'We should all focus on the bottom 30 percent instead of the top 30 percent, which was the real and true intent of NEP.'

The bumiputera corporate equity issue revisited

Steven For Malaysia: The government should give a detail finding on who bought the bumiputera initial public offering (IPO) shares and where these shares had gone to, or disposed off and at what price.

A clear situation could then only make more Malays understand how these Malays had misused the privileges for a quick profit. Otherwise, there would already be no need to talk of the New Economic Policy (NEP).

KJ John: Thanks Lim Teck Ghee for revisiting this issue. It is timely and I think we should all focus on the bottom 30 percent instead of the top 30 percent; which was the real and true intent of the original NEP.

Unfortunately, the new barbarians came and stole the baby along with the bathwater. So much so that the son of the Father of Development now even disowns the baby.

David Dass: It is time that Lim Teck Ghee is accepted by the government as the voice of good sense and moderation. We cannot allow a small group of extremists to hijack the government and manipulate government policy.

The New Economic Model (NEM) is a long-term plan. It is a plan that objectively acknowledges the reality of things and argues the need for the country to be competitive in order to survive.

The people of Malaysia must stand together so that stability becomes one of the components of the country. Diversity must be perceived as an asset. In any case, homogeneity is not an option available to us.

Why is there a problem in making statistics available? And why is there a reluctance to discuss the methodology used to compute bumiputera participation in the economy?

We must harness the talent of our people. It should not matter whether the doctor I see is Malay, Chinese or Indian. All that matters is that he is well-trained. Help those in need whatever his ethnicity, and encourage joint ventures between the races.

Karapan: The government under PM Najib Razak, if really sincerely in wanting to see this country prosper, should seriously listen to Lim Teck Ghee's points raised for thorough discussions. Next, get rid of Perkasa. It is a stumbling block to Malays progress in this country.

Swipenter: The problem with the Malay share of the national economic pie is not how much they own, but the highly uneven distribution of wealth within their own community. The elitist Malays take all the opportunities and goodies. Ordinary Malays are left to share amongst themselves the ‘leftovers'.

Secondly, the Malay mass are not encouraged to be entrepreneurial and to strike out in their own what with the government-linked companies ‘nurturing' them by handing out contracts/work. It also shows that it is a myth that Chinese businessmen form ‘cartels' to ward off competition, which Perkasa's Ibrahim Ali is so fond of trumpeting.

The Malays have to wake up and see how their own elites are hindering their competitiveness and progress through the ‘bastardisation' of NEP .

All must understand that affirmative actions are not racist in spirit, but the ruling elites made it racist to stay in power. Divide and rule is their game.

Kenneth: I cannot understand why they always claim the 30 percent bumiputera share target has not been achieved yet. From finance to transport to construction to infrastructure projects to technology to properties to plantation, you name it, it is an open secret that these are all under the control of non-bumiputeras.

Hamisu: There is only so much we can preach to our bumiputera/Malay partners in this country. Ultimately, they have to make a conscious and determined decision to change for the better. Groups like Perkasa and Umno still advocate strongly to "catching fish" for the bumi/Malay folks, instead of the longer-term solution of "teaching the methods to catch fish" to the bumi/Malay population.

This has created a drug-like effect where they have become dependent and addicted to the former method. The former method has been in effect for a few decades and has not had significant impact. Why does this selfish group keep on doing the same thing and expect different results?

Ultimately, it is for the bumiputera/Malay folks to determine the direction of this country where sustainable solution are employed. If there are no changes, the disenchanted will also make a decision to abandon this country.

Wira: If IPO shares are only allocated to bumiputera trust agencies and government contracts are open and fully transparent, Umno would collapse like a deck of cards as easy money from the hard work of others are no longer available to corrupt the leaders and their supporters - no more easy money to "buy" votes during elections.

Anonymous: The problem with the economic factors of the Malay equity in this country does not lie in the percentage. Rather it is a more macro-distribution of wealth among the Malays. In other words, we need to have fairer distribution instead of focussing on enriching the ruling politicians or building up a few ‘towering Malays' friendly to Umno.

There needs to be a non-partisan economic policy in Malaysia whereby only the truly needy will be helped. Only by this will the country prosper further and march quicker into prosperity for all the rakyat.

Pemerhati: This advice to Umno will not be heeded. Every Umnoputra wants to steal and become as rich as Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who sees his children become billionaires. The present system has enabled them to siphon off the bulk of the RM320 billion lost to corruption ( Time magazine report) since the 1980s.

To remain in power, Mahathir destroyed nearly all the important public institutions and used the classic divide-and-rule strategy. Lim says that the present government policy has been conclusively shown to benefit only a minority of well-connected and already wealthy business and political leaders - numbering perhaps no more than a few tens of thousands of individuals and their families at most.

Millions of poor Malays and others are the biggest losers because they continue to languish in poverty and are likely to be served by sub-standard professionals from our degraded universities while the wealthy can pay and get the services of the better foreign-trained teachers and doctors.

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