Friday 31 August 2007

Ethnic Envy and The NEP - a reply

cruzeiro wrote:

cucutokteja wrote:
Are they the Malays - no and if not the Malays who are suppossed to have most of the extras and yet they are not, who then are the owners of most of the houses, condos, apartments, shops in the super complexes etc?
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Dear friend,
I do not presume to have the statistics to prove my observation - but yours is definitely quite perverse.

Your observation is myopic at best.

Nobody said that the Malays own all the prime real estate - but they definitely could have, had the economy been better planned.

You seem to have asked the wrong question, my friend .... you should've asked why is your observation as such, when for almost 40yrs, the Malays have apparently been given the benefits with total disregard for merit!

What the NEP has produced and is still churning out, is nothing more than certified mediocrity and failures, with more excuses to perpetuate elitism under the guise of affirmative policy.
What NEP has produced is nothing more than a generation of "bumiputeras” who are paralysed in their will to live with freedom and independence.

They are so psychologically paralysed, that they depend on politicians (ie govt aid and civil service) for their rice bowl – and so have willingly given up their rights to the politicians.

As far as I know there has been no man that has become rich via "makan gaji", unless he is corrupt.

So, I now wish to ask you, cucutokteja -
Who are the real beneficiaries of NEP? I'll tell you - It is none other that the pirates of the constitution, who rob the million/ billion dollar enterprises by law.

The heartless exploitation of the people for political capital is evident from education, job and business opportunities which aren't based on merit, but color, creed and "affiliations/ influence". Aid isn't given to the deserving (unless for posterity), but to the influential.

What the man on the street has to face is "indirect taxes" via increased costs of production in all industries, as a result of these wasteful "affirmative action" policies that translates into higher production costs.

As a result of all these actions, what it produced is nothing more than envy among all - all feel "deprived" in one way or other.

But it doesn't seem to matter much to the Malays (in fact, many are foolishly happy, even when they too stand to lose indirectly), as long as it is the Chinese or Indian that gets screwed by a Malay – and it serves to inflate the “ketuanan Melayu” ego, nothing more (except it does create another rich and corrupt bureaucrat who'll own businesses via proxies).

Dear friend, have you heard of the predicament of businessmen in a certain industry who were given a deadline to "obtain" a "bumiputra" shareholder with 30% equity in the company?
This guy was lamenting his fate, while having a drink with me ...................

These are guys who built the businesses with their bare hands over 20 years, and are today forced to give away their holding at par value to a "big shot", or their licences may be "reconsidered"!

Now could you tell me, how in heaven's name, does the Malay/ bumiputra as a people, benefit from such an action?

Yes, they do own bungalows, and send their children overseas for education, and there is no way that you can stop the industrious from being successful in life. They who have the hunger to succeed, will do backbreaking labour if it has to be so, unlike the slothful who complain of the handicaps they have endeared themselves to.

If that is what you or other Malays envy, cucutokteja, what's stopping the Malays from working just as hard?

I know of quite a number who have made it on their own, and I for one, am happy for them. I wouldn't envy them - not for a minute, even though I'm not as fortunate - for envy is a sin from which many other evils are born.

By all means, support the deserving Malays to come up in life – I have no problems with that (In fact, I feel it is very much warranted). But do it right, by not encouraging mediocrity and corruption and don't deprive another of his bread and butter – that is the sentiment that you see expressed in the web, which you don't seem to appreciate.

Do it right – by preventing the abuse of funds via a life of luxury, until they have earned their keep. One could fill volumes with names of “businessmen” who live a life of luxury on loans/ contracts given in the name of NEP. I do know of such people personally – golf club memberships, jet-set lifestyles, mercedes/ bmw etc. - next thing you know, they are declared bankrupt, and are selling ayam panggang in the pasar malam!

These actions are wasteful and everybody pays a price for it, even if you don't realize it.