A new deal, a new zeal

ON Saturday, Sept 14, 2013, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib announced the Agenda Pemerkasaan Ekonomi Bumiputera or simply a new Bumiputera Economic Empowerment Agenda.

The five-pronged strategy is to provide the Bumiputeras with ways and means to acquire the necessary skills and expertise; to buy shares in the corporate sector; to add to their material assets; to teach them how to run their own show.

The above is my way of interpreting the philosophy behind the Bumiputera Economic Agenda, stated in less officialese jargon.

The fifth prong, that of “bolstering their service delivery ecosystem” is beyond me for the moment.

To the Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak, this was good news indeed, coming as it did during the Golden Anniversary of the formation of the Federation of Malaysia.

It’s supposed to be a brand new deal providing a window of opportunity for the natives of East Malaysia. They are Malaysians beyond a doubt, yet they are classified in certain government documents as ‘Lain-Lain’. This may be another chance, the last bus, for the Lainlainese and they must not miss this one. Maybe there is something in it for them after all. We shall all see.

They have every reason to welcome the PM’s announcement and to look forward to participating in all the programmes under the agenda’s auspices when the time comes. However, to me this policy does not look entirely new. It resembles the New Economic Policy, which lapsed in 1999, now reappearing in another form, much refined and improved, perhaps. May I call it new wine in an old bottle or old wine in a new bottle?

“Ah, what does it matter?” a friend reacted to my question about NEM (New Economic Model), quoting Deng Xiaoping as having said “the colour of the cat is irrelevant, as long as it can catch mice”.

Anyway, give it a go; the devil will be in the details and the success of the policy will depend on its implementation at the grassroots level. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Only time will tell and time we must give it, in order for it to function and to deliver the goods.

I noticed, however, that, in the new initiative there is insufficient emphasis on the importance of a monitoring system, which blighted the erstwhile NEP. In 1989, this weakness in its implementation was highlighted by the National Economic Consultative Council (Mapen) of which I had the privilege to be a member. It was the first time I heard of the word penyelewengan. I learnt from the Economic Planning Unit officials how projects earmarked for certain areas were hijacked, how money budgeted for certain groups did not reach them – all legal, but politically manipulated in the process.

The inherent notion of ‘we’ and ‘they’ in the new concept of the Bumiputera Economic Agenda worries me a lot, though I’m perfectly happy with the intention to help the less fortunate members of the Bumiputera community.

What’s happened to NEM?

The New Economic Model was introduced a couple of years ago as an alternative to the then NEP. As a policy instrument it was supposed to cater for the interests and needs of all Malaysians who need affirmative action, because the NEP was exclusively designed for the Bumiputeras. To misquote Orwell: “All Bumiputeras are equal, but some are more equal than others.”

Needs or breeds?

In my opinion, any people-oriented policy introduced by the government must be based on the needs of the people who require the government’s help for the moment, no matter what their ethnic backgrounds or political affiliations may be, as long as they are Malaysian citizens. It’s a question of needs, not breeds!

It is only equitable to allow the Bumiputeras a handicap in the empowerment exercise. The Bumiputera Economic Empowerment Council should make it clear that it will become the instrument for the benefit of the Bumiputeras who really need assistance, not those who can do without it. At any rate, the programme must be wound up as soon as the playing field is even. Otherwise, the new measures will be open to all manner of negative interpretations which we can do without.

Pro-BN Agenda

Just a day after the PM’s announcement, some politicians in Sarawak were talking about the new initiative as a policy geared for the benefit of the BN supporters first, and the rest second. That attitude is not going to help the government and may possibly be an embarrassment to the prime movers of the new policy.

If we must have another affirmative action programme for the Bumiputeras, then the powers that be should formulate a similar scheme for the poor non-Bumiputeras too. Some are even worse off than the Natives.

Help the Bumiputeras by all means but do not spoil them (spoil means manja!).

One point is often missed when we talk about privileges for the Bumiputeras. Many among them are doing well in commerce and industry and in the professions without the help of the NEP. These self-made individuals would consider it an insult if they were classified as the ‘favoured breed’ simply because they are Bumis. They are a breed of Malaysians who have the determination and the will to succeed.

They possess the personal traits that the government should encourage as a culture among the Bumiputeras before they can call themselves Bumiputera “glocal and global”, as Datuk Seri Najib once called them.

Space does not permit me to touch on the rest of the thrusts of the new policy. One will do: ownership of corporate shares. The easiest way for a Bumiputera to acquire shares in the corporate sector is to invest in the Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) and several other schemes.

However, one must have some money to begin with, either from savings or profits from some investment, or a loan from a bank. Local banks freezing loans for ASB purchases is counterproductive, news about its coming at the wrong time when we are talking about strengthening the Bumiputeras’ economic power.

How’s a Bumiputera to invest in the ASB when he or she has little or no margin of savings for buying the shares without a loan from a bank? Resort to Ah Longs? The easiest way is not so easy after all.

Maybe the council will help sort out this kind of problem faced by the poor Bumiputeras before they can benefit from the latest government initiative. Otherwise they will miss the boat yet again.

Zeal is not enough. At any rate, all the various income-generating schemes will not make any difference to the Bumiputeras’ economic conditions unless they are willing to work harder than usual, by adopting a personal policy of ‘1 per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration’.

Comments can reach the writer via [email protected].