly unfair.

The NEM’s open policy which includes a call to do away with rent-seeking and market-distorting features and an affirmative action to be carried out equally across all communities based on market criteria is too stiff to be of any real benefit to the majority race and has proven more of a hindrance.

The NEP did benefit a small number of towering Malays and some business cronies, but their new found wealth failed to trickle down to the masses resulting in an uneven distribution of wealth, through no fault of the government.

So, the BEEA is indeed a ‘heaven sent’ policy that will benefit bumiputeras without affecting non-bumi rights in any way.

In the past, the Chinese and Indians have gone on to progress immensely under the wise stewardship and guidance of the MCA and MIC. Umno too, must be given an equal chance to steer the Malays, so that they can catch up with the rest of the non-bumiputeras.

Bumiputeras have found it increasingly ill-equipped to cope with stiff competition from non-bumiputeras especially in open tenders, leading many concerned NGOs like Perkasa to champion their cause.

Among the benefits announced are contracts worth billions from Petronas and a new Amanah Saham Bumiputera scheme. It includes Mara, Tekun, Ikhtiar, Superb funds; race-based housing; GLC participation and even cash aid and believe it or not, all these benefits are solely for bumiputeras.

And unlike before, this time all the goodies will go direct to the end-users. Government cronies would be bypassed and so too would be the middlemen. Indeed, what a lucky day

Bumiputeraship anyone?

In lieu of the above, it is still a wonder why Malaysians are not taking up the wonderful opportunity to be a bumiputera? In fact, it has never been a better time than the present day to be a bumiputera in this country and enjoy all the benefits.

With the government introducing so many incentives and affirmative action, there should be serious consideration. Being a Preferred Citizen has its advantages and we should not leave home without it.

For many, bumiputeraship is attainable through a slight lifestyle adjustment, interfaith marriage, embracing a new religion, undivided loyalty to the current government and perhaps a name change is all it takes to apply for the coveted bumiputeraship.

Imagine, if everyone were to become bumiputeras, there would be no more second class citizens and 1Malaysia would have been achieved in an instant.

There would be no more need for race based policies and everyone would benefit from government handouts, special subsidies, scholarships and entitled for generous discounts in property prices and gain acceptance at every institution of study.

Not to mention that bankers will welcome everyone with open arms while the government would be forced to treat everyone fair and equal.

There would be instant meritocracy and open tenders and everyone would be Preferred Citizens. There would be no more racial and religious tensions and everyone may go to heaven.

Tour consultant, sports pilot and naturalist Iskandar Dzulkarnain is a FMT columnist who loves writing satirical pieces.