'No apologies if people say Umno members are wealthy'

UMNO YOUTH ASSEMBLY Umno members should not be embarrassed about their wealth, as it is a testament of their success and competence, the Umno Youth general assembly was told.

Citing fables from Islamic traditions, Johor delegate Khairul Anwar Rahmat said that Umno should not be "apologetic" when people say that Umno members are "wealthy".

"Don't worry if you own a Land Rover, like our Youth chief (Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar), or a Porsche Cayenne, like announced just now. Don't worry.

"This means you have capabilities (berwibawa), can control the economy and do everything," Khairul Anwar said yesterday.

He was referring to an announcement made for the delegate who is the owner of a Porsche Cayenne to move his car as it was blocking somebody else's.

Khairul Anwar also said that although Malays have proven to be competent, they still faced discrimination from non-Malay employers.

As such, he urged the government to conduct an audit on the private sector to stop companies from discriminatory practices.

"There is no point having Performance Management on Delivery Units (Pemandu) or Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera (Teraju) if we don't dare to audit non-bumiputera companies (for discriminatory practices)," he said.

He was echoing Youth chief Khairy, who in his policy speech complained that there still was discrimination against bumiputeras in the private sector, even though non-bumiputera officers were already in high-ranking posts in the civil service.