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The Malay Agenda. Say that out aloud. It has just the right resonance to make it sound important and profound. There is a much talk about it periodically but no one has explained what it really means. So what is it?
In the absence of such a definition, we can take the Malay Agenda to mean anything that appears to favour the Malay and Malay nationalistic interests.
This could mean everything from contracts to language.
Political leader-wannabes and those leaders who like to consolidate their position among the Malay masses have an endearment for the term for by using it, they seek to endear themselves to the community and become their champions, at least in appearance.
But more often than not, it’s not the community they are looking out for. They are looking out for themselves and for very narrow interests within the community, often at the expense of the very community they purport to represent.
It is a term which is used to excuse a multitude of sins - awarding of a contract to the politically connected and the inept, the neglect of English and declining educational standards in schools and universities, the induction of too many Malays into government and government-linked companies… The list can get long.
One way to examine the Malay Agenda is to see what benefit it has brought to Malays in general - not to the one receiving the benefit. Another way to look at it is to see if the furtherance of its aim has helped Malays. On both counts, we conclude that the Malay Agenda, as it is now, has not.
A good place to start would be the national airline, Malaysia Airlines, owned by Malaysian Airline System (MAS). We had a reasonably competent airline, government owned, and for years run by a multi-racial group of managers who took their jobs seriously.
And then the government decided to sell a controlling stake to a bumiputera entrepreneur who was very well connected to the top political leadership at the time but had no experience whatsoever - none - in running an airline. The reason is, of course, the Malay Agenda. He had made a fortune by being in a privileged position in the mobile telephone business.
Predictably, he ran the airline into problems and bankruptcy, not because he was Malay but because he was not competent enough to run an airline.
The government rescued him by buying back his stake at a much higher price than the market price and set in place an expensive financial restructuring scheme whereby it took over MAS’ aircraft assets.
Then it appointed as managing director a person from within MAS but who clearly did not understand what running a modern airline was all about. AfterMAS posted massive losses, he resigned, to become a director of another GLC.
As MAS was searching for a chief executive to replace him and begin the arduous task of turning the airline around - yet again - the rumbles of the politicians were again heard. No foreign CEO, they echoed, we should get a Malay CEO, they shouted. Remember the Malay Agenda, they reminded.
Really, was the Malay Agenda served by two consecutive back-to-back mistakes which drove the airline to two back-to-back bankruptcies if not for government help? How were the Malays in general helped? Only the Malay individuals concerned benefited. The rest of the country, the majority of whom are Malays, was saddled with an ailing airline. There was a huge opportunity cost in terms of money and time irretrievably lost.
Now a bumiputera is helping to turn the airline around, although not a Malay, and he is making great progress. If he succeeds, he would have served the Malay Agenda - in this case re-establishing a thriving airline that will do credit to the country - better than the others.
Next, let’s take the case of universities and unemployed local graduates, the majority of whom are Malays. One of the main reasons many of these graduates remain unemployed is because their English is poor and many of their courses bear little relevance to their work requirements.
Never mind English, those politicians who push the Malay Agenda said. We must have Malay in the higher education system. Never mind quality, we must have more Malay graduates, they said. But they themselves and their children were educated overseas in elite schools and universities. Malay and lack of a quality education were not good enough for them - it was good only for the masses.
If these politicians had pushed for English in higher education and much higher quality and standards at local universities, how much better would be the lot of these local graduates, the majority of whom are Malays.
Whose agenda did the Malay Agenda serve? The politicians because they could make use of it to further their political careers through rhetoric and threats while harming the very community they were seeking to help.
Now for corruption. They won’t say it in public, but some people actually think corruption serves the Malay Agenda by putting money into the hands of Malays - some of them at least benefit from approved projects, the perverted reasoning goes.
But take that a step further. If a developer gives a chief minister some money to approve a project, the developer makes far more than the chief minister and all at the expense of the public, the majority of whom are Malays.
If the developer is non-Malay, such practices will actually increase the income gap between Malays and non-Malays on top of causing harm to the public and environment.
If the developer is Malay, only that one Malay is enriched and if he is a developer only in name, there will be a non-Malay Ali Baba who will make more
money than him. Corruption actually hinders the Malay agenda because it stops the Malay from progressing. Really, don’t politicians know that corruption (and its cousin patronage) can never improve the lot of the Malay? Yes they do, but it is their own agendas they want the Malay Agenda to
serve.
A new Malay Agenda should evolve with focus on the community and greater good. The interests of the community at large should be paramount, not
individuals within it. It needs the recognition that management of wealth and resources should be in competent and good hands - Malay or otherwise - so that eventually, at the right time, this gets passed on to the community.
The new Malay Agenda must recognise that a clean, efficient and incorruptible government serves the Malay’s best interests and that what is good for the country as a whole is good for the Malays too because they form the majority in the country. In many ways, the new Malay Agenda will also be a Malaysian Agenda.
Some days morning breakfast consists of the latest cars, and during this season, football. Today's breakfast was a little dull since one of the kaki forwarded us this link prior to breakfast >.< And this is what we spent the entire morning talking about. Guh.
In the most common response heard everytime the NEP or the Malay Agenda is brought up, "Kalau tak suka, keluar la". So, yea.
The Malay Agenda. Say that out aloud. It has just the right resonance to make it sound important and profound. There is a much talk about it periodically but no one has explained what it really means. So what is it?
In the absence of such a definition, we can take the Malay Agenda to mean anything that appears to favour the Malay and Malay nationalistic interests.
This could mean everything from contracts to language.
Political leader-wannabes and those leaders who like to consolidate their position among the Malay masses have an endearment for the term for by using it, they seek to endear themselves to the community and become their champions, at least in appearance.
But more often than not, it’s not the community they are looking out for. They are looking out for themselves and for very narrow interests within the community, often at the expense of the very community they purport to represent.
It is a term which is used to excuse a multitude of sins - awarding of a contract to the politically connected and the inept, the neglect of English and declining educational standards in schools and universities, the induction of too many Malays into government and government-linked companies… The list can get long.
One way to examine the Malay Agenda is to see what benefit it has brought to Malays in general - not to the one receiving the benefit. Another way to look at it is to see if the furtherance of its aim has helped Malays. On both counts, we conclude that the Malay Agenda, as it is now, has not.
A good place to start would be the national airline, Malaysia Airlines, owned by Malaysian Airline System (MAS). We had a reasonably competent airline, government owned, and for years run by a multi-racial group of managers who took their jobs seriously.
And then the government decided to sell a controlling stake to a bumiputera entrepreneur who was very well connected to the top political leadership at the time but had no experience whatsoever - none - in running an airline. The reason is, of course, the Malay Agenda. He had made a fortune by being in a privileged position in the mobile telephone business.
Predictably, he ran the airline into problems and bankruptcy, not because he was Malay but because he was not competent enough to run an airline.
The government rescued him by buying back his stake at a much higher price than the market price and set in place an expensive financial restructuring scheme whereby it took over MAS’ aircraft assets.
Then it appointed as managing director a person from within MAS but who clearly did not understand what running a modern airline was all about. AfterMAS posted massive losses, he resigned, to become a director of another GLC.
As MAS was searching for a chief executive to replace him and begin the arduous task of turning the airline around - yet again - the rumbles of the politicians were again heard. No foreign CEO, they echoed, we should get a Malay CEO, they shouted. Remember the Malay Agenda, they reminded.
Really, was the Malay Agenda served by two consecutive back-to-back mistakes which drove the airline to two back-to-back bankruptcies if not for government help? How were the Malays in general helped? Only the Malay individuals concerned benefited. The rest of the country, the majority of whom are Malays, was saddled with an ailing airline. There was a huge opportunity cost in terms of money and time irretrievably lost.
Now a bumiputera is helping to turn the airline around, although not a Malay, and he is making great progress. If he succeeds, he would have served the Malay Agenda - in this case re-establishing a thriving airline that will do credit to the country - better than the others.
Next, let’s take the case of universities and unemployed local graduates, the majority of whom are Malays. One of the main reasons many of these graduates remain unemployed is because their English is poor and many of their courses bear little relevance to their work requirements.
Never mind English, those politicians who push the Malay Agenda said. We must have Malay in the higher education system. Never mind quality, we must have more Malay graduates, they said. But they themselves and their children were educated overseas in elite schools and universities. Malay and lack of a quality education were not good enough for them - it was good only for the masses.
If these politicians had pushed for English in higher education and much higher quality and standards at local universities, how much better would be the lot of these local graduates, the majority of whom are Malays.
Whose agenda did the Malay Agenda serve? The politicians because they could make use of it to further their political careers through rhetoric and threats while harming the very community they were seeking to help.
Now for corruption. They won’t say it in public, but some people actually think corruption serves the Malay Agenda by putting money into the hands of Malays - some of them at least benefit from approved projects, the perverted reasoning goes.
But take that a step further. If a developer gives a chief minister some money to approve a project, the developer makes far more than the chief minister and all at the expense of the public, the majority of whom are Malays.
If the developer is non-Malay, such practices will actually increase the income gap between Malays and non-Malays on top of causing harm to the public and environment.
If the developer is Malay, only that one Malay is enriched and if he is a developer only in name, there will be a non-Malay Ali Baba who will make more
money than him. Corruption actually hinders the Malay agenda because it stops the Malay from progressing. Really, don’t politicians know that corruption (and its cousin patronage) can never improve the lot of the Malay? Yes they do, but it is their own agendas they want the Malay Agenda to
serve.
A new Malay Agenda should evolve with focus on the community and greater good. The interests of the community at large should be paramount, not
individuals within it. It needs the recognition that management of wealth and resources should be in competent and good hands - Malay or otherwise - so that eventually, at the right time, this gets passed on to the community.
The new Malay Agenda must recognise that a clean, efficient and incorruptible government serves the Malay’s best interests and that what is good for the country as a whole is good for the Malays too because they form the majority in the country. In many ways, the new Malay Agenda will also be a Malaysian Agenda.
Some days morning breakfast consists of the latest cars, and during this season, football. Today's breakfast was a little dull since one of the kaki forwarded us this link prior to breakfast >.< And this is what we spent the entire morning talking about. Guh.
In the most common response heard everytime the NEP or the Malay Agenda is brought up, "Kalau tak suka, keluar la". So, yea.