The new Prime Minister of Malaysia,Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, announced on 22 April
2009 that the 30% bumiputra equity policy will be removed from 27 sectors in the
service sector with immediate effect. Datuk Seri is also the Finance Minister of
Malaysia. It shocked more than cheered people because it was such a bold move
that it already treads on the baseline of the bumiputra supremacy. No Prime
Minister has dared to do it before, not even a leader as powerful as Tun Dr.
Mahathir himself. Although Tun Dr. Mahathir had pleaded with his followers to
discard the "tongkat(walking stick)" many times and even shed tears in some
occasions while doing so. But he stopped there , that is as far as he would go.
Not only that,Datuk Seri Najib further liberalized the financial sector 2 days
ago. What is the underlying reason that drives him to take such drastic measures
immediately after he took over from his predecessor, Tun Abudlla Badawi? Is
because the sound of the footsteps of globalization drawing near and wake him
up? Is he feeling the heat of the financial crisis already? Is it because it is
evident that the 30% equity policy (NEP)is ridden with ills? I really want to
know. Actually,non bumiputras in Malaysia would not be as resentful towards the
NEP as they are now if it was implemented properly. The greatest ills in the NEP
is the huge disceptpencies between the implementation and the original
definitions of the NEP. The NEP policy implementers calculated in a strange
way,either due to their lack of mathematical ability or they did on purpose.They
stick to the policy of 30% faithfully during recruitment of public service
staff(civil servants), intake of students to public universities, allocation of
low cost housing units, allocation of shares applications of government-owned
companies,allocation of public transport permits,development projects,etc; but
30% of what? That lies the core of the problem. Take the recent intake of 1st
year students into the oldest university of the nation,Universiti Malaya, as an
example. It was reported that there were 27,000 students applying for the 3,500
seats available. So, how many seats should be alloacted to bumiputra students
for this particular intake in accordance with the NEP's 30% policy? 5,100 seats
should be allocated to the buminputra kids, therefore all 3,500 seats available
should be reserved for bumiputras and still falls off target by 1,600. Why?
Because 30% of 27,000 applicants is 5,100 students. Simple, right? Ok, if you
protest, let's calculate another way. Supposing the total number of students in
UM is 12,000. 30% is 3,600. Still there is no room for non bumiputras. Sorry
lah, policy is policy. Of course if you got jalan, you still can come in. That
is why you see a sprinkle of non bumiputra students as decorations inside.
Anyone who has gone through primary 4 knows that 30% of 3,500 is 450, still
plenty of seats left for fair competition. If this is the way they implement it,
who will ever bothers about the 30% thing? Therefore, 30% is not the keyword,
the keyword is 30% of
WHAT?
