It is disappointing that the Government in the recent parliamentary tabling of the Mid Term Review of the Ninth Plan continues to harp on the attainment of racial corporate equity share targets as a key economic goal to be pursued for the country. Indisputable evidence exists that the methodology used by Government for calculating racial shares is seriously flawed. Past attempts by many quarters to persuade the Government to open the official data sets on corporate ownership have been met not only with foot-dragging but also by a flood of misinformation in the belief that a big lie told repeatedly will appear to be the truth and prevent further public scrutiny.
Quite apart from the dubious accuracy and integrity of the official data, why is the Barisan Nasional Government - and UMNO in particular - so obsessed with pursuing a policy of redistributing wealth based on ethnic quotas which has - in its over 30 years of implementation - only benefited a small group of already rich and privileged Malays? Have the lessons of the March election losses not sunk in sufficiently yet? Or is greed and self interest still trumping all other consideration?
If the Government is really serious in improving the lot of the poor Malays through what I consider to be an anachronistic and badly premised redistribution strategy, let it do so by having publicly-listed shares distributed to poor Bumiputera through trust agencies, such as the ASN and ASB rather than to select individuals. At the same time, there should be equal determination by the Government to increase the share participation of the Indian and East Malaysian Bumiputera community through similar community-based trust agencies. If not, we will see a continued recurrence of an elite benefiting from this policy of IPO-obtained shares divesting them for huge profit - and in the process generating much discord and discontentment.
Kuala Lumpur 28 June 2008
Quite apart from the dubious accuracy and integrity of the official data, why is the Barisan Nasional Government - and UMNO in particular - so obsessed with pursuing a policy of redistributing wealth based on ethnic quotas which has - in its over 30 years of implementation - only benefited a small group of already rich and privileged Malays? Have the lessons of the March election losses not sunk in sufficiently yet? Or is greed and self interest still trumping all other consideration?
If the Government is really serious in improving the lot of the poor Malays through what I consider to be an anachronistic and badly premised redistribution strategy, let it do so by having publicly-listed shares distributed to poor Bumiputera through trust agencies, such as the ASN and ASB rather than to select individuals. At the same time, there should be equal determination by the Government to increase the share participation of the Indian and East Malaysian Bumiputera community through similar community-based trust agencies. If not, we will see a continued recurrence of an elite benefiting from this policy of IPO-obtained shares divesting them for huge profit - and in the process generating much discord and discontentment.
Kuala Lumpur 28 June 2008