It Was Mahathir Who Failed The Malays, And The Myth Of ‘May 13’

And now, 33 years later, Pakatan Harapan holds a Bumiputera Congress to discuss the same things we discussed 33 years ago. And now, 33 years later, they tell us what we told them 33 years ago. Pakatan Harapan does not need to waste its time holding a congress. Just check what we said in 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1991. But when we said all this back in 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1991 you refused to listen. Today, it’s a bit too late to correct what went wrong because nasi sudah jadi bubur.

NO HOLDS BARRED 

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The Pakatan Harapan government held a Bumiputera Congress last weekend to discuss the future of the Malays and what plans, policies and programs the government should come out with to ensure the Malays have their rightful place under the Malaysian sun.

This congress is not only a same-old-same-old talk-shop, it is also a case of too little too late. And being involved in previous congresses over the 1980s and 1990s, let me tell you why.

READ ‘The Bumiputera congress and Azmin’s New Malay‘

First of all, let us shatter the myth of the New Economic Policy (NEP) or Dasar Ekonomi Baru (DEB).

The popular spin is that the NEP is the result of ‘May 13’ in 1969. That is not true. The first Bumiputera Economic Congress was held on 4th June 1965 and not after the 13th May 1969 race riots. Hence the government had decided FOUR YEARS EARLIER what to do about the Malays and ‘May 13’ was NOT the trigger.

33 years later, Mahathir and Pakatan Harapan are still talking about what we already told them back in 1985

Most Malaysians believe ‘May 13’ triggered the NEP whereas the NEP was really the result of the Bumiputera Economic Congress of 4th June 1965. For political reasons the NEP may have been announced AFTER ‘May 13’ just to please the Malays and to show that the government is listening but the plans had already been set in place much earlier.

For example, Bank Bumiputera Malaysia Berhad (BBMB) was set up in 1965. Perbadanan Nasional Berhad (Pernas) may have been set up in November 1969 but it had been planned much earlier, before ‘May 13’. Institut Teknologi Mara (ITM) was actually set up in 1956, one year before Merdeka, and was called the RIDA (Rural & Industrial Development Authority) Training Centre. After the first Bumiputera Economic Congress of 4th June 1965, RIDA was changed to Mara.

So, ‘May 13’ had nothing to do with this, as some people may suggest. This all happened BEFORE ‘May 13’ — and even if ‘May 13’ had not happened the ‘Bumiputera Policy’ would still have happened anyway because the decision had been made four years earlier and the plans were already in motion.

Okay, now that we have got that out of the way and history has been corrected, let us discuss Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s favourite subject — the failure of the NEP.

Tun Razak Hussein, Tun Ghafar Baba and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah were among the architects of the NEP. However, these three are seldom given the credit for the NEP’s blueprint. Instead, the ‘credit’ (for want of a better term) for the NEP is given to ‘May 13’. Hence Mahathir keeps talking about the failure of the NEP because he does not want Tun Razak and Tengku Razaleigh to be touted as Malay heroes. The only Malay hero is Mahathir and no one else.

In 2002 Mahathir cried that the Malays are still failures after so long

The reason why the NEP is said to be the result of ‘May 13’ is because the ‘historians’ want to sensationalise ‘May 13’ and try to present the ‘positive’ side of ‘May 13’. In other words, ‘May 13’ may have cost many lives but it was not in vain. ‘May 13’ gave birth to the NEP so there is at least a silver lining in that dark cloud.

Well, do they not say the victors always write history? But then this ‘historical account’ of ‘May 13’ has been made to look good to give an impression that ‘May 13’ was not a total disaster but some good came out of it. And that is what politicians do, never mind from which side of the political fence they may come from.

By 1985, around 15 years after the NEP had started (and with just five years more to go before it ended in 1990), a congress was held to discuss how and where the NEP had failed. Mahathir was already into his fourth year as Prime Minister and he knew what the problems with the NEP were (because we told him).

In 1986, a one-day seminar was held with the Minister of Trade and Industry, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, where the problems and failures of the NEP were discussed. Tengku Razaleigh actually agreed with all the points raised and admitted that Umno and the government are to be blamed.

Another (two-day) congress was held in 1987, this time with Tun Ghafar Baba as Mahathir’s Deputy Prime Minister. Yet again the problems and failures of the NEP were discussed. In all these congresses and seminars, Umno and the government were our main target for criticism.

BBMB was set up after the First Bumiputera Economic Congress of 1965 and not after ‘May 13’ in 1969

In the 1986 seminar in Tengku Razaleigh’s office, my paper was so critical of Umno and the government, especially the Ministry of Finance, that they blacklisted me. For years I could not get any government business. They even cancelled my licences and my various businesses suffered. Eventually I went bankrupt.

I actually condemned Umno and the government. I said the Bumiputeras are third-class citizens after the Umnoputeras and the Chinese. I said it is not the Chinese who are the competitors of the Malays but the GLCs and Umno-owned companies. Umno and the government have no business being in business, I said.

We really whacked Umno and the government hard that they labelled us as traitors to the Malay race (penghianat bangsa). But Umno and the government did not listen. Instead, they hit back at us. Eventually, they ‘killed’ us and many of my contemporaries suffered bankruptcy, just like me. Yes, we paid a high price for speaking out and for calling a spade a spade.

In 2002, Mahathir cried during the Umno general assembly and said he was hurt by the failure of the Malays. Soon after he retired in 2003, he gave an interview and said his greatest regret is that in 22 years as Prime Minister he was not able to change the mindset of the Malays.

Mahathir had 53 years to make the NEP work, 22 years of that as the Prime Minister, but now he blames others for its failure

What a fooking wayang! Since 1985 we had been telling Umno and the Malays the NEP had failed and we gave the reasons why the NEP had failed. We pointed out that Umno and the government are the reason why the NEP had failed. And for speaking out they whacked us and bankrupted our businesses.

Back in 1985 we told Umno and the government that Umno and the government should not be in business. Close down all the Umno companies and the GLCs. Let the Malays do business without having to compete with the Umno companies and the GLCs.

And now, 33 years later, Pakatan Harapan holds a Bumiputera Congress to discuss the same things we discussed 33 years ago. And now, 33 years later, they tell us what we told them 33 years ago. Pakatan Harapan does not need to waste its time holding a congress. Just check what we said in 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1991. But when we said all this back in 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1991 you refused to listen. Today, it’s a bit too late to correct what went wrong because nasi sudah jadi bubur.