Rejection of Asli report sends wrong signal: Toh
Husna Yusop, Pauline Puah, B. Suresh Ram, Regina William, S. Tamarai and Foong Li Mei
Sun

PETALING JAYA (Oct 13, 2006): The government's rejection of the report on bumiputra corporate equity published by Asli's Centre for Public Policy Studies, which challenges the official data, has sent the wrong signal that dissent is not tolerated and honest pursuit of knowledge discouraged, says state executive councillor Datuk Dr Toh Kin Woon.

In a statement yesterday, he said: "The government could and should have instructed the relevant agencies to be more transparent on the data and methodology used to compute the bumiputra equity ownership share.

"Discussions with CPPS (headed by its director Dr Lim Teck Ghee) and others on these issues could have been held and a consensus arrived at.

"Instead, the government lambasted Lim. The signal seems to be that dissent is not tolerated and honest pursuit of knowledge discouraged," he said.

The Asli report -- Corporate Equity Distribution: Past Trends and Future Policy -- stated that bumiputra corporate equity ownership could be as high as 45% and not 18.9% as stated in government statistics, drawing sharp criticisms from the prime minister and government economic advisers.

Toh, a University Malaya-trained economist and Gerakan central committee member, said this was a sad development and seemed at odds with the government's professed aim of wanting to make the country a more open, transparent and liberal society.

He said that Lim's wishes for the public space opened up by the work of the CPPS on this particular issue to be expanded upon must be taken up by all.

"This is because the expansion of democratic space, and the strengthening of the right to dissent and challenge, are so important in moving the nation forward," Toh stressed.

The Asli centre had come under attack from Umno leaders and other Malay groups after its findings, submitted to the government in February as part of feedback for planning of the Ninth Malaysia Plan, were publicised.

On Tuesday, Asli (Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute) president Mirzan Mahathir withdrew support for the report, saying it could not be "vigorously defended". The following day, Lim resigned in the interest of defending "the integrity of independent and non-partisan scholarship".

Toh congratulated Lim on his brave and principled stand to resign. He said Lim's action should be emulated by all.

"His resignation was due to the unprincipled position taken by Asli president Datuk Mirzan Mahathir that the study done by CPPS was based on so-called 'faulty assumption' and hence its conclusions 'faulty' as well.

"Dr Lim disagreed and stood by his methodology. Being the honest scientist that he is, he took the honourable way of resigning, rather than meekly comply with the views of his president.

"His stand is a very refreshing departure from the culture of compliance and subservience that the ruling elites in our country attempt to cultivate," Toh said.

The government yesterday continued to defend its data. However, groups stressed the government's figure could only be verified if its data, methodology and analysis were publicised.

Referring to Asli's findings, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said there was no need for the government to prove the institute wrong.

"We have already explained through public statements the Economic Planning Unit's (EPU) basis of calculations," he said after presenting Hari Raya goodies to soldiers at the Defence Ministry in Kuala Lumpur.

"The government will continue to insist on the official data. We hope this will be accepted and will not be questioned by anyone."

Najib also cautioned non-governmental organisations from raising "sensitive matters" that could be seen as seditious.

"Initially, it could be seen as intellectual discourse but once it touches on sensitive matters, it can incite racial feelings," he said.

"Rather than making a public statement, it is better for these groups to come to the government first."

The Writers Alliance for Media Independence (Wami) and the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) said critics of the Asli report must use the "same or a higher level of intellectual rigour" to dispute its findings.

"The best weapon for the government to rebut the centre's findings would be to publicise its own data and analysis," they said.

"As the NEP (National Economic Policy) has been central to Malaysia's political and socio-economic development, all Malaysians have the right to listen to the debates on its achievements and make their own judgments."

They said the validity of government data used to calculate corporate equity ownership was currently beyond academic scrutiny.

"We believe that releasing important socio-economic data, from equity ownership to poverty incidence, should be a duty and not a discretion of the government," they said.

"There could be no greater harm to the national interest for national decisions to be made from data only accessible to high-ranking politicians."

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said Mirzan's statement and apology had reduced Asli's credibility and integrity because it was without academic basis or rational. "Clearly, Mirzan's retraction was politically motivated and not driven by any flaws or shortcomings either in the centre's methodology or research data," he said.

Johor Baru MP Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad, who is Public Accounts Committee chairman, questioned the centre's 45% figure but said it was more important to prevent economic leakages.

"We cannot continue to go through another period of giving opportunities to the Malays and then seeing these wasted through leakages," he said after chairing a Public Accounts Committee meeting.

He said government policies must be based on accurate and credible statistics