Subject: IS THE NEP NECESSARY?
To: anuarmohdnor@yahoo.com

IS THE NEP NECESSARY?

Lets go to the fundamental first. Thus we have to take a little history lesson because it seems that we never learn from our past mistakes.

Take USA, they have been independent for more than 2 centuries and being called one of the most civilised nation, and yet the last race riot was not more than three decades ago, or 170 years after independence!

Lets look at our close neighbours; Thailand and Philippines. Basically they have one main religion and one main race. And yet in recent years (for Philippines) or recent months (for Thailand) there have been riots due to unhappiness with the government.

In fact when we look closely at most of the major protest and riots or civil unrest anywhere in this world; people are not happy because of a common reason: irrespective of race or religion. That two reason (race and religion) were just an excuse or we are blinded by it so as to be distracted from the real reason.

So what is it? The answer is simple and very fundamental. Food on the table. Yes, I do not want to elaborate it in fine detail, as that would take several pages, maybe chapters. But I want you all to really think about it, open your mind and really ponder into it.

What I mean by food on the table is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; food, shelter, security and the likes.

Thailand and Philippines: the disparity between the “have it” and “have not” was so great that people were very angry, because the very powerful few (Thaksin and Marcos) were having lavish life while the poor is without food and shelter. More so for a group of minority that was marginalised and treated unfairly (Muslims in the Thai’s and Philippines’ south).

The USA was no exception, the blacks were then not given power (sharing) and they were ignored. But it is now “under control” because the government has at one time put in an affirmative action that put a strong message to the general public that actually works, and whether by design or by coincidence (or fluke); makes it into law. That is: you cannot discriminate a person based on his colour or religion in hiring for a job; for studying in a school or university; or even to enter a club!

Effectively this law of indirect affirmative action ensures equality. That is why companies were “prone” to hire other races as well in their companies, or else being accused of being racist. At the same time, the US government realise that the blacks (or non-whites for that matter) were coming from poor families, poor neighbourhood, etc. Thus the Government do the natural thing; give support in whatever manner possible in many areas; at least and most fundamental; food on the table and a roof for shelter. The riots and protest were gone; and slowly the non-whites were given more opportunities to go up. And we now have a black (lady some more!) as US state secretary.

You look at Japan and some of the most advanced European countries as an example, the poverty line is almost nil, because of that there are practically no riots, etc. But you will notice that UK and a very few European countries have riots because some of these people who riot are actually the poor without food or shelter. The government take the convenient excuse that they are Muslims (riots in UK), while quoting race/religion as the reason behind it.

If that is true, then they must use the same rationale that because the Thais are Buddhist that there are riots in Thailand, or because the Filipino are Christians that there are riots in Philippines. You will now begin to see that in both cases it is the hungry and the poor are behind the riots. It is also the same that happened to the Roman civilisation. It was religion that save these people, because it gives them hope and strength to fight against the powerful but selfish leaders. That is also the same reason why the old Communist China and Russia were having atheist government because they know that religion binds poor people, without religion there is no hope or strength. The same again that happened during the Roman Empire.The same is happening in Malaysia.

In Singapore, it is a "communist" state. They are using the loped-sided law and selected people (judges) to their advantage. Any dissent will be prosecuted. The Muslims and Malays are marginalised but how can they protest?, their numbers are too small and they don’t have the resources (e.g. money). As for Indonesia, the Chinese are very rich, that is why the majority of the poor are angry and are “bullying” them, because the Chinese are not sharing it. (Sounds familiar?).

In Malaysia, it is important that all it citizens irrespective of race must be aware of its history as to why we have become like this and why there has been poor improvement in terms of the equity sharing.

During the colonial days, it was to the advantage of the colonist to divide and rule. It makes sense and easy to do. The Chinese flock among themselves in towns and mining areas. The Indian at the estates, while the Malays at the coastal and farming areas.

It is natural for the colonist to do this because unity among us would bring strength and independence (which it did in 1957).Thus, it was good for the colonist to separate us, but the disparity in terms of being poor and rich were getting worst, naturally the poor Malays and Indians were angry and jealous of the Chinese and colonist, it boils down to the fundamentals: food and shelter.

We have recently celebrated our 49th year of independence. The question of race and religion is a misguided notion that it is splitting us. The more serious notion is that the NEP is causing us harm. On the contrary! The NEP is keeping us in the balance as long as the equity factor is not corrected.

Try to imagine if suddenly the NEP is taken out! Automatically, the Chinese will stop hiring the Malays and Indians. The Chinese will thus get richer and the non-Chinese will get poorer and it will come to a point where it may blow up (sounds familiar again?).

Why did I state the word “ automatically”? It is because the Chinese in Malaysia has this notion that Malays are lazy and Indians are useless. They did not realise that this is not Singapore, where the power is in one particular group and the largest. Thus, what will happen in Malaysia would be the same to the Indonesian Chinese, not because they are Chinese but because they have food and shelter; plenty of it! While the non-Chinese are poor and hungry.

The hungry or poor couldn’t care less about who is the ruling government as long as there is food on the table. At the ways things are going now (as from 2 Dec 2006), with the rise in petrol, the toll, the electricity, the water, practically everything; the majority of the lower income (irrespective whether they are Malays, Chinese or Indian) will be hard pressed. There will be less food, no shelter (houses being taken away by the banks), as there are no jobs, etc. If the government is not doing anything about this, there might be a riot soon. The signs are there. There are already pickets and protests around Malaysia but the news are being censored and suppressed.

The issue on race, NEP, religion, higher crime rate, suicide, Alongs, people leaving the country, etc, are only manifestation to find an excuse of people complaining of becoming poorer each day.

The equity ratio is important so that all races will enjoy a fair share of the cake. But the Malays and Indians cannot achieve the targeted ratio because of this unsubstantiated fear by the Chinese that they will be marginalised. Look at 80% of the large Chinese business communities in Malaysia; you will not find Malays or Indians holding key or critical positions. Thus it is in a precarious balance; the Malay needs to uphold the NEP to give opportunity to the Malays (for food and shelter) because the Chinese are not willing to give opportunities to the Malays (or Indians) because the Chinese fear that they will be less powerful later. Thus this cycle will never end. Their fears are unfounded.

To me, once everybody is given the opportunity to share the equity equally (thus food and shelter to everybody), only then the need for the NEP becomes unnecessary. The founding partners/architects in the construction of the NEP were right and knew that it would bring equilibrium among the races, but if one party was not given the opportunity or equal share of the pie, then the NEP has to continue to prevent unhappiness to the other. As long as the targeted equity is not reached, the need to have the NEP is necessary for the good of all the races. Otherwise the consequences are obvious, it has happened throughout history in one form or the other in all parts of the world and yet we never learn.

The current state of events in Malaysia is getting critical, many basic related needs are getting more expensive: petrol, toll, electricity and water. As these things increase, all other basic essentials will go up too. It also makes one wonders whether we are living in this country or “renting” to stay in it. What is the use of paying income tax then, and yet to pay toll, to pay high prices for petrol that this country gets from underneath us, what are the benefits in this country then? Even to feel safe I have to pay security guards to look after my family/house/community, what is the police doing then?

Everything now as if we have to pay to get anything. The matter is compounded by companies that are closing down, companies that are merging, etc. which result in people out of jobs, etc. The government are having new projects to spur the economy; what is key is that it must ensure that the masses have jobs so that the masses have money to buy food and shelter for themselves and their families. There is no point to have mega projects that would benefit the few, benefit the foreigners only or projects that are being done overseas. If the government do not address this, there goes the election and bye-bye the harmony in Malaysia the land that I love so much.

trr